Ted Cruz Booed Off Stage by Arab Christians

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The real problem with the GOP is they think that the Jewish vote is actually voting only on Israel. So, by aggressively supporting Israel, they believe they are getting the Jewish vote.

Not true. The GOP supports Israel because it is our best ally in the Middle East. Maybe our only "real" ally.

Yes, but this is a recent position on the part of the Republicans. They used to be much less supportive of Israel than the Democrats. As a matter of fact, the only president in my memory that has stood up to Israel was George HW Bush. In the past, it was the Democrats who supported Israel without question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mostly I think Cruz is an idiot because I'm sure he would not have handled his speech this way if he had had a clue as to what is going on with Arab Christians.

Oh, I don't think he is an idiot. I am not a Cruz supporter by any means but I think he is far from being an idiot.

He may have alienated a few Arab Christians who may well never have voted for a Republican but he does solidify his credentials with evangelicals as well as Jews quite apart from those the Republicans who think that Israel can do no wrong.

I feel like Jeff posted this just for me, to fill me with glee. Thanks Jeff! As a liberal Arab Christian, these types of stories are just a delight. You cannot get more conservative than this group. Never mind gay marriage, they wouldn't mind if it were illegal for heterosexual couples to live together before marriage. They'll eat up any bs about poor people not paying enough taxes or being spoiled because they have cell phones and tvs. I mean, Ted Cruz could have absolutely just talked about any other topic, including any domestic issue, and they would have eaten it up. Instead, he went in with no prior knowledge, or having done any research, about who he was talking to. This was definitely a failure on his part, because he could have at least talked about his support for Israel in a more diplomatic way. Even with everything happening, Arab Christians do still have solidarity with other Arabs, if only because we have so much else in common other than religion.

Yes, the average American is deeply ignorant about the conservatism of many immigrant groups and the Republicans seem to be more so!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mostly I think Cruz is an idiot because I'm sure he would not have handled his speech this way if he had had a clue as to what is going on with Arab Christians.

Oh, I don't think he is an idiot. I am not a Cruz supporter by any means but I think he is far from being an idiot.

He may have alienated a few Arab Christians who may well never have voted for a Republican but he does solidify his credentials with evangelicals as well as Jews quite apart from those the Republicans who think that Israel can do no wrong.

I feel like Jeff posted this just for me, to fill me with glee. Thanks Jeff! As a liberal Arab Christian, these types of stories are just a delight. You cannot get more conservative than this group. Never mind gay marriage, they wouldn't mind if it were illegal for heterosexual couples to live together before marriage. They'll eat up any bs about poor people not paying enough taxes or being spoiled because they have cell phones and tvs. I mean, Ted Cruz could have absolutely just talked about any other topic, including any domestic issue, and they would have eaten it up. Instead, he went in with no prior knowledge, or having done any research, about who he was talking to. This was definitely a failure on his part, because he could have at least talked about his support for Israel in a more diplomatic way. Even with everything happening, Arab Christians do still have solidarity with other Arabs, if only because we have so much else in common other than religion.

I was the poster - not Jeff - but, seriously, what is the downside to Cruz having said what he did?

He got a fair amount of publicity about how he walked out when he was booed essentially saying that anyone who did not back Israel is not someone he wants to associate with - a point of view that is shared by many Republicans and quite a few Democrats.

I totally agree with the prior PP who commented very rationally that Israel's disproportionate response to the recent conflict in Gaza was unwarranted and that they need to come to an accommodation with the Palestinians. But we know that there are large segments of the Republican party and some Democrats who offer unconditional support to Israel.

Frankly, I think Cruz did this deliberately; whether he got the reaction he did or was given a polite hearing or was applauded for what he said, he could not lose when it comes to the constituency whose support he seeks - and that constituency was not the audience who booed him.

I'm sorry I was unclear- Jeff's original posting of this topic made me happy, not you. You are just desperately reaching for a way to make a lame blunder into a "win" - I'm sorry, here on planet Earth politicians do not want to be booed off a stage.

