PrintJuly 22, 2008
From the creators of Jimmy Carter's meeting with Hamas: Dan Seals for Congress
What happens when your congressman is pro-Israel and thinks Hamas is a terrorist organization? Well, if you happen to run the public relations firm that organized Jimmy Carter's visit to Syria to meet with Hamas leader Khaled Meshal, the answer is simple -- contribute to the challenger.
That's exactly what happened along Chicago's North Shore in the congressional race between challenger Dan Seals and incumbent Congressman Mark Kirk.
The Carter-Hamas meeting was organized by Jasculca Terman & Associates, a Chicago-based PR firm (see this op-ed in the Chicago Tribune for more). Its president, James Terman, first contributed $500 to Seals in January during his primary contest against former White House Jewish liaison Jay Footlik. According to official disclosures filed last week with the Federal Election Commission, Seals received an additional $1,000 from Terman on June 30th, several weeks after Terman helped coordinate Carter's meeting with Hamas terrorists.
As American Thinker reported on April 19th, Congressman Mark Kirk, a congressional champion on U.S.-Israel strategic issues, took the lead in the House of Representatives in opposing the Carter-Hamas meeting. On April 15th, more than 50 Democrats and Republicans signed on to the Kirk-Berkley letter urging Carter not to meet with Hamas leader Khaled Meshal. The next day, Kirk introduced H.Res. 1110, a bipartisan resolution backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which condemned Hamas as a terrorist organization and called on Hamas to renounce terrorism, fully disarm, and recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. H.Res. 1110 currently has 77 cosponsors.
It's no wonder Mr. Terman has a beef with his congressman. But what's shocking is that candidate Seals, who at the time issued a press release condemning the meeting, would accept contributions from the man who put the meeting together. When it comes to terrorist groups like Hamas, you cannot have it both ways.
Hamas terrorists are responsible for the murders of at least 26 American citizens—some of them teenagers, children and infants:
David Applebaum of Ohio; Nava Applebaum, 20, of Ohio; Alan Beer of Ohio; Marla Bennet of California; Benjamin Blutstein of Pennsylvania; David Boim, 17, of New York; Yael Botwin, 14, of California; Dina Carter of North Carolina; Janis Ruth Coulter of Massachusetts; Sara Duker of New Jersey; Matthew Eisenfeld of Connecticut; Tzvi Goldstein of New York; Judith Greenbaum of New Jersey; David Gritz of Massachusetts; Dina Horowitz of Florida; Rabbi Eli Horowitz of Illinois; Tehilla Nathanson, 3, of New York; Malka Roth, 15, of New York; Mordechai Reinitz of New York; Yitzhak Reinitz, 9, of New York; Leah Stern of New Jersey; Goldie Taubenfeld of New York; Shmuel Taubenfeld, 3 months, of New York; Nachshon Wachsman, 19, of New York; Ira Weinstein of New York; and Yitzhak Weinstock, 19, of California.
Out of respect for these 26 dead Americans, maybe Dan Seals should think about returning the Terman contributions.
