Emanuel visits Old City, sheds tear at Western Wall
White House chief of staff also visited the Aish Hatorah Yeshiva, where he had a fantastic vantage point of the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
By Yair Ettinger Tags: Rahm Emanuel Western Wall Middle East peace Israel newsSo what can we, or should we, learn from the long moment Rahm Emanuel spent standing in front of the Western Wall, with his son Zach - one hand on the teen who was celebrating his Bar Mitzvah, the other on the cool stones, his eyes welled up in tears? Can this be crowned as the "Jewish moment" for the man who has the ear of U.S. President Barack Obama, the man who was known as a pro-Israel Congressman, but of late, as Chief of Staff at the White House, was accused in Israel of being pro-Palestinian and even a fifth column? Will these tears have any political weight when he returns to his office in Washington? Should this visit interest the public in any way?
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White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel praying at the Western Wall with his son. |
| Photo by: Tomer Appelbaum |
To judge by the army of cameramen following the Emanuel family as they made their way through the Old City in Jerusalem, the answer is that it indeed does interest the public. A similar conclusion can be reached if we look at the three or four protesters - two being the usual suspects Itamar Ben-Gvir and Baruch Marzel - who heckled Emanuel.
Marzel and Ben-Gvir ambushed Emanuel in the Jewish Quarter, calling him an "anti-Semite" and "Israel hater," and they scored their headline. But once they were held by police, calm was restored and things went back to their original intention: a Bar Mitzvah trip for a Jewish family from Washington, with origins in Chicago and a grandfather from Israel.
The Old City is a square kilometer in size. A mere one square kilometer packed with historic conflict, topped off with a blazing sun and a few surprising moments of rain. There were also magical moments of unity and harmony: In each of the four quarters of the Old City, each alley in which the large group moved, people asked, in Hebrew or Arabic, "Who is it?"
A handful of people in that single square kilometer recognized the White House Chief of Staff, who may affect the situation here too. There were those who welcomed him and tried to shake his hand, and there was at least one person left wondering: "Who is this Rabbi Emanuel?" And why is such an important rabbi looking like a tourist, wearing short khakis and sneakers.
The Emanuel family walked through all the quarters of the Old City, and then made their way back through the market to their hotel in the center of Jerusalem. Their tour guide took them to holy sites for Jews and Christians. Twice they went to the Western Wall. The first time Rahm Emanuel waited with his security detail from a look-out point at the Aish Hatorah yeshiva, a fantastic vantage point at the heart of the conflict - the holy basin that includes the Western Wall, Al-Aqsa Mosque, and beyond the Mount of Olives with the blue and white flag flying over the homes purchased by settlers.
If Emanuel had any conclusions about the conflict from his vantage point, he kept them to himself.
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bs"d although his views and approach towards Israel are not in our favour , after all he still has a jewish soul and according to our torah we never give up on a jewish soul and seek that one day he will repent . this is the most legitimic response rahm experienced even though its not neccessary he will leave the bad path he choosed.... turning against ISRAEL...
Mazel Tov and welcome in Israel to Emmanuel! May he not forget that many Israelis welcome him and despise the far right-wingers and hate preachers who attempt to block peace and dare criticize a fellow Jew and his family.
He was praying that the scandal currently brewing about Sestak will blow over without him going to prison.
Is a biased party of the conflict. With an Israeli grandfather, and an anti-Arab father, he should not be allowed to have anything to do with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He is not an elected official now and should not decide the fate of Palestinians.
he thinks he can successfully pressure israel to give east jerusalem away, which will make the area Judenrein, which will prohibit Rahm from going there again
I have a feeling this trip, seeing his Jewish relatives, his son being Bar Mitzvah'd will leave a lasting strong impression on Rahm Emmanuel. Israel has a friend in the white house, a Jewish friend.
One of the great thing about being Jewish is that we differ in our opinions, our way of living our lives, education, politics and everything and argue, sometimes a little bit loud and even - unfortunately - disrespectful but at the end we are all Jews. Some of us orthodox some reformists and even some like me totally atheist but still Jewish. We may differ about how peace should be achieved in the ME. To say that Mr. Emanuel is an Anti-Semite is preposterous, uncalled for and simply un Jewish. Some ultra orthodox who accuse him for that never served in the Israeli military while he did. The fact that he brought his son to Jerusalem for his Bar Mitzvah is an indication of his sincere devotion to his faith and should be respected. Those who donot agree with his political views can respectfully differ and argue against his position.
Someone needs to give this man a oscar. What a two-face actor.
Time for Emanuel to reflect on that !
He's crying because he's giving it away.
the tears could be Jewish Guilt.
