John Stewart Can Go to Hell

Update: Debbie Schlussel has provided a more detailed response to the John Stewart video (and was kind enough to link to this blog. Thanks, Debbie!)


I have disagreed with John Stewart a lot over the years, but through it all, I always saw him as intelligent, funny, and generally worthy of respect. That changed last night when a friend sent me a clip of The Daily Show (click on "Indecision 5768"). In that clip, Stewart pokes fun at the Presidential candidates during their addresses to the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). The first 80% of it is fine, maybe even a bit funny.

But at the end, Stewart "comically" maligns the candidates for not expresssing any criticism of Israeli policies during their speeches. He also incredibly states that one cannot "remotely criticize Israeli policies and expect to be elected President." At this point, my jaw dropped.

First, why would he expect any candidate to criticize Israel WHILE ADDRESSING AIPAC?? Seriously, when has any candidate ever criticized the NAACP (or the African-American community) WHILE ADDRESSING THE NAACP?? Or for that matter, when has any candidate ever seriously criticized the NAACP and been elected President?

But more important, Stewart is nothing short of a traitor for disseminating what amounts to enemy propaganda: that somebody cannot "remotely criticize Israel's policies" (whatever that means) and get elected President. He just provided a sound byte for the Arab world that will serve as further justification for acts of mass murder against his Jewish (and non-Jewish) brothers and sisters in Israel and throughout the world and will further the myth that the "Israel Lobby" (whatever that is) has a stranglehold over both the US media and the Middle East debate. Maybe Stewart forgot that Obama said that the so-called Palestinians were suffering more than any people on Earth. Not to mention the fact that Obama has surrounded himself and associated with numerous anti-Israel people like Robert Malley (who had to quit once his Hamas connections came to light). I guess Obama can't get elected President, right?

These blog entries usually contain a degree of humor. But there is nothing funny about this. I am really pissed off. John Stewart has criticized Israel in the past, which is fine, even though I believe he's wrong when he does it. If he wants to say he favors a "two-state solution" or that Israel should take down settlements or withdraw from Judea and Samaria, that's fine. He's expressing a respectable opinion. A wrong and uninformed opinion, but a respectable one.

But I have no tolerance for traitors who disseminate enemy propaganda tinged with anti-Jewish stereotypes that have served as the justification for killing Jews throughout the centuries. And that's exactly what Stewart did by making jokes implying that you can't criticize Israel in America.

John Stewart is an empty shell of a man, and he can go to Hell.