Friday, May 30, 2008
Having gaffed yet again by invoking the memory of Robert Kennedy's assassination in a desperate attempt to snatch victory from the Obama jaws of defeat, Hillary Clinton nevertheless reminded us that we are approaching the 40th anniversary of that momentous event that occurred shortly after midnight on June 5, 1968.
The last of the big 3 assassinations -- Robert’s older brother JFK in November of 1963 and Martin Luther King occurring two months before Bobby's -- seemed to provide a tragic coda to a decade that changed the American people and political system forever. Bobby’s murder imbued the 60’s with a fatalism and cynicism that underscored the strife and division brought on by the then raging Vietnam War and the tumultuous Civil Rights Movement. If Camelot’s King Arthur was taken from us in 1963, Bobby’s departure ( as Galahad) heralded the collapse of the castle.
Clearly the heir-apparent to the White House and the standard bearer of the Democratic Party and Progressive America, RFK passed the flag to Hubert Humphrey, the congenial but uncharismatic Sir Sagramore who eventually lost the Presidency later that year to Sir Mordred, Richard Nixon, the final destroyer of the kingdom.
As assassins go, Lee Harvey Oswald and James Earl Ray, aside from the conspiracy theories so endemic to the last half of the twentieth century, were fathomable and their deeds execrable to all. Unlike President McKinley’s assassin, Leon Frank Czolgosz, the anarchist dabbler, sulfuric acid was not thrown into their coffins in spite of the universal revulsion their acts engendered.
RFK’s murderer, however, is still alive and the motive for his act is very fathomable. And yet, to most Americans, this assassination, while horrible, does not carry with it the same visceral hatred that we associate with James Earl Ray. If anything, the bullet that Sirhan Sirhan fired into Bobby Kennedy’s brain has come to resemble something like a natural disaster to many American progressives, a "tragic" event, ascribable to the dementia of a "troubled" youth. Indeed, Sirhan Bishara Sirhan rapidly faded from memory.
In good health at 64 and residing in isolation at the Corcoran State Prison in California, he has recently been denied parole for the thirteenth time. He has never denied firing the 8 bullets from his .22 caliber revolver that morning, but has suggested, in lieu of life imprisonment, that he be deported to an Arab country in the Middle East where he would lead an exemplary life.
Fifty years of progressive pedagogy has created "Palestinianism", the rightful heir to post-Marxist "wretched of the earth" theory. And Palestinianism forgives a multitude of sins, including, it would seem, the cold-blooded murder of the last, best hope of Camelot.
Following the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 by Yigal Amir, an observant Jew and member of the right wing political group Eyal, Leah Rabin said,
"I would prefer that my children be Arabs rather than Orthodox Jews."
In a similar vein, following a "condolence" call by Yasir Arafat, she added,
"Having Arafat in my house on his first visit to Israel is a symbol of the wonderful thing that has happened since the handshake on Sept. 13, 1993 in Washington,"
Not wishing to pass up the political opportunity, other left wing Israeli leaders took up the theme of equating Amir's lone act with the entire settler movement in Israel. According to the left, Rabin's murder was not a generalized tragedy, but the collective, premeditated act of a particular segment of Israeli society.
Had RFK been assassinated by an Orthodox right wing Jew as a result of some misperception of his "pro Palestinian" speeches, imagine the obloquies and venom that would have poured forth from the Jewish American left -- from the Michael Lerners, Tom Friedmans and Jeffrey Goldbergs. David Remnick, I have no doubt, in addition to his own philippic, would have enlisted the prose of Jane Kramer and Ian Buruma to apply literary, sulfuric acid to the corpse.
But no such tirades have ever issued from the American Jewish left. "Palestinianism", in its privileged role as the embodiment and heir to Gramscian Marxism, Fanonism and all the accompanying romantic, fantasy-freighted clichés of the Left, has rendered the murderer of the progressive dream as a faceless, proletarian, third world cipher.
Of course, Sirhan Bashir Sirhan was not faceless or motive-less. He knew precisely why he pulled the trigger. RFK was his enemy and the enemy of his people. Sirhan’s father and presumptive teacher, Bishara, said after the assassination:
Fully aware of the date -- one year to the day -- of the outbreak of the 1967 Arab-Israeli six day war, Sirhan Sirhan planned to kill RFK for his staunch support of Israel, evinced by many of his speeches during the Democratic primary race in California. At the Neveh Shalom Synagogue Kennedy said, "…in Israel -- unlike so many other places in the world -- our commitment is clear and compelling. We are committed to Israel's survival. We are committed to defying any attempt to destroy Israel, whatever the source. And we cannot and must not let that commitment waver."