Perhaps I tend to be rather pessimistic and cannot take for granted everything I see or read .I am rather suspicious and for good reason.. Forgive my assumption,but if Emanuel was shedding REAL tears,I have to say: Perhaps crocodile tears? Anyone can shed tears at a given moment.Like turning the tap on and off. We see this phenomenon with criminal,murderers when caught and during investigations by the police,one minute they deny their guilt and the next begin to shed crocodile tears to avert their doom. Too much dirty deeds have passed between Emanuel since he joined the clique of Obama and the problems inflicted to Israel. For some of us to be somewhat hesitant to accept it in truth is rather difficult. If I err, and Emanuel (what as lovely name)was crying in ernest then I apologize profoundly.
Mazaltov to Ram Emanuel on the occasion of his son,s barmitzvah,There are not many well placed Jews like him who show their comittment to our faith..Even though he holds a high position in the White House it is not for him to make statements or committments.. Kol Hakavod to the Emanuel family for showing such respect and restraint. Lay Greenman Kibbutz Degania-bet
Was that a whole tear? Must have been difficult for him to squeeze it out.
I am not a deep religious person but when i visited the Kotel I had a lump in my throat. Not for all the Jews that have died over the centuries but for my parents who never had a chance to visit Israel. Everyone who visits the Kotel has something in mind. Whatever moved Rahm Emanuel let us just accept it is his personal feeling.
Do Jews worship this wall? They do bring prayers to it and bow to it - how different is this from worship with the use of an idol?
Emanuel may be chief of staff at the WH but at the Western Wall in the Temple district he is a Jew don’t forget that. What influence Emanuel has over this president’s decision in regards to Israel, we will never know until one or the other writes a book. But the out pouring of solidarity with Israel in the US shall always override what ever politicians do. As an American Christian I stand with Israel; not just the 1948 borders but the vision of a greater Israel including Samaria, Judea; and the Golan. Creating another Moslem state out of Samaria and Judea is indicative of the Moslem Cemetery on the Eastern side of the temple mount. Moslems believe that the Messianic prophecies cannot be fulfilled because the Messiah could not cross a cemetery to enter the Temple through the East Gate. Shows little understand by Moslems in regards of the Messiah. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
why is so much attention given to this double talkin fool. waste of time.
Mazal Tov to the Emanuel family and please give them some privacy at such import moment in life.
and sees the solution the way Gideon Levi, Yossi Sarid , Yossi Beilin, Shulamit Aloni, Amos Oz, David grossman etc see it and not the way Baruch Marzel or Ben Gvir see it !!
Do Rahm and Zach have any less right to visit the Western Wall at this rite of passage than any other Jew. It's interesting that he visited Aish, a centre for the Baal Teshuvah movement.
His visit to the Baal Teshuvah movement could be a door to a group of people more inclined for change than the far religious right.
Judging by the Il Duce standards of the current ruling class in Israel, Emanuel should count his blessings. After all, notwithstanding all the lunatic fulminations of the right in Israel aimed at the Obama administration, Emanuel has not been kicked out of Israel yet.
Let's hope crazy right-wingers and Jewish talibans who destroy Israel, its image in the world and its relationship with the USA will not last.
9/11
there are only two reasons for his visit, I fear: 1) obama has been criticized for not being a friend of Israel, and Rahm is there suddenly to give the perfect photo-op, and 2) Rahm is sad because he knows that the future of the old city is in doubt. Perhaps I am a cynic, but that is my worry.
The grand Bar Mitzva ever celebrated in the Kotel for Emanuel's son.Poor boy I bet he doesn't know what to do,r how to even pray.I feekl sorry for the boy being exposed to such strange environment . As for Emanuel's tear,could it be it is to pacify Israel versus Obama's forward pushing Israel mercilessly? The photo op? Could be,or maybe genuine. Only his heart and G-D will know whether it is genuine or not.
I have to wonder how he explains the Kotel to his son. How does he explain the PAs' and the Arab declarations that there was never a Jewish Temple on those grounds?
What do you mean Arab deceleration that there was never a Jewish Temple on those grounds. Sounds like you are stirring religious feelings. I haven't heard any Arab say that. But that is not the point. The point is there is also a Muslim Mosque built there. Why do we have to fight and argue over every point. Can't we just live together in peace ?
How does he explain why a 1300 year old mosque is built on the Temple Mount ?
With all the due respect that Mr. Emanuel truely deserves, with all the respect to the Jewish heritage and to the Jewish site that Emanuel visited, he is not a nuetral person to this conflict. He is a Jew of Israeli origin, and no matter how neutral his opinion with respect to the Old City can be, he should not be a party to the decision making regarding the Old City's future. There would always be a conflict of interest no matter what direction he takes.
Can't we use the same rationale with respect to Mitchel and Obama?
an Israeli shouldn't be a party to these negotiations? Then who? the Swedes? Maybe the syrians? This space is inherently Jewish.
George Mitchell, the U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East, is an Arab American whose mother grew up in Lebanon and whose father was raised by a Lebanese family. He is not a nuetral person to this conflict. Due to his Arab origin, no matter how neutral his opinions with respect to the Israeli-Arab conflict can be, he should not be a party to the decision making regarding the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. There would always be a conflict of interest no matter what direction he takes. He is biased in favor of the Palestinians.
