Andrew Adler, ex-newspaper editor |
The owner and publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times, Andrew Adler, who suggested Israel should assassinate U.S. President Barack Obama, has resigned from his post, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported on Monday.According to FOX News, he is under investigation by the US government:
Adler, who has since apologized for his article, listed three options for Israel to counter Iran’s nuclear weapons in an article published in his newspaper last Friday. The first is to launch a pre-emptive strike against Hamas and Hezbollah, the second is to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities and the third is to “give the go-ahead for U.S.-based Mossad agents to take out a president deemed unfriendly to Israel in order for the current vice president to take his place and forcefully dictate that the United States’ policy includes its helping the Jewish state obliterate its enemies.”
Jewish advocacy groups condemned his comments as "outrageous," and Secret Service spokesman George Ogilvie said the agency is "aware" of the incident.The Jewish Telegraphic Agency has a good roundup of some of the many negative reactions from prominent Jewish agencies and publications to Adler's January 13th column.
"We're conducting the appropriate investigative steps," he told FoxNews.com.
Jeremy Ben Ami, founder of J Street, who was hosted by me last July at firedoglake's Book Salon has responded:
J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami issued the following statement in response to an editorial written by the publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times calling for Israel to consider assassinating President Barack Obama:As I wrote at MyFiredoglake last week, and as many others have too, were Mr. Adler Muslim, his options between January 13th and now might have been considerably more limited than merely getting out of the publishing and op-ed/threat business. That being said, the prompt and articulate responses from so many important voices in Jewish public life in the U.S. was quite good to see and not surprising. The lack of attention this story has gotten in the mainstream press is another matter.
“J Street condemns in the strongest possible terms the editorial in the Atlanta Jewish Times, written by the paper’s own publisher, that included a call for Israel to consider the assassination of President Obama. Andrew Adler’s remarks are un-American and decidedly not pro-Israel. An apology is insufficient and we welcome news that the US Secret Service is taking the ‘appropriate investigative steps.’
Words can’t express the repugnance that all Americans – Jewish and other – must feel toward someone who could use language like this. It is out of keeping with American and Jewish values.
This incident should serve, however, as more than an opportunity to join in condemning a lone extremist. It should be a wake-up call for the Jewish community that the discourse around the President and Israel, generally, has gotten far out of control.
One problem is that we have allowed the portion of American Jewry who disagrees with President Obama’s policies to too freely call him ‘anti-Israel’ without adequate pushback from the leaders of our largest communal institutions, who know that charge to be untrue.
2 comments:
I hope he is arrested, along with anyone else advocating the assassination of a US President. I am so tired of this pro-Israel garbage...Israel wants to eliminate the Palestinians from the face of the Earth, and they not only want permission from the US, tehy want us to help. I'm sorry, but the Palestinian people are also God's creaton, just like the Iranians are, and threatening death is wrong, no matter who it is. We can either live together, respect each other, and stop hating, or we will never end the horrible wars on this Earth. I choose peace. I choose to defend Palestine's right to live.
Enough is enough. Jewish supporters of Israel (as well as loopy Evangelicals) are way too dedicated to a foreign country than their own. They buy state of Israel bonds, vacation in the 'Holy Land', lobby for it, serve in the damn Israeli military, etc. If they love Israel so much then why not go live there?
Besides, if he was a Muslims the Pam Gellers and Bill O'reillys of this world would be discussing this for days. And he would be sent to Gitmo. But for a Jew- he will be probably Abe Foxman's replacement. RepubliKKKans will invite him over as a hero. These racist hypocrites shouldn't be allowed on the air!
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