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View Full Version : The few, the proud, the Jews for Ron Paul




American
11-15-2007, 04:04 PM
Jim Perry, a 22-year-old Libertarian, made a name for himself in college when, shortly after moving to New Hampshire to live free or die, he strapped a gun to his side and marched into a local Borders book store and proceeded to rip up a copy of his Massachusetts income tax return.

That sort of fighting spirit is a job requirement in his new post: executive director of the group Jews for Ron Paul.

Paul's candidacy was dismissed early on due to his support from white supremacist, Libertarian and other fringe groups, but the campaign has begun to pick up steam on college campuses and on the Internet, in part due to his staunch anti-war stance.

A longtime Texas congressman, Paul raised $4.2 million on Nov. 5 from 37,000 individual donors who agreed to give as part of a "money bomb" on Guy Fawkes Day, the anniversary of the failed plot of a British mercenary to kill King James I in 1605. In September, he announced that he'd brought in $5.2 million in the previous three months, putting him ahead of John McCain in the Republican money race.

Even as Paul makes headway in some circles, organized Jewish support for his Republican presidential bid is nearly nonexistent, thanks to the candidate's longstanding stance against providing foreign aid, including U.S. assistance to Israel.

And last month, The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) pointedly did not invite him to participate in its candidates' forum. His reported support from extremist groups hasn't helped win him favor among Jews.

Still, Paul commands a loyal, albeit small, Jewish following. This Jewish support has followed the same pattern as Paul's backing from other groups -- coming from out-of-the way places on the Internet and taking mainstream media and political organizations by surprise.

In addition to Perry's Jews for Ron Paul, there is >Zionists for Ron Paul -- an outfit launched by Yehuda HaKohen, an American immigrant to Israel, and some of his friends back in the United States.

Some of Paul's Jewish supporters believe that it would be best for Israel if the United States kept out of Jerusalem's affairs. There are also those who believe that American aid to Israel is dangerous because it feeds the perception that Jews wield too much influence over U.S. foreign policy.

"Many of us believe the current relationship between the United States and Israel is a very unhealthy relationship, like that of a man and concubine, or a slave and master," HaKohen said.

While traveling from Washington to New Hampshire to campaign earlier this month, Paul provided a statement to JTA explaining his position on Israel.

"I support free trade and friendship with all nations, meaning that my administration would treat Israel as a friend and trading partner. Americans would be encouraged to travel to and trade with Israel," Paul said.

"Our foreign military aid to Israel is actually more like corporate welfare to the U.S. military industrial complex, as Israel is forced to purchase only U.S. products with the assistance. We send almost twice as much aid to other countries in the Middle East, which only insures increased militarization and the drive toward war."

In fact, combined U.S. aid to Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and other friendly Arab nations is roughly commensurate with the $2.4 billion military aid package Israel currently gets.

"We have adopted a foreign policy that has left Israel surrounded by militaristic nations while undermining Israel's sovereignty by demanding that its foreign and defense policies be essentially pre-approved in Washington," he added.

Paul is an obstetrician from the small town of Lake Jackson, Texas, who served in Congress in the 1970s and 1980s as a Libertarian, then worked as a doctor before returning to Congress in 1997 as a Republican. He's fiercely pro-life and opposed to gun control, believes American monetary policy must be reconnected to the gold standard and advocates an isolationist foreign policy.

Paul's campaign manager, Lew Moore, deflected questions about Paul's support from neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups

"Ron Paul has beliefs that resonate with people. He empowers an individual's right to free association. A lot of people like that," Moore said. "He does not believe in foreign aid going to any nation, but that does not have anything to do with individual groups."

Moore said he has visited the Web site of Jews For Ron Paul, but hasn't worked with the group and doesn't know anything about the size of its membership. The Paul campaign, he added, was disappointed but not surprised that Paul hadn't been invited to speak at the recent Republican Jewish Coalition forum. The campaign manager also said that he knew of no Jewish groups that had asked Paul to speak.

