Muhammad Idrees Ahmad

The Winner 

In the periphery of the AIPAC circus, the closely watched Hillary-Obama catfight was being reenacted for the delegates’ gladiatorial pleasure :

In one of the most important campaign stops yet, supporters from the Clinton and Obama camps…flooded the hallways of the Washington Convention Centre distributing fliers and shouting through loudhailers in their bid to draw people in…

According to Gregory Levey, both Clinton and Obama held competing dessert receptions in the conference center, “both eager to highlight their pro-Israel credentials”. This lefty many with a dilemma, Levey reports: “I can’t decide,” one AIPAC delegate said. “I’d really like to see Obama in person, but Hillary is better for Israel”

And while Mr Obama, who seemed tired, attracted only about 200 overwhelmingly young supporters to his room, Mrs Clinton, less stilted than in recent speeches and with an ace up her sleeve in the form of Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor to be elected to Congress, filled her room to capacity with about 300 people from across the generations.

Forward adds:

“We need to stand in a united manner, not just across our own country but with our allies around the world, to make it very clear [to Iran] that no option is off the table,” Clinton roared hoarsely at the jam-packed dessert reception.

Of all the political receptions, Clinton’s seemed to be the most carefully orchestrated as a presidential campaign event. Her hall was festooned with “Let the Conversation Begin” banners and Hillary balloons; a cadre of student volunteers passed out fact-sheets on Clinton’s pro-Israel record…

“My position on the U.S.-Israeli relationship is not complicated; I am pro-Israel,” [Obama] began. The line drew hearty applause, along with later references to Iran as a “grave threat…”

Dan Shapiro, an adviser to the Obama campaign, told the Forward that his boss “has always said that the security of Israel should be America’s starting point in the Middle East.” Shapiro continued, “As he restated in his speech [in Chicago] and in Iowa, he also believes that the Palestinian people’s suffering is caused by the Hamas-led government’s refusal to renounce terrorism and join as a real partner in the peace process.”

That is right; and the Jewish underground that led the uprising in the Warsaw ghetto was responsible for the holocaust.

Sadly for Obama, he seems to have “lost ground”, despite the panegyrics.