And let's talk about this "constituency" shall we? The Republican rationale seems to be "we don't need this group, so we can offend them all we want so that we can ingratiate ourselves to this other group." Is this smart? So far they have alienated Hispanics, African Americans, Muslims, single women, Asians of various nationalities, and now are working hard on Arab Christians. Who is going to be left in the end? And let's not forget something else- Arab Christians, as a group, are highly educated and wealthy. Not a bad group to have on your side, right? But I'm glad that Ted Cruz is helping to show my fellow ACs that the Republicans really don't have anything to offer us, either. Thanks, Ted!

ROFL!

As a pretty liberal person it is hilarious to read that I am "desperately reaching for a way to make a lame blunder into a "win"!! Yep, that is my objective to make Cruz a hero!!

No, the difference is that I am capable of some objectivity and from Cruz's standpoint I doubt he cares about Arab Christians who represent an insignificant percentage of the US population - quite apart from their political affiliation. If Wikipedia is accurate Arab Americans constitute 1.1 million people and of these 63% are Christians.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_American

Cruz has taken a position against amnesty of any sort for illegals - and he is a Hispanic. Also, Hispanics are a far more important constituency than Arab Americans. So who do you think he is seeking to appeal to with these positions? Who are the people who will determine the Republican nominee for president in 2016? Arab-Americans? Hispanics? Asians?

If he becomes the nominee - unlikely IMO - he will move to the center like most politicians do to broaden their appeal. It is the way the game is played.

Yeah, I just disagree with your major point- that being booed off a stage is of any benefit. There are plenty of ways that he could have "shown" that he stands with Israel, without being booed. This was just dumb. There's also an argument to be had over whether Ted Cruz's behavior serves any larger strategy at all... people assume that because he went to Princeton and Harvard, he's brilliant and has got some sort of long game in mind, but I have my doubts. He just seems like a jerk.

DP here. I think he went on stage not knowing diddly squat about the audience and he blundered into the "boos" but once he got to that point he realized it was in his best interest to act like he was taking a principled stand. So, I agree that being booed off stage was not a benefit but Cruz managed to make the best of it and I'm sure he has got supporters all over the country who were awed by what he did. In a short-sighted short-term way, it was shrewd move. In a long-term far-sighted coalition-building way, it was yet another Republican blunder that will lead their party into irrelevance down the road.

[Anonymous]

Wasn't one of the people walking out on Cruz the Lebanese diplomat to the US? I also read that Cruz was aware of an article that came out saying the gathering was affiliated with Hezbollah and was wanting to expose the anti-Semitic attitudes.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Wasn't one of the people walking out on Cruz the Lebanese diplomat to the US? I also read that Cruz was aware of an article that came out saying the gathering was affiliated with Hezbollah and was wanting to expose the anti-Semitic attitudes.

Hizballah is a radical Shia Islamic organization. Conservative Christians have no affiliation with them. To the contrary, Hizballah and the Lebanese Christians have often fought with each other.

That doesn't mean that Cruz didn't see an article saying such a thing. As we know well, a lot of garbage floats in the rightwing echo chamber.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good for Cruz. This is what we conservatives love about him. Don't think he has a chance to be president, but it's refreshing to have a guy who doesn't pander to every group he talks to. When he saw the anti-Semitism emanating from some of the Arab "Christians" he was speaking to, he told them the truth. And the truth is that it is Muslims who are trying to kill Christians in the Middle East, not Jews. The Christians and Jews should be allies there - those in the audience that disagreed did so out of sheer bigotry, and 90% of Republicans will love that Cruz called them out on it.

Like a lot of GOP candidates did with the Tea Party?

