There was a big rally in Newton, MA., last night with leading political figures in the Jewish community opposing Palestinian statehood. David Harris of the AJC, Barney Frank, state treasurer Steve Grossman (former DNC chair and a big Obama fundraiser), etc. Here are some of the protesters outside. A friend went into the temple to hear the speeches and--
reports: Barney Frank said he will be going to campuses to counter the "left's" understanding of Israel." Because "only Israel passes muster in the Middle East." And Frank equated working for the people who love Israel in his district to working with any other interest group living in the fourth district, e.g., Portuguese.
Barney must not be keeping-up with the Congressional approval ratings.
Very disappointed by Barney Frank. He is one of the few Beltway pols who has credibility and knows what’s going on in the finance industry. The Frank Dodd legislation is hated by the investment banks. I thought he was one of the good guys.
Barney Frank was instrumental in the Fannie and Freddie debacle. He knew they were on shaky ground.
Frank is great on some domestic issues but basically a hawk when it comes to the middle east. Repeats unsubstantiated claims about Iran He has gone along with undermining the Palestinians at every turn. He carries water for Israel no matter what they do. He and Weiner have gone so far as to push HARD for the release of the spy for Israel Jonathon Pollard. Pollards treason allegedly did more to undermine US national security than any other spying incident in our history. And Barney Frank wants to help this traitor out of prison
Come on it is clear who Frank is working for and it is not the National Security of the US. He needs to be called out
Frank Renews Call for Clemency for Jonathan Pollard Speaks on House Floor
link to barneyfrank.net
I’ll say this, in defense of Barney. I saw him him speak on a political show about a month or two ago sounding an awful lot like Ron Paul. He said it was time to bring our troops home (from everywhere), it was time to stop being the policeman of the world, and that we can’t afford this empire. He also said that we should be concentrating on the needs of Americans.
It seemed like a start. I hope others at least join that part of the chorus.
Thanks for the info, Kathleen. I think you’re right.
PEP
…So there isn’t even one Jewish politician in the US Federal government who doesn’t pledge allegiance to Israel. Not even one.
Barney Franks supports gay rights, does that mean he ‘pledges allegiance’ to the gays over heterosexuals?
Let me know when gays like me have a FOREIGN STATE, let alone that we don’t even we show up within the top three priority issues at a Democratic National Committee conference. Do you have a problem if he pledges allegiance to fellow Americans, gay or otherwise, instead of Israeli interests?
I don’t care if Barney Frank gives special support to gay Americans because at least they are Americans. But when a government official like him supports Israelis over Americans though I’d say the man has unresolved dual-loyalty issues.
So there isn’t even one Jewish politician in the US Federal government who doesn’t pledge allegiance to Israel.
jewish politician? how many non jewish politicians in the US Federal government don’t pledge allegiance to Israel? three? it makes me sick.
Not even one Jewish Rep that I know of. Not sure about Feingolds voting record having to do with isolating Palestinians, unnecessary and inaccurate legislation having to do with Iran etc
I dont think Feingold was as extreme as the Ackermans and Schumers. He seemed to be more ‘passive’ on Israel in that he would go along with the herd but not lead the way.
I checked his record once and didn’t see any Israel bills he authored or pushed. But he did vote to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.
kiss my aipac and suck my hasbara.
Lol. Classic
running against every progressive except on palestine (pep) democratic candidate (including incumbents such as barney frank), why not have at least one candidate who’s progressive on all progressive issues including palestine?
Donna Edwards comes close. She’s already in, but seems to be hanging in there.
bless her.
She’s getting hammered though. Heck, the whole Black Caucus is getting hammered politically, no matter where they stand on Palestinian rights.
Dennis Kucinich
I lived in Barney’s district when he was first elected to congress. I supported him. It was a district with a huge number of orthodox Jews. It is so sad to see that he feels the need to continue supporting extreme Zionism. At that time my house was about 5 blocks from where Stephen Walt lives today.
So painful, America is destined to descend into Zionist failure. And the rest of us have little to say in opposition. Total failure is the only lesson that we will accept.
Tip O’Neil, a Bay State pol, said that “all politics is local”. Barney wants to be re-elected and surely knows his locale.
