June 27, 2013

Jewish Daily Forward: "Jews Unite Behind Push for Immigration Reform"

From the Jewish Daily Forward:
Jews Unite Behind Push for Immigration Reform
Ethics and Self-Interest Drive Unusual Nationwide Effort

By Rex Weiner 
Published June 26, 2013. 
... “It’s about the right thing to do,” said Robert Gittelson, co-founder of Conservatives for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, and a Republican. In op-ed pieces and interviews, Gittelson, a retired Jewish businessman from California’s San Fernando Valley, has called certain GOP strategies on immigration reform “un-biblical” and “cruel.”

... After months of delay, the U.S. Senate is set to vote on the most comprehensive immigration reform legislation in 27 years. And Jewish groups across the country are acting together in a way characteristic of the community on few issues besides Israel. 
... Those leading an active push for the bill, which will offer a path to citizenship for some of the nation’s 11 million undocumented aliens, include the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Bend the Arc and the National Council of Jewish Women.
The Senate vote — and the even harder struggle that will follow in the Republican-controlled House — represents the fulfillment of a sustained campaign by the Jewish community for immigration reform, which has built momentum over the past decade. 
Whether or not the necessary votes are mustered from both houses to land a historic immigration law reform bill on President Obama’s desk, Jewish outreach, particularly in the Southwest — home to the largest share of America’s emerging and increasingly powerful ethnic and interfaith populations — promises to be politically and socially influential beyond the issue it addresses. 
California, with 2.6 million undocumented residents, is a front line in the battle for this reform. And a Jewish establishment ever mindful of its need to operate through alliances and coalitions to advance its own interests is not blind to the implications of the issue in a country whose demography is shifting rapidly. In addition to working with Latino groups, the ADL’s Southwest regional office has forged alliances with Asian groups representing undocumented Koreans, Chinese, Filipino and other Asian Pacific immigrants in the Southland. 
“It’s the ethical thing to do,” said HIAS president and CEO Mark Hetfield, of the community’s immigration reform activism. But he quickly added, “It’s in our strategic interest.” 
Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, reflects the deepening relationship that Jewish groups are developing through their visibility on the immigration issue. 
“I really admire the way that the Jewish community has gone deep in support of immigration reform,” Salas told the Forward. A 15-year veteran of immigration rights activism, Salas fondly recalled a 2006 mass mobilization, when a procession through L.A. streets began with a cantor blowing a shofar and singing “Let my people stay!” 
Salas counted efforts by Jewish organizations as second only to Catholic groups in their impact. ... 
The Ford Foundation recently awarded a two-year $1 million grant to the AJC’s Bridging America Project, which is planning “joint advocacy workshops in Dallas, New York and Washington, D.C.; a ‘national conversation’ among Latino and Jewish leaders about issues of mutual concern, and conferences in Houston, Miami and New Jersey on the economic benefits of immigration, among other activities. 
Salas has also worked closely with the ADL, which keeps a keen eye on extremist groups that have set up vigilante patrols on the border between the United States and. Mexico. An ADL study reported that “violent incidents against illegal immigrants have been brutal and are occurring with greater regularity, further intensifying the atmosphere of fear and suspicion on both sides of the border.” The ADL has also tracked a rise in hate crimes, discrimination cases and bigotry against Latinos. 
In L.A. — a city where Latinos are nearly half the population and whose new mayor, Eric Garcetti, boasts both Jewish and Mexican heritage — Salas’s group also works with the Progressive Jewish Alliance, the Jewish Labor Committee and Bend the Arc, a progressive national Jewish group, in pushing for immigrant labor protections. 
“It’s not a one-way street,” Salas said. When it comes to Israel, the Latina activist suggested, the two groups’ relationship may help to modify anti-Israel viewpoints and foster dialogue rather than demonization. “It comes up,” Salas said, referring to the Middle East issue, “and there’s a perspective: ‘Isn’t this [U.S. treatment of Latinos] the same as in Israel with the Palestinians?’ It’s an opportunity to talk that through, to talk in the context of global immigrant policy, where people can be critical, but in good faith.” 
Newly arrived Latinos tend to show higher rates of anti-Semitism, said Amanda Susskind, the ADL’s Pacific Southwest regional director. She attributed the phenomenon, which shows up in surveys, to “exposure to some religious teachings.” But the next generation, she said, is no different in its relationship with Jews than the rest of Americans. 
Asians are also active in coalitions with Jewish groups addressing immigration issues. “We appreciate the partnership with our Jewish allies,” said Betty Hung, policy director of the L.A.–based Asian Pacific American Legal Center. An estimated 3 million undocumented U.S. residents are Asian. California counts the nation’s largest Asian population without legal resident status — about 400,000. 
APALC has been an active participant in the ADL’s Asian Jewish Initiative, founded in 2006, which brings together civic, business, academic and faith leaders in the L.A. community for social mixers, awards dinners and educational programs. 
For all this organizational solidarity, opponents of the reform legislation are not hard to find in the Jewish community. 
One outspoken Jewish opponent is Stephen Steinlight, a former director of national affairs for AJC who criticizes the bill as “amnesty” for illegal immigrants and opposes any “pathway to citizenship” for them. 
“My views changed,” he told the Forward, explaining his break with the AJC and his alliance with the conservative Center for Immigrations Studies. “AJC made no distinction between legal and illegal immigration,” he said. 
Steinlight, who characterizes the pro-reform Jewish leaders as “do-gooders leaning over backwards for the aggrieved,” sees immigration as a threat to American workers, especially under-employed African Americans. Groups like AJC and HIAS, he said, are “trying to make amends for doing nothing for Jews during the Holocaust.” 
Diamond acknowledged that views similar to Steinlight’s are not hard to find. “To my dismay, I have heard more than a few voices in the Jewish community — rabbis I respect, and other leaders — who have said to me, ‘This is not our problem,’” Diamond said. “My response is that this is very much a Jewish issue, one of the most critical issues facing us in this country, and certainly here in Southern California.” 
For Wendy Braitman, a member of IKAR, the L.A. Jewish congregation led by Rabbi Sharon Brous that has made social activism a mitzvah, it’s also personal. “I feel like it’s my story,” she said. Braitman embodies the grassroots dimension of much of the Jewish activism on this issue. In April, Braitman sat in Senator Dianne Feinstein’s Washington office with a group of interfaith activists who paid their own way from the California lawmaker’s home state to lobby her. “I told her I was Jewish,” said Braitman, “and that the issue was of importance to Jews all over the country. As Jews we know what it’s like to live in the shadows.”

