Gabrielle Giffords – “Liberal and Jewish”

Sign this petition calling on every member of Congress, as well as the major TV news networks, to put an end to any overt or implied appeals to violence in our political debate.

From my friend AR: “Been viewing the news from Arizona. Four of the people who died in the shooting were Jews, as is the Congresswoman. The little girl who died was born on 9/11/01. It was reported that the assailant posted on some You Tube that one of his “favorite books” was Mein Kampf. I can’t tell you, my friends, how deeply troubling I find such incidents.”

Gunsights on Sarah Palin’s original website map of the U.S.

“Reload and Aim” article in Haaretz on the many prior violent threats towards Gabrielle Giffords.

Palin’s Tweet

Rabbi Michael Lerner (publisher of Tikkun magazine): When right-wingers create a climate of hate against liberal government, and then individuals act on that hate as they did in blowing up a Federal Building in Oklahoma City and now this premeditated murder of several people (we are still praying for the survival of Congresswoman Giffords) in hate-filled Arizona (where she had been attacked viciously but not physically for her support of health care reform), the state whose racism has made it famous around the world for profiling Mexican immigrants, there is no call to investigate and protect ourselves from these right-wing hate mongers. Similarly, when Yitzhak Rabin was murdered by right wing Jews, the right-wing ultra-nationalist community in Israel’s West Bank settlers never faced any serious investigation of their role in creating the hateful climate that helped produce the murderer.

Why does what Hillary Clinton once quite accurately described as “the vast right-wing conspiracy” get a free pass when its rhetoric can easily be seen to contribute to the climate of hate from which the actions of this “lone gunman” can be easily understood to have emerged? Isn’t it time for us to demand that our government investigate the violence-generating discourse of the racist and the haters? Why, when the House of Representatives was in the hands of Democrats, did they not have any committee or subcommittee at work holding pubic hearings to explore what kind of legislation might help protect us citizens and our liberal and progressive representatives from the kind of violence that exploded in Arizona earlier today? Because if there is no such larger exploration of how to stop the haters and to uncover the full dimensions of those who are committed to destroying, one way or the other, the non-military functions of our government, then ordinary people are going to be more afraid to participate in the democratic process or come to any public events–and that is a decisive step toward allowing fascism to triumph in this country. So don’t think of this action as a mere “irrational event,” because it fits very well with the agenda of those who want to give the country back 100% to the corporate powers and their Republican agents in Congress while scaring those who might wish to participate in helping build any kind of progressive alternative.

And don’t underplay the anti-Semitic elements either. When Jews are targeted, it’s rarely “by chance.” Right-wing haters particularly hate Jews, since Jews were the most consistent non-African American constituency for the Democratic Party , in 2010 voting 70% for Democrats. If the rest of the country voted like Jews we’d have a liberal Democratic Congress. And this is not lost on the right-wingers. Just listen to the tapes of Nixon and you see how extreme the hatred of Jews is revealed to be by the “moderate” Nixon, and now we have the more extreme elements of the Right coming to power. Jews are, in the minds of these haters, the same as liberals or progressives–maybe even the worst of them. And then, the sexism of the right manifests dramatically in attempting to kill a woman–the perfect symbol of uppity feminists who dare to take power away from the male chauvinists who thought that “their” country was about white male Christian power. You won’t hear the media dealing with these dimensions of the reality–but they are central.

Most immediately, I invite you to join us in prayer for Representative Gabrielle Gifford! May she receive a refu’ah shleymah, a healing of body and a healing of soul, and speedily return to our community fully healed.–Rabbi Michael Lerner after Havdalah, Saturday evening, January 8, 2011

Story in Ha’aretz Saturday evening:

President Barack Obama was quick to decry the shooting attack that left Representative Gabrielle Giffords critically wounded in Tucson on Saturday.

Giffords, the first Jewish woman to be elected to Congress in Arizona, was shot in the head when an assailant opened fire outside a grocery store while she was meeting with constituents. Another six people were killed and 10 more wounded in a rampage that rattled the nation.

“I am hopeful that she is going to pull through,” Obama said in a statement from the White House. Referring Giffords as “Gabby”, Obama described her as a “friend” and an “extraordinary public servant.”

“It’s not surprising that today Gabby was doing what she always does – listening to the hopes and concerns of her neighbors. That is the essence of what our democracy is all about,” he said. “That is why this is more than a tragedy for those involved. It is a tragedy for Arizona and a tragedy for our entire country.”

