Norton writes: "Bernie Sanders will be the only presidential candidate to
skip the 2016 policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee, or AIPAC, the most influential pro-Israel group in the U.S."
Workers tend to the stage before the start of the plenary session of the
American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference at the Walter E.
Washington Convention Center. (photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg News)
Bernie's Bold Move: Sanders Only Candidate to Skip AIPAC Pro-Israel
Conference
By Ben Norton, Salon
19 March 16
After a petition campaign, endorsed by Roger Waters, Bernie rejects speaking
for the influential pro-Israel group
Bernie Sanders will be the only presidential candidate to skip the 2016
policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC,
the most influential pro-Israel group in the U.S.
The Vermont senator sent a letter to AIPAC President Robert Cohen on Friday,
confirming that he will not be attending the conference. He said he will "be
traveling throughout the West and the campaign schedule that we have
prevents me from attending."
"Since AIPAC has chosen not to permit candidates to address the conference
remotely, the best that I can do is to send you a copy of the remarks that I
would have given if I was able to attend," Sanders wrote, adding that he
should have the speech prepared for Monday. "Any help that you could give us
in getting those remarks out to your members would be much appreciated," he
added.
Prominent journalist Max Blumenthal, who specializes in Israel-Palestine,
created a petition calling on Sanders to reject AIPAC's invitation to its
conference.
"As the main arm of the pro-Israel lobby in the United States, AIPAC has
sworn to promote the racist, militaristic, and anti-democratic policies of
the most right-wing government in Israel's history," Blumenthal wrote in a
description accompanying the petition. "Its conference this year will
feature Islamophobes, anti-immigrant activists, and religious extremists."
"With his promise to seek a "level playing field" on Israel-Palestine,
Bernie does not belong on the same stage as these figures," Blumenthal
added.
As of Friday, the petition had more than 5,000 signatures. Musician Roger
Waters, formerly of band Pink Floyd, endorsed it. Waters has established
himself as a leading activist on behalf of Palestinian human rights.
The group RootsAction also disseminated the petition, and got an additional
14,000 signatures.
Salon reached out to Blumenthal, who characterized Sanders' decision as a
victory for the Palestinian human rights movement.
He emphasized the importance of garnering almost 20,000 petitions in a brief
period of time, "with little media coverage, and on an issue that has been
little-discussed in the debates."
"Regardless of any spin he's offering, I think Sanders recognized that
sharing a stage with bigots at AIPAC and apartheid lobbyists would be
anathema to his hardcore base of support," Blumenthal explained.
"This is a demonstration of the growing grassroots impact of Palestine
solidarity and a sign of things to come in the future: self-styled
progressive politicians will be punished for supporting Israeli apartheid,"
he added.
The Sanders campaign did not say whether it was responding to the petition.
There were rumors earlier this week that Sanders would not be attending, but
his campaign did not officially confirm until Friday.
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are headlining the conference. Fellow GOP
presidential candidates Ted Cruz and John Kasich will also be speaking.
Clinton and Cruz have both expressed die-hard support for Israel. Hillary
wrote an open letter in November promising to reaffirm the U.S.'s
"unbreakable bond with Israel - and Benjamin Netanyahu," the country's
hard-line right-wing prime minister, whom President Obama has criticized for
expanding illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land.
Sanders' views on Israel-Palestine are a bit murky. When called out by peace
activists during Israel's summer 2014 war in Gaza - in which the Israeli
military killed approximately 2,200 Palestinians, the majority of whom were
civilians, including hundreds of children, according to the U.N. - the
Vermont senator shouted down the activists.
At the same time, however, he has criticized Netanyahu, and, unlike other
candidates, has promised to pursue a "level playing field" on the issue.
Israel has illegally occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank since
1967, and effectively occupies Gaza, on which it has imposed a blockade for
almost a decade, controlling everything that enters the densely populated
strip. The U.N. has explicitly maintained since November 1967 that the
occupation is illegal, and U.N. experts have for years said that the siege
on Gaza violates international law.
For decades, Israel has also illegally colonized more and more Palestinian
land with settlements. Today, there are more than 600,000 Israelis living in
the occupied Palestinians territories, including East Jerusalem, which
intentional law considers to be Palestinian land.
As Israel moves further and further to the right, and politicians get more
and more extreme (former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called for
beheading "disloyal" Palestinian citizens of Israel last May, leading
critics to compare Israel to ISIS), American Jews are moving away from the
country.
The fastest growing Jewish-American organization is Jewish Voice for Peace,
which opposes the illegal Israeli occupation, and many young Jews, in
particular, are distancing themselves from the Zionist movement.
Sanders is the only presidential candidate who is Jewish. Were he elected,
he would be the first Jewish president.
The 2016 AIPAC Policy Conference will be held in Washington, D.C. from March
20-22. An enormous pro-Palestinian march is planned for Sunday in the
capital. Several other anti-AIPAC protests have been planned by peace and
social justice groups.
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Workers tend to the stage before the start of the plenary session of the
American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference at the Walter E.
