Jill Stein defends BDS in CNN town hall

Green Party Presidential Candidate Jill Stein on Wednesday night provided an alternative vision for U.S. policy with Israel that questioned whether Washington was doing “Israel any favors” by dumping money into warfare and occupation.

Stein was answering a question at a CNN Green Party town hall from an audience member who wondered why Stein chose to “single out” Israel for a boycott even though Israel is “a democratic ally to us.”

“Why don’t you do the same for other middle eastern states which are committing horrific crimes and abuses of people?” voter MariaChristina Garcia asked.

Stein’s answer showed that terms like “democratic ally” don’t amount to a hill of beans when that country is pursuing policies that violate human rights, and that the U.S. under a Stein presidency will not ignore the rights violations of Saudi Arabia or Israel. The logic stems from an understanding that the U.S., in its pursuit of war in the middle east, has also violated human rights of others.

“We are turning over a new chapter in this, because we have been as guilty as any of our allies,” she said.

https://youtu.be/h9G0_ByoWe0?t=51m17s

“If we turned the White House into a Green House, our foreign policy will be based on international law and human rights, so when we say to Israel we will not continue to give you to $8 million dollars a day when the Israeli army is occupying territory in Palestine,” Stein said to applause.

“We’re not going to do it for the Saudis either. Nor for that matter does Egypt get a