Wasn't that the subtitle to Barbra Streisand's autobiography? Barbra! A Life in the Shadows. Or am I thinking of Barbara Walters?
On the pro-reform Jewish right, meanwhile, support comes with the some of the same caveats that many conservatives have been using to hold up the pending legislation: that undocumented residents should be treated as lawbreakers who will be subjected to fines and blocked from full citizenship even if allowed to stay as permanent residents. Border security must also be beefed up, they demand, as a pre-condition to any reform. 
Matthew Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, emphasized that the final legislative package must be a bill that “addresses the challenges of illegal immigration and securing our borders in a way that will win the support and trust of the American people.” 
As an entrepreneur who built a successful garment manufacturing business, Gittelson is also focused on the bill’s labor implications. For one thing, Gittelson would like to see the cap on guest-worker visas — topped off in the Senate bill at 200,000 per year — match the actual demand for labor, which he says is 300,000 annually at the lowest. 
“The Senate bill shortchanges the economy,” Gittelson maintained. He blamed unions for setting the low quota. “We need a free-market solution, not a union solution,” he said. 
Gittelson’s CCIR co-founder is Samuel Rodriguez, a politically conservative evangelical Christian who is president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. Despite their reservations, Gittelson said, he and Rodriguez are standing with progressives on immigration reform. “When it comes to this issue, we see eye to eye, or at least 90%.” He has recently joined AJC’s Immigration Task Force. 
In Washington, as the bill has been pulled apart and slapped together, the Jewish community has advanced strong arguments for what should be in it — and what shouldn’t. 
Family reunification is high on the list of must-haves. Border security is ranked low. Border security is a valid concern, Diamond acknowledged, something he learned firsthand on his trip to the border near Tijuana. “But the issue is how we are deploying our resources,” he said. “Are we targeting gun smugglers and sex traffickers, or are we targeting that 27-year old man who’s been deported and is trying to get back to his family?” 
The legislative package submitted to the Senate also notably does not include the Uniting American Families Act, sponsored by Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy. This measure would have allowed an American citizen or permanent resident who was lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender to petition for immigrant status on behalf of his or her same-sex partner as an immediate relative. 
This aspect of the bill is crucial to many Jewish activists. A coalition of nearly 100 New York interfaith leaders, including 37 rabbis, signed a letter to New York Senator Charles Schumer, urging his support for equal protections for LGBT Americans and their families. To their dismay, Schumer convinced his Democratic colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee to drop the measure from the bill, arguing that its inclusion would cost the support of key Republicans. Citing their own head counts, many of the measure’s supporters vehemently reject this argument. 
One victory that was won by Jews is a provision that directly involves Jewish interests: The Lautenberg Amendment, first passed in 1989, granted immigrant status to victims of religious persecution in their native lands. The law allowed the emigration of hundreds of thousands of Soviet Jews and was extended in 2004 to cover Christians, Baha’is, Jews and other religious minorities fleeing Iran. 
The law continues to assist religious minorities from those countries and from Southeast Asia. The new bill makes the law — which previously required annual renewal by Congress — permanent. Jewish activists saw that win as a fitting tribute to the late New Jersey senator Frank Lautenberg. 
Ira Handelman, chair of AJC’s Los Angeles Public Policy Committee, said that if and when the legislation becomes law, the interfaith and immigrant-activist coalitions in which Jewish organizations are now involved may move on to tackle other issues. These include the ongoing national debates over education policy, economic development and social justice, apart from immigration. 
“Just because they sign something,” Handelman said, “doesn’t mean that’s the end. It’s the beginning.” 
Contact Rex Weiner at rexweiner@forward.com

As I pointed out in 2010, polls show that these kind of extremist views on immigration are much less common among regular Jewish-Americans than among their self-proclaimed leaders.
... But, this healthy state of affairs is bad for the balance sheets of a few powerful organizations. 
All this suggests that that fundamentalist frenzy of Ellis Island kitsch ethnocentrism that currently dominates acceptable thought about immigration has less to do with average Jewish-American citizens than it has to do with the déformation professionnelle of the leaders of explicitly Jewish organizations, of organizations such as the SPLC that are implicitly Jewish because, as Willie Sutton said about why he robbed banks, that's where the money is; and the media types who interact with them. 
Hence, the key to understanding many of the reigning irrationalities in American thought is to understand that déformation professionnelle. Since those interest groups have declared themselves off-limits to critical analysis (literally, in the very name of the Anti-Defamation League), however, don't expect anybody to learn anything.

76 comments:

  1. What a load of hogwash. Do these people really think that their efforts will somehow turn all those Mexicans into hard-core Zionists?

    Heck, here in California uber-Likudnick Howard Berman lost his House seat because of redistricting brought on by the Hispanic tidal wave. Some victory for their side.

