When I first heard of this story I was expecting something much worse that the joke Jones told. This is not to say the joke isn't offensive, just that I was expecting a whole lot worse. Perhaps this is why so many in attendance were not offended.
Political Punch: As first noted by the Jewish newspaper The Forward, at an event last week at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy – a pro-Israel think tank – National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones (Ret.) told a joke about a “Jewish merchant” that didn’t sit well with everyone.
While many in the largely Jewish audience laughed, others didn’t find it so funny, including Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith.
“It's inappropriate,” Foxman told ABC News. “it's stereotypic. Some people believe they need to start a speech with a joke; this was about the worst kind of joke the head of the National Security Council could have told.”
The Forward noted that the “joke drew a wave of laughs and applause from participant” but it went on to report that an anonymous “prominent think-tank source who attended the event said the joke was ‘wrong in so many levels’ and that it ‘demonstrated a lack of sensitivity.’ The source also asked: ‘Can you imagine him telling a black joke at an event of African Americans?’” [MORE]
I think one of the reason why some are not excusing this joke is because of the administration’s treatment of Israel. Just this weekend there was a major pro-Israeli prostest in NYC and the folks were not too pleased with Obama.
Jones has of course issued an apology, but will it be enough or will the whole incident just add a little more fuel to a growing fire?
Via: Memeorandum
Via: Political Punch
Via: Atlas Shrugs