ABRAHAM OF ISRAEL

DARLING OF AMERICAN JEWRY

"Over the years, most of the strongest advocates of Israel have usually been people who are not Jewish....[I] look forward to working with him..." Malcolm Hoenlein One of top Israeli/Jewish lobby officials

The U.S. Arabs -- in their organized context -- are...well...so screwed up. They should be protesting the token appointment of an Israel-endorsed "Arab American" to the Bush Cabinet but instead they are applauding. When it comes to political sophistication the Arab Americans remain...well...primative. Indeed, Senator Abraham, soon to be Secretary of Energy in the George W Administration -- a department he by the way advocating terminating just two years ago -- should actually be considered something of embarrassment to Arab Americans. But then of course all the retarded Arab American "client organizations" are light years behind when it comes to being sufficiently powerful to be taken seriously by anyone other than themselves anyway.

For years Abraham has played both sides of the fence and no one has said boo. That self-appointed and much-hated "spokesman" for Arab Americans, Jim Zogby, has worked very closely with Abraham who helped establish the "Arab-American Institute" (AAI) and has served as one of its Chairman. On the other hand, and far more importantly, in his years in the Senate Abraham has had a very "solid pro-Israel voting record" according to representatives of the Israeli-Jewish lobby.

With guys like Zogby and Abraham representing them -- not to mention the lesser second-tier crowd in Washington including Maksoud, Sharabi, and Rahman -- it should be no wonder why the Arabs are always used, abused, laughed at, and disregarded. And of course all this translates into the serious tilt the U.S. always has toward the Israelis -- no matter how outrageous the Israelis behave. In the American context -- and of course Washington these days is in many ways the modern-day Rome, the capital of the world -- the six-million Arab Americans (now more numerous actually than Jewish Americans) are at least as badly represented as are the peoples of the Middle East itself who continue to have their wealth and heritage plundered and sullied by Kings and Tyrants who in most cases trace their origins and staying power back to London, Washington, and Paris.

JEWS WELCOME ABRAHAM APPOINTMENT
By Janine Zacharia

WASHINGTON - Jerusalem Post - 4 Jan: Jewish leaders yesterday welcomed the nomination of former Michigan senator Spencer Abraham as energy secretary, a key position when it comes to US interests in the Middle East, and said they are not concerned that president-elect George W. Bush wrapped up his cabinet selections without appointing any Jews.

Abraham, 48, who is of Lebanese heritage, had a solid pro-Israel voting record during his six years in the Senate before he was defeated by Democratic challenger Debbie Stabenow by a slim margin in the November election. He enjoys strong ties with the Jewish and Arab-American communities.

Among his strongest supporters in Michigan is the 92-year-old Max Fisher, one of the most well-known Republican Jewish leaders in the US. Fisher told The Jerusalem Post in September that he thinks "very highly" of Abraham, whom he has supported financially in his election bids.

In 1999, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, which has provided essential lifesaving services to world Jewry, honored Abraham with an award for furtherance of peace and freedom.

"I think it is a testament to the special place that America is that the grandson of four Lebanese immigrants can have the opportunity to serve in the Cabinet of the president of the United States. I'm very proud to have been given this opportunity," Abraham said after Bush announced the nomination on Tuesday.

Sen. Carl Levin, a Jewish Democratic senator from Michigan, called Abraham's selection an "excellent nomination" and said he looked forward to working with him on energy issues.

"Sen. Abraham had a close relationship with the Jewish community and was generally supportive on Israel-related issues," said Ken Bricker, spokesman for the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee. Pro-Israel lobbyists said he was especially helpful on foreign aid, sanctions on Iraq, and initiatives aimed at limiting the spread of weapons of mass destruction to states unfriendly to Israel.

He parted from the pro-Israel line when he declined to sign on to a letter urging President Bill Clinton to relocate the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in compliance with the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act. He was also one of only two senators not to recently sign a letter to Clinton condemning Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat for not doing enough to curb the violence in Israel and the territories.

Malcolm Hoenlein, executive director of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said the Jewish community "looks forward to working with him in the position."

"We have never judged people because of their race or ethnicity. He enjoyed support from the Jewish community even in his last race. I don't think you will find anyone in the community raising objections to the appointment," Hoenlein said.

Asked how he feels about no Jews being appointed to Bush's cabinet, Hoenlein said: "It's happened before... The fact is that over the years, most of the strongest advocates of Israel have usually been people who are not Jewish. It's a question of what kinds of policies they adopt, not who is adopting them."

Bush has nominated several Jews to positions in the White House, including Josh Bolten as deputy chief of staff and Ari Fleischer as press secretary.

Ira Forman, executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, a Democratic Jewish partisan group in Washington, believes the appointment signals environmental doom but acknowledged that on Israel Abraham has had an"adequate" record.

"I think that it reconfirms what Bush was saying in the campaign. His energy policy is going to be drilling in environmentally-sensitive areas," Forman said. Abraham consistency supported legislation that would allow oil and natural gas drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in order to help reduce US dependence on foreign oil, a cornerstone of Bush's campaign.

Forman, who is completing a book on Jews in American politics, says that Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush did not have Jewish cabinet members either. "There's nothing evil about this. There just don't appear to be a lot of Jewish people in the [Dick] Cheney-Bush circle of close friends" from which Bush has drawn many of the appointments, Forman said.

One possible Jewish appointment could be Paul Wolfowitz, dean of Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Wolfowitz had hoped to be chosen for secretary of defense but was edged out by Donald Rumsfeld. He is still being considered for CIA director or US ambassador to the UN, both positions Bush is considering elevating to Cabinet level.

Also appointed Tuesday was Linda Chavez, president of the Center for Equal Opportunity, as labor secretary. Chavez, who is of Hispanic heritage, is married to Chris Gersten, who is Jewish, and worked as political director of AIPAC in the 1980s.

Overall, Bush's 14-member Cabinet is a wide mix, including six white men, two black men, three white women, one Asian-American man, a Hispanic man, and a Hispanic woman.

Mid-East Realities

www.middleeast.org

Source: http://www.middleeast.org/articles/2001/1/6.htm