[Fegasderty]

http://daledamos.blogspot.com/2012/0...lling.html?m=1

Earlier this week I wrote NJ Arab Leader Aref Assaf Accuses Jews Of Being "Israel-Firsters" In Coming Election. The issue is thatAref Assaf, as the president of the New Jersey-based American Arab Forum, accused Jews of disloyalty to the US. In the New Jersey Star Ledger, Assaf wrote:
As total and blind support for Israel becomes the only reason for choosing Rothman, voters who do not view the elections in this prism will need to take notice. Loyalty to a foreign flag is not loyalty to America’s.Since Assaf is a supporter of New Jersey Democrat Bill Pascrell, Pascrell has been asked to distance himself from--but Pascrell has refused:

New Jersey Democrat Bill Pascrell has no intention of distancing himself from a prominent Arab-American supporter who accused the state’s Jewish community—as well as his Democratic primary challenger, Rep. Steve Rothman—of being more loyal to Israel than America.

Earlier today, Pascrell surrogate Herb Klein, a former member of Congress, called the controversy a non-issue.

“The ongoing ‘controversy’ being laid at Bill Pascrell’s door as a result of an op-ed authored by someone not affiliated with the Pascrell campaign has proven to be a distraction from the issues confronting the 9th Congressional District’s Democratic voters,” Klein said.Apparently, that depends on how one defines "affiliated."