world

Schumer's 'Treason'

Senator's loyalty questioned by some progressives.

Rebecca Shimoni Stoil
Times of Israel

Mearsheimer and [Stephen] Walt that
U.S. Jews and other supporters of Israel
put Israel's interests ahead of U.S.
ays after announcing his
interests:' said ADL National Director
opposition to the Iranian
Jonathan Greenblatt.
nuclear deal, Democratic
Walt and Mearsheimer co-authored
Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York has
a paper and later a book in which they
faced an onslaught of allegations from
claimed that the "Israel lobby;' a loose-
progressive critics who resorted to
ly defined cross-section of American
classically anti-Semitic allegations of
Jewish groups and others, works
disloyalty and treason.
against U.S. interests.
The Anti-Defamation League criti-
Critics complained that
cized the accusations Monday, telling
Mearsheimer and Walt essentially rein-
the Times of Israel that such
vigorated classical anti-
accusations are a "slap in
Semitic tropes accusing
the face" to Schumer's long
Jews of acting as a
"nation within a nation"
years of service to the United
States.
and possessing dual and
Schumer announced Aug.
conflicting loyalties.
6 that he would oppose the
Walt, in fact, was
nuclear deal with Iran when
one of those who
it faces a crucial vote in
tweeted and retweeted
Congress next month.
responses to the current
His defection from the
back-and-forth over
Obama administration's
whether the rhetoric
Sen. Ch uck Schumer
concerning the Iran
side on the issue was a blow
to White House efforts to
deal constituted anti-
prevent the two-thirds majority in
Semitism. The Harvard professor
Congress against the deal that might
called Schumer a "sellout" and retweet-
ed an opinion article in the Huffington
overcome a presidential veto — but
was hardly unexpected from a legisla-
Post that called the deal's opponents
tor who had already indicated his dis-
"Netanyahu's marionettes:'
comfort with the agreement.
That article cited Schumer's 2010
Since Schumer's announcement, a
comments in which he reportedly said,
"I am a shomer [guardian] for Israel
Twitter hashtag #dumpschumer has
become the focal point for much of the and I will continue to be that with
vitriol.
every bone in my body," as evidence of
Nominally devoted to a drive to
his unpatriotic interests.
prevent Schumer from taking the reins
"Hurling accusations of disloyalty
of Senate Democratic leadership after
are a slap in the face to his [Schumer's]
Minority Leader Harry Reid leaves the
lifelong record of public service," ADI:s
position, anti-Schumer campaigners
Greenblatt complained in a written
refer to him repeatedly as a "trai-
response to the rhetoric. "There is
tor:' suggest that his loyalty lies only
room for a legitimate debate on the
with Israel and not the United States,
Iran deal; however, charges against
and accuse him of receiving his "real
Sen. Schumer — and any other mem-
paycheck" from nefarious sources
bers who articulate on fact-based but
— which they characterize as Israel,
alternative views — are beyond inap-
the American Israel Public Affairs
propriate:'
Committee (AIPAC) or other pro-Israel
Proponents of the Iran deal —
bodies.
including President Barack Obama
himself — have been criticized in
But the notoriously provocative
twitterverse is not the only outlet for
recent weeks for what some see as
such accusations.
criticism of their opponents that ply on
The progressive website Daily Kos
historical stereotypes of Jews.
ran a cartoon in which an imagi-
'Jew-Baiting'
nary television host called a wood-
chuck version of Schumer a "traitor"
Over the weekend, the Jewish maga-
zine Tablet's editors penned an unusu-
and switched the American flag at
ally strident editorial condemning
Schumer's side to an Israeli flag.
"The reactions are a sad example
what editors — including both sup-
of how some individuals buy into the
porters and opponents of the deal —
kind of thesis promoted by [John]
describe as "the use of Jew-baiting and

D

60 August 13 • 2015

other blatant and retrograde forms of
racial and ethnic prejudice as tools to
sell a political deal or to smear those
who oppose it:'
The Tablet editors, writing two days
after Schumer's announcement, com-
plained that "accusing Sen. Schumer
of loyalty to a foreign government is
bigotry, pure and simple:'
Tablet described "this use of anti-
Jewish incitement as a political tool"
as a "sickening new development in
American political discourse:'
The editors placed responsibility
for its emergence at the highest levels
of the administration, citing Obama's
own rhetoric including mentions of
shadowy, moneyed lobbyists, foreign
interests, and warmongers as "a direct
attempt to play the dual-loyalty card:'
"It's the kind of dark, nasty stuff
we might expect to hear at a white
power rally, not from the president of
the United States — and it's gotten so
blatant that even many of us who are
generally sympathetic to the adminis-
tration, and even this deal, have been
shaken by
the editors wrote.
In his policy announcement,
Schumer concluded that Iran would be
greatly enriched from sanction relief
under the deal to pursue belligerency
in the region.
"To me, the very real risk that Iran
will not moderate and will, instead, use
the agreement to pursue its nefarious
goals is too great," he said.
While the entire Republican caucus
and a number of other Democratic leg-
islators — including Reps. Eliot Engel
and Grace Meng — have come out in
opposition to the deal, Schumer has
faced the strongest onslaught of criti-
cism.
Schumer waited some three weeks
after the text of the nuclear deal
reached Congress before making his
announcement. During that period, he
faced intense pressure from anti-deal
activists, who held demonstrations
outside of his offices calling on him to
come out in opposition to the deal.
Even after his announcement, the
senator continues to be at the epicenter
of the legislative fight over the deal. On
Monday, the Zionist Organization of
America called on supporters to con-
tinue to pressure Schumer to recruit
other legislators to oppose the deal,
while the progressive MoveOn.org
urged its supporters to refuse to donate
to Schumer or any Democrat who
opposes the deal.

❑

Hamas'
Secret Plans
To Attack
Israel

I

Stuart Winer
Times of Israel

A

Hamas fighter nabbed last
month in a joint Shin Bet
and police operation has
provided a wealth of information on
the terror group's tunnel-digging in
the Gaza Strip, its strategy in a future
conflict with Israel and its methods
for obtaining cash from Iran, the Shin
Bet (Israel Security Agency) said.
The capture of Ibraheem Adel
Shehadeh Shaer, 21, a resident of
Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip,
was only cleared for publication on
Tuesday.
Shaer, a tunnel digger in the
group's armed wing, was arrested at
the beginning of July as he tried to
pass though the Erez border crossing
from Gaza into Israel.
During questioning by security
officials, he disclosed a plethora of
details about Hamas activities in
Rafah and, in particular, Hamas'
emergency procedures as well as its
intention to use tunnels dug under
the border to attack Israel in a future
fight.
Shaer told investigators that in
recent months he worked on some
of the tunnels and was shown a pas-
sage dug from Rafah that led in the
direction of the Kerem Shalom bor-
der crossing into Israel, the Shin Bet
said in a statement sent to Hebrew-
language media.
The Hamas member provided
data on Hamas tunnels in the Rafah
area, including digging locations,
access shafts, diggers and the routes
of the tunnels. He also revealed that
a new road recently laid down by
Hamas near the border fence was
installed for the purpose of carrying
out surprise attacks using vehicles
that would speed over the border
into Israel.
According to the Shin Bet, Shaer
was personally involved in various
types of warfare training, including
combat training, command meth-
ods, use of advanced weapons and
sabotage.
During last summer's Operation
Protective Edge, when the Israeli
army battled against Gaza militias
led by Hamas, Shaer served in the