Jim Moran on the Terrorist Attack in Jerusalem

By: Lowell
Published On: 3/7/2008 9:18:23 AM

From Rep. Jim Moran's office, here's his statement on the terrorist attack at the Jewish Seminary in Jerusalem that killed at least 8 people:

It is difficult to comprehend the evil that motivates extremists to attack a place of religious learning and worship. The senseless attack on Mercaz Harav Yeshiva is as outrageous as it is inexcusable and should be condemned by people of all religious faiths.

The thoughts and prayers of millions of Americans are with the victims and their families. With every such attack as this, the prospects for peace dim and the future of the children of Israelis and Palestinians alike become ever more bleak and desolate.

This is an excellent statement, and comes after the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington criticized Moran "for voting 'present' recently on a resolution condemning Palestinian-sponsored attacks against Israeli civilians." In that case, Moran said:

I strongly condemn the Qassam rocket attacks and express great sympathy with those Israelis affected by them. Any resolution regarding this ongoing conflict, however, needs to also recognize the current humanitarian crisis facing the people of Gaza and the hundreds of innocent Palestinians who have died. The two events are inextricably intertwined, yet the resolution failed to consider the latter. Therefore, I voted present, because in my view, it was an incomplete resolution that failed to advance the cause of peace.

One thing's for sure, it's never a dull moment when it comes to Jim Moran and the Arab-Israeli conflict!

Comments



Jim should have known (pvogel - 3/7/2008 12:11:19 PM)
People are looking at everything he does, and behaviour that might have been ignored by someone else, He will get blamed for.

If Jim Webb had voted present, no problem.

a shame the wrong Moran is our congessman.

till better than a republican tho!



A case of sometimes being right on the issue but wrong on the message? (Silence Dogood - 3/7/2008 2:48:00 PM)
It's never a dull moment when it comes to Jim Moran and the Arab-Israeli conflict because he's pretty steadfast about refusing to take a very complicated issue and boil it down to a simplistic black-and-white approach.  I think it's good that he recognizes that we should want peace for all innocent people in the region, whether they're Palestinians or Israelis.  But it's hard to articulate a complex issue in a simple way, and so I can understand how a lot of people get frustrated when he phrases his opinions on the issue poorly, just as I can understand why he would feel frustrated about being so frequently misunderstood.


Moran and the Jews (aznew - 3/7/2008 3:06:30 PM)
Silence, I think in many ways Moran has gotten a bum rap on this issue, but here is why, IMHO.

His first comment about American Jews and Iraq, to the effect that we wouldn't be there but for the American Jewish community, was both wrong and of a piece with long-time anti-Semitic canards, i.e., Jews are really controlling things in society.

Once that genie was out of the bottle, it was all over for him as far as getting a break from the usual public representatives of the Jewish community were concerned. So his comments a year later about AIPAC not representing the views of a majority of American Jews were 100% correct and not anti-Semitic, but easily batted away by the minority of the Jewish community that are pro-war.

His "present" vote was fine. Even though I don't agree with his logic, I can understand and respect his vote, and agree with the sentiment he was expressing and the goal for which he was reaching with it.

BTW, if you asked me a month ago what I thought of Moran, I too would have branded anti-Semitic. Having done a little research into the matter, however, he clearly is not.  



Sorry, Brian (Kindler - 3/9/2008 12:39:20 PM)
Moran's reasoning on this issue reminds me a little of the far-lefties who refused to say that September 11th was a bad thing because the US had it coming for all of the evils we have committed around the world, past and present.

In fact, murdering innocent people is wrong unequivocably, and leaders need the courage to condemn such atrocities without trying to stand on the head of a pin about mitigating circumstances.  

Obviously the Middle East is a complex mess with plenty of blame to go around on both sides.  But withholding sympathy for innocent victims doesn't solve anything.  

Nor does it help Brian Moran, who will have to continue to wear brother Jim around his neck as the family albatross.