A friend who was employed fundraising for a Democratic candidate was struck by all the interesting charities he came across when looking for the names of big givers. For example, there's the:
Friends of the Israel Defense Forces
Their job is to look after Israel. Ours is to look after them.
On Thursday, December 17th, more than 1,100 people filled the International Ballroom of The Beverly Hilton hotel to honor Israel's brave soldiers. The annual LA Gala, which was once again chaired by Cheryl & Haim Saban, was completely sold out by the first of December and set a new record raising $5.2 million in support of a variety of programs that ease the burden and further the wellbeing of Israel's soldiers.
Jason Alexander served as Master of Ceremonies for the event... In announcing that the Gala had raised $1.6 million, Gala Chair Haim Saban stated that he and his wife, Cheryl, would be matching that total "dollar for dollar."
Haim Saban, owner of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, is, of course, one of the top donors to the Democratic National Committee, the Brookings Institute, and the Clinton Foundation. He was a key supporter of Hillary Clinton's run for the Democratic nomination in 2008.
Saban's donations are, apparently, tax-deductible:
"Headquartered in New York City, FIDF is a 501c3 not-for-profit corporation that operates 13 regional offices in the United States and two offices in Latin America."
Saban is a dual citizen of Israel and America. He was born in Alexandria, then moved to Israel due to the 1956 Suez Canal war, and then moved to America in 1975.
Presumably, Saban took the Oath of Allegiance when he became a U.S. citizen. I don't know what the exact wording of the Oath of Allegiance was when he took it, but it currently reads:
"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."
Who do we think we're kidding with this Oath? (Not Haim Saban, that's for sure.)
About 14000 US jews serve in the IDF but not in US army
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of Haim Sabans in our country's political, media, and business establishment.
ReplyDeleteOnce you remember that, our country's various Middle Easern foreign policy initiatives, especially from 2002 onward, make a lot more sense.
In general, if you want to get something done in this country, it doesn't hurt to have Rahm Emmanuel, Marty Peretz, Alan Dershowitz, Sheldon Adelson, Michael Steinhardt, and Joe Lieberman on your side.
There's nothing wrong with being race-loyal. And Jews are certainly that. I am not surprised or chagrined that they go to benefits for the Jewish army in Israel. It is their army, after all, tasked to fight for Jews in Israel and indeed all over the world, if necessary to save Jewish lives. What a comfort it would be if OUR army here in America cared as much for us of the American nation.
ReplyDeleteAnd I can understand Saban's dual citizenship. Although his love for the Jewish nation is obviously first and foremost, he cannot become rich in Israel. He needs to live off of gentiles to get rich, and that means he has to have the protection of gentile nations such as the American nation.
The Chinese flooding California and British Columbia are no different. They, too, need a safe haven and (to a lesser extent, since the Chinese poor are so easily exploited) a people they can make serious money off of.
What puzzles me is that so many people of the American nation do not believe that Market Dominant Minorities have this rather cold, practical attitude. They think immigration to and citizenship in America have something to do with some sort of magical love of the culture and the American nation, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
I think it may be a bit of a stretch to claim that you (or I) offer more for the well-being of the United States as an entity than does dual citizen Haim Saban. Egypt's loss, US/Israel's gain, seems to me. Also I think it's notable that he seems to back the more technocratic WASP female politician archetype than you do. Are you doing anything more than rent-seeking here, Mr. Sailer? This particular posture and choice of foil seems to me to be all deadweight without redemption.
ReplyDeleteHopefully Anonymous
http://www.hopeanon.typepad.com
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
ReplyDeleteBig Bill, I see you remain sadly unaware American Exceptionalism.
Instead of casting such a wary and jaundiced eye on the immigrants that helped to build this greatest nation on God's green Earth, why don't you tune into Sean Hannity or Michael Medved tomorrow morning so they can talk some direly needed sense into you?
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
I think it may be a bit of a stretch to claim that you (or I) offer more for the well-being of the United States as an entity than does dual citizen Haim Saban. Egypt's loss, US/Israel's gain, seems to me.
ReplyDeleteYes. Purchasing the licensing rights to the Japanese kids' show "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" and distributing the show in the United States has done wonders for our well-being that surely surpass any possible cost or harm Saban's extracurricular activities may have engendered.
It is one thing to be born a dual national, but it quite another to be a dual national after you have been naturalized. I think it's illegal. You have to give up other nationalities when you are naturalized.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting shift has taken place among American Jews. Up to the advent of the NeoCons, the primary force in American Jewish political culture had been subversion. Thus their dominance of the civil rights, feminist and gay 'movements', and the hippie counter-culture for examples. They used grievance causes and cultural rot to undermine WASP culture and to get more power for themselves.
ReplyDeleteNow that Jewish Americans dominate finance, politics and journalism, there's less phony concern for the schwartzes. Red diaper babies became Jewish supremacists. Now it's Israel. All the time. Step aside Emma Goldman and Allen Ginsberg, Haim Saban and Abe Foxman are here.
'About 14000 US Jews serve in the IDF but not in the US army'
ReplyDeleteSo? Lots of Americans served in the British and Canadian armies (particularly the RAF) between 1939 and 1941 but not in the US army.
Good for them.
And should I remind people here the huge numbers of Americans who served in the CSA army 1861-65 (but they are your heroes).
What would you think of someone who became an immigrant to the US and served in that army?
One of the main characters in 'Gone with the Wind' is an Irish immigrant to the US who I suppose swore allegiance to the US and then sided with the Confederacy.
One of the contributors to the VDare site goes by the nme of 'Patrick Cleburne', the name of a CSA major general who was an immigrant to the US.
Ah yes another hero.
Would you like me to make a list of the immigrants to the US who fought against it?
