But I have a few comments first. By the way, it wasn't easy to edit this
thing so you could actually read the article. Also, the imbedded lin, which
isn't available here, is to a Move On petition. Perhaps you can get to it
from the Just Foreign Policy website. But my main comment is that Robert
Neiman and Peter Beinart and the other "Liberal Zionists" are attempting to
simplify a very complicated situation. The West Bank is filled with illegal
Jewish settlements and with militarized walls separating the land on which
they stand from islands of land where Palestinians still live. To talk about
a two state solution at this point seems very naive. It would require
dismantling huge numbers of Jewish settlements and re-absorbing all of those
residents back into Israel. Second, Israel was a colonialist, expansionist
state from the day it first existed and its founders planned to inhabit all
of Palestine and remove the Palestinians before Israel ever became a state.
But be that as it may, from the day it was founded, Israel took more land
than it was allotted in the British mandate. Most older American Jews cannot
admit this truth and Sanders falls into that category plus, he's a
politician.
Miriam
July 10, 2015Huffpost Politics
For Bernie Sanders, The Crowds Come Before The Campaign 2015-07-09 20:13:24
Where Does Bernie Sanders Stand on Israeli Settlements in the West Bank?
Posted: 07/09/2015 6:05 pm EDT Updated: 07/09/2015 6:59 pm EDT
I've gotten a fair bit of correspondence complaining that Democratic
presidential candidate Bernie Sanders hasn't said anything recently in
support of the human rights of Palestinians.
Of course, Bernie Sanders isn't talking a lot about a lot of things that a
lot of progressives wish he would talk more about. He's not talking about
cutting the bloated Pentagon budget, though some in the media apparently
think that he is.
(My theory for this media behavior is that if Sanders mentions how much we
spend on the Pentagon or how the Pentagon wastes our tax dollars, in the
context of talking about our crumbling domestic infrastructure, some in the
media hear that as a call to cut the Pentagon budget and use the money to
rebuild America. Like, if I said, "Those chocolate-chip cookies in the
kitchen sure smell delicious," you might think, "Naiman's not just making an
aesthetic judgment; he's thinking about eating the cookies.")
Clearly, Sanders has got his message: reduce extreme economic inequality,
curb the political power of the billionaire class, address the challenge of
climate change -- and he's determined, as much as possible, to "stay on
message."
But events happen -- like the austerity/regime change policies that the
International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank have been trying
to impose on Greece -- and candidates are expected to talk about events that
happen. And in the case of the IMF and Greece, Sanders, unlike the others,
did speak up.
Well, Bernie, something has come up, and I'd like you to respond.
On July 2, Hillary Clinton sent a letter to Haim Saban, a major Clinton
donor and fundraiser, expressing her "alarm" over the "Boycott, Divestment,
and Sanction movement," which she called "a global effort to isolate the
state of Israel by ending commercial and academic exchanges." Clinton
asserted that "we need to make countering BDS a priority." Crucially,
Clinton's letter failed to make any distinction between Israel and Israeli
settlements in the West Bank. (Peter Beinart thinks that Clinton was
signaling that she will oppose a resolution at the United Nations supporting
the two-state solution.)
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee [AIPAC] has been campaigning to
erase the distinction in U.S. policy between Israel and Israeli settlements
in the West Bank, under the guise of "combatting the global BDS movement."
As part of this campaign, AIPAC recently pushed language through Congress
that defines the "global BDS" which the U.S. should oppose as including
boycott, divestment, and sanctions against enterprises in
"Israeli-controlled territories" -- that is, enterprises in Israeli
settlements in the West Bank. According to the AIPAC provision, Israel and
Israeli settlements in the West Bank are the same thing. J Street and
Americans for Peace Now opposed the AIPAC provision.
The Obama administration denounced the AIPAC provision, saying, "by
conflating Israel and 'Israeli-controlled territories,' a provision of the
Trade Promotion Authority legislation runs counter to longstanding U.S.
policy towards the occupied territories, including with regard to settlement
activity...The U.S. government has never defended or supported Israeli
settlements and activity associated with them and, by extension, does not
pursue policies or activities that would legitimize them."
By condemning "BDS" without distinguishing between Israel and Israeli
settlements in the West Bank, Clinton is supporting -- whether intentionally
or not -- the AIPAC campaign to erase the distinction between Israel and
Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Given that major media coverage of this issue has been virtually
non-existent, it seems unlikely that major media will successfully press
Hillary to clarify her position on Israeli settlements in the West Bank
unless the issue is raised by another candidate.
