Justin Elliott of Mother Jones went over the 11 Democratic debates to see how often Israel came up. His report:
In nine of the 11 debates, the terms Israel, Palestinians, and Gaza were either never uttered or were mentioned once or twice peripherally. For instance, Joe Biden said at the October 30 NBC debate that Pakistan has missiles that can reach Israel. The two exceptions were the November 15 Democratic debate in Las Vegas, where Bill Richardson, unprompted, briefly outlined his ideas for a two-state solution, and the December 4 Democratic radio debate on NPR, in which moderator Robert Siegel posed the single question about Israel of the past 11 debates. Unfortunately, the query was effectively avoided.
"When we do things that policymakers in Washington may think are rational, like very strong support of Israel, that also upsets a lot of those 1 billion Muslims you’ve described. How would you, Senator Edwards … answer the complaint that the U.S., in its support of Israel, is so pro-Israeli, it can’t be an evenhanded, honest broker of matters and is anti-Muslim?"
Edwards proceeds to ignore the question, makes a point about Ahmadinejad and says to improve relations with Muslims we must "help make education available to fight global poverty." He makes no mention of Israel/Palestine. Siegel then turns to Obama. The senator says we need to close Guantanamo and talk not just to our friends but to our enemies. He, like Edwards, doesn’t touch the Israel issue. To their credit, Dodd and Kucinich do a much better job at engaging.
So in the past 11 debates the grand total of references to the Gaza Strip is zero. Considering that Israel is our biggest ally in the Middle East and the biggest recipient of U.S. aid in the world, isn’t it about time the candidates were asked what they think of our ally’s destructive policies in Gaza? Will any moderator have the courage to pose the question?
Related posts:
- ‘NPR’ Debates Arrangement of Deck Chairs on Titanic
- Russert, Obama and Hillary All Flub the Israel Question
- ‘At Most Big Papers, the Israel Issue Is the Most Controversial Subject’–But Nowhere in the Presidential Debates
- Berman, Congressional Foreign Affairs Boss, Cites Israel as a Prime Motivator in His Politics, Then Calls Israel Lobby a ‘Total Canard’
- Israel Lobby kiboshes Kucinich podium in FL as offending ‘conscience of community’
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"Will any moderator have the courage to pose the question?"
I would have to say…."No."
"To their credit, Dodd and Kucinich do a much better job at engaging."
And that is why they are at 1% or less…
To even mention it would be politicide.
Before the debate I called Robert Siegel, Inskeep and Michelle NOrris (the three moderators for the debate) four times at NPR. I left messages challenging them about asking a question about the Israeli Palestinian conflict. I asked them to ask all three candidates "how would they deal with the Israeli Palestinian issue any differently than previous Presidents" I also asked them to ask "why this critical issue had not been brought up at any of the other debates Republican and Democratic.
Now let's look at how NPR posed the question, who asked it and who did he ask the question. NPR has spins quite a bit themselves. So they choose Robert Siegel (or he decided himself) to ask a question he chose to ask Edwards (the Israeli lobbies least favorite candidate). Remember Edwards is the only candidate who has said no individual who has ever lobbied for another nation will be in my administration. Robert Siegel did not pose this question to all three questions. You can read how Siegel spun the question.
He targeted Edwards. Very telling about Robert Siegel and NPR. Fair and Balanced I don't think so.
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