Shameful pandering? Of course! It’s politics!
But if you are looking for worse shame, and there IS worse, look at all the pols who do NOT have large Jewish voting bloks in their districts. There, the whole matter is PURE CORRUPTION, USA-style (that is, the corruption-cash is “money-laundered” (just like mob-money, drug-money, although, here, it is laundered by being classified (upon receipt by political campaigns, at least) as “campaign contributions”. Who knows where it comes from a bit farther back? The selling of known-to-be-fraudulent mortgages? Profits after oil-depletion allowances which (the allowances) were themselves arranged via political shenanigans (aka corruption). corruption provides the cash for more corruption.
The USA: a monarchy or a republic? “A republic, if you can keep it,” said Ben franklin. Or if you can fix it, especially after the Supreme Court (bless it!) made the problem crystal-clear by declaring that “free speech” under the first amendment (which makes much political speech somewhat untrammelable in the USA) is a possession of commercial corporations, which are unmentioned in the constitution and were virtually unknown, and certainly unknown in their current condition, when that bundle of compromises called the US Constitution was written and agreed to; NOT TO MENTION that the spending of large sums of money which are well beyond the spending power of ordinary people is legally indistinguishable from “speech” even when done by corporations, which do not, generally, have a stated purpose of “political action on behalf of their shareholders” in their corporate charters.
I think he is truly an extreme Zionist himself. No other indications
The problem is NOT that Frank is supporting people in another country. I wish more congresspeople Would do that. The problem is that he is supporting an oppressive system that violates the human rights of others. Many US congresspeople have, at one time or another, supported military dictatorships. It’s not that unusual. Not even for liberals. who often are not in favor of liberation. That said, it is disgusting each and every time we see it.
Barney is a traitor putting loyalty to a foreign state before the interests of the USA.
I would not call it treason. A march of lemmings perhaps, but not treason. Except that a march of lemmings is not a hate fest.
By the way, if “only Israel passes muster in the Middle East”, then Israel is really too good for the Middle East and should be transported away to some safer location (say, upper peninsula of Michigan). If you put together all the hysterical claims they just do not add up. Israel is constantly in existential danger, peace is impossible, and Israel is necessary as a SECURE place for Jews.
I wonder if it would be a good project to put together some snappy anti-hasbara arguments. Folks here appeal to morality etc. and such arguments are not particularly convincing (morality is for peasants, THEY should not oppress their betters). But current hasbara is also plainly nonsensical.
the U.P. ? that’s funny. the most fun i had during my summer there was draining out the beaver damns. we’d come back the next night and they’d be right back, they were so fast. as dusk would fall they’d start swimming back and forth waiting for us to leave so they could start to rebuild. we got to know eachother.
Did you get a chance to see the Porcupine Mountains? You need to be willing to put up with a long, uphill (literally) hike but its worth it. Especially when you reach the shore of Lake Superior.
it has been a few decades chaos, not sure i recall the names of the mountains or all the places i visited. some amazing rock formations surrounding those lakes.
donald, yes they did indeed. everyday they would flood the back road we took to get home. we’d have to drain the culverts to pass, but i loved it.
The beavers obviously thought you were lowering their property values.
“a march of lemmings is not a hate fest.”
It could be when they are bitter lemmings.
http://www.bitterlemons-international.org
bitter lemmings.
hilarious. well, when life gives you lemmings, make lemmingaid.
The best lemmingaid comes from Russia. From Lemongrad, of course.
It’s only not treason in the legal sense because we haven’t update our treason laws and definitions to reflect ‘current political reality’.
In every other sense it’s treason.
If 3,000,000 Americans could actually hear what these politicans say and knew also what they do regarding Israel—-2,500,000 of them would call it treason.
LOL! As if the U.P. wasn’t disdainful enough of Wisconsin. I’m blaming you if they end up there, and we end up with a second Peshtigo forest fire, Bayfield under naval blockade and our university system bombed the crap out of.
My other recommendation would be Chukotka. Governor Roman Abramovich is probably Jewish, there is about 30-40 thousand current inhabitants (about 50-50 natives and Slavic) and 300,000 square miles. Good port facilities, excellent winter sports and fishing, reindeer are kosher, numerous natural harbors, USA is very close by (Mrs. Palin gazes at Chukotka from her bedroom window).
