The JTA Election Blog has an interesting quote today from J.J. Goldberg, Editor of The Forward on the paper’s clarification of an editorial they wrote on the Obama “smear” campaign. Many readers considered the editorial as lending credence to the “smear” campaign.

What’s sad is that one of Goldberg’s main points wasn’t getting through, which was this: “the point of the editorial was not to debunk the rumors, but to lay into liberals — and Obama staffers — for failing to counter the implicit suggestion that being a Muslim is something to be ashamed of.” (italics my emphasis)

Thank You!!!

How many pieces have you read that don’t just try to counter this smear campaign by saying, no no, he’s Christian! It’s OK, don’t worry! As if to be Muslim is bad. This wasn’t a smart strategy over the long term by the Obama campaign, which is sad because usually they’re very good at finding simple and sophisticated ways to show nuance.

What Goldberg was hoping to do, and sadly didn’t do clearly enough in the editorial, was to challenge Jews for collective fears and hostilities toward and about Muslims, and challenge the Obama campaign for not responding to this smear campaign only in a defensive way in saying he’s Christian.

So what do we make of Obama’s failure to use unifying language in a faith context when he’s so powerful in bringing forward the need for a collective vision in so many of his stump speeches across the country? What does it say about Jews? What is it saying about the polls and public opinion numbers showing how Jews feel about Muslims? And what a sad day it is if the polls tell Obama that to win the Jews he has to use this message. Not only sad for us as a community that needs to do much better in challenging our own anti-Muslim reactions and feelings, but a sad day watching our leaders participate in our collective anxieties.

That said, this isn’t only an Obama campaign problem. Nor a Jewish community problem. This is a U.S. problem. I’d say The Forward didn’t go far enough in also challenging how we’re not putting the same kind of pressure on the other candidates, and that in and of itself should be raising alarms. I also can’t help but think how ironic this coverage is in light of MoveOn’s members endorsing Obama, and we all know Jews are a big part of MoveOn’s leadership and membership. Where are those voices in this coverage?

We’re all hard pressed to take a deeper look at remedying the “fear factor” Goldberg attempted to lay out regarding Muslims in the U.S. And we’re all hard pressed to be demanding that our leaders take this challenge on–we’re long overdue for a leadership wake up call that takes into account how the U.S. heals our relationship with Muslims here and abroad.