A Democrat Who Gets It Right On Israel

I'm not sure if New York Congressman Gary Ackerman has ever publicly or even privately repudiated Barack Obama by name, but this piece on his website, calling for the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit (which was the flashpoint for one of the more recent Hamas/Israeli wars), certainly does the job well enough:

U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) today introduced – for the third consecutive Congress – a resolution calling for the immediate release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Ackerman’s two previous measures, H. Res. 107 passed on March 13, 2007 and H. Res. 1359 passed on June 24, 2010.

Shalit was kidnapped by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas five years ago on June 25, 2006.

Ackerman...issued the following statement upon introducing the resolution:

“I think it is absolutely essential that the United States keep faith with our Israeli allies and stand with them in calling for the immediate release of IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit. The terrorists in Hamas, it should be recalled, snuck into Israel proper and attacked a group of IDF soldiers for the purpose of kidnapping Corporal Shalit in order to hold him hostage. Descending even further into subhuman barbarity, they have forced him to appear in propaganda videos, they have denied him visits from the Red Cross, they have denied him medical attention, and they have prevented him from sending even so much as a postcard to his parents, or allowing them to contact him.

“Hamas’ stooges can say whatever they want about this blood-soaked bunch of terrorists, but their behavior, in the form of unrelenting violence against Israeli civilians and the disgusting anti-Semitism they spew, shows their true beliefs and their real values. These are not partners for any kind of peace. These are thugs hiding an agenda of hate behind a façade of religious devotion.

Well said, Congressman. Maybe you ought to talk to one of the higher-ups in your party, you know - the fellow who thinks that the best way for Israel to negotiate with Hamas is to start by offering a complete and total surrender, and then move backwards (into the sea, perhaps?) from there....