Police later found news clippings in Sirhan’s pockets documenting Kennedy’s pro-Israel positions. Later, at Sirhan’s trial, a police investigator testified that,
"Sirhan was a self-appointed assassin. He decided that Bobby Kennedy was no good because he was helping the Jews. And he was going to kill him."
Schooled in East Jerusalem in the centuries-old anti-Semitism of Islamic sacred texts and no doubt reciting the familiar "Al Yehud Kelabna" ("The Jews are Our Dogs"), Sirhan Sirhan brought his hatred and intolerance to the United States. According to Mohan Goel, an acquaintance of Sirhan's, "[Sirhan] couldn't understand the Americans, that they let the Jews suck the blood of the nation, and keep putting money in the banks."
In contrast to Mrs. Rabin’s Medea-like invective, most American Jews, to whom RFK represented the last best hope for Progressivism, were either silent on the crime of Sirhan Sirhan, or, like the legendary liberal paradigm (who was to later to fall himself to an assassin’s bullet), Allard K. Lowenstein, New York congressman and then Jimmy Carter’s ambassador to The United Nations Human Rights Commission, signed on to the perennial "second gun" theory, thereby partially exculpating Sirhan Sirhan.
One of Sirhan’s defense lawyers, a Jew, Emile Zola Berman, did his best to present the young man not as a product of Arab hate education but as a someone suffering from "diminished capacity", in effect, not guilty by reason of insanity. It didn’t work. Dr. Philip S. Hicks, a psychiatrist who interviewed the assassin in 1986, said that the assassination stemmed from "political fanaticism rather than psychotic violence."
In the Arab world, Sirhan Sirhan became a cult hero. It is worth noting that the decades following RFK’s assassination witnessed the spread of PLO terrorism out of Israel into the West, culminating in the Munich Olympic massacre of 1972. Just as the recently exposed Mohammed al Dura hoax inspired a generation of killers, perhaps the cult status of Sirhan Sirhan bringing down one of the West’s most liberal leaders emboldened an earlier generation of murderers.
Many of the quotes for this article originated in: Why Sirhan Sirhan Assassinated Robert Kennedy by Mel Ayton
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: The Forgotten Assassin.
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Blogging at Solomonia, Hillel Stavis recalls the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, which occurred 40 years ago this coming Thursday, June 5. As were the rest of us, Stavis was reminded of this event by Hillary Clinton's... Read More
Sorry Stavis:
Sirhan Sirhan was born a Maronite Christian and later became a Baptist. I doubt very much if he was inspired by "Islamic sacred texts". . .
Where was he educated? Arab Christian culture is dominated by the Muslim majority in any case. Anti-Semitism is rampant.
Schooled in East Jerusalem in the centuries-old anti-Semitism of Islamic sacred texts.
and
Arab Christian culture is dominated by the Muslim majority in any case. Anti-Semitism is rampant.
it's fashionable nowadays for zionists to act like christians are our best friends (and indeed, quite often they are) and that in contrast to the delusions of the "golden age of spain/islamic tolerance" christianity is in fact more tolerant of judaism. maybe so, but only nowadays, in a post-Christian West. Eastern Christianity, including Russian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox (the denomination of most Palestinian Christians) and certainly Syrian Maronite Christianity are as virulently antisemitic as Lutheranism and Catholicism were in the past and arguably as bigoted in regard to jews as islam. mainstream trends in global Christianity do influence trends across the schisms, and Christianity does not advocate terrorism in the way that Islam does, but one has to keep in mind that Palestinian Arab nationalism has been marshalled in no small part by Christians such as George Habash (yimach shmo).
so let's not pretend that just because we've made nice with some of the Xtians nowadays that their theology wasn't always predicated on our damnation. The difference between a Christian antisemite and Muslim antisemite is academic, albeit that the latter is probably more common.
The fact that Sirhan Sirhan was raised in the Maronite Church does not ipso facto insulate him from the embedded and ancient Islamic doctrines of antisemitism. In fact, at the time, the recrudescent Jew hatred of Hassan al Banna and the Muslim Brotherhood were well known in the region. A modern example is Naim Ateek, Bishop and founder of SABEEL, the notoriously antisemitic prelate who has equated Israel with "crucifiers". Jeff Klein attempts to separate Sirhan from the prevalent Jew hatred in the Middle East. Those doctrines are inescapable among Arab populations. Palestinian schools today, which teach both Christian and Muslim children indulge in antisemitism as evidenced in the official curricula and textbooks. Mr. Klein knows this, but chooses not to acknowledge this sad fact.
8 shots from a revolver ?
Sirhan was brought up as a Christian but he abandoned his faith years before the assassination and characterized himself as an 'atheist'. He also became obsessed with the occult and practised hynotizing himself in front of a mirror.
