The Volokh Conspiracy - Waiting for Jewish Organizations to Condemn the Anti-Palin Campaign:

On January 16th, the New York Times reported that "the leaders of nine Jewish groups released an open letter on Tuesday condemning what they called 'hateful e-mails' that they said spread lies about Senator Barack Obama's religious beliefs and his intentions." As I've pointed out before, despite allegations that there was an anti-Obama email campaign targeting the Jewish community, the emails in question seemed to be written for a Christian audience, though they were also forwarded to Jews.

Flash-forward to this Fall. "Lies about [Sarah Palin's] religious beliefs and [her] intentions" are spreading like wildfire through the Jewish community. And this time, it's not a shadowy email campaign, but prominent bloggers and sometimes Obama spokesmen who are doing the spreading. And this time, Jews are the direct targets.

I've noted before false claims, at times emanating directly from the Obama camp, that Palin was a Pat Buchanan supporter in 2000 (she supported Steve Forbes), and that this in turn indicated that she is anti-Israel or even anti-Semitic.

Now Rep. Alcee Hastings tells a group of Jewish Democrats that Sarah Palin "don't care too much about what they do with Jews." His "evidence" is that she "tote[s] guns and hunt[s] moose.">

And people actually believe such nonsense. Here are two comments taken from a CNN comment board on an article describing the Hastings speech. These comments, which are riffs on the fact that a Jews for Jesus minister gave one lecture in her church (and which she has publicly said she disagrees with) are either written by actual Jewish readers, or by Obama sock puppets, and I'm not sure which is worse!

Anyone who believes, as Sarah Palin does, that the violence in the middle east is G-d's punishment to the Jews for not accepting Jesus as the Messiah, is no friend of the Jews, no matter how the GOP tries to cover that up. My grandparents, they should rest in peace, came here from Poland to get away from that kind of persecution. They would never vote for such a woman and neither will I.

Let's be honest, she is for "Jews for Jesus" Remember she was picked by McCain, showing his total lack of judgement [sic] and the fact he puts being elected first instead of "America First" Place the blame of her even being on the ticket where it belongs….John McCain!!!! Any Jew that votes for McCain insted of Obama should be ashamed of themselves. 66 year old Jew born and raised in San Francisco

So, if a coalition of Jewish organizations thought it necessary to condemn a false anti-Obama email campaign in January, when the campaign does not seem to have targeted Jews, isn't it about time they condemn the much more open and blatant campaign of lies directed at Sarah Palin and targeting Jewish voters?

	[David Bernstein, September 24, 2008 at 7:17pm] Trackbacks Waiting for Jewish Organizations to Condemn the Anti-Palin Campaign: On January 16th, the New York Times reported that "the leaders of nine Jewish groups released an open letter on Tuesday condemning what they called 'hateful e-mails' that they said spread lies about Senator Barack Obama's religious beliefs and his intentions." As I've pointed out before, despite allegations that there was an anti-Obama email campaign targeting the Jewish community, the emails in question seemed to be written for a Christian audience, though they were also forwarded to Jews. Flash-forward to this Fall. "Lies about [Sarah Palin's] religious beliefs and [her] intentions" are spreading like wildfire through the Jewish community. And this time, it's not a shadowy email campaign, but prominent bloggers and sometimes Obama spokesmen who are doing the spreading. And this time, Jews are the direct targets. I've noted before false claims, at times emanating directly from the Obama camp, that Palin was a Pat Buchanan supporter in 2000 (she supported Steve Forbes), and that this in turn indicated that she is anti-Israel or even anti-Semitic. Now Rep. Alcee Hastings tells a group of Jewish Democrats that Sarah Palin "don't care too much about what they do with Jews." His "evidence" is that she "tote[s] guns and hunt[s] moose."> And people actually believe such nonsense. Here are two comments taken from a CNN comment board on an article describing the Hastings speech. These comments, which are riffs on the fact that a Jews for Jesus minister gave one lecture in her church (and which she has publicly said she disagrees with) are either written by actual Jewish readers, or by Obama sock puppets, and I'm not sure which is worse! Anyone who believes, as Sarah Palin does, that the violence in the middle east is G-d's punishment to the Jews for not accepting Jesus as the Messiah, is no friend of the Jews, no matter how the GOP tries to cover that up. My grandparents, they should rest in peace, came here from Poland to get away from that kind of persecution. They would never vote for such a woman and neither will I. Let's be honest, she is for "Jews for Jesus" Remember she was picked by McCain, showing his total lack of judgement [sic] and the fact he puts being elected first instead of "America First" Place the blame of her even being on the ticket where it belongs….John McCain!!!! Any Jew that votes for McCain insted of Obama should be ashamed of themselves. 66 year old Jew born and raised in San Francisco So, if a coalition of Jewish organizations thought it necessary to condemn a false anti-Obama email campaign in January, when the campaign does not seem to have targeted Jews, isn't it about time they condemn the much more open and blatant campaign of lies directed at Sarah Palin and targeting Jewish voters?