Washington Convention Center. (photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg News)
http://www.salon.com/2016/03/18/bernies_bold_move_sanders_only_candidate_to_
skip_aipac_pro_israel_conference_next_week/http://www.salon.com/2016/03/18/b
ernies_bold_move_sanders_only_candidate_to_skip_aipac_pro_israel_conference_
next_week/
Bernie's Bold Move: Sanders Only Candidate to Skip AIPAC Pro-Israel
Conference
By Ben Norton, Salon
19 March 16
After a petition campaign, endorsed by Roger Waters, Bernie rejects speaking
for the influential pro-Israel group
ernie Sanders will be the only presidential candidate to skip the 2016
policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC,
the most influential pro-Israel group in the U.S.
The Vermont senator sent a letter to AIPAC President Robert Cohen on Friday,
confirming that he will not be attending the conference. He said he will "be
traveling throughout the West and the campaign schedule that we have
prevents me from attending."
"Since AIPAC has chosen not to permit candidates to address the conference
remotely, the best that I can do is to send you a copy of the remarks that I
would have given if I was able to attend," Sanders wrote, adding that he
should have the speech prepared for Monday. "Any help that you could give us
in getting those remarks out to your members would be much appreciated," he
added.
Prominent journalist Max Blumenthal, who specializes in Israel-Palestine,
created a petition calling on Sanders to reject AIPAC's invitation to its
conference.
"As the main arm of the pro-Israel lobby in the United States, AIPAC has
sworn to promote the racist, militaristic, and anti-democratic policies of
the most right-wing government in Israel's history," Blumenthal wrote in a
description accompanying the petition. "Its conference this year will
feature Islamophobes, anti-immigrant activists, and religious extremists."
"With his promise to seek a "level playing field" on Israel-Palestine,
Bernie does not belong on the same stage as these figures," Blumenthal
added.
As of Friday, the petition had more than 5,000 signatures. Musician Roger
Waters, formerly of band Pink Floyd, endorsed it. Waters has established
himself as a leading activist on behalf of Palestinian human rights.
The group RootsAction also disseminated the petition, and got an additional
14,000 signatures.
Salon reached out to Blumenthal, who characterized Sanders' decision as a
victory for the Palestinian human rights movement.
He emphasized the importance of garnering almost 20,000 petitions in a brief
period of time, "with little media coverage, and on an issue that has been
little-discussed in the debates."
"Regardless of any spin he's offering, I think Sanders recognized that
sharing a stage with bigots at AIPAC and apartheid lobbyists would be
anathema to his hardcore base of support," Blumenthal explained.
"This is a demonstration of the growing grassroots impact of Palestine
solidarity and a sign of things to come in the future: self-styled
progressive politicians will be punished for supporting Israeli apartheid,"
he added.
The Sanders campaign did not say whether it was responding to the petition.
There were rumors earlier this week that Sanders would not be attending, but
his campaign did not officially confirm until Friday.
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are headlining the conference. Fellow GOP
presidential candidates Ted Cruz and John Kasich will also be speaking.
Clinton and Cruz have both expressed die-hard support for Israel. Hillary
wrote an open letter in November promising to reaffirm the U.S.'s
"unbreakable bond with Israel - and Benjamin Netanyahu," the country's
hard-line right-wing prime minister, whom President Obama has criticized for
expanding illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land.
Sanders' views on Israel-Palestine are a bit murky. When called out by peace
activists during Israel's summer 2014 war in Gaza - in which the Israeli
military killed approximately 2,200 Palestinians, the majority of whom were
civilians, including hundreds of children, according to the U.N. - the
Vermont senator shouted down the activists.
At the same time, however, he has criticized Netanyahu, and, unlike other
candidates, has promised to pursue a "level playing field" on the issue.
Israel has illegally occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank since
1967, and effectively occupies Gaza, on which it has imposed a blockade for
almost a decade, controlling everything that enters the densely populated
strip. The U.N. has explicitly maintained since November 1967 that the
occupation is illegal, and U.N. experts have for years said that the siege
on Gaza violates international law.
For decades, Israel has also illegally colonized more and more Palestinian
land with settlements. Today, there are more than 600,000 Israelis living in
the occupied Palestinians territories, including East Jerusalem, which
intentional law considers to be Palestinian land.
As Israel moves further and further to the right, and politicians get more
and more extreme (former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called for
beheading "disloyal" Palestinian citizens of Israel last May, leading
critics to compare Israel to ISIS), American Jews are moving away from the
country.
The fastest growing Jewish-American organization is Jewish Voice for Peace,
which opposes the illegal Israeli occupation, and many young Jews, in
particular, are distancing themselves from the Zionist movement.
Sanders is the only presidential candidate who is Jewish. Were he elected,
he would be the first Jewish president.
The 2016 AIPAC Policy Conference will be held in Washington, D.C. from March
20-22. An enormous pro-Palestinian march is planned for Sunday in the
capital. Several other anti-AIPAC protests have been planned by peace and
social justice groups.
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
