Obama Honors Jewish Supremacist

"The body of a Jewish embryo is on a higher level than is the body of a non-Jew." - Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe

(SACRAMENTO) - JTA – President Obama said Education and Sharing Day marked the legacy of hope for a "brighter future"of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, who launched the initiative.

"On Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A., we celebrate the example set by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who dedicated his life to improving education and fostering goodwill for all people," Obama said in a statement Thursday proclaiming April 15 as the 33rd commemoration of the event instituted by Schneerson in 1978. "His legacy continues to inspire individuals to carry forward his effort to build a brighter future. Each year, Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A., reminds us of our obligation to create opportunities for a better tomorrow -- life lessons we pass on to all our children."

Schneerson was an early advocate of a Department of Education separate from the former Department of Health, Education and Welfare.

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Beginning in 1978 Congress has authorized and requested the President to proclaim an "education day" honoring Schneerson and the international Lubavitch movement.

According to the Jewish Virtual Library, in 1994 "a bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressmen Charles Schumer, John Lewis, Newt Gingrich, and Jerry Lewis to bestow on the Rebbe the Congressional Gold Medal. The bill passed both Houses by unanimous consent, honoring the Rebbe for his 'outstanding and lasting contributions toward improvements in world education, morality, and acts of charity'."

Schneerson, who died in 1994, taught that Jews were a completely different, superior species than non-Jews. Among his teachings (as quoted in Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel, by Israel Shahak & Norton Mezvinsky, Pluto Press):
"a non-Jewish soul comes from the three satanic spheres, while the Jewish soul stems from holiness."

Alison Weir's goals are peace and understanding and the realization of a real multi-cultural place where people are not continually scrutinized and referred to as 'terrorists' in order for one side to further its difficult political position. As a former journalist, Weir has traveled throughout the West Bank and Gaza, and speaks widely on this topic; in the past having given two briefings on Capitol Hill, three talks at the Asia Media Summit in Kuala Lumpur (at the end of the month she will be speaking at the Summit in Beijing), presentations in Ramallah and Bethlehem, and lectures at numerous campuses across the US, including Harvard Law School, Stanford, Yale, UC Berkeley, MIT, Vassar, and the Naval Postgraduate Institute.

Weir has received awards from the Council on American Islamic Relations and the American Arab Anti-discrimination Committee, and she was asked to contribute a chapter to Project Censored's 2005 volume. She was inducted into membership of Phi Alpha Literary Society, founded in 1845 at Illinois College, the award citing her as a “Courageous journalist-lecturer on behalf of human rights." She was the first woman to receive an honorary membership in Phi Alpha history. Her writings on this topic have appeared in publications including The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, The Link, CounterPunch, the Bay Guardian, and anthologies published in the US and abroad. She was the narrator of the award-winning documentary "Occupation 101." Weir was the subject of the Public Access program "Off the Charts," produced by Alternate Focus, and is a member of the board of directors of the Council for the National Interest and New Policy. You can write to Alison Weir at: alisonweir@gmail.com