On July 14th John Kerry’s brother Cameron met with Ariel Sharon to reassure him there is nothing to fear from a Kerry presidency:
A Jewish convert and adviser to his brother, Cameron Kerry was sent as a “surrogate” to reassure Israelis that the Democratic candidate was as strong a supporter as Bush, a source who helped arrange the trip said.
Kerry, who described his four-day trip as a “personal visit,” met Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and opposition leader Shimon Peres in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
“My brother has been here many times and told me of his trips and has a very deep, personal connection to Israel,” Kerry told reporters in Jerusalem. “I finally had the opportunity to make a visit and I jumped at the chance.”
Cameron Kerry wasn’t the only American greeted by Sharon that day:
In a ceremony that filled a massive hanger at Ben Gurion International Airport, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and two of his cabinet ministers greeted the immigrants moments after they stepped from an El Al jumbo jet from Kennedy International Airport in New York.
“We have to bring hundreds of thousands of Jews from America to Israel,” Mr. Sharon said. “We need them here. It is important for you, it is important for us.”
The immigrants are among 1,500 from the United States and Canada — almost a third of them from New York State — who will be arriving this summer under the sponsorship of a private group, Nefesh B’Nefesh, or “soul to soul.”
North American Jews, most of them comfortably middle-class at home, have traditionally migrated to Israel in small numbers, averaging about 3,000 to 5,000 annually for the past quarter-century, according to Israeli government figures.
But Nefesh B’Nefesh is seeking to substantially raise these figures. In its first attempt, the group brought in just over 500 immigrants in the summer of 2002. More than 1,000 came last year, despite the ongoing Mideast violence and an Israel economy just beginning to slowly recover from a recession.
Ongoing war and conflict is good for recessions?
‘Democratic’ Racism: Parts 1 & 2 by Jonathan Cook can be found here.