Sirhan attended schools in East Jerusalem. He came under the influence of one of his teachers - Mr Suheil, who often invoked the name of Saladin to urge his pupils to 'take up the sword' and fight for 'Palestinian rights'.There is no doubt Sirhan had been indoctrinated by family friends and the larger Arab community to hate Jews.As late as 1968 he was still referring to Jews as less than human.
There are so many myths about this case - not even mainstream journalists are bothering to research the issues before they write their nonsense about how Sirhan was never in a position to fire the fatal bullet that killed RFK or of how he had been hypnotized by others to assassinate the Senator.See:
http://www.washingtondecoded.com/site/
http://hnn.us/articles/50532.html
Mel Ayton
Sirhan has no memory of entering the pantry or shooting RFK. Here is why:
December 17, 1963 - memo - Richard Helms to Deputy Director CIA
For over a decade the Clandestine Services has had the mission of maintaining a capability for influencing human behavior. The present investigation is concerned with chemical agents which are effective in modifying the behavior and function of the central nervous system.
(1) Materials which will render the induction of HYPNOSIS easier or otherwise enhance it's usefulness.
(2) Materials and physical methods which will produce AMNESIA for events PRECEEDING and DURING their use.
p.260 JFK VS. CIA & Senate Select Committee on Health - Project MKULTRA
I would be very interested in writing to SAirhan Sirhan, as I believe he is innocent of the murder of RFK. It was really security guard Eugene Thane
Caesar who committed the deed and was never indicted for it. Mr. Sirhan was guilty only of ATTEMPTED murder and should have been paroled long ago. I have his inmate number and Corcoran's
p.o. box, but not his unit and cell number. I believe he is presently in Corcoran's harsh
Security Housing Unit. Please help me with my request here.
Very sincerely,
John Bales
chinesemauser@yahoo.com
Bobby Kennedy's assassination was a great loss for America and we must not allow ourselves to forget him .
What so disturbs me is the fraudulent evidence used in Sirhan's trial. And so I must ask WHY ??? Why not use authentic evidence?
Rose Lynn Mangan
RLM, the same people who faked the Moon landing killed JFK, MLK, RFK, Marilyn Monroe, John Lennon, Janis, Jimi, Michael Jackson and made Steve Gutenberg a star.
Only insightful people such as yourself know the truth.
Adel sirhan's death created a great dilemma for me since my involvement/research was so closely linked to Adel's search for the truth (about what really happened in Ambassador Hotel Pantry). If there is one outstanding idea that has given me courage to continue Adel's work I would have to say it is - Don't kill the messenger. We must put aside our hatred of Sirhan and examine the evidence - the fraudulent evidence.
I don't know all the answers - but I know this case is rotten through and through and I invite you to see it for yourself.
Rose Lynn Mangan
Rosie, knock yourself out.
If Rosies hero were in a prison in the UK, he would have been released years ago on "compassionate grounds".
http://boycottscotland.com
This is in response to #12 Eddie, Oct. 22 - 12:52am.
Your sarcasm eludes me. Try being specific next time.
Rose Lynn Mangan
rosie, and your compassion for the assassin of Senator Robert F. Kennedy eludes me.
In response to Eddie #14
This is a serious business - not an amusing parlor game. And so I ask you what it is about my very detailed and specific research, especially Special Exhibit 10 Report that you cannot agree with? Even starting out by reading Sirhan Trial Transcript page 3967 should be enough to ask questions about what really happened in Ambassador Hotel Pantry. But I'll bet you haven't even read that infamous transcript page. When you do (it is only one page) then I'd like to read an intelligent response from you (whether you agree or disagree). Because that one page raises a red flag about the American justice system. RL Mangan
rosie, your hero is GUILTY of assassinating RFK, who could have very well been the President of the US.
If you want to waste your life advocating for a lowlife assassin, go ahead.
Your hero should have been executed a long time ago.
Eddie, Let us assume for argument's sake that Sirhan is guilty, then please tell me why was the evidence fabricated?
My focus has been on the actual fraudulent evidence as well as substituted evidence envelopes which was used in the trial. It just doesn't make sense to switch the evidence.
As far as Sirhan's role - if indeed he was associated with those killers - we should not give up on learning more about Sirhan. But, I realize that is unrealistic. So try to have an open mind. I mourn Bobby Kennedy's death as much as you do - I just want some answers.
And you must not close your mind to ideas of those who may not agree with you. Rose Lynn Mangan
rosie,
"Eddie, Let us assume for argument's sake that Sirhan is guilty"
Duh.
"please tell me why was the evidence fabricated?"
fabricated? by the same people who faked the moon landing?
Go ahead with your "evidence". It has to stand scrutiny - your hunches, conspiracy theories and wild imagination don't count as evidence.
BTW rosie, have you written letters to the assassin of RFK?