"President Obama has made it okay to hate Israel!"

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

Was a recent comment that Joel Pollak gave to INN.

Joel Barry Pollak was born on April 25, 1977 in Johannesburg, South Africa, his parents emigrated to the United States shortly after his birth. He became a U.S. Citizen in 1987. He grew up in the Chicago suburbs, principally in Skokie. He attended Solomon Schechter Day School and Niles North High School, where he was the class valedictorian in 1995.

Joel graduated magna cum laude from Harvard with a joint degree in Social Studies and Environmental Science & Public Policy. His master's degree is in Jewish Studies from the University of Cape Town in 2006. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 2009. In December 2009 he wed Julia Inge Bertelsmann.

He is the author of:

The Kasrils Affair: Jews and Minority Politics in the New South Africa

Don’t Tell Me Words Don’t Matter: How Rhetoric Won the 2008 Presidential Election

He is the Republican candidate for the 9th Congressional District trying to defeat 6 term incumbent Jan Schakowsky.

Here are some excerpts from the INN article:

A Conversation with Joel Pollak - Candidate for Chicago's 9th congressional district

As candidates from both sides of the aisle feverishly stump to achieve a victory in the upcoming November mid-term elections, pundits and opinion makers have been focusing on a small but highly significant race for Chicago's 9th congressional district. It is in this suburban Chicago setting where political neophyte Joel B. Pollak (R) is seeking to unseat the incumbent, Rep.Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) who is running for her seventh term in congress.

Israel National News spoke with Mr. Pollak, a soft spoken 33 year-old Orthodox Jew and Harvard trained lawyer who decided to throw his hat in the political ring for the very first time. "I grew up in a secular home but my parents and I became observant Jews and I learned first hand of the special significance that Israel holds for the Jewish people" says Pollak. "I love Israel – not just because it is my religious homeland, and not just because of my family roots there, but also because of the principle that it represents. The State of Israel stands for the idea that an oppressed people can take control of its own destiny, and build freedom and prosperity with nothing more than faith and hard work. It is the same idea that built America. That is why our two countries are so close, and will remain so," he declares.

Pollak, a resident of Skokie, a predominantly Jewish Chicago suburb, says that he is running for Congress because there is a failure of leadership in Washington and that the concerns of his constituents are not being addressed by their current representative. "I'm outraged that Congress did not raise their voices in indignation over the fact that "war crimes" were committed against Israel during the Gaza flotilla debacle. Our government should demand accountability from those responsible for this attempted act of murder against Israeli soldiers and that includes Turkey and Iran. We must immediately reassess our relationship with Turkey and those countries who foster terrorism. Israel is facing existential perils that are graver than they ever were before and my opponent just does not understand that. President Obama has made it okay to hate Israel," he intoned.

The Weekly Standard has reported that "Rep.Jan Schakowsky is one of the top recipients of campaign cash from J Street, the far-left organization that opposes Israel at every opportunity. It turns out that J Street has taken $750,000 from George Soros, despite the earlier denials of J Street executive director Jeremy Ben-Ami."

Moreover, at a recent Schakowsky fundraiser in Chicago, Helen Thomas, the former doyenne of the White House press corps appeared as the featured speaker and guest. Thomas, a long time pro-Palestinian apologist, achieved notoriety this past May 27th when she told Rabbi David Nesenoff after a White House Jewish Heritage event that the Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine" and went on to say that the Palestinian people “are occupied and it’s their land” and that Israelis should “go home” -- to Poland, Germany, America “and everywhere else.” Commenting on this, Mr. Pollak said, "Rep. Schakowsky and her guests were well aware of Thomas’s record of anti-Israel rhetoric, and were invited to distance themselves from her views. None did. Instead, Rep. Schakowsky declared proudly of Thomas: “She’s so awesome!”

On domestic issues Mr. Pollak stands in stark contrast to his opponent who has virtually rubber stamped the Obama agenda of redistribution of wealth, entitlements, government bailouts and health care reform. "I will introduce laws to roll back government interference in the economy. With appropriate regulations in place, the government should divest itself of the large chunks of the banking, insurance and automotive sectors it recently took over. We need to send the right signals to workers and entrepreneurs that the U.S. is once again a nation committed to free enterprise, job creation and economic growth", said Pollak.

On October 17th, Mr. Pollak received the endorsement of "To Protect Our Heritage" the Midwest's oldest and largest bi-partisan, pro-Israel PAC. Their endorsement statement said of Pollak: "We are convinced that Joel Pollak will be a stronger advocate for the critical relationship between our country and Israel. In seeking out ways to strengthen the ties and protect Israel, he will be helping both nations."Concerning Pollak's opponent, TPOH expressed their thoughts by saying, "Problematic are Rep. Schakowsky’s strong ties with individuals and groups such as J Street. J Streethas labeled itself as pro-Israel; however, its underlying mission has been revealed to be the weakening of bi-partisan Congressional support for Israel by, among other tactics, drawing away Democratic support for that relationship. Rep. Schakowsky, by her staunch support of J Street since its inception – and she has been a main if not the main beneficiary of J Street fundraising efforts – likely unwittingly threatens to make Israel a partisan issue between the two political parties."

