For the last several weeks there has been much speculation over whether presidential candidate Bernie Sanders would address the annual AIPAC conference in Washington, DC. A petition calling on Sanders to skip the conference has gathered over 5,000 signatures so far leading Fortune magazine to declare, “Bernie Sanders Faces an Israel Problem.”
Today, Sanders finally sought to rectify that problem . . . sort of. In a letter to the Israel lobby organization Sanders said he would not be able to attend the conference due to campaign commitments, but he would like to share his remarks with AIPAC members.
Here’s his letter:
This letter does little to clarify Sanders position regarding AIPAC and his vision for U.S. policy in Israel/Palestine. We’ll just have to wait to see if the organization releases his text.
Disappointing. It conveys the message that the main obstacle was the delivery of his remarks. Sanders shouldn’t even be negotiating with these alien lobbyists.
He decries the influence of special interests in domestic policy, but its suddenly good or at least acceptable in foreign policy? This is one area where the grassroots progressives who support Sanders simply must improve on. We can’t be impartial to Apartheid.
“This letter does little to clarify Sanders position regarding AIPAC….”
It doesn’t? I think it offers plenty, starting w “Dear Bob,” then going straight into “I enjoyed the opportunity to chat with you this morning”; note “the opportunity.” Not just “our chat this morning.” The usual AIPAC grovel. And “Any help that you could give us in getting those remarks out to your members would be much appreciated” clarifies things further — unless you’re suggesting this is all some kind of a set-up, but if he had that kind of courage, was going to offer those kinds of words, he’d certainly go to the conference to say them, where they’d have a lot more impact than whatever he’s saying campaigning. (To paraphrase Grand Moff Tarkin, “I think you overestimate his chances.”)
I think what this letter, and Sanders’ absence from the conference, clarifies mostly is the fraud and coward, Bernie Sanders.
My prediction: he will not offer a word of criticism on Netanyahu’s reprehensible behavior toward Obama, and the mild criticism he does offer on the occupation/Israeli behavior toward Palestinians will of course be couched in terms of what it is doing to Israel, what it’s doing to us, Bob. The Jews.
Sanders has given grief to Clinton for not releasing a copy of her Goldman Sachs remarks to the public. So now, to be fair, he should release a copy of these AIPAC remarks to the public.
Phil, please send Sanders a copy of the speech you wrote for him to give to AIPAC.
Sanders would not be getting generally favourable coverage in the liberal Zionist media (eg, Forward, Tablet, Haaretz) — or the US MSM, which is indistinguishable — if he wasn’t “reliable” on Israel. This meek letter to AIPAC proves Sanders will be no better on I/P, should he become President, than all the others. And the siege of Gaza goes on.