Sheer bigotry? You, Cruz and other like him are focusing just on the religous aspect of it while ignoring the ethnic and cultural aspects. But they are bigots? So the people he was speaking to should just ignore what is happening in Gaza? If they are expressing anti-Semitism, that is why! They view that whole situation as an attack on Arabs - not just Muslims.

I swear - so many people (including Cruz) just do not understand the issues beyond the soundbytes.

And should they ignore the institutionalized discrimination against Arab citizens of Israel? We don't approve of residential and educational segregation in the United States. We don't approve of providing better city services to municipalities based on the ethnic group that lives there. We don't pass laws saying that foreigners who marry US citizens may never live in our country with their spouses.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wasn't one of the people walking out on Cruz the Lebanese diplomat to the US? I also read that Cruz was aware of an article that came out saying the gathering was affiliated with Hezbollah and was wanting to expose the anti-Semitic attitudes.

Hizballah is a radical Shia Islamic organization. Conservative Christians have no affiliation with them. To the contrary, Hizballah and the Lebanese Christians have often fought with each other.

That doesn't mean that Cruz didn't see an article saying such a thing. As we know well, a lot of garbage floats in the rightwing echo chamber.

I don't believe that's where the original statements about Hezbollah originated.

Why did the diplomat walk out then?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wasn't one of the people walking out on Cruz the Lebanese diplomat to the US? I also read that Cruz was aware of an article that came out saying the gathering was affiliated with Hezbollah and was wanting to expose the anti-Semitic attitudes.

Hizballah is a radical Shia Islamic organization. Conservative Christians have no affiliation with them. To the contrary, Hizballah and the Lebanese Christians have often fought with each other.

That doesn't mean that Cruz didn't see an article saying such a thing. As we know well, a lot of garbage floats in the rightwing echo chamber.

I don't believe that's where the original statements about Hezbollah originated.

Why did the diplomat walk out then?

I don't know why the diplomat walked out. But, I'm sure it had nothing to do with Hizballah. Are you suggesting that the article just came out in the middle of the conference and the diplomat read it while sitting there and suddenly decided to leave? Much more likely, he was walking out an indication of his feelings for what Cruz was saying. Lebanon has been repeatedly bombed by Israel with a huge amount of destruction resulting. The diplomat probably had little patience for hearing about how he should support that country.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wasn't one of the people walking out on Cruz the Lebanese diplomat to the US? I also read that Cruz was aware of an article that came out saying the gathering was affiliated with Hezbollah and was wanting to expose the anti-Semitic attitudes.

Hizballah is a radical Shia Islamic organization. Conservative Christians have no affiliation with them. To the contrary, Hizballah and the Lebanese Christians have often fought with each other.

That doesn't mean that Cruz didn't see an article saying such a thing. As we know well, a lot of garbage floats in the rightwing echo chamber.

I don't believe that's where the original statements about Hezbollah originated.

Why did the diplomat walk out then?

I don't know why the diplomat walked out. But, I'm sure it had nothing to do with Hizballah. Are you suggesting that the article just came out in the middle of the conference and the diplomat read it while sitting there and suddenly decided to leave? Much more likely, he was walking out an indication of his feelings for what Cruz was saying. Lebanon has been repeatedly bombed by Israel with a huge amount of destruction resulting. The diplomat probably had little patience for hearing about how he should support that country.

It does prove to me that Cruz knew that the anti-Israel sentiments ran stronger than anti ISIL. I don't understand that, given the current massacre of Christians by Arab extremists (not Jewish ones).

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:
It does prove to me that Cruz knew that the anti-Israel sentiments ran stronger than anti ISIL. I don't understand that, given the current massacre of Christians by Arab extremists (not Jewish ones).

This makes no sense. If Cruz knew the organization was full of anti-Semites, why did he agree to speak to it in the first place? He clearly was uninformed and shared your belief that Arab Christians would be pro-Israel. I'm sure none of the Christians was the least bit supportive of IS, but the enemy of their enemy is not always their friend.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It does prove to me that Cruz knew that the anti-Israel sentiments ran stronger than anti ISIL. I don't understand that, given the current massacre of Christians by Arab extremists (not Jewish ones).