Mr. Pollak has also been endorsed by Harvard law school professor Alan Dershowitz who was a featured speaker at his fundraising event.

Read the full article here.

For those of you who do not remember this man this might jar your memory:











Harvard student takes on Rep Frank




Pollak's opponent Jan Schakowsky supports J Street, the Obama Agenda and Helen Thomas.

Joel Pollak is showing himself to be a new breed of Chicago Politician.  Young, Conservative, and Republican.  He supports limited government, lower taxes and is a supporter of Israel.


I wish I lived in the 9th District.

Monkey in the Middle proudly endorses Joel Pollak for Congress.

Helen Thomas Officially a White House Press Corpse

by Maggie @ Maggie's Notebook

White House press crone, Helen Thomas, got herself in too deep for anyone to save her, and we can bet many tried. She says she will retire immediately. Perhaps she was shown the door by her employer, The Hearst Corporation. Hearst made the announcement of her "immediate" retirement today. Helen once said, "I think I'll work all my life. When you're having fun, why stop having fun?"  Someone decided to end her fun." As a member of the White House Press Corps, Helen is officially a White House Press Corpse. See videos below.

Helen Thomas 

(pearls receive cruel and unusual punishment from Helen)

A great irony in this story is that Thomas was invited by the White House to the Jewish Heritage Month reception at the White House on May 27th. She was born in Kentucky to immigrants from Tripoli, Lebanon. Her parents were Christian. She was raised in Detroit, Michigan. Should that matter? Apparently it does, and perhaps she still has family living in Lebanon who are Muslim.

The first question is, why would someone with apparent and out-spoken sympathies for "Palestine," be invited to the Jewish Heritage reception? A Jewish blogger attending the reception asked The Crone for a comment on Israel:

Helen Thomas 

When specifically asked about the Palestinian conflict, she told the reporter to "tell them (Israelis) to get the hell out of Palestine." Later in the interview she said the Israelis should go home to Poland or Germany, American, and everywhere else."

Over the last few years, Thomas has often revealed her anti-Semitic viewpoint. Without asking an honest question, she has tip-toed all around her support for Palestine, all-the-while perched on one of the coveted front row seats in the newly redone White House Press room, paid for by taxpayers, she has tried to keep a focus on Palestine.

In the first video below, taped after the Christmas Day Underpants Bomber attempted-attack, you'll hear her ask Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, why the government never explains their [jihadists] "motivation" to "do us harm" She's right about that. She wouldn't like the answer, though, if an honest answer was given. Helen's face doesn't lend itself to looking coy, but she tried her best.

One such White House Press Conference had the late Press Secretary Tony Snow thanking her for giving the "Hezbollah" view.

In March 2010 she chastised the White House for our "commitment" to keep Israel safe. At the same press conference she said "...it's against International Law to annex occupied land." It was convenient for both White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and Thomas not to mention that  Jordan sits on 77% of the landmass mandated for the Jewish homeland and today, Israel has the legal right to far more land than they have claimed. We never, ever hear this:

The Jewish homeland was to consist of all the land west of the Jordan River, stretching to the Mediterranean Sea - and including the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The the Arabs would not have it. The League of Nations dissolved into the United Nations and the problem was handed over to the U.N., including the trusteeship of the British mandate to make a Jewish state a reality. The Mandate stood.

U.N. Resolution 181, known also as the U.N. 1947 Partition Resolution, was passed by the U.N. General Assembly, and implemented but never accepted by the Arabs.

The land given to Jordan to be ruled by a Saudi son, in no way changed the status of the Jews west of the Jordan River, nor did it inhibit their right to settle anywhere in western Palestine, the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

These documents are the last legally binding documents regarding the status of what is commonly called "the West Bank and Gaza."
Arabs adore the U.N. They accept everything the U.N. says as Koranic. But they decided they would not accept a Jewish homeland and they have never wavered. Thomas must know, though that the Partition is legal, and if Israel wanted more land, they could legally take it, because there is law behind the mandates and the Partition. Israel has given up much in the quest for peace - a peace that never comes. Helen Thomas knows this.

Once more for emphasis, since the press won't touch this:

The Mandate survived the demise of the League of Nations. Article 80 of the UN Charter implicitly recognizes the “Mandate for Palestine” of the League of Nations.

This Mandate granted Jews the irrevocable right to settle anywhere in Palestine, the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, a right unaltered in international law and valid to this day. Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria (i.e. the West Bank), Gaza and the whole of Jerusalem are legal.

The International Court of Justice reaffirmed the meaning and validity of Article 80 in three separate cases: (read them here.)

In other words, neither the ICJ nor the UN General Assembly can arbitrarily change the status of Jewish settlement as set forth in the “Mandate for Palestine,” an international accord that has never been amended.

Everyone, including all of Hollywood, thinking Israel "stole" land in Palestine should do some research. Ask any Librarian. She/he will show you how.

