Josh Lederman at the Associated Press spent the final two paragraphs of his Wednesday evening report on a meeting between President Barack Obama and Israel's President Reuven Rivlin describing "the White House's annual Hanukkah celebration." He wrote that Rivlin "lit a menorah that was made in his homeland during the 1920s."
What was said before Rivlin lit the menorah should have been news. As seen in a Wednesday afternoon White House video, Rabbi Susan Talve essentially hijacked the event to praise a series of leftist causes, touching many of the Obama administration's pet projects along the way: open-ended immigration and "refugee" acceptance; Black Lives Matter "activists"; gun control; paranoia over "Islamophobia, and homophobia and transphobia"; and "justice for Palestinians as allies committed to peace."
Talve's speech went from starry-eyed groupie in its opening seconds (beginning at the 8:49 mark of the video below) to politicized polemic during its remainder (HT Powerline via Instapundit):
Transcript (beginning at 8:49; politically provocative statements are in bold; note the frequent supportive cheers of the audience):
SUSAN TALVE: With all the schmutz in the world, can you believe that we are here with the President of the United States and the President of Israel celebrating Hanukkah, in the White House?
And I know we bring many people here with us, each and every one of us.
I stand here today with my 90-year-old father, whose parents fled the Ottoman Empire. And as they passed by Lady Liberty they planted within us the promise that the gates would stay open for all immigrants and all refugees who would come to build America.
And I also stand here with my fierce family of clergy and Black Lives Matter activists who took to the streets of Ferguson to stand firm until all members of the community would see God in the face of the other.
I stand here for two groups of St. Louis moms, one working to get the guns off of our streets, and the other working to get help clean up the fires of the toxic nuclear waste that are threatening our lives in St. Louis and throughout the country.
And, of course, I stand with my sisters who lit these lights at the Kotel this year.
I stand here to light these lights that say no to the darkness of Islamophobia, and homophobia and transphobia and racism and anti-Semitism and all the other isms that dare to dim our hope.
And I stand here, like President Rivlin said, the Maccabees of old who defied the culture of their time that said that destiny could not be changed, and instead they jumped in to write a new story that demanded freedom and equal opportunity for all.
And today, friends, we stand with the President of the United States and the President of Israel, who today stand together in this critical moment in history when we must do everything to ensure security for Israelis and justice for Palestinians as allies committed to a lasting peace for all people.
Ins'Allah, Ins'Allah, Ins'Allah, Ins'Allah.
As a mother with a son named for a fallen Israeli soldier and with a daughter living in Israel, I offer these blessings to inspire all of us to jump into the story, to stand up to those who try to fill us with fear and to dare to believe that we can make a better, less violent world for our children.
Remembering that the real miracle occurred when knowing that there was not enough oil, we still had the holy chutzpah to light that first candle, because we knew that godliness and goodness are beyond what we think we know, and there is always a chance, always a chance for something more, and something new.
The real miracle, that no matter how much violence there is in Paris, in California, or in the streets of our nations, we will respond with more love and more understanding and more compassion, and we will see that the good in us has grown like the lights of Hanukkah -- and in spite of all odds, like the Maccabees of old, we too, we too, will win.
Please join me in the blessing ...
"Ins'Allah" means "Allah willing" in Arabic. It's as if Talve believes, and wants us to believe, that Jews and Muslims worship the same god. Hardly.
How interesting it is that the "transcript" as presented at the Jewish Light web site in St. Louis "somehow" failed to note that Talve referred to the Islamic "god" four times.
Daniel Greenfield at FrontPageMag.com, who posted on what Talve said on Thursday, had the following reaction:
... Chanukah is a celebration of the Maccabees defeating a Syrian occupation, but Talve may not even know that. Radical clergy tend to be light on the religion and heavy on the social justice.
... Her behavior was deeply insulting to the religious Jewish community and made it clear that the White House was determined to hijack even a Chanukah party to promote an anti-Jewish agenda.
Given the Obama administration's behavior towards Israel during the past seven years, it seems more than a little likely that Talve was brought on to say things that the administration believes but doesn't dare have the President say.
Note that Talve's speech occurred during the afternoon Hanukkah party (Obama refers to an afternoon and evening party during remarks earlier in the video), and that the AP's Lederman reported as if he was there:
Later in the afternoon, Obama along with his wife, Michelle, hosted Rivlin for the White House's annual Hanukkah celebration. The Israeli president lit a menorah that was made in his homeland during the 1920s. "May we be inspired to create something beautiful and lasting in this world," Obama said. "May the warmth of family and friends around the world bring comfort and bring us joy."
Reception guests included lawmakers, Jewish leaders and Alan Gross, a Jewish-American released by Cuba in 2014 after five years in captivity.
Assuming that Josh Lederman really was there and saw what was shown on the video above, how is a Jewish rabbi pleading with "Allah" and going into a politicized rant which, among other things, praised the indisputably racist, violent, communist-supporting hateful Black Lives Matter group not news?
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
