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DIY: Obama and Sukkot

16 years ago
19 Comments
by ck
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Meet Lisa Anne Auerbach. A resident of Los Angeles, she recently knitted this waaaay over the top, but still cute sweater/skirt combo after having been inspired by The Great Schlep. You’ll recall that The Great Schlep is a campaign (complete with a Sarah Silverman video) that aims to get grandchildren to visit their grandparents in Florida during Columbus Day/First Day of Sukkot and convince them to vote for Obama. She certainly gets her point across here, that’s for sure, although her Grandmother lives in Chicago and is already voting for Obama. Her blog post on the topic makes no mention of whether or not she’ll be visiting bubbe anyway. Lisa Anne is on the same bike team as our current videographer Sasha Perry who alerted me to this item.

Speaking of Obama, Alex, one of our regular commenters, linked to this interview with Rev. Jesse Jackson in the New York Post. In discussing the “change” that would be represented by an Obama Whitehouse, he noted:

The most important change would occur in the Middle East, where “decades of putting Israel’s interests first” would end… Jackson believes that, although “Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades” remain strong, they’ll lose a great deal of their clout when Barack Obama enters the White House… Jackson warns that he isn’t an Obama confidant or adviser, “just a supporter.” But he adds that Obama has been “a neighbor or, better still, a member of the family.” Jackson’s son has been a close friend of Obama for years, and Jackson’s daughter went to school with Obama’s wife Michelle… “We helped him start his career,” says Jackson. “And then we were always there to help him move ahead. He is the continuation of our struggle for justice not only for the black people but also for all those who have been wronged.”

Palestinians for ObamaWith that kind of support, is it any wonder some folks are a wee bit nervous about an Obama Presidency? On the other hand, what with all the Jew-love headed Barack’s way, over at Kabobfest, the official voice of hip Arab Americans, the tone has been decidedly anti-Obama. And that’s an understatement. Showing the same DIY spirit demonstrated by Lisa Anne, in a post called “Idiots for Obama”, they created several Obama campaign buttons for those in their community who support him. Examples include “Muslim Americans with no self-respect for Obama” and “Former Revolutionaries Who’ve become old Liberal kooks and have deluded themselves into thinking they’re still fighting something just because this time he’s black for Obama” as well as the “Palestinians for Obama” button shown here.

What? You don’t get it? Lookit the button dummy. It’s a blue map of Israel. With a Star of David in it. It’s saying that Palestinians who support Obama are in fact supporting continued Zionist hegemony over Palestine because the Zionists are all up Obama’s butt. Now do you get it?

So who is right and who is wrong? I don’t know. This isn’t my election, I’m not American remember? But one thing I do know is that amongst Obama’s supporters, someone’s going to feel mighty pissed, disappointed and betrayed. Please allow me to strike a tribal note here when I hope that it isn’t, you know, us.

Continuing along the same DIY theme, I found this blog called Tikkun Knits where the owner knitted, yes knitted, her own Sukkah decorations. These include an etrog, a bunch of grapes and coming soon, a lulav. She also provides patterns so those of you who knit can do the same thing. Why? Well because the commercially available Sukka decorations are garish, made in China and disposable. These are kinda cute and reusable and therefor better for the environment. No word on how well these knitted decorations hold up in the rain, but Leslie does have a point. Does your Sukkah really need all that crap in it?

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ck

Founder and Publisher of Jewlicious, David Abitbol lives in Jerusalem with his wife, newborn daughter and toddler son. Blogging as "ck" he's been blocked on twitter by the right and the left, so he's doing something right.

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19 Comments

  • Didn’t Jackson insult Obama a few weeks ago? His own son had to publicly repudiate him.

    I think we should mass produce and distribute those Palestinians for Obama pins. In fact, I think we should relabel that pin “Palestinians for Peace” and distribute it far and wide. How much does it cost to produce pins, anyway?

  • I’m touched to be featured in an Official Jewlicious Post while I may not completely agree with its “tone”. Thanks!

    On the other hand, Palestinian Americans who express dissatisfaction with Obama, claim not to be voting for him, but will anyway as the lesser of what their idea of two evils is, share my view on voting for McCain completely.

