Comments from Congressman "I'm an anti-semetic" Moran

Va.'s Moran Condemned For Remarks
Congressman Rejects Calls for Resignation


By Eric M. Weiss and Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, March 12, 2003; Page B01


The White House and congressional leaders from both major parties rebuked Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) yesterday for remarks suggesting that the Jewish community was pushing the United States toward war with Iraq.

Meanwhile, some Jewish leaders refused to accept the Alexandria congressman's apologies, saying that Moran's comments on the war issue reflect a history of actions and statements hostile to Jews and Israel.

White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer called Moran's comments "shocking . . . wrong . . . [and] inappropriate." Addressing reporters at the regular White House briefing, Fleischer said, "If [Democratic leaders] were silent on a issue like this, they would be missing an opportunity to speak out for something that deserves to be spoken out on."

In a written statement issued later, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said that Moran's comments "have no place in the Democratic Party." But Pelosi added that while the remarks were inappropriate and offensive, "he has properly apologized."

Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) admonished Moran for making unfounded, baseless and "totally out of line comments" beneath congressional standards.

U.S. Sen. George Allen (R-Va.), a chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, condemned Moran's remarks as "deplorable and offensive not just to Jewish Americans, but to all Americans."

In remarks first reported in the Reston Connection, Moran told an antiwar forum in Reston on March 3, "If it were not for the strong support of the Jewish community for this war with Iraq, we would not be doing this."

Moran added that Jewish leaders "are influential enough that they could change the direction of where this is going, and I think they should."

Moran has since apologized, saying that he "made some insensitive remarks that I deeply regret."

He said yesterday he was trying to make a broader point, that religious communities could have an impact on the war debate.

Moran said he has no plans to resign. "Oh no," he said. "The voters put me in, and the voters will put me out." He said he is trying to mend relations with Jewish leaders, but said, "I don't know if I'll be given the opportunity. I think they need to do a whole lot of venting before they start listening."

Representatives of some Jewish organizations said yesterday that Moran's statement at the forum was less a verbal mix-up than the latest window into the congressman's real feelings.

"This was the icing on the cake," said Ronald Halber, executive director of the Jewish Community Council of Washington. "Over the past several years, Congressman Moran has expressed a hostile tendency toward Israel. It has come up in his votes and in his statements."

Jewish groups have long focused on Moran, collecting his statements and tracking his votes.

"Clearly when you have a congressman who is so insensitive to Jewish issues and blatantly hostile to Israel, it makes it difficult to take his words of clarification seriously," said David Bernstein, the Washington director of the American Jewish Committee. "The nature of his statement was too clear-cut and obvious to dismiss as a slip of the tongue."

Several Jewish leaders said the incident is a rerun of an incident two years ago when, in a speech to the American Muslim Council, Moran said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was coming to Washington "probably seeking a warrant from President Bush to kill at will with weapons we have paid for."

Moran said at the time that his remarks were "irresponsible," delivered without thinking. "Probably more than anything else, it's what embarrasses me the most -- when I pander to an audience, and I've done it too often."

Given Moran's record, Halber said, his latest apologies mean little. "When a person violates their parole enough times they are put back in jail."

Last November, Moran reversed his previous position and returned contributions from three officers of Muslim organizations in Northern Virginia that were raided by federal agents in an investigation into terrorist financing. A year ago, Moran returned political contributions from a Muslim activist who declared his support for the anti-Israel groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

Moran's public record reveals a passion about Middle East violence. And the theme of the Jewish community influencing policy is a note that he has sounded before. Moran said it comes from years spent studying the conflict, extensive travel around the region and time spent with many Mideast leaders.

"Because I have spent as much time as I have on this issue, I felt freer than some to speak out on it. My views differ from the conventional wisdom on what is in Israel's long-term best interest."

In a 1996 op-ed piece in the Jerusalem Post, Moran described a wrenching scene in which Israeli border police allegedly beat an unarmed Palestinian.

"The unarmed youth was held on the ground while police officers armed with guns and clubs climbed over each other's backs to land their own blows on his body," Moran wrote. "Most of the witnesses to this scene said it happens all the time. When Israeli police and Palestinians are concerned there is no justice or fair play. Might makes right. I witnessed the police laughing and making self-congratulatory gestures after the beating."

Moran said yesterday that he still hoped to speak out on the subject. "I thought it would be a healthy thing for some non-Jewish citizens to be able to contribute a bit more to the dialogue on Mideast issues. There is not enough cross-pollination with people who are not Jewish but who share a commitment to Israel and its security."

What a f*****g moron.

This guy has got to go.