Very importantly, the place has very defensible borders and strategic depth. Lemmings are reported on the northern shores.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time a US congressman has stood at the podium ,completely unabashed, as he encourages massive amounts of support for anything Israel. Somebody needs to ask our elected officials, “exactly what country does your job description require you to support?
One more example. This gem comes from no other then our republican house majority leader Eric Cantor:
” First and foremost my job will be dedicated to help and support our closest friend, , and ally, Israel”.
Getting back to the point. Barney is gonna have a tough time with these “leftist” campuses by trying to put lipstick on occupation, apartheid, and murder. My young campus brothers and sisters, as intelligent and well informed as they are, will not be persuaded by some smooth talking zionist who’s speech will surely imitate the same ol lame AIPAC approved talking points. The Israel/Palestinian conflict has already been deeply discussed among students using unbiased and credible sources. And to no surprise the majority of them are overwhelmingly sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.
there’s only so many ways to spin apartheid.
Annie
In Scotland they say “you cannot polish a turd”.
good one seafoid
;)
especially when it you try to apply both occupation and arartheid to I/P. got any other keywords you guys have stolen from past ‘human rights’ escapades to try and convert to the I/P situation.
How dare you reduce the South African struggle for human rights — and the Palestinians, for that matter — to denigrations like “keyword” and “escapade.”‘
You know, if you don’t care about such things as the right to free speech, to fair trails, to not suffer cruel and unusual punishment, to not privilege one religion or ethnic group over another, DBG, you can just LEAVE the United States. You’re obviously not loyal to our ideals (let alone conversant in the founding principles and constitutional values of our nation) and you’d be better off in Israel with all the other disaffected white people of European descent who yearn to lord worldly power over brown people who aren’t as well-armed and ruthless as you are.
What do you care; you acknowledge neither.
Do you considered the West Bank and East Jerusalem “occupied?” Of course not, you are Zionist, which means you’ve been brainwashed to say “uuuuuh, duuuuuuuh, these are, uuuuh, duuuuuh, ‘disputed’ territories”
Do you consider the situation to be one of “apartheid?” Of course not, you are a Zionist, which mean’s you’ve been brainwashed to say, “uuuh, duuuuh, this is in noway similar to South Africa, they were colonizers, Jews have been on the land for 8 bleems (Mork from Ork), uuuh, duuuuuh”
We all know what it is. It is a question of power….but Zionist power is fading before our eyes. Then what will you do?
It must be a boring life when all of your thoughts are pre-determined for you.
“It must be a boring life when all of your thoughts are pre-determined for you.”
Oh, it may be boring, and bigoted, but it’s “comfortable”!
“especially when it you try to apply both occupation and arartheid”
Nothing wrong with that, as the military occupation is the method chosen by the Israelis to enact Apartheid government. Not inconsistent in any sense to apply both to this situation, because it is both.
especially when it you try to apply both occupation and arartheid to I/P.
Several states and the UN Special Rapporteurs did that in the 2004 Wall case. They listed the constituent acts of apartheid and illegal population transfer in their written complaints, along with citations to the relevant provisions governing apartheid and military occupations under the Hague & Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute. The Court cited those reports and included the constituent acts in its own findings of fact. So, its asinine when hasbrats try to deny them.
Hoyer:
“Let me say very clearly: as a member of the Democratic leadership and a long-time supporter of Israel, it is absolutely imperative that Members of Congress – especially our new members and those who have few Jews in their Congressional Districts – recognize the moral and strategic significance of the U.S.-Israel partnership.
link to democraticwhip.gov
If anyone doesn’t think they haven’t taken over America thru our political system they aren’t paying attention.
And it doesn’t matter if the repubs or the dems win the next election. Israel will be even so more embolden by fact that their US zionist very publicaly control American elections, they will, no doubt in my mind, start a war, make the US go to war for them and /or wipe out the Palestine along the way.
We are going to have to go war, one way or another to ever get America back from them.
What exactly is the strategic significance of Israel ?
