Commentary by Dr. Patrick Slattery — Diane Rehm, a radio host with NPR, during an interview with Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, stated that he was a dual Israeli Citizen. Sanders immediately denied having dual citizenship, and now the entire Jewish establishment is drooling at the prospect of getting rid of another elderly Arab American journalist critical of Israel, following the example of Helen Thomas. The incident will be touted as yet another example of rampant anti-Semitism in American society, when in fact dual Israeli citizens are not at all uncommon among our government officials.
Obviously, Stanley Fischer, the Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, has Israeli citizenship. After all, he was the head of the Israeli Central Bank. Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was Israeli under Israeli law by virtue of his father’s Israeli citizenship. We know he worked in Israel for the “IDF”, and under Israeli law anyone with Israeli citizenship has to enter the country with an Israeli passport. The same applies to former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, whose mother was famous as the first airline hostess for El Al Airlines and participated in Operation Magic Carpet, the famous airlift of Yemenite Jews to Israel.
There are certainly many others, but it is not uncommon to see any Zionist Jew in high office referred to as a dual citizen without any backing for the statement. Apparently Diane Rehm got her information from this unsubstantiated list.
If Rehm has simply asked Sanders if he was a dual citizen rather than stating he was as if it was a fact, the matter would have an entirely different dynamic. After all, Sanders DID live for a short time on an kibbutz in Israel in 1963, Israel’s law of return makes him eligible for citizenship, and he DOES have a pro-Israel voting record, so it is a fair question. But because she made the statement based on an unsubstantiated list, the whole focus now will be on her “lack of journalistic integrity” and her “anti-Semitism.”
What we in the truth movement have to understand is that we are held to a much higher standard. Sure, the Zio media whores can lie through their teeth till they need dentures, but one little mistake like this can completely undermine our credibility. Still, if this becomes a bruhaha, then perhaps it can provide an opening to point out how many real dual citizens there are in our government.
Jewish groups demand apology from NPR’s Rehm for Sanders’ loyalty question
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Jewish groups demanded an apology from NPR host Diane Rehm for saying that Sen. Bernie Sanders has dual Israeli-American citizenship.
“Such a statement is not only factually incorrect, but has no place in such an interview,” the Anti-Defamation League’s national director, Abraham Foxman, said in a letter Wednesday to National Public Radio. “It is deeply troubling to think that a well-respected media outlet like NPR would apparently rely on unsubstantiated information from the Internet in its preparation for a guest.”
The National Jewish Democratic Council also called for an apology.
Rehm hosts an interview show for NPR’s Washington, D.C., affiliate, WAMU. On Thursday, interviewing Sanders, the Vermont Independent who is a candidate for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, she said, “Senator, you have dual citizenship with Israel.”
Sanders was annoyed by the question.
“Well, no I do not have dual citizenship with Israel,” he said, according to a transcript first posted by the Los Angeles Jewish Journal. “I’m an American. I don’t know where that question came from. I am an American citizen, and I have visited Israel on a couple of occasions.”
Rehm said she was referring to a “list.” In a statement later, she said she had seen the list on Facebook.
A number of lists have circulated in recent years accusing every Jewish lawmaker in Congress of having dual Israeli citizenship.
“I want to apologize as well to all our listeners for having made an erroneous statement,” Rehm said, noting that she apologized to Sanders during the broadcast. “I am sorry for the mistake. However, I am glad to play a role in putting this rumor to rest.”
Foxman and the NJDC said the apology was inadequate.
“Her mistake was not to research it before she even stated it as fact,” Foxman said. “She simply should not have asked the question.”
The NJDC said Rehm had perpetuated an anti-Semitic rumor instead of squelching it.
“This ‘rumor’ is one that she has helped perpetuate and advance,” NJDC Chairman Greg Rosenbaum said in a statement. “Ms. Rehm owes Sen. Sanders and the American Jewish community an immediate and genuine apology.”