The hospital said Gifford’s outlook was “optimistic” and that she was responding to commands from doctors, despite the fact that the bullet had gone through her head. The hospital said a 9-year-old child was among the dead, and a U.S. Marshal said a federal judge was also fatally shot in the attack.

Rabbi Stephanie Aaron, the leader of the Reform congregation Chaverim which Giffords attended, described the community reaction as “shocked and horrified, and completely saddened. We are horrified at the death of the Judge John Roll and the young girl. We don’t know all the details, but it is incomprehensible.”

“Gabrielle is such a kind person, incredibly brilliant person, who can talk to people of all generations. She is a member of the congregation at least for 10, maybe even 15 years. I was the Rabbi at her wedding,” Aaron said, adding: “We hope and pray she continues to get well.”

The congregation is set to hold a special service at 9 A.M. on Sunday.
“We will pray for healing of Gabrielle, everyone injured and the families of those who lost their lives,” Aaron told Haaretz, adding that the community hoped “to organize blood drive next week…. Everything was pretty quiet in the city, there was nothing that could predict anything like this might happen.”

Media consultant Steve Rabinowitz, who originates from Tucson and who recently held a fundraiser for Representative Giffords at Washington, DC. home, said the congresswoman was known to be “an outspoken woman, but she is not a controversial figure.”

“She faced a tough election and she got criticized by the conservatives in Arizona for her support of the healthcare bill, but we don’t know the motivation of the shooter yet,” he said, adding that he did “know though that the rhetoric in the country got so ugly it creates a really dangerous climate.”

Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, said that while the motive behind the act was yet unknown, “there can be no ignoring the increasing culture of violence in our nation and particularly in our political discourse.”

“Dehumanizing language and images of violence are regularly used to express differences of opinion on political issues, Rabbi Saperstein said, adding that such “language is too often heard by others, including those who may be mentally ill or ideologically extreme, to justify the actual use of violence.”

“It continues to be far too easy to acquire guns, including the weapon used in today’s shootings. Americans must be able to have robust and healthy differences of opinion while respecting the humanity and patriotism of those with whom they disagree,” Rabbi Saperstein said.

Urging in his statement for a commitment toward “working with America’s religious leaders of all faiths, and others, to elevate aggressively the state of our political discourse,” Saperstein said.

“‘We stand stunned and deeply saddened… and we pray that Rep. Giffords’ husband Mark and her entire family find support comfort and strength among their friends and family, as we join them in praying for her full recovery,” he added.

AJC Executive Director David Harris called the shooting “a dark day for our country,” adding: “We are confident that all Americans, regardless of their political affiliations, will unite to condemn this atrocity, and reaffirm our faith in our country’s fundamental democratic values of mutual respect and free speech.”

“There are worrying indications that the gunman was motivated by extremist political views, which encourage the use of violence against those who think differently,” Harris said, adding the gunman “should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and law enforcement should investigate whether he acted alone or had any accomplices.”

The reaction to the shooting was swift and rippled across the globe and cast a pall over the Capitol as politicians of all stripes denounced the shooting as a horrific act of violence. Capitol police asked members of Congress to step up security in the wake of the shooting, and some politicians expressed hope that the killing spree serves as a wake-up call at a time when the political climate has become so emotionally charged.

“I am horrified by the senseless attack on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and members of her staff,” said newly elected House Speaker John Boehner.

“An attack on one who serves is an attack on all who serve. Acts and threats of violence against public officials have no place in our society. Our prayers are with Congresswoman Giffords, her staff, all who were injured, and their families. This is a sad day for our country.”

Police said Saturday that the shooter was in custody. Sources familiar with the investigation identified him as Jared Loughner, 22.

Pima County Sheriff’s officials said he used a pistol to carry out the attack. U.S. officials who provided his name to The Associated Press spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release it publicly.

His exact motivation was not immediately clear. Federal law enforcement officials were poring over captured versions of a MySpace page that belonged to Jared Loughner and over Youtube video published to the Internet weeks Obama calls near fatal shooting of Jewish Congresswoman a ‘tragedy for our entire country’o under an account “Classitup10″ and linked to him.

The MySpace page, which was removed within minutes of the gunman being identified by U.S. officials, included a mysterious” Goodbye friends” message published hours before the shooting and exhorted to his friends: “Please don’t be mad at me.”