Discussion: Hillary Clinton: Countering BDS Palesintian Movement 'A Priority'

I’m far from being an emo anything. Frankly, I’m not sure what Bernie Sanders’ stance on BDS is, but I suspect he would probably favor it. I appreciate that Israel is in a rough neighborhood with some serious issues, but it makes me sad to see how many wounds the nation of Isreal inflicts on itself. Also, for the record, Israel is the only democracy in the region only if you make the region really small. Turkey is unquestionably a democracy, as is Lebanon. Iraq is a extremely fragile democracy, but is also one, as indicated by the fact that they had a peaceful transition of power when the ISIS surge forced the prime minister out. Tunisia is also a democracy, albiet a bit of a shaky one. Name calling benefits nobody but the extremes on each side.

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Another reason for the left to oppose Hillary Clinton. Doesn’t matter that she’s probably in line with the rest of her party on this issue. I’m afraid the Democrats are going to lose the next election, folks.

Obama signaled a way for Clinton to split the baby on this issue.

I just don’t know if she has the finesse to pull it off.

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Well, BDS is working and HRC has always pandered to bibi…

This will not set well with many Americans…

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The Emo progs I know delight in being called that, but it describes an attitude and a mindset that if Clinton is doing it, it’s bad, and someone further to the left could do it better. Bernie as a Jew with Polish immigrant parents would have to have to tread very carefully in condemning Israel. The topic of what to do about is Israel is extremely complex and few here have the answers, and left undiscussed is the fact the administration is working to repair its relations with Israel as it works on very delicate nuclear talks with Iran. That should be under discussion as part of this letter kerfuffle…

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Only if voters want immigrant bashing, gay bashing and women bashing and a return to trying to repeal ACA…

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icymi -

Edit to add: The conservative SuperPAC American Rising and Karl Rove’s American Crossroads have been baiting liberals to attack Clinton from the left. Now, why would they do that?

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Sanders is every bit as supportive of Israel as Clinton is.

Sorry, and sad to acknolwedge it, but there’s simply no daylight between Israel and American politicians of every stripe.

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No one thinks attacking Mrs. Clinton from the left is likely to turn the most liberal Democrats into Republican voters. But Steven Law, president of American Crossroads, said the goal was simply to erode what should be her natural core of support.

Speculation and mildly dirty tactics in order to raise doubt because she is the frontrunner. Third bush or first woman? I know where I’m going.

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Preach it!

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Last time I looked Palestinian people were also Semites. This is the worst kind of pandering for $$$. Maybe Hillary should become a lobbyist instead of running for the White House?

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I’m sorry to say that I am considering not voting on the presidential line if the choice is a Republican idiot and Hillary. I will vote, of course, but don’t think I can stomach this. Until this letter, I have been struggling with whether I could hold my nose and vote for someone who has since early in her senate career (or before, who knows?) been completely owned by the banking industry - you know the folks who did illegal gambling and when they lost, we bailed them out at the expense of hundreds of jobs, families sleeping in their cars, who have a harder time declaring bankruptcy because of legislation she helped sponsor? This letter is the last straw for me. I believe she will lead us into one war after another if she is elected. I know it’s a long shot, but I’m sending Bernie some money.

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There are some very good articles out there about who are “semites.” It could easily be argued that Israel is largely an anti-semitic state. What I think is vital to those of us concerned about this is to constantly refer to the government, the state and zionists. Never, never refer to the detestable genocide and land-stealing that is going on as having anything to do with Judaism - it doesn’t. That is a valid concern, and we should take it seriously.

Not complex, but sensitive, because of the emotional blackmail promulgated.

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Yet another reason to loathe Hillary. Not that I needed one.

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You’re going to be in a world of pain for eight years beginning next year.

If there are foreign affairs experts who post here, I’m not aware of it, but we weigh in as we have a seat at the table and are wise beyond our years, but in fact there are mostly a lot of opinions usually determined by admiration or loathing of HRC in this particular case…

Oh for fuck’s sake! You want a reprise of Nixon? How about another Dubya? That’s exactly how those disasters came about.