If he sheds a tear lets hope it is for the harm he's done to Israel- the only place on earth he can call a Country of his own as a if he were a"Jewish Refugee" Emanuel should think more about his fellow Jews instead of advising his President to placate our (and US) enemies
By your logic a jew should never be trusted, he will always be loyal to jews only and to Israel, so they should not be in a position to influence any country. Pathetic racist logic. America is the ONLY country ANYONE can call their own - that is a fact -
DT G-D and himself only knows. Therefore,we cannot be privvy to his inner feelings. Thay maybe ganuine,or false.If it is the latter,I pity him. But we should not jump to conclusions That hemay have done harm to Israel is moot. We wait and see when all the hoopla is finished.
Now let him go wait through some checkpoints and drive selected arab roads.
no don't do that, he might be stoned by some arabs because he's a Jew
Why do the checkpoints and selcted roads exist. Is it because your suicide bombers try to kill our men, women and children and your terrorists shoot at us on our roads. I remember atime not so very long ago when there were no checkpoints, no closed roads, no mwall. A time when we all went to Jericho for lunch and to Ramallah to shop. When the only problem in Hebron was finding a parking place for all the tourist buses. When the construction and tourist industry employed hundred of thousands of Palestinians. Why did this all change Jake. Did you ever stop to think why. Typical Palestinian whine. Its never our fault.
I don't know if he can garner enough explosives to strap to himself to make it a truly authentic arab experience
There are enough checkpoints in the U.S. for anyone who needs to see checkpoints. We have these checkpoints because of terrorism.
that the Emanuel's will do a little compare and contrast by visiting Gaza to see how the other half lives. If he shed a few tears at the wailing wall, he should shed buckets there.
Buckets at how they continually f-k up their chances of normalcy; mostly by corruption, also by blind stupidity.
Before you pounce on Israel please explain why the gazans/palestinians fired 6-10,000 rockets into Israel instead of DEVELOPING their land. The destruction of gaza was because gazans fired 6-10,000 rockets into israel instead of developing their land and becoming a good neighbor. Gazan misery is their own fault and the fault of their leaders who lead them to the cesspool with lies and corruption
All the other half in Gaza need to do is persuade their radical Islamic terrorist goverment who they voted for to release Gilad Shalit, recognize the State of Isreal, renounce terrorism and abide by prior agreements and you would see how quickly things would improve in Gaza. I shed buckets of tears for the people of Gaza but I shed more tears for the victims of Hamas terrorism and their families. Once again we hear the everpresent Palestinian whine of "its not our fault" all the "Zionists have to do is die and everyhting will be ok". Sorry reno not this time.
He saw nothing of the Palestinian struggle
His trip was a family trip, celebrating his son's BM, a Jewish coming of age. It was not a political trip, especially one of those arranged by the left who create the conflicts depicted as the Palestinian struggle.
The Palestinian struggle to eliminate the State of Israel (Hamas is Palestinian) is the reason the Palestinians are in the position they are in. Suicide bombers, rockets fired at civilians and their willingness to live as "refugees" in camps in their own Arab brethren's countries are their own doing. Recognizing the State of Israel as a Jewish State ( There are 57 Muslim States)and renouncing terror is the only way for them to move forward. Otherwise they will be struggling for the next 100 years.
Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan, Ras Al-Amoud at the very least. President Obama and he need to get know the kind of people who are now being used there as Israel's storm-troopers. Their ideology and their deeds are not even known to most Israelis (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil is de rigueur here these days). In Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan and Ras-Al-Amoud the eye-openers about what has happened to Israel are exposed for the entire world to see, if only it dared look.
there is no Pal arab connection in Jerusalem, so nothing for him to see
A lot of good the Palestinian Struggle has brought to the Palestinian people. This is what you get when you kill our men, women anjd children in buses, restaurants, shopping malls and on the streets of Israel. You live as beggars on the charity of the world and whine how its never your fault. What are you struggling against. Sit down with no preconditions, no absurd demands and you will see how quickly a peacefull solution will be found.
Would you prefer he do so at a Mosque? I think somehow the Muslims would not agree to that!
Oh, you're referring to their struggle to eradicate Israel and murder innocent Jews. Silly me.
The power of prayer at the wall is one of our most prized possessions of late..... who knows what can happen..
Las Vegas is only replicas! Jerusalem is the real thing.
How can you can you say that about the most Holy place on the earth and the universe?.G-d has chosen this land for His eternal kingdom of a world full of righteous holy people with Israel as the head of all nations,full of joy honor and peace. He is jealous for this land, He has given it to Isarel and He is angry that any man wants to part it!!.
Ezek.38 [19] For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; Ezek.39 [25] Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name; Joel.2 [18] Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people. Nah.1 [2] God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. These are scriptures you need to read to see truth aabout the land of Israel. I urge you to get into Gods word to see and know truth!!
Mazal Tov, hopefully this trip will have an influence on Rahm. or if not, on his his children.