‘Anti-Palestinian political groups’ (Fletcher on lobby)

Bill Fletcher Jr

The Daily Show’s brilliant expose of UNESCO defunding is having repercussions. Bill Fletcher Jr. of the Institute for Policy Studies follows up on the show in the Hill, with a piece explaining why the US Congress cut off UNESCO and how short-sighted this is. And Fletcher improves on Jon Stewart by laying the blame at the door of AIPAC, and describing the lobby as “anti-Palestinian political groups.” Excerpt:

Rather than advance Palestinian freedom – unacceptable in today’s Washington – the US Congress decided it was permissible to damage UNESCO. As The Daily Show pointed out, this means that all sorts of social programs have been placed in jeopardy or outright destroyed for lack of funding…. The one that caught my attention was the funding of a literacy program for Afghan police officers. One would assume that the USA would be interested in the Afghan police being fully able to read.

Too few in Congress have been willing to speak out on the need for justice for the Palestinian people for fear of retaliation being carried out by anti-Palestinian political groups in the USA. Yet one would assume that more progressive constituencies, such as the Congressional Black Caucus, could be counted upon to point out the self-defeating nature of the decision by the US to cut funds for UNESCO and its impact of further embarrassing the US in the court of global public opinion.

Regardless of the rhetoric out of Washington suggesting that the USA intends to be even-handed when it comes to the Palestinian-Israeli dispute, the political elite falls all over itself to demonstrate its loyalty to Israel. Consequently, we watch the results of a short-sighted and biased action that is permitting a much-applauded component of the United Nations to wither on the vine.

This is political stupidity and The Daily Show was right to call it out.