The RJC's spokeswoman said that Paul's isolationist stance contradicts her group's belief in strengthening U.S. ties with Israel. Paul's consistent record of voting against aid to Israel was a factor in the group's decision not to invite the candidate, Suzanne Kurtz said.

For Jews for Ron's Perry, an Orthodox Jew, there is a connection between his own religious beliefs about personal responsibility and the Libertarian philosophy underpinning Paul's candidacy.

"It's the idea that people are meant to be equal and free in a just society. Those are the same things that draw me to be an observant Orthodox Jew," said Perry, who commands an Internet forum whose advisers include political and law professors spanning the country.

"I believe Judaism puts strong emphasis on individual meaning, personal responsibility," he said, adding that God "calls us to take responsibility for our own actions."

HaKohen acknowledged that Paul's followers include groups that might make Jews uncomfortable, but he sees the campaign as an effort to broadly redefine the American political landscape.

Despite his enthusiasm, HaKohen is not getting his hopes up about the GOP candidate's chances.

"I can see how people might dismiss him," HaKohen said. "He's not gonna win."

http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=18512

Flash
11-15-2007, 04:11 PM
We need more Jews to support Ron Paul. This will clear the myth for good that Ron Paul is an anti-semite.

RPFTW!
11-15-2007, 04:16 PM
Yup, I'm anti-zionist but 100% for jews who put America first. Jews for Ron Paul!

Delain
11-15-2007, 04:16 PM
We need more Jews to support Ron Paul. This will clear the myth for good that Ron Paul is an anti-semite.

While I agree partly on that (we shouldnt be fighting smears is my other view), I dont like the "Jews for... " thingy.

Just as I wouldnt like "Afro-Americans for Ron Paul", "Lesbians for Ron Paul", "Catholics for Ron Paul" etc. much.

Why not just "People for Ron Paul"?

Mark Rushmore
11-15-2007, 04:18 PM
We need more Jews to support Ron Paul. This will clear the myth for good that Ron Paul is an anti-semite.

More likely, it will result in a few more Jews being themselves labeled anti-semite :(. But I'm still happy to have them on board ;).

aksmith
11-15-2007, 04:28 PM
I am a strongly Zionist Jew, but not with your money. And I am and have been a Ron Paul supporter for about 20 years now.

I don't think Israel is the bad guy in the Middle East. But I don't want Israel, or any Arab countries, to be American welfare clients. I do believe Israel can and should take care of itself. And without outside meddling, Israel and the Palestinians would long ago have come to an arrangement mutually beneficial to each other. Non-intervention is a wonderful thing. If Israel were in real trouble, I'd go there and help. Not like the chicken-hawks Cheney and Bush and Giuliani and Huckabee and Thompson and . . . . But I don't think it's necessary. They truly are a vibrant country that can handle themselves.

In fact, I don't join groups, don't put bumper stickers on my car, don't contribute to or work for candidates, and this year, I've done all of those things for Ron Paul.

Jeffreyw5000
11-15-2007, 04:29 PM
I'm Jewish and I support Ron Paul!!

powertothepeople
11-15-2007, 04:41 PM
Jew for RP right here.... :)

Perry
11-15-2007, 04:42 PM
I am a non-Jewish Zionist who supports Ron Paul.

Zionism, the national movement for the return of the Jewish people to their homeland and the resumption of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel, advocated, from its inception, tangible as well as spiritual aims. Jews of all persuasions, left and right, religious and secular, joined to form the Zionist movement and worked together toward these goals. Disagreements led to rifts, but ultimately, the common goal of a Jewish state in its ancient homeland was attained. The term "Zionism" was coined in 1890 by Nathan Birnbaum.

Seeing as how there is already a Jewish state. A Zionist is merely someone who supports Israel.
Of course not with taxes but my personal ______(fill in the blank).