You can’t always get what you want. Live with it.

Fun dayn moyl in gots oyern.

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A state that only allows 55% of its people the right to vote is not a democracy. Israel has for all practical purposes annexed the West Bank and Gaza.

Israel presents an odd split personality. A Palestinian born in Israel proper has the same rights as everyone else in Israel regardless of his religious practices or heritage. While a Palestinian of any faith, born a kilometer away in de facto Israel (the West Bank), will all be treated as less than Israelis, even less than Israelis living in other countries who have not yet stepped foot in Israel.

Fifty Years Of Occupation

These Palestinians in de facto Israel - and fifty years of Israeli occupation warrants that title-, live their days with few if any real rights: the courts rarely rule in their favor, the police ignore attacks upon them, torture and imprisonment without charges are common . It matters not be they Muslim, Christian, Bedouin.

The same can be said of the economic plight of Palestinians born in Israel proper. They can own a home, they can drive to work, they can attend school and share the dreams of their fellow countrymen. While again, those Palestinians born in de facto Israel struggle circuitous entanglements, waiting hours and even days for checkpoints to open for them. Worse yet, they have no real property rights, as the property beneath their feet, handed down from their fathers, is taken from them in the most capricious fashion without recourse.

Palestinians living in Israel proper are, I am told and believe, satisfied with their lives and proud of their citizenship. Palestinians in de facto Israel are a miserable lot, angry, weak and frustrated. There is no inherent difference between the Palestinian in Israel proper and those in Israeli occupied territories.

The situation is very much like the North South divide of antebellum America

Don’t believe me? To understand the analogy between Israel and the USA circa 1850 we need also to look at the Israeli citizens who live in Israel proper and those living in de facto Israel: both have the same exact privileges, the same colored license plates, the same expectations of justice in the same courts and the same privilege to seek economic gain.

This was the same in the USA. Full American citizens, living in either free or slave states, had every expectation of being treated equally under the laws of the land and enjoyed every right and protection regardless of which state they lived in.

But Black Americans found themselves differentiated by a line not unlike that between Israel and the occupied territories. On this side they were free, on that side they could be owned by other men.

The antebellum conflict became a moral one, why could men have no rights on this side of a line and citizenship on the other? The issue was more than simply color -based. Free southern blacks owned slaves and some of these black slaveowners likely owned slaves lighter than themselves under slavery’s bizarre rules designating that quadroons (one black grandparent) and octoroons (one black great grandparent) could still be owned as slaves.

Lets move back to the present where Palestinians in the O.T would likely thrive equally as Palestinians born in Israel were it not for those simple lines , lines for which the same government holds control on both sides.

The issue is again a moral one, on this side a Palestinian is an Israeli citizen, on that side he is required to be less of a man because of demographics. Were he to be treated as every other Palestinian born in Israel proper he would disrupt the demographics which demand that Jews outnumber all others. This would then force Israel to either change the basic laws - where all men are to be considered equal under the basic laws or admit that equality is a charade in Israel that is practical only to the extent that a favored class maintains majority status.

In a nutshell, Israel today finds itself facing many of the same questions as antebellum America raised.

It was said that blacks were not capable of caring for themselves and did better under a masters care. This same arguement is quite familiar to those of us who have debated the Palestinian issue, where many Israelis supporting the status quo argue that Palestinians under Israeli occupation are better off than Palestinians would be if left on their own or if they were living in Jordan, Syria, or elsewhere. Some such supporters even utilizing statistics from the CIA World Factbook.

Other status quo supporters I routinely engage will tell me that these Palestinians in de facto Israel need to be kept under control using nearly the same terms used in Texas’ Declaration of Secesssion: that only under domination “could their existence in this country be rendered beneficial or tolerable.”


I’m very disturbed by this. I had been appreciative of Hillary’s recently more populist messages but I am extremely disturbed by these comments regarding peaceful protesters of apartheid.

I can not support someone who supports racism and I know there are many others who share this sentiment.

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