Congressional Hopeful Imani Oakley Duped By Parody Account Imitating ‘Woke’ Rabbi of Gaza

New Jersey’s congressional hopeful, Imani Oakley, missed the point when she became the punchline of a prank of a Zionist posing as a radical anti-Zionist rabbi. Many people, including Zionists, have been fooled by the hilarious Rabbi Linda Goldstein, who emulates well known “as-a-Jew” Israel-distorters who often support those pledging to annihilate the country (think Ariel Gold and Code Pink). Her Twitter bio boasts that she is the “Chief Rabbi of Gaza,” a clear signal to anyone who is familiar with the region, that this is a parody account. Since 2005, not a single Jew has lived in Gaza. Jews would not have been safe under Islamic terrorists, so Israel forcibly moved all Israelis out the homes they built in Gaza when giving that land to the Palestinians.

Yes, Israel gave land to the Palestinians. In fact, no people of any other government has ever given land to the Palestinians before, and no other people has even ever offered land to the Palestinians before, other than Israel (who has offered land several times).

The clever “rabbi of Gaza” expanded her antics beyond Twitter and submitted a form letter, last month, to Imani Oakley’s campaign, inviting the candidate to “attend a house party fundraiser in Gaza . . .” She assured that, “There are several influential Jewish-Americans in Gaza who can provide plenty of help. . .”

Someone working for the campaign responded to “Rabbi Goldstein,” days later, that “We are pleased that you would like to host a virtual fundraiser . . .” And then that person offered to chat more to make sure that they would adhere to compliance rules.

Oakley claimed that a journalist asked her to comment on this joke. That seems to be when she realized she was being played by a prankster. Oakley objected to the suggestion that she was duped as she insisted she was in the process of vetting the fictional rabbi. Yet, she actually included screenshots on her Twitter page of the email correspondence in which “Rabbi Linda Goldstein” said she is a rabbi of Jews in Gaza.

Rabbi-Linda-Goldstein-prank.jpg

Certainly anyone who is going to be an advocate for Palestinians and campaign against the Jewish people who’ve been defending themselves against the genocidal ambitions of Hamas, should have known that Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, and left behind millions of dollars worth of property so that the Palestinians in Gaza could build businesses. She should also have known that Hamas terrorists destroyed the businesses that could have allowed the people of Gaza to flourish, as their Israeli neighbors wished. And, a candidate for Congress who claims she is “deeply offended that fighting for the lives of Palestinians is corrupted by silly games…” should certainly know that Israel forced all the Jews out of Gaza to give Palestinians sovereignty there, and there certainly is no rabbi there, much less a Jewish community. There are, however, Islamic terrorists who have sworn to the destruction of the Jewish people while often making regular Palestinians’ lives a living hell.

Oakley’s ignorance on the Israeli-Arab conflict is reminiscent of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who regularly campaigns against Israel despite, as she said years ago, “I am not the expert on geo-politics on this issue.” She’s not. But that hasn’t stopped her from submitting an amendment that would harm the United State’s greatest ally in the Middle East. Politicians do not need to be experts on all matters, but they should absolutely know the history and logistics of any situation before they become activists or active in policy-making.

These are days of heightened antisemitism, and that is a concern for those of us who are deeply informed about the Middle East, specifically about the coordinated campaign against the only Jewish state, the size of Oakley’s state, surrounded by countries and proxies of a country (Iran – who gives money to Hamas) trying to annihilate it. And instead of blocking en mass those who were trying to point out her error, a reflective person, worthy of office, would recognize how under informed she has been, and wonder what else she might have yet to learn, and then learn more. And a reflective person, with a sense of humor, might even try to learn it from Rabbi Linda Goldstein.

Scroll to Top