Little did we know when Thomas sent out her invitation for all Jews to leave Israel, she was doing us a favor. She swathed it in evil, and hurt many people, but today she is gone from the front row of the White House Press room. Now she will be fawned over by the Left as a meaningful Matriarch for keeping the White House honest. What I love most is that whether by her design or at Heart's bidding, she is leaving immediately. Someone is very, very unhappy. There wasn't even time for a big D.C. retirement bash.




Helen Thomas Asks Homeland Security the "Motive" for Jihadists to harm us (video)




Helen Thomas tells Jews to "Get the Hell out of Palestine" (video)

Time For The Dinosaur To Go!

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

There is no love or even like for Israel among the members of the Main Stream Media, but what the supposed Dean of the White House Press Corp, Helen Thomas said went beyond Media Bias and right on to anti-Semitism.

Veteran Hearst newspaper journalist, known as the “dean” of White House reporters, exposed her bias on video by saying that Jews "should get the hell out of Palestine." She apologized for her comments on Saturday, but Jewish and non-Jewish leaders have called on the 89-year-old journalist to “hang up the typewriter” and retire.

Her remarks, along with her grilling of White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs over the flotilla clash last Monday, expose an anti-Israel bias that also was revealed in Associated Press coverage several days ago.

Thomas’ comments, including the statement that Jews should "go back home to Poland, Germany, America and everywhere else," were posted Friday on a YouTube video. She had been asked after the White House Jewish Heritage celebration last Sunday if she had "any comments on Israel."



Thomas, a daughter of Lebanese immigrants, replied to Rabbi David Nesenoff of RabbiLIVE.com, "Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine. Remember, these people are occupied and it's their land. Not Germany. Not Poland."

Asked where the Jews should go, she shot back, "They go home. Poland. Germany. And America and everywhere else."

After the video was posted, Thomas wrote on her web site, “I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians. They do not reflect my heartfelt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon.”

That did not satisfy critics. Beth Gilinsky, head of the Jewish Action Alliance, called for her immediate dismissal. Ari Fleischer, who was White House Press Secretary for former U.S. President George W. Bush, remarked, “She should lose her job over this. As someone who is Jewish, and as someone who worked with her and used to like her, I find this appalling.

"She is advocating religious cleansing. How can Hearst stand by her? If a journalist, or a columnist, said the same thing about blacks or Hispanics, they would already have lost their jobs."

Minnesota Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann said,” Once again the liberal media has shown its true colors. The White House media dinosaur, also known as Helen Thomas, has called on Jews to leave Israel and move back to Poland and Germany. This anti-Semitic sentiment has no place in our public discourse. I call upon her employer, [the] Hearst Corporation, to dismiss her at once. The White House needs to revoke her press credentials immediately."

Thomas’ bias was evident in her questioning of White House spokesman Gibbs. “The initial reaction to the flotilla massacre, deliberate massacre, an international crime, was pitiful,” she asserted.

Criticizing the Obama administration for not condemning Israel for the killing of nine terror activists who attacked Israel Navy commandos when the soldiers were virtually unarmed, Thomas added, “What is this sacrosanct ironclad relationship where a country that deliberately kills people and boycotts every aid and abet the boycott?” Gibbs responded, "Well, look, I think the initial reaction regretted the loss of life as we tried and as we still continue to gather the relevant.”

Thomas retorted, “Regret won’t bring them back…. Why didn’t you initially condemn it?... Who put the US in charge of the world?”

After the initial Associated Press report of the flotilla clash, the Washington Times exposed AP's bias for immediately jumping to the conclusion that Israel was to blame for the violence.

The AP had reported, "Dozens of activists and six Israeli soldiers were wounded in the bloody predawn confrontation in international waters. The violent takeover dealt yet another blow to Israel's international image.” After two days passed, the news service filed a more neutral report.

The IDF has released a video clip where one of the so called "human rights advocates" on the the flotilla boat that was the scene of the violent confrontation is shouting "Go back to Auschwitz" to the soldiers.

When Don Imus called the Rutgers University women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos"



The uproar cause him to lose his job, even after numerous apologies were made.  There was Al "Kill the Jews" Sharpton and Cynthia "The Jews Cost Me the Election" McKinney screaming in the streets of New York, Maxine Waters held special Congressional Hearings, and every media outlet was out for his blood.

Today we are hearing the outrage over Helen Thomas' remarks from the media:



I am not angry over this, I am furious over this. I am sick and tired of these idiot elites masquerading as journalist spouting out anti-Semitism, then when they start feeling the heat they issue such a bland apology figuring that the hoopla will die down.

Not this time. It is time for Helen Thomas to face the music.  It is time for this senile old bwitch is thrown out of the White House.  Put her out to pasture now!

If you are as  angry as I am, you can contact the Hearts Corporation via their Customer Service Agent:  Lisa Bagley.  Let Ms. Bagley know what you think of Helen Thomas and her employer Hearst.

For the record Ms. Thomas:

The majority of Jews in ISRAEL come from Arab nations not Europe.  They were forced out of those lands between 1949 and 1955.

The answer to this question is:

Who put the US in charge of the world?

The world did.  It is the US they turn to when they are in trouble.