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  2. "As an entrepreneur who built a successful garment manufacturing business, Gittelson is also focused on the bill’s labor implications. For one thing, Gittelson would like to see the cap on guest-worker visas — topped off in the Senate bill at 200,000 per year — match the actual demand for labor, which he says is 300,000 annually at the lowest."

    Yeah, this Gittelson guy sounds like a disinterested judge of labor needs....

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  3. "Diamond acknowledged that views similar to Steinlight’s are not hard to find. “To my dismay, I have heard more than a few voices in the Jewish community — rabbis I respect, and other leaders — who have said to me, ‘This is not our problem,’” Diamond said. “"

    ....Yeah, but who cares about those losers?The're just assimilated Jews who have lost touch with the memories of their immigrant ancestors...plus, they probably don't even own garment manufacturing businesses like Gittelson (If you can't trust a guy in the rag trade...)

    SYON

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  4. Taki's Filthy Foreign Lucre6/27/13, 4:17 PM

    From the article:

    "Salas counted efforts by Jewish organizations as second only to Catholic groups in their impact".

    We all know that Steve cares about immigration first and foremost and would never misrepresent the debate just to play to the prejudices of the readers who fund his pledge drives. So naturally, I assumed he must have written lots of posts discussing and criticizing the role the Catholic Church has played in promoting illegal immigration and amnesty. You can imagine my surprise when I discovered he hadn't written even one.

    Oh well. I guess he's just been really busy and he'll get to it any day now.

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  5. The jewish press is a gold mine.

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  6. While Foreign Born Hispanics appear to be softening on gay rights they are more anti-Semitic than the general population.


    http://archive.adl.org/PresRele/ASUS_12/6154_12.htm

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  7. Do these people really think that their efforts will somehow turn all those Mexicans into hard-core Zionists?


    They know they can buy the Mexican leaders. Antonio Villaraigosa spent most of his time burying his face in some jewish organization leader's backside during his eight years as mayor.

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  8. “It’s the ethical thing to do,” said HIAS president and CEO Mark Hetfield, of the community’s immigration reform activism. But he quickly added, “It’s in our strategic interest.”

    MMMM, seeing as how I have a Jewish mother , that makes me one of those people that Mr Hatfield is "representing." Somehow, I fail to see how legalizing millions of Mestizos is in my "strategic interest." Of course, I don't own a garment manufacturing business and I don't really care how chummy Hispanics feel about Israel...I only care about the long term good of America....Guess that means that my opinions don't count.

    SYON

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  9. I don't think Steve has ever been shy about criticizing the Catholic Church. But continue wailing and worrying everyone is out to get "the jews."

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  10. Ethics and Self-Interest Drive Unusual Nationwide Effort.

    Does giving millions of random strangers property that belongs to someone else in order to further one's own interests count as ethical?

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  11. "As an entrepreneur who built a successful garment manufacturing business, Gittelson is also focused on the bill’s labor implications. For one thing, Gittelson would like to see the cap on guest-worker visas — topped off in the Senate bill at 200,000 per year — match the actual demand for labor, which he says is 300,000 annually at the lowest."

    Yeah, this Gittelson guy sounds like a disinterested judge of labor needs....

    That was me (SYON). Forgot to post my nom du net

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  12. Both Assange and Snowden are handsome white gentile males.

    There used to a whole bunch of Jewish leakers of information, especially in the 60s and 70s. Where are they now? It's like most Jews are now working to keep secrets hid.

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  13. Taki's Filthy Foreign Lucre6/27/13, 4:37 PM

    I don't think Steve has ever been shy about criticizing the Catholic Church. But continue wailing and worrying everyone is out to get "the jews."

    Then I'm sure you'll have no problem pointing to those posts I missed where he criticizes the Church for its role in promoting immigration, right?

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  14. Quoting the Jewish Daily Forward is anti-Semitic.

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  15. Let in 40 million anti-semites.
    Affirmative action to make sure they eventually control a mainstream microphone to rail against Jewish bankers, Jewish media and Jewish politicians. Publicly fire them and expose Jewish bias. And then, WINNING! The Jews stole Charlie Sheen's playbook.

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  16. Hey, if Steve wants to write an article critical of the Catholic church, I'm all for it. After all, Emmanuel Celler did have one Catholic grandfather.

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  17. We all know that Steve cares about immigration first and foremost and would never misrepresent the debate just to play to the prejudices of the readers who fund his pledge drives. So naturally, I assumed he must have written lots of posts discussing and criticizing the role the Catholic Church has played in promoting illegal immigration and amnesty. You can imagine my surprise when I discovered he hadn't written even one.


    The Catholic Church's role is derivative of the Jewish role.

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  18. "The ADL has also tracked a rise in hate crimes, discrimination cases and bigotry against Latinos."

    Yeah, well, who do you think the perpertrators are? The American negro maybe? No they can't be racist.

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  19. Anonydroid at 4:41 PM said: Glenn Greenwald, who published Snowden's leaks, is Jewish.

    Hunsdon said: That's a righteous Jew, right there. I don't agree with him on a lot of things, but he's right about the dangers of the surveillance state, and he hasn't changed his tune with changing administrations.

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  20. This academic discussion of 'induced altruism' is worth a read:

    "Deception will usually be deployed, both in oneself and against others, as a means of inducing altruistic sacrifices in others. The consequence of induced altruism is that one is preyed upon, parasitized, manipulated, exploited, and generally maneuvered into a self-sacrifice which one would not have wanted to make. Self-awareness is an obvious defense against such manipulations because if I can become aware of what I am doing——particularly in relation to my real self-interest——then I may be able to prevent it, get out of it, or modify its worst effects."