The best thing I read was that Teller openly traveled to Israel during his tenure as chief as the US Atomic Agency, and explained to them what they must do to obtain atomic weapons. In fact he even helped them with thermonuclear weapons. Its in Wikipedia and nobody in the MSM bothers to check it up. That is so in your face yet Israel tells us they don't have weapons.
ReplyDeleteEither US security is clueless or the top decision-makers felt OK with his actions. And this is going back into the 60’s and 70’s.
Oy vey!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, "I said" -- it is schvartze, not schwartze. Second of all, lots of immigrants to this country continue to support their homelands through various charities and when those homelands are under attack, it makes perfect sense for the immigrants to want to support the troops from their country of origin. Nothing nefarious or un-American about this support.
"Also I think it's notable that he seems to back the more technocratic WASP female politician archetype than you do."
ReplyDeleteIt could be that he is attracted more to the "it takes a village" ethos of Hillary rather than any belief in her technocratic skills. Check out the bio of Saban's wife.
Haim Saban, owner of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, is, of course, one of the top donors to the Democratic National Committee, the Brookings Institute, and the Clinton Foundation.
ReplyDeleteNothing to see there, of course. Gotta love how that works.
All together, I'm a little Hebrew short and stout, here are my purse strings, here is my clout.
I'm a dual citizen. I was born (and raised) in Canada. My father (who was born and raised in Arizona) took me to the US embassy in Calgary when I was 17 and had me sworn in as a US citizen. I've lived in the US since I was 21.
ReplyDeleteI've often wondered about competing loyalties in this regard. Apart from trade disputes, there aren't any serious issues to be divided over. I will root for the Canadians over Americans at the Olympics, but that's irrelevant.
The US does strike me as a more serious nation than Canada in some respects (though I wish that they would take immigration more seriously - at least as seriously as Canada takes it), and I imagine I'll die here, as my wife and children were all born here.
I'm inclined to project my background on all dual citizens, but I have to stop myself from doing this.
Haaretz has photos of IDF soldiers sporting t-shirts described thusly:
ReplyDeletePicture: “Palestinian woman with child as a shooting target
Text: “Kill them while they’re small”
And there are those among us who are supporting this?
On the heels of the survey question that asked "Which country did the U.S. win its independence from", a good followup would be "Which country has more people, England or Israel". My guess is that more than half the respondents wont realize that the country they here about on the news every night has less people than the top 20 Chinese cities.
ReplyDeleteThere are more Muslims, and Black Muslims, that have charities for say, Hezbollah, or Hamas, or Al Qaeda, that actually threaten US citizens and well, kill them.
ReplyDeleteI would not worry too much about Haim Saban, versus Muslims and Black Muslims raising money to kill Americans. If Haim Saban raises money for the IDF, which is officially an ally and which Obama officially embraces, that's not a problem. The US officially sends aid to Israel, military and otherwise, and thus has a claim on what Israel does, and can exert pressure to make Israel do things it would not otherwise do.
Money sent to Hezbollah, to kill Americans, or AQ affiliates, is far more risky.
Let's review: Israel and Jews -- allies of the US, with fundamental congruent interests (i.e. Western society). Muslims -- fundamental enemies of America, desiring sky high oil prices and domination by sharia/polygamy of all of the West.
There are not many Israelis and Jews, and they make an excellent proxy force to do things we'd like (bomb Syria's nuke facilities) but find inconvenient to do openly. There are very many Muslims, who will always (oil prices, sharia, polygamy) be our enemies, no deal or anything else to the contrary.
Israel also throws off lots of nifty medical advances, Muslim just throw off terrorism.
This to me sounds like a no brainer.
[Muslims actually KILL little Jewish kids, including one famous incident where a Hamas terrorist bashed in the head of a six year old girl. Because she was a Jew. Muslims have made no secret of their killing of all Jews they can, and their intent to wipe all Jews out. Followed by the rest of the infidels -- Us. As a matter of record Palestinians celebrated 9/11 with guns, fireworks, and candies handed out to kids. To me this simply cements them as my enemy, regardless of what Eurotrash weenies think to get in Sting or Elvis Costello's good graces.]
Purchasing the licensing rights to the Japanese kids' show "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" and distributing the show in the United States has done wonders for our well-being
ReplyDeleteActually, yes. It has done wonders for well-being of millions of American kids, including my son, who used to love, love, love that show.
To me this simply cements them as my enemy, regardless of what Eurotrash weenies think to get in Sting or Elvis Costello's good graces.
ReplyDeleteWell, sure Whiskey, that's because you're Jewish. If you actually accept your own dubious premises, then you'd be a fool not to consider them enemies. Non-Jews might want to make up their own minds.
@Whiskey
ReplyDeleteIsrael is "officially an ally?" Since when?
They're a a "Major non-NATO ally," but that means very little-so is Argentina. In terms of what people usually mean when they say "ally," Israel is not our ally.
Contrast Israel with countries like Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Romania, which are NATO members (and thus really are our allies: we actually have a treaty of formal alliance with them.) Would we show the tolerance for a dual citizen Bulgarian-American raising money for the Bulgarian military that we show to Haim Saban's fund-raising for the IDF?
'About 14000 US Jews serve in the IDF but not in the US army'
ReplyDeleteanonymouse:should I remind people here the huge numbers of Americans who served in the CSA army 1861-65
So an Alabamian fighting for the army representing the region (CSA) he's from is no different than a NY Jew fighting for the army of a country (Israel) he is not from. Got it.
"Abjur[ing] allegiance or fidelity" doesn't have to mean abjuring all sympathy. Saban retains a warm place in his heart for Israel. You can't expect him, or anyone else, to hold totally impartial feelings about the countries of the world.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, how can it be wrong for an American citizen to send money to help a foreign country, when our government has a foreign aid budget?