Is it supposed to be some sort of broker?
It has zero diplomatic representation in the rest of the Middle East.
Is it a managing agent for Egypt ?
Mubarak is gone.
Is it a beacon of freedom and democracy?
Turkey is way ahead
“What exactly is the strategic significance of Israel ?”
None.
Unless you consider having a cancerous sore in the middle of your forehead strategically significant to the rest of your body.
Actually. “AIPAC approved talking points” change quite quickly. The latest is “any final peace with Palestine must be negotiated by the parties themselves and not by unilateral declarations at the United Nations”. Apart from a rather hastily designed slogan “unilateral declaration” (where can you have more parties to a declaration than in GA? uni- is quite strange in that context), what negotiation are we talking about? Did the current Israeli government disclose ANY position it wishes to take?
And as far as i can tell, the current government cannot take any position, because some parties in the coalition do not want to give one inch of land to Palestinians, and they want to keep all the settlements and to create more. So basically we want USA to support war forever. Which is nice, but USA is the only surviving superpower for what? 5 more years? 10? This “forever” will not last. Iran will not vanish, Egypt will not fall in love, and the way Israel behaves, Turkey will not fall in love either (and if you think that this is just because Turks are nasty, it does not make it any better).
Why otherwise intelligent Barnie Frank wants to be one of the leaders of a march of lemmings? [I would prepare this question if the good Congressman visits my campus]
Wasn’t that a unilateral declaration by the UN in 1947 that gave Israel its legitimacy in the first place?
Wasn’t that a unilateral declaration by the UN in 1947 that gave Israel its legitimacy in the first place?
Yes and it violated the stipulations contained in the UN resolution regarding the transition period to independence. Among other things, the UN Palestine Commission was supposed to establish the provisional government of each State, not the Jewish Agency and Va’ad Leumi. Nothing in the Oslo Accords prejudiced the position on statehood contained in the 1988 Palestinian unilateral declaration or prevented it from joining the UN.
“Why otherwise intelligent Barnie Frank”
If he was intelligent you would’t have to say ‘otherwise’.
Otherwise intelligent is like liberal zionist
Or a corpse being only a little bit dead.
“AIPAC approved talking points” change quite quickly. The latest is “any final peace with Palestine must be negotiated by the parties themselves and not by unilateral declarations at the United Nations”.
Nope. The US adopted that one when Israel annexed the Golan Heights and it vetoed the promised UN sanctions. It continued to use that afterward to stymie calls from the General Assembly to convene an international peace conference to impose a settlement on the two sides. The US said that would be counter-productive to on-going private peace talks.
They know perfectly well that more than 90 states recognized Palestine after its 1988 unilateral declaration of independence and that Palestine is merely asking for UN membership. They were desperate to spin it as a unilateral move that somehow violated the Oslo Accords. But that agreement preserved the positions of both sides. Neither statehood nor UN membership were ever mentioned as issues for negotiation under the Oslo DOP.
This NYT piece today stops one in one’s tracks. Even if Americans are unstintingly supportive of Israel, they surely cannot long tolerate their policies so transparently being set from Tel Aviv, and hearing a Congressman say he considers Netanyahu more credible than the President they elected?
link to nytimes.com
Well, that’s the kind of news that makes me want to “hit” the bottle.
It’s 10 o’clock, do you know where your congreesman is? What what interests he’s serving?
Professor Lawrence Davidson has noted that Zionists insist that all Jews support Israel no matter what it does, while, with the same breath, charges that those who blame Jews for the crimes of Israel are anti-Semites.
link to consortiumnews.com
Barney Frank and Feingold voted against the Iraq war resolution
link to usliberals.about.com
Feingold voted for the Iran sanctions legislation like everyone else
link to senate.gov
Barney voted for the Iran sanctions act
link to govtrack.us
Rep Frank basically follows behind every effort that Rep Ros lehtinen puts forward to isolate and undermine the Palestinians
link to thecable.foreignpolicy.com
Arab American score card for Reps
link to aai.3cdn.net
Barney Frank foreign policy scorecard
link to ontheissues.org
Jan Schwakowsky votes for Israel no matter what. The question is which of our Reps does not always get in line with the I lobby
link to schakowsky.house.gov
link to electronicintifada.net
Israel Lobby Watch
House Passes Anti-Palestinian Legislation, Senate Fight Continues
In a three hour floor debate on Monday evening, several representatives came to the floor to express their opposition to the bill, including Democrats Earl Blumenauer (OR), Lois Capps (CA), John Dingell (MI), Maurice Hinchey (NY), Marcy Kaptur (OH), Dennis Kucinich (OH), Betty McCollum (MN), David Price (NC), Nick Rahall (WV) and Republican Ray LaHood (IL).