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  21. Does giving millions of random strangers property that belongs to someone else in order to further one's own interests count as ethical?

    LOL.

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  22. If read the comments to that article, they're all hostile.

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  23. "What a load of hogwash. Do these people really think that their efforts will somehow turn all those Mexicans into hard-core Zionists?"

    Jews know mexers will be more anti-gringo than anti-Jewish. Besides, 'more antisemitic' is a codeword for 'not worshiping Jews yet'.

    Red China wasn't pro-American but Nixon used it against white Russia.
    Nixon tried to use browns against libs, but libs can play the same game.

    You don't have to make alliances with people who like you as long as that people happen to dislike your enemies more than they dislike you.

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  24. Quoting the Jewish Daily Forward is anti-Semitic.

    Yeah, the Forward agrees, and it has erased its annual "Forward 50" lists for 2002 and 2003 from the internet to prevent us from doing so.

    Steve Silver (!) reported in Nov. 2003:

    "TWO STEPS FORWARD... The Jewish newspaper the Forward last week unveiled its annual Forward 50, or the 50 most influential American Jews. Topping the list for the second straight year was Paul Wolfowitz, the Deputy Secretary of Defense seen by most as the principal architect of the Iraq war."

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  25. Anonydroid at 5:52 PM said: If read the comments to that article, they're all hostile.

    Hunsdon replied: Indeed, sir---and all Jewish. So we have Jews arguing with Jews about what is good for the Jews.

    It is my opinion that perhaps there should be a gentile seat at the table. Our country too, eh wot?

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  26. For those who are interested, Niall Ferguson has an article out on the American Dream which points to the decline of economic and social mobility in the US -- to the extent that social mobility is greater in the UK and much of Europe than in the US.

    Needless to say, he makes no mention of how flooding American society with illiterate poor from Latin America might have something to do with this.

    The American Dream and its promise of social mobility -- another thing you can kiss goodbye if these people get their way.

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  27. Jews are the smart Gypsies, or Gypsies the stupid Jews. Why can't diaspora Jews (or, in fairness, the ones who matter in politics and media) respect their host societies, in particular the one that has treated them better than any other in human history (and better than either ancient or modern Israel)?

    The United States -- the Anglo-Saxon Protestant United States -- has been extraordinarily good for God's Chosen Herrnvolk: wealth that would have been the envy of Croesus; virtually no anti-Jewish violence or even legal disability -- ever; power -- political, economic, cultural -- that every other 2% minority in any given country could only dream about; and, best of all, free access to scads of shtup-able shiksa goddesses (never underestimate the importance of that benefit to Nice Jewish Boys; no religious or Shoah-guilt-mongering propaganda about Eretz Yisrael can match the lure of the shiksa).

    Where is the gratitude? Why the self-destructive obsession with destroying the civilization that has become your own race's historic zenith?

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  28. This attitude is replicated among Irish-Americans who are older and established. Its always 1845 with these folks. Even though they have no relatives at all in Ireland.

    And yeah, the CATHOLIC CHURCH is first and foremost behind Amnesty/Open Borders. And far more influential. Number of Catholics in America = 50*Number of Jews in America. Total Aggregate Catholic Wealth in America = 70*Aggregate Jewish Wealth in America.

    Noah172 -- Jews in Europe, save the UK, generally faced fairly substantial discrimination, from Dreyfus on the mild end to total bans on entering the military, politics, and central banking among others. Then there was this thing in Europe, late thirties early forties, you may have heard of it.

    Ironically, when Jews in the US had a "Gentlemen's Agreement," they were pro-US, pro-Christian America: Sam Goldwyn, Louis B. Mayer, Jack Warner, Jack Kirby, Bob Kane, Stan Lee, Siegel and Schuster.

    Jewish support for mass immigration which helps only a few Jews and ends say, most ethnic Jewish political careers in West LA, and hurts ordinary Jews, is a measure of status-seeking short term thinking. Importing a mass of Indio pagan-Catholics who have the attitudes of Spain circa 1550, is a massively stupid idea, but so is handing over political power to Blacks in Chicago, and that city is as dead as Detroit, it just does not know it yet. See Lehman Brothers, Behr Stearns, AIG, etc. People often do stupid things for short term gains and long term disaster. Jews are no different from other Whites (and yes they are White) in immigration stupidity. See McCain, Grahamnesty, Ayotte, Marco Rubio etc.

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  29. Auntie Analogue6/27/13, 7:30 PM


    "As an entrepreneur who built a successful garment manufacturing business, Gittelson" runs a business in an industry notorious here in the U.S. and all over the world for its sweatshops that grind production from low-to-semi-skilled, heavily burdened, woefully underpaid laborers.

    Well, no wonder, then, that Gittelson is Mr. Pro-Shamnesty. For him illegal immigration and Shamnesty is all gravy.

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  30. the long awaited great sephardic-ashkenazi crypto-merger.

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  31. Where is the gratitude? Why the self-destructive obsession with destroying the civilization that has become your own race's historic zenith?

    Country Clubs and Harvard!

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  32. As I pointed out in 2010, polls show that these kind of extremist views on immigration are much less common among regular Jewish-Americans than among their self-proclaimed leaders

    But they are more common among the average Jew than they are among the average white gentile.

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  33. We all know that Steve cares about immigration first and foremost and would never misrepresent the debate just to play to the prejudices of the readers who fund his pledge drives. So naturally, I assumed he must have written lots of posts discussing and criticizing the role the Catholic Church has played in promoting illegal immigration and amnesty. You can imagine my surprise when I discovered he hadn't written even one.

