Appearing as a guest on Saturday’s Huckabee show on FNC, actor Jon Voight condemned Time magazine for the cover on its September 13 issue which provocatively displays the words "Why Israel Doesn’t Care About Peace" in the middle of a Star of David made from daisies. Voight charged that there must be anti-Semitism at Time magazine if such a cover could be devised. Voight:
Listen, if Israel falls we all fall. Did you see the Time magazine, did you guys see the Time magazine cover? Cover? It was amazing. Here's a cover with a Star of David on it, and it says Israel doesn't care about peace. ... But this is anti-Semitism. This is, who are the anti-Semites who are running Time magazine? And their prior cover, you know, they alluded to the Islamophobia, they're calling America Islamophobic.
As previously documented by NewsBusters, Time managing editor Richard Stengel bizarrely seemed to see a down side to fewer terrorist attacks against Israelis when he appeared on the Thursday, September 2, Morning Joe on MSNBC, as he suggested that it was a "sad truth" that the low level of recent violence from terrorists -- including the "Hamas folks" -- had made Israelis feel less urgency about negotiating with Palestinians. Stengel:
But, you know, they haven’t had a, they haven’t had a car bombing in two and a half years, and the sad truth really is that the wall with the West Bank has actually worked. I mean, most Israelis in the course of their lives don’t’ come into contact with any Palestinians at all. The wall is functioning. And the Gaza Strip is so small and so isolated they feel that those folks, the Hamas folks, are actually not that big a threat.
Back to Saturday’s Huckabee show, Voight also complained about the Obama administration’s lawsuit against Arizona seeking to block the state's attempt to enforce federal immigration laws. Voight:
Let me say that I'm really, really concerned about this lawsuit against Arizona taken out by our President. It's very concerning to me. ... We have, it's our own homeland. We have had millions and millions of immigrants come into this country under the banner of patience and honor. And they have, you know, gone through all the steps, the necessary steps to become citizens.
And now, our President allows murderers and criminals to have a safe haven under the banner of acceptance of illegals. This is, this is a real problem. And what is the purpose of it? I assume to get votes for his continuance. It's a deep concern of mine.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Saturday, September 11, Huckabee show on FNC:
MIKE HUCKABEE: We're back with Jon Voight – good friend, great actor and a great patriot, a great lover of this country and one who has, Jon, I think in many ways, taken a role as a public figure who has been very outspoken. You see some dangers to America that you’ve called attention to, unafraid to call attention to. What do you see as the things that we need to be worried about?
JON VOIGHT: Well, I think, let me say that I'm really, really concerned about this lawsuit against Arizona taken out by our President. It's very concerning to me.
(AUDIENCE APPLAUSE)
HUCKABEE: How do we sue our own states?
VOIGHT: We have, it's our own homeland. We have had millions and millions of immigrants come into this country under the banner of patience and honor. And they have, you know, gone through all the steps, the necessary steps to become citizens. And now, our President allows murderers and criminals to have a safe haven under the banner of acceptance of illegals. This is, this is a real problem. And what is the purpose of it? I assume to get votes for his continuance. It’s a deep concern of mine.
HUCKABEE: The thought that the federal government would sue a state because the state is trying to enforce a law that is a federal law that the feds won't enforce is hard for me to put all that together, Jon. I don't know if I can quite figure out how the government says we're going to hold you responsible and sue you because you're enforcing a law that we don't have the courage and the will to enforce.
VOIGHT: Yeah.
HUCKABEE: Somehow that doesn't fit for me.
VOIGHT: Yeah, I think that you’re, I think you’re such a wise fellow (AUDIENCE AND HUCKABEE LAUGH) to be able to figure that one out.
HUCKABEE: You may be the only person in America who thinks that way. Jon, what are some of the other threats to the world? You know, America is not the only country in trouble.
VOIGHT: Listen, if Israel falls we all fall. Did you see the Time magazine, did you guys see the Time magazine cover? Cover? It was amazing. Here’s a cover with a Star of David on it, and it says Israel doesn't care about peace.
HUCKABEE: And that's absurd. Anyone who’s ever been to Israel, I’ve been 14 times, would know that no one wants it more but is under a greater level of assault than Israel-
VOIGHT: You bet, you bet.
HUCKABEE: -because they have so much to lose.
VOIGHT: But this is anti-Semitism. This is, who are the anti-Semites who are running Time magazine? And their prior cover, you know, they alluded to the Islamophobia, they’re calling America Islamophobic. Well, this, this is exactly the way that we create wars between nations. Now, what are we going to do? Should we boycott Time magazine? I mean, maybe so (AUDIENCE APPLAUSE) because they shouldn't have the right to create wars.
HUCKABEE: Given their circulation numbers I think most of America already is.
(AUDIENCE LAUGHTER)
VOIGHT: I wanted to leave, you know, I was thinking is there a ray of hope out there? And I was saying yes, there is a ray of hope if Fidel Castro admits that all his years of presidency were a failure and socialism doesn't work. And he says that Michael Moore's movie Sicko is a work of garbage and he scolds Ahmadinejad – this is the truth – and he scolds Ahmadinejad saying, you know, you can't be a Holocaust denier when everybody knows the Holocaust existed. So there’s a ray of hope. (AUDIENCE APPLAUSE) Thank you, Fidel!