Introduced by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) in February, H.R. 4681 would:
Strictly limit assistance provided to the Palestinian Authority and NGOs working in the West Bank and Gaza to aid necessary to meet “basic human health needs,” including food, water, medicine and sanitation services, unless the Palestinian Authority fulfills a long list of unrealistic and unachievable benchmarks.
Deduct a percentage from the U.S. annual dues to the United Nations that goes to standing committees that advocate for Palestinian human rights.
Deny visas to all members of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Legislative Council, including non-Hamas members of the PLC that support the peace process, reject violence, and recognize Israel.
Prohibit the Palestinian Authority or PLO from having representation in the United States, including the PLO information office in Washington and the Palestinian Permanent Observer Mission to the UN.
Contact: Carlton Cobb, 202-863-2951, carlton@cnionline.org
Another score card having to do with I/P issues
link to endtheoccupation.org
And let’s not forget Barney Frank’s “shocked, shocked” response to Eason Jordan’s remarks about US troops targeting journalists in Iraq, the fallout of which led to Jordan’s resigning from CNN. Of course, the US would no more target journalists in the Palestine Hotel than our ally would target them on the West Bank.
Very interesting words from Davidson – thanks, Les! It’s interesting to see this definition of anti-Semitism being worked out for American university purposes. Denying that the Jewish people have a right to self-determination is anti-Semitism and outside the realm of free speech, apparently – or this was so until the definition was repudiated from the side of the Jewish organisation involved, which thought it didn’t go far enough. As one who thinks that the alleged right of self-determination makes little sense in any context, that those who speak of it avoid defining it and that they have certainly never come up with anything convincing, I feel the cold breath of censorship.
Denying that the Jewish people have a right to self-determination is anti-Semitism
That should read “Israeli” and must include is Arab citizens too. Unlike the nationality of the Palestinian people, the nationality of a Jewish people has never had a valid basis in law or reality. The political and civil rights of Jews living in other countries were the subject of a safeguarding clause in the Balfour Declaration and the Palestine Mandate. Those political rights included the right of self-determination.
The exercise of the right of self-determination is governed by the General Assembly “Declaration on Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations”, G.A. res. 2625. It stipulated that the free association or integration with an independent State freely determined by a people constitutes a valid mode of implementing the right of self-determination by that people. No one ever gave the Zionists or Israel the right to speak on our behalf or to veto the free association or integration of other Jews with other States.
You used to be able to go to this site and see exactly how Reps voted on particular pieces of legislation. No longer
link to govtrack.us
Yea you can….click on Vote Details in the Vote section and it will show the votes:
link to govtrack.us
thanks
“Barney Frank said he will be going to campuses to counter the “left’s” understanding of Israel.” Frank clearly wants to interfere in people’s understanding of the facts.
Rep Frank proves once again he is a Pep…progressive except for Palestine, Iran and works for Israel and the I lobby period. Christ all mighty the man is trying to get the spy for Israel Jonathon Pollard released.
The story goes that Barney Frank took in Steve Gobie who worked in the sex trade into his home. Supposedly there was an attempt at moral reform. There was a hope he could be convinced that to leave his degrading work to do something respectable. It did not work. Steve left, and tragically, Frank continued to be a US congressman (renting out his soul), without reforming a bit.
Barney Frank has always made good television, but he has made pretty crappy law – compromising constantly with the big corporations to allow them to game the system
… and he used to run a male prostitute ring out of his residence in the Washington, D.C. area (oh yeah, his younger lover did that without his knowledge – rrrright)
… it’s time for this corrupt piece of garbage to go