    The Catholic Church does not have the power that Jews have in the United States. If they did, abortion would be illegal.

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  34. The jewish press is a gold mine

    It will probably stop being a gold mine once it becomes common knowledge that gentiles are reading it.

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  35. Does giving millions of random strangers property that belongs to someone else in order to further one's own interests count as ethical?

    The correct title should have been Jewish Ethics and Self-Interest Drive Unusual Nationwide Effort

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  36. Then I'm sure you'll have no problem pointing to those posts I missed where he criticizes the Church for its role in promoting immigration, right?

    If you want to read anti-Catholic stuff just check out the New York Times and all the other Jewish controlled media in the United States.

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  37. On a CSMonitor and a TheHill article and a site I didn't notate, I've had to point out that Gittleson was in the "rag trade" and is married to an immig. lawyer.

    In an ideal world, or even a slightly more ideal world, I would have gotten some backup in that. Others would have helped me call out on Twitter the reporters who failed to note his obvious monetary interest.

    And, that's why things are the way they are: few people are willing to do things that are effective such as working to discredit pro-amnesty reporters.

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  38. Whiskey sez: Ironically, when Jews in the US had a "Gentlemen's Agreement," they were pro-US, pro-Christian America: Sam Goldwyn, Louis B. Mayer, Jack Warner, Jack Kirby, Bob Kane, Stan Lee, Siegel and Schuster.

    Hunsdon said: Gentlemen, I asked, and I received. (Man of Steel comment, 7:33 PM) Looks around. My work is done here. Carry on.

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  39. Average Joe said: It will probably stop being a gold mine once it becomes common knowledge that gentiles are reading it.

    Hunsdon said: Oy! The gatekeepers, where are they?

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  40. It was tl;dr, but I did get to the mention of the "Jewish community." Same as when Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are the "black community." A very large majority of Jewish Americans wants to restrict immigration. It's the elite, not the Jewish majority, whose views are represented in the article quoted here.

    When the Gentile elite goes against the Gentile majority on immigration, it's the elite. When the Jewish elite goes against the Jewish majority on immigration, it's the Jews.

    While a large majority of Jews wants to restrict immigration, that majority is lower than with non-Jews. But here's a question I've been asking for a long time; apparently none of these quantitative, scientific anti-Semites are interested in answering it. How do Jewish opinions on immigration and other issues differ from non-Jewish opinions when you consider social and economic factors like education, income, geographical location, etc.? For example, how do Jewish, post-grad educated, upper-middle class suburbanites in the Northeast differ from non-Jewish, post-grad educated, upper-middle class suburbanites in the Northeast in their views on immigration?

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  41. So Whiskey how's this white wimmen's fault again?

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  42. "respect their host societies, in particular the one that has treated them better than any other in human history"

    How do we know? If you destroy a civilization then you're the one who gets to write the history afterwards so maybe Rome, Persia, Babylon and Egypt were just as good to them as the US.

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  43. And yeah, the CATHOLIC CHURCH is first and foremost behind Amnesty/Open Borders. And far more influential. Number of Catholics in America = 50*Number of Jews in America. Total Aggregate Catholic Wealth in America = 70*Aggregate Jewish Wealth in America.

    Aggregate wealth means zilch, because it is unfocused. One guy with a billion dollars has literally infinitely more clout than 10,000 people with $100,000 each. Because those 10,000 people have no clout whatsoever. Nor do ten million people with $100K each.

    This is why the rich are never quite rich enough to satisfy themselves. You can never be too rich.

    The Catholic Church no longer has the tinniest shred of political influence. Which is good because they are pretty much wrong on everything.

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  44. This attitude is replicated among Irish-Americans who are older and established. Its always 1845 with these folks. Even though they have no relatives at all in Ireland.

    In your imagination.

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  45. Jewish people want hispanics because they think that white christians are going to become genocidal and they want to make sure that they have buffer ethnic groups that will be targeted first in order give jews the opportunity to save their own asses.

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  46. Average Joe:"The Catholic Church does not have the power that Jews have in the United States. If they did, abortion would be illegal."

    The American elite rules by consensus.Check out the pro-abortion politics of elite American Catholics;they support abortion

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  47. Anonymous:"How do we know? If you destroy a civilization then you're the one who gets to write the history afterwards so maybe Rome, Persia, Babylon and Egypt were just as good to them as the US."

    The Jews did not "destroy" Rome, Persia, Babylon, or Egypt.

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  48. gentiles unite behind push for israeli immigration reform

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  49. Just to remind people on this point. Yes, the Jewish elite are totally in favor of mass immigration, but so are American elites as a whole:the leadership of both parties, the major Protestant denominations, the Catholic Church, Big Agriculture, the construction industry, the Mormons, etc.Jewish elites are not working against Gentile elites on this issue;they are hand in glove.

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  50. "Taki's Filthy Foreign Lucre said...

    We all know that Steve cares about immigration first and foremost and would never misrepresent the debate just to play to the prejudices of the readers who fund his pledge drives. So naturally, I assumed he must have written lots of posts discussing and criticizing the role the Catholic Church has played in promoting illegal immigration and amnesty. You can imagine my surprise when I discovered he hadn't written even one."

    Yeah, organized Catholicism has so damned much power in this country. One dare not notice it, for fear of being socially ostracized and losing one's livlihood. Or is that another group for which that is true?

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  51. "Aaron Gross said...

    It was tl;dr, but I did get to the mention of the "Jewish community." Same as when Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are the "black community." A very large majority of Jewish Americans wants to restrict immigration. It's the elite, not the Jewish majority, whose views are represented in the article quoted here."

