A serious firestorm is brewing in greater LA over remarks made by Rev. Eric Lee made in front of Jewish philanthropist Daphna Ziman [Arden Realty] .
On April 4th Ziman was to be honored by receiving the Tom Bradley Distinguished Citizen Award by the black fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi. After Ms. Ziman receive her award for her support of black foster children, she was followed by keynote speaker Rev. Lee.
Tom Bradley a pleasant if ineffective mayor of Los Angeles earmarked a milestone in LA politics by fusing the Jewish westside with Southside blacks into a dominating political force. Bradley was a 30 year cop who came up clean during some sordid years of LAPD before Chief Parker clearned house in the 1950’s. That once optomistic and youthful coalition now lies in tatters. How ironic the recepient of the Bradley award was insulted by an extended irrational anti Semetic attack.
Rev. Lee is President of the Greater Los Angeles Southern Christain Leadership Conference, an organization co-founded by Martin Luther King. Soon after Lee thanked Jesus for the Obama candidacy, he launched into an extended rant againsty Jews.
Looking directly at Daphna Ziman, Lee charged that Jews were responsible for negative black images on the media as rapists and murderers. That when a Rabbi asked Lee to help blacks and Jews to come together, Lee shouted to the crowd " NO, NO NO, we are not going to come together." Then Lee falls off the cliff : "the Jews have made money on us in the music business and we are the entertainers, and they are economically enslaving us." As Lee continued, Ms. Ziman left the banquet in tears and wrote about this experience. Ms. Ziman showed a hundred times more courage than Obama did in 20 years by walking out. You can see her on an interview by Pajamas Media at the bottom of this column.
It seems few of the politicians who where there that evening, including the MC, actually heard anything. They were busy during Lee’s speech. Initally, Lee denied making any such comments. Later he apologized.
Rev. Cecil "Chip" Murray the former pastor of the FIrst AME Church, said he hoped there was a simple misunderstanding on "both" sides. Only a liberal could blame the victim.
The Ziman family have been major backers of democrat causes for over 20 years. But the intensity of this story won’t go away.
Oddly, why do Rev. Wright and Rev. Lee seem to be more outspoken in their hatred of things in America and Jews, during the ebeullent Obama campaign. What is it with the Obama campaign that gives them "permission" to bring out the worst in humans?
Moreover, Obama’s past association with radical pro-Palestinians such as Edward Said, Ali Abunimah of the Electronic Intifada and Hussein Ibish of the American Task Force on Palestine.
Particularly troublesome is his close and long time relationship with Rashid Kalidi, the Edward Said professor of Arab Studies. Kalidi was a spokesman for terrorist Yasser Arafat’s PLO when teaching in the 1970’s in Beirut. Kalidi is a major anti American Arab apologist safely tenured at Columbia University. The LA Times noted that Kalidi when living in Chicago, held a fund raiser for Obama. Kalidi stated that because of Obama’s background in Kenya [ Muslim family] and Indonenia [ Muslim school and Muslim country] would be more "understanding" of the Palestinian experience.
Of course, radicals like Kalidi, always fail to mention the vast corruption of the PLO and the tyranny by Hamas are the primary afflictions of the Palestinian Experience.
Historically democratic Jewish voters are for the first time ready to abandon a radicalized democrat party.
It is unlikely that outbursts like that of Rev. Eric Lee, will be the last this political season.