This makes no sense. If Cruz knew the organization was full of anti-Semites, why did he agree to speak to it in the first place? He clearly was uninformed and shared your belief that Arab Christians would be pro-Israel. I'm sure none of the Christians was the least bit supportive of IS, but the enemy of their enemy is not always their friend.

I think he deliberately wanted to expose the organization's true beliefs. I'm quite sure Cruz knew the history and discussions behind the organization's sponsor. Wikileaks exposed the state dept. docs a while back. Easy for me to know means Easy for Cruz to know

I don't understand how Arab Christians could hate Jews/Israel and not see Arabs in ISIL as anything but evil, given the current massacre. After seeing the behavior at that conference, I don't feel quite the same empathy for these Arab Christians. I do feel badly that they are so misguided.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It does prove to me that Cruz knew that the anti-Israel sentiments ran stronger than anti ISIL. I don't understand that, given the current massacre of Christians by Arab extremists (not Jewish ones).

This makes no sense. If Cruz knew the organization was full of anti-Semites, why did he agree to speak to it in the first place? He clearly was uninformed and shared your belief that Arab Christians would be pro-Israel. I'm sure none of the Christians was the least bit supportive of IS, but the enemy of their enemy is not always their friend.

I think he deliberately wanted to expose the organization's true beliefs. I'm quite sure Cruz knew the history and discussions behind the organization's sponsor. Wikileaks exposed the state dept. docs a while back. Easy for me to know means Easy for Cruz to know

I don't understand how Arab Christians could hate Jews/Israel and not see Arabs in ISIL as anything but evil, given the current massacre. After seeing the behavior at that conference, I don't feel quite the same empathy for these Arab Christians. I do feel badly that they are so misguided.

Could you just stop for a minute and think? What makes you think that Arab Christians don't think ISIL is evil? It is possible to be both critical of Israel and critical of ISIL. And many of us critics of Israel (regardless of ethnicity or religion) are equally if not more critical of ISIL.

You do realize, don't you, that Arab Christians don't get better treatment than Arab Muslims either in Israel or the West Bank and Gaza? As far as many Jewish Israelis are concerned, ethnicity is what should determine your living situation and your future - not religion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It does prove to me that Cruz knew that the anti-Israel sentiments ran stronger than anti ISIL. I don't understand that, given the current massacre of Christians by Arab extremists (not Jewish ones).

This makes no sense. If Cruz knew the organization was full of anti-Semites, why did he agree to speak to it in the first place? He clearly was uninformed and shared your belief that Arab Christians would be pro-Israel. I'm sure none of the Christians was the least bit supportive of IS, but the enemy of their enemy is not always their friend.

I think he deliberately wanted to expose the organization's true beliefs. I'm quite sure Cruz knew the history and discussions behind the organization's sponsor. Wikileaks exposed the state dept. docs a while back. Easy for me to know means Easy for Cruz to know

I don't understand how Arab Christians could hate Jews/Israel and not see Arabs in ISIL as anything but evil, given the current massacre. After seeing the behavior at that conference, I don't feel quite the same empathy for these Arab Christians. I do feel badly that they are so misguided.

Clearly you suffer from the same problem as Ted Cruz: that Two Side Delusion.

[Anonymous]

Does the average American know that Christian Muslims in America have this much disdain for Jews and Israel? They do now. There is also video of the Ambassador walking out, and questions being asked about this organization, its funding and its associations.

I feel Cruz knew what his audience, and achieved his goal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does the average American know that Christian Muslims in America have this much disdain for Jews and Israel? They do now. There is also video of the Ambassador walking out, and questions being asked about this organization, its funding and its associations.

I feel Cruz knew what his audience, and achieved his goal.

Apparently you were his target audience. I'm glad he reached you.

Seriously? Christian Muslims?