    I imagine that the majority of jews are not as enthusiastic about immigration as are those who purport to speak for them. This is true of just about every issue and every group. But do you really think that a majority of jews are immigration restrictionists? I seriously doubt that. My guess would be that there is a substantial plurality in that camp 20-30% perhaps. But the notion that immigration should not be restricted seems to me to be a majority view among jews in this country.

    "When the Gentile elite goes against the Gentile majority on immigration, it's the elite. When the Jewish elite goes against the Jewish majority on immigration, it's the Jews."

    The difference is that I am permitted to notice the Gentile elite and call them out on it. I am not so allowed when it comes to the Jewish elite. To even notice that there is such a thing invites charges of anti-semitism.

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  52. at least bill kristol is against the Schumer-Rubio bill...

    http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/comprehensive-immigration-reform-just-say-no_737929.html

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    Replies
    1. Mark Levin as well. I think he might have a heart attack, but damn if he hasn't been hammering the republicans over this.

      Delete
  53. "Whiskey said...

    This attitude is replicated among Irish-Americans who are older and established. Its always 1845 with these folks. Even though they have no relatives at all in Ireland."

    Your credibility on this issue stands at zero, Jock.

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  54. @Mr. Anon, the survey data showing that a large majority of Jewish Americans think there's too much immigration were posted by Richard Spencer at Alternative Right a couple years ago. Again, to emphasize: those data did not factor in socio-economic class, education, etc. But Jews were still about two-to-one in favor of reducing immigration, if I remember correctly.

    You completely missed the point about the Jewish elite. Every social group has an elite. Most Jews are not in the American elite, and by definition they are not in the Jewish elite represented in this article. They don't share the elite's views on immigration.

    I understand anti-Jewish resentment, in particular about not being allowed to criticize Jewish power. But I don't think resentment justifies delusional beliefs, whether about "the Jews" or anything else.

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  55. What is 'unbiblical' about immigration control?
    A cursory reading of the Old Testamen will tell you that it is one of the most ethno-centric texts ever written.

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  56. Uhm, this is an old story.

    Jewish establishment, gung-ho pro-amnesty. Your Jewish average Joe, not so much.
    Not that different from how the WASP establishment(from the right-wing Kochs to the left-wing California environmentalists) behave.

    "Remember, you good little democrats: Hispanics will vote for an Hispanic the way blacks voted for Obama--95%+ . They're coming to get you, hee, hee, ha, ha, ho, ho... "

    Hmm, not necessarily.

    First, in the democratic primary of 2008, Hispanics went for Hillary by 2-1, despite her being white and Obama being the minority. And remember in 2008 Obama was portrayed as this Godlike man, and they still went with Hillary 2-1.

    The problem with Hispanics back then, as it is now, is that they don't vote in high numbers. Blacks went out in record numbers to support Obama, just like they did in 2012. Obama also did quite well among whites. Hillary's lead among whites was quite small and it was overwhelmed by the gigantic pro-black sentiment that Obama had. She still did quite well, she won big white/hispanic states like Texas or California, but that didn't help.

    Will Hispanics vote for their own? Sure, but they're more likely to vote for a white WASP than a black candidate and presumably more likely to vote for a white WASP than a Jewish candidate. But that assumption lies upon the notion that Jews are seen as 'ethnic' candidates and not white like WASPs. This was true 30 years but perhaps much less so today, certainly among minorities.

    I always see Jews referred to as white in the media and I think this sentiment is probably stronger among minorities who view Jewish/WASP differences as very minor(which is mostly true, except for the baby boomers and those older).

    However, according to the ADL, they don't like Jews so much. But then again the ADL is so full of shit so who actually knows.

    TL;DR:

    Hispanics will likely not be as monolithic as blacks and they will likely break more towards the white candidate more so than to the black candidate, like they did in 2008. They will still vote more on ideology, so Obama gets more votes than a white Republican, but between a white democrat and a black democrat the choice would be clear. What about between a white democrat and a hispanic democrat? Well, it's unclear. Most likely because white democrats haven't started to pander that much yet since most reside in white-majority districts.

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  57. What is 'unbiblical' about immigration control? A cursory reading of the Old Testament will tell you that it is one of the most ethno-centric texts ever written.

    The Old Testament is ethno-centric, but it does command Jews that "the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself." Christians see this commandment as binding on all people, not just on Jews. Many Jews and Christians today (not Orthodox Jews) interpret "the stranger that dwelleth with you" to include immigrants to America, legal and illegal.

    On allowing immigration in the first place, many Jews and Christians see that as implied by more general biblical principles, such as love (charity) and justice.

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  58. Ethical and in our strategic interest. How convenient.

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  59. Gittelson’s CCIR co-founder is Samuel Rodriguez, a politically conservative evangelical Christian....

    That name screams "crypto".

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  60. Steve's thing is pointing out facts that no one else is saying or that you're not allowed to say. Criticizing the Catholic Church hardly falls into that category.

    It's true that many Catholic bishops and "leaders" are deplorable on immigration, despite the Church's clear teaching on the right and responsibility of nations to protect their borders. That's bad, but the Church doesn't have any political power to make mass immigration happen, because she won't bend on abortion.

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  61. "Aaron Gross said...

    @Mr. Anon, the survey data showing that a large majority of Jewish Americans think there's too much immigration were posted by Richard Spencer at Alternative Right a couple years ago."

    I am unaware of this survey, and it flies in the face of everything I have seen on the subject. If you care to cite it, I'll look at it. Otherwise, it remains nothing but an unproven assertion made by you. I don't care to base my views on what you happen to remember.

    "You completely missed the point about the Jewish elite. Every social group has an elite."