  • Uh, yeah Alex. Next time send me an email though ok? Try not to drop info into a completely unrelated post. We kinda frown on that. And what don’t you like about the tone? I was trying to be bi-partisan!

  • I thought I had been thoroughly reprimanded in the other post. But I appreciate it. 2004 was all about putting “nuance” on the political map. 2008 is all about “tone”. I found it amusing that Jesse Jackson’s statement wasn’t offensive enough to warrant it’s own post at a premier Jewish blog and needed to be balanced with a link to kabobfest. That place, while for hip Arab Americans, is also a cesspool of anti-Semitism. However, with what is considered anti-Semitic this day and age and to Obama supporters, I could be absolutely wrong. Either way, beggers can’t be choosers, so I’ll take what I can get and give your props for it too. Thanks.

  • Jesse Jackson cites his son’s proximity to the Obama campaign in order to lend credence to his assertions – the same son that publicly dissed his Dad after some retarded comment he made about Obama. Hmmm. Jesse Jackson is a has been. I posted the link in a way that seemed appropriate. We don’t go through editorial meetings – everything is mostly done at the spur of the moment. That’s just the way it is – don’t try to read too much meaning into it.

  • No need to be “bipartisan” – although I’m sure the gesture is appreciated for Alex’s sake. Obama/Biden is predicted to win a landslide victory and are up by around 15% in key battleground states. Of course our immediate impulse is to wonder where he will stand insofar as Israel is concerned. I’m not all that worried though. American presidents are pro-Israel as a matter of course and that will not change. But what will change is having a president who will make sure that America doesn’t pound itself into financial, military and diplomatic oblivion, and that’s what’s important. I can’t imagine a single Israeli leader worth his salt who would want an America as weak and blundering as Bush and McCain would make it (and have made it).

  • Oh – I just caught the Jackson quote.

    Jackson also said he wanted to “cut (Obama’s) nuts off”.

    I don’t see Obama acting on that.

    If Jackson wants to talk like a wacko and take wack-job positions, then that’s one thing. I’d be nervous too. But Obama already has black support. He will basically always have black support. Jewish support, OTOH, is not a given to him – as this blog proves. And that’s something that Obama understands and has shown that he doesn’t take for granted.

    Until Obama proves that he’s going to let Jackson decide policy for him, I think it’s safe to say that he’s not going to let Mr. “Hymietown” speak for him. Besides, Biden is about as staunch and honest a political Zionist as they come (at least among gentiles who are not religious wackos). Obama put him on the ticket because he says he values Biden’s counsel, and I wouldn’t underestimate Obama’s temperament and judgment on these things – at least until we have more reason to do so than not to do so.

    Once the campaigns are through then I think you will see Biden much more relaxed, determined, and ready to doggedly pursue foreign (and domestic) policy goals that very much include a deep and abiding concern for Israel’s well-being.

  • This wikipedia article includes some challenging viewpoints, but I think the overall picture is pretty positive, as is this interview:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAZmO80dLfE

    A good friend is not an uncritical friend. American presidents have pandered so much as to make that distinction invisible, but it exists. If Biden were to be placed somewhere into the Israeli political spectrum, he would probably fit comfortably within the center to moderate left parties, but his sense of Zionism is too sincere to place him anywhere near even the fringe left parties, let alone within a political persuasion that is antagonistic or even equivocal to Israel’s existence.

    Too many people have for so long clung to this “with-us or against-us” fantasy (similar to the one that the Bush administration obsessed itself with) to even understand how to get out of that framework, accept others’ acceptance of Israel, build on that and get on with the business of making it safer and strengthening it rather than feeding reductionist fantasies of existential paranoia. There’s a place for that. There’s also a place for getting beyond that and growing forward, though.

  • Obama’s going to carry the Muslim vote, probably overwhelmingly.

    MUL, I’m relieved to hear that we can count on Biden to overrule Zbig, Tony Lake and the rest of the moral equivalencers/realpolitikers when it comes to Israel.

  • It’s not hard, Tom. He was nominated vice president, after all – while those those other clowns were not.