But another candidate could find that the issue resonates among Democrats. A
recent study found that 45 percent of Democratic "opinion leaders" said they
would be more likely to vote for a candidate who criticized the Israeli
occupation and mistreatment of Palestinians, while only 23 percent said they
would be less likely to vote for such a candidate.
Bernie, as the main Democratic challenger to Hillary, seems like a logical
address for this concern. If you would like Bernie to say that Israeli
settlements in the West Bank are not Israel, you can tell him so here.
Follow Robert Naiman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/naiman
More:
Bernie Sanders Hillary Clinton Palestinians Israeli Settlements Aipac Peter
Beinart
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Where Does Bernie Sanders Stand on Israeli Settlements in the West Bank?
Posted: 07/09/2015 6:05 pm EDT Updated: 07/09/2015 6:59 pm EDT
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I've gotten a fair bit of correspondence complaining that Democratic
presidential candidate Bernie Sanders hasn't said anything recently in
support of the human rights of Palestinians.
Of course, Bernie Sanders isn't talking a lot about a lot of things that a
lot of progressives wish he would talk more about. He's not talking about
cutting the bloated Pentagon budget, though some in the media apparently
think that he is.
(My theory for this media behavior is that if Sanders mentions how much we
spend on the Pentagon or how the Pentagon wastes our tax dollars, in the
context of talking about our crumbling domestic infrastructure, some in the
media hear that as a call to cut the Pentagon budget and use the money to
rebuild America. Like, if I said, "Those chocolate-chip cookies in the
kitchen sure smell delicious," you might think, "Naiman's not just making an
aesthetic judgment; he's thinking about eating the cookies.")
Clearly, Sanders has got his message: reduce extreme economic inequality,
curb the political power of the billionaire class, address the challenge of
climate change -- and he's determined, as much as possible, to "stay on
message."
But events happen -- like the austerity/regime change policies that the
International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank have been trying
to impose on Greece -- and candidates are expected to talk about events that
happen. And in the case of the IMF and Greece, Sanders, unlike the others,
did speak up.
Well, Bernie, something has come up, and I'd like you to respond.
On July 2, Hillary Clinton sent a letter to Haim Saban, a major Clinton
donor and fundraiser, expressing her "alarm" over the "Boycott, Divestment,
and Sanction movement," which she called "a global effort to isolate the
state of Israel by ending commercial and academic exchanges." Clinton
asserted that "we need to make countering BDS a priority." Crucially,
Clinton's letter failed to make any distinction between Israel and Israeli
settlements in the West Bank. (Peter Beinart thinks that Clinton was
signaling that she will oppose a resolution at the United Nations supporting
the two-state solution.)
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee [AIPAC] has been campaigning to
erase the distinction in U.S. policy between Israel and Israeli settlements
in the West Bank, under the guise of "combatting the global BDS movement."
As part of this campaign, AIPAC recently pushed language through Congress
that defines the "global BDS" which the U.S. should oppose as including
boycott, divestment, and sanctions against enterprises in
"Israeli-controlled territories" -- that is, enterprises in Israeli
settlements in the West Bank. According to the AIPAC provision, Israel and
Israeli settlements in the West Bank are the same thing. J Street and
Americans for Peace Now opposed the AIPAC provision.
The Obama administration denounced the AIPAC provision, saying, "by
conflating Israel and 'Israeli-controlled territories,' a provision of the
Trade Promotion Authority legislation runs counter to longstanding U.S.
policy towards the occupied territories, including with regard to settlement
activity...The U.S. government has never defended or supported Israeli
settlements and activity associated with them and, by extension, does not
pursue policies or activities that would legitimize them."
By condemning "BDS" without distinguishing between Israel and Israeli
settlements in the West Bank, Clinton is supporting -- whether intentionally
or not -- the AIPAC campaign to erase the distinction between Israel and
Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Given that major media coverage of this issue has been virtually
non-existent, it seems unlikely that major media will successfully press
Hillary to clarify her position on Israeli settlements in the West Bank
unless the issue is raised by another candidate.
But another candidate could find that the issue resonates among Democrats. A
recent study found that 45 percent of Democratic "opinion leaders" said they
would be more likely to vote for a candidate who criticized the Israeli
occupation and mistreatment of Palestinians, while only 23 percent said they
would be less likely to vote for such a candidate.
Bernie, as the main Democratic challenger to Hillary, seems like a logical
address for this concern. If you would like Bernie to say that Israeli
settlements in the West Bank are not Israel, you can tell him so here.