    No, I did not, and I am not fooled by your patronizing (and implicitly insulting) reply. Yes, every social group has an elite. And increasingly in this country, the elite of MY social group is made up of people from YOUR social group.

    "Most Jews are not in the American elite, and by definition they are not in the Jewish elite represented in this article."

    Yes, I know that. I am not stupid. You lecture everyone here as if they were kindergartners, yet you wonder why they feel resentment towards you?

    "They don't share the elite's views on immigration."

    Again, this is nothing but a bald assertion on your part. I do not believe it to be true.

    "I understand anti-Jewish resentment, in particular about not being allowed to criticize Jewish power."

    ...... which is why you spend most of your time here criticizing any expression of such resentment, and attacking any attempt to criticize jewish power?

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  62. @Aaron Gross and others have noted the difference between the spokesmen of the "Jewish Community" and actual rank and file Jews - I wonder how much of this is due to mission creep and institutional drift at the established Jewish organizations and their staffers as their original causes of fighting discrimination against Jews become less and less relevant?

    If I am a staffer at the ADL, it's much more career enhancing to get involved in the national effort for immigration reform than to write another press release complaining about graffiti of swastikas in some suburb. The loss of urgency now that the fight against exclusion of Jews has been won makes it easy to drift into other causes - after all, they need to do something to put in their annual report, to justify staffers' trips to conferences, and to put in their annual fundraising appeal . . .

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  63. You completely missed the point about the Jewish elite. Every social group has an elite. Most Jews are not in the American elite, and by definition they are not in the Jewish elite represented in this article. They don't share the elite's views on immigration.

    No, you miss the point. The point is that the Jewish community is a highly organized group that is effective in marshaling the group's resources (including the resources of dissenting Jews) to achieve policy objectives. It is a disastrous mistake to attempt to compete against it using the individualist strategy you propose.

    What about the JCPA?

    "As the community relations arm of the organized Jewish community, the JCPA represents 14 national agencies [including the AJC and ADL] and 125 local communities. Under the JCPA’s umbrella, these organizations meet to shape consensus and inspire grassroots action around the globe on the most essential issues of interest to the Jewish community. The JCPA is committed to safeguarding the rights of Jews worldwide and promotes a just, democratic and pluralistic American society."

    Or the Jewish Federations of North America, whose motto is "The strength of a people; the power of community." Part of what it does:

    "The National Federation/Agency Alliance is a national funding structure to collectively allocate to, evaluate and/or review national agencies that seek allocations from the federated community. It is the successor to the National Funding Councils of the United Jewish Communities."

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  64. >a retired Jewish businessman from California's San Fernando Valley, has called certain GOP strategies on immigration reform "un-biblical"<

    LOL. Unbiblical like Jesus, eh? Sadly, many Xian rubes will fall for this guy's ballsy b---s--t.

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  65. "Jewish establishment, gung-ho pro-amnesty. Your Jewish average Joe, not so much."

    80% democrat voting despite their unique income distribution. The most plausible explanation is hostility to the majority population.

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  66. Noah172:

    The answer to your question is that they're just like everyone else--only more so.

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  67. "Oh well. I guess he's just been really busy and he'll get to it any day now."

    The difference is that Catholics do not also dominate the media and political contributions.

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  68. Aaron Gross wrote:

    But here's a question I've been asking for a long time; apparently none of these quantitative, scientific anti-Semites are interested in answering it. How do Jewish opinions on immigration and other issues differ from non-Jewish opinions when you consider social and economic factors like education, income, geographical location, etc.? For example, how do Jewish, post-grad educated, upper-middle class suburbanites in the Northeast differ from non-Jewish, post-grad educated, upper-middle class suburbanites in the Northeast in their views on immigration?

    Gene Berman wrote:

    The answer to your question is that they're just like everyone else--only more so

    The old joke that Gene mentions is one of those that is "funny because it's true." And I think that it answers Aaron's question in a nutshell.

    Intensity: a trait for which Jews collectively are well-known, especially among themselves. In my admittedly unscientific opinion (take with a grain of kosher, er, treyf salt): The liberal, upper-class Jew in Short Hills, NJ or the North Side of Chicago or wherever is more likely than his goyisch whiterperson neighbor of the same social class and education to translate his leftist views (on immigration and other matters) into some sort of action: writing a check to the $PLC, ACLU, etc. (I'm not even mentioning the explicitly Jewish orgs, such as the ADL), or a Democratic candidate or committee; writing a letter to a politician or newspaper; going to a meeting; and so on.

    As for a more data-driven argument, see here:

    http://www.cis.org/sites/cis.org/files/articles/2009/religion_poll.pdf

    Look at the poll numbers across religious groups. Jews are more liberal on immigration than everyone else, no surprise, but they are also more liberal on the issue than mainline Protestants, the religious faction most like the Jews' in terms of social class.

    Also, Aaron, whatever qualms some Jews may have about open borders does not really translate into votes, what with three quarters of Jews in the Evil Party camp and the other quarter supportive of the kind of figures who make the Stupid Party so stupid (i.e., Jewish Republicans are more McCain/Giuliani than Buchanan/Paul, or even Huckabee/Santorum). In this respect, restrictionist Jews are like anti-abortion blacks and mestizos who still vote for the Evil Party because of other priorities.

    I don't know to which survey data you are referring re: Jews and immigration, but some recent stuff of which I am aware is underwhelming. This poll from last year http://circle.org/wcsocialactivistsurvey/ (see question 10) shows Jews split three ways on comprehensive/amnesty, with a very weak plurality in opposition.

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  69. I don't think Steve has ever been shy about criticizing the Catholic Church. But continue wailing and worrying everyone is out to get "the jews."

