Desperate GOP Efforts To Woo Jews Reach New Lows
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Organized Campaign of Vandalism Reported By Miami Herald
Washington, DC: The Miami Herald reports today that campaign signs supporting Senator John Kerry in Florida have been defaced with stickers reading, "Arafat Endorses," in an apparently organized campaign of vandalism. This comes as the Florida Republican Party has been mailing brochures to members of Florida's Jewish community focusing on Yasser Arafat's supposed endorsement of John Kerry.
"It is appalling and pathetic that the sharpest arrow the desperate Republicans of Florida have in their quiver is to vandalize private property with a statement that is untrue, and one that would be irrelevant even if it were true," said National Jewish Democratic Council Executive Director Ira N. Forman. "First, even the hawkish Arutz Sheva newswire in Israel notes that Palestinian Authority spokesman Saeb Erekat has said clearly, 'we do not involve ourselves in internal American politics.' But much more importantly, is it the position of Republicans that Yasser Arafat -- whom John Kerry has rightly called on 'outlaw to the peace process' -- should actually be determining the fate of our election? The head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council has endorsed George W. Bush, but knowing that we should not be listening to the electoral guidance of the world's terrorist leaders, we have not worked to spread this fact.
"The bottom line is that trying to silence the opinions of Democrats through an organized effort of trespassing onto private property and vandalizing yard signs is the last refuge of the truly desperate, and it has no place in the realm of civil political discourse.
"Another example of GOP desperation is the effort underway to widely disseminate yesterday's New York Post article which misquotes Chris Heinz, son of Teresa Heinz Kerry, on Israel. As Mr. Heinz himself said yesterday in a statement, he is deeply disturbed by the Post's distortions because he has spoken often 'of the great importance of a strong and secure Israel to me personally as well as to America's national security.'
"Emotions are of course running high on both sides of the aisle. But desperation is no excuse for organized campaigns of vandalism and distortion."
