I catch Humberto Fontova‘s speech (audio) Wednesday night at the Luxe on Sunset and the 405. Video
Fontova’s latest book is Exposing the Real Che Guevara: And the Useful Idiots Who Idolize Him.
His 2005 book was Fidel: Hollywood’s Favorite Tyrant.
From the David Horowitz Freedom Center release (Wikipedia):
Humberto Fontova fled Cuba in 1961, at the age of seven, with his family. Fontova holds a B.A. in political science from the University of New Orleans and a master’s degree in Latin American studies from Tulane University. He is a frequent commentator on both English- and Spanish- language media and is the author of four books, including Fidel: Hollywood’s Favorite Tyrant. Fontova is a journalist who currently resides with his family in the New Orleans area.
About 100 people show up to the Center Book Club.
We eat chips and dip and drink lemonade, tea and coffee.
Janet Levy gave her customarily blunt introduction.
Among the literature given out is a new tract from David Horowitz called "Jimmy Carter’s War Against The Jews."
Dear FrontPage Reader,
I’ve published a booklet, "Jimmy Carter’s War against the Jews," that analyzes with devastating effect the ex-president’s latest book, Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, as well as his entire career of supporting Israel’s enemies and the enemies of the United States.
Our booklet will be a powerful weapon in our fight against the deceitful, one-sided view of Israel that is being pushed on the American public and especially on college students. It is that same view that blames America for everything wrong with the world, including Islamic terrorism.
The author of the booklet, Jacob Laksin, has pulled together the shameful history of Carter’s involvement in the Middle East, and he masterfully exposes the distortions and outright fabrications in Carter’s latest book.
Despite his colossal failures as president, Carter has managed to re-make himself into an elder statesman who won the Nobel Peace Prize.
"Jimmy Carter’s War against the Jews" is the key part of a new campaign we are launching on the campuses, and I want to ask your support. Carter’s book has been the occasion for dozens of invitations to college campuses and other places to speak on the subject of Israel and the Palestinians. As the booklet points out, "in Carter’s moral narrative, Israel can do no right, while Arab leaders are virtually blameless." This is the message he brings, and doesn’t want any opposing views heard.
Yet Carter constantly casts himself as the victim of a shadowy but all-powerful Jewish and pro-Israel lobby. Claiming, absurdly, that there is no forthright discussion about Israel in the United States, Carter writes in Palestine Peace Not Apartheid that this is due to the "powerful political, economic, and religious forces in the United States," who make sure that "Israeli government decisions are rarely questioned or condemned." And he adds for good measure that "voices from Jerusalem dominate in our media."
As you know, Carter’s view of Israel and her enemies is common at colleges and universities throughout America.
In addition to the many professors who spout anti-Israel propaganda in their classrooms, some universities have played host to events specifically aimed at making Israel a pariah nation.
In February, for example, "End Israeli Apartheid Week" was organized on several campuses. At the City University of New York, as reported on our website, FrontPage Magazine,
The two Arab flacks, who are also responsible for organizing riots in the West Bank against Israel’s Security Fence and interfere with Israeli soldiers and police, presented a propaganda film that alleges that Israeli soldiers purposefully abuse and bother Palestinian quadriplegics and other disabled people. These events sometimes run films in which Israeli soldiers are accused of using Palestinian children for target practice. Blood libel tales are common fare.
At the conclusion of the film, Binyamin Rister, a Jewish student at CUNY, raised his hand to ask the question, "Do you support terrorism?" The Arab presenters refused to answer. Rister politely repeated the same question only to find himself set upon by five CUNY security cops who dragged him from his seat and removed him from the room. One officer continued holding him by the neck on the outside escalator and repeatedly banged Rister’s head against the wall as the escalator descended. Then, before they reached the bottom, the guard threw Rister head first down the remaining steps, injuring him severely enough to be taken to the hospital in a neck brace.
This is the second time a Jewish man was beaten up at an ISM [International Solidarity Movement] event in this country. One year ago, Georgetown University guards severely beat a 67-year-old retired police officer for also asking if the speakers supported terrorism.
The article pointed out that "End Israel Apartheid Week" was held to coincide with the release of Jimmy Carter’s book.
We are sick and tired of so much anti-Israel activity taking place, openly or tacitly supported by college administrations, and with very little countervailing activity. We have distributed tens of thousands of our booklets, "Why Israel Is the Victim in the Middle East" and "Big Lies," on college campuses – and we’ve received the heartfelt thanks of many students.
Not only are we supporters of Israel, but we understand that the attempt to make Israel a pariah nation is part of a larger campaign to demonize western civilization itself. Defending Israel is an essential part of defending the United States and the entire Judeo-Christian civilization from the Islamists and radical leftists who want to destroy it all.
Now we are going to add a more active campaign. The student activists we have recruited will become the counterbalance to Jimmy Carter at his campus appearances, giving out our "Jimmy Carter and Israel" booklet to those attending, as well as to the campus newspapers.
We know this will cause a huge commotion. As I said, Carter does not allow opposing views at his events. He likes to keep others off the stage so that no one can interfere with his hostile take on Israel, or his claim that he is a victim of the vast Jewish conspiracy to suppress dissent.
So imagine what will happen when he is met by students handing out a well-researched book debunking his views and exposing his embarrassing history of kissing up to Arab dictators. We expect fireworks – in the form of attempts at suppression by college administrations, counter-demonstrations, and even attempts at violence.
These confrontations will be sure to gain publicity for our efforts, our booklet, and – the real point – our side of the story. And we hope it will go some way toward discrediting Jimmy Carter as a credible, respectable spokesman on the issue of Israel or anything else.
Will you consider making a donation to help fund this project? For a start, we need to print 250,000 copies of "Jimmy Carter’s War against the Jews." We need to organize as many events as possible along with an accompanying publicity campaign.
Jimmy Carter is doing untold damage – not only to Israel, but to America’s war on Islamic terrorism – with his book and his speaking engagements. This is a terrific opportunity to counteract his untruths – and to gain a larger voice on campuses, where students rarely hear the truth about Israel and its importance as America’s only democratic ally in the Middle East.