    He knows everyone isn't out to get the Jews. He just wants to regulate the .01% of society that isn't toeing the line. Lots of Jews seem to carry two copies of the totalitarian gene.

    Then I'm sure you'll have no problem pointing to those posts I missed where he criticizes the Church for its role in promoting immigration, right?

    Everyone in our society feels pretty free to discuss that subject. In fact, if anything, criticizing the Catholic Church seems to get the hearty endorsement of TPTB. Now fuck off and go ask the NYT and WaPo (and 99.9% of everyone else) why they don't allow criticism of Organized Jewry, you moral mendicant.

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  70. When the Gentile elite goes against the Gentile majority on immigration, it's the elite. When the Jewish elite goes against the Jewish majority on immigration, it's the Jews.

    We can (and have, many times) made a good case that immivasion is in Jewish ethnic interests, and against white "gentile" ethnic interests, irrespective of class. Jews as a whole poll far more leftist, pro-immivasion, pro-multicultural, etc., than white "gentiles" as a whole. Jewish pols are far more pro-immivasion than white "gentile" pols. Jews have an ethnic bolt-hole, white "gentiles" do not. Jews are wealthier than white "gentiles" and thus more able to immunize themselves to the consequences of leftism and social decay.

    The white "gentile" elite that supports immivasion is a traitor elite; the same thing is far less easily said about the Jewish elite.

    While a large majority of Jews wants to restrict immigration, that majority is lower than with non-Jews.

    And polls are fuzzy data. Who keeps cropping up to represent Jews as the elite running Organized Jewry, and what they do, isn't quite so fuzzy. The fact that Jewish pols are pretty much lockstep immivasion supporters is pretty clear.

    Just to remind people on this point. Yes, the Jewish elite are totally in favor of mass immigration, but so are American elites as a whole

    Wrong:
    http://majorityrights.com/index.php/weblog/comments/1509/
    http://majorityrights.com/index.php/weblog/comments/1510/

    Jews are the tie-breakers, and not in a good way.

    @Mr. Anon, the survey data showing that a large majority of Jewish Americans think there's too much immigration were posted by Richard Spencer at Alternative Right a couple years ago. Again, to emphasize: those data did not factor in socio-economic class, education, etc. But Jews were still about two-to-one in favor of reducing immigration, if I remember correctly.

    Devil's in the details. Which is why polls are useful, but only to a point. E.g., Jews are a lot savvier than white "gentiles" when it comes to politics. I'd guess they knew perfectly well they knew they were being polled as Jews. Which introduces an added incentive for them to be less than frank (there's almost always some reason to be less than frank on a poll). People routinely lie about their bad behavior on surveys, for example, even when they're anonymous. Jews are savvy enough to know that polls don't decide policy, much less polls of an ethnic group representing less than 5% of the population - or at least, savvy enough to make that more likely.

    I understand anti-Jewish resentment, in particular about not being allowed to criticize Jewish power. But I don't think resentment justifies delusional beliefs, whether about "the Jews" or anything else.

    True, but like I said, the Devil's in the details.

    What is 'unbiblical' about immigration control?

    It's a mixed bag. There are some things that are easily taken out of context and misinterpreted as pro-immigration (don't molest strangers in your midst, for example). I think this comes from the fact that Jews were a trading people in an area with a long history of migration and trade, but people take good business advice out of context to advance their own agendas.

    Not that different from how the WASP establishment

    There are some pretty profound differences.

    Many Jews and Christians today (not Orthodox Jews) interpret "the stranger that dwelleth with you" to include immigrants to America, legal and illegal.

    Right. But pretty much no Jews interpret it as something to be applied to Israel. Quite the contrary. Which kinda smashes the whole posture to pieces, no?

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  71. "Just to remind people on this point. Yes, the Jewish elite are totally in favor of mass immigration, but so are American elites as a whole"

    Svigor:"Wrong:
    http://majorityrights.com/index.php/weblog/comments/1509/
    http://majorityrights.com/index.php/weblog/comments/1510/

    Jews are the tie-breakers, and not in a good way."

    How can the Jews be the tie-breakers when the Mormons, the Catholic Church, Bill Gates, Big Agriculture, etc, are all in favor of mass immigration?What important White Gentile institutions are opposed to mass immigration?

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  72. Svigor:"Jews have an ethnic bolt-hole, white "gentiles" do not."

    If you think that the mass of American Jewry would look favorably on the prospect of immigrating to Israel, you are delusional. Even most of the more rabid pro-Israel Jews are not fond of the idea of living in Israel.



    Svigor:" Jews are wealthier than white "gentiles" and thus more able to immunize themselves to the consequences of leftism and social decay."


    Which simply makes American Jews more like White Gentile elites.

    Svigor:"The white "gentile" elite that supports immivasion is a traitor elite; the same thing is far less easily said about the Jewish elite."

    How so?Countless numbers of the White Gentile elite view American citizenship as a mere convenience, a think to be discarded when circumstances shift. One even sees this attitude in Europe (cf Depardieu choosing Russia over France because of taxes.

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  73. How can the Jews be the tie-breakers when the Mormons, the Catholic Church, Bill Gates, Big Agriculture, etc, are all in favor of mass immigration?What important White Gentile institutions are opposed to mass immigration?

    If you'd even glanced at the two links, you'd know.

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  74. "How can the Jews be the tie-breakers..."

    Strawman. Jews don't have to be the tie-breakers.

    The critical point is Jews are actively hostile to the White population. This is proven by their support for anti-diversity where they are the majority and pro-diversity wherever they're not.

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  75. So Jews are largely in favor of diluting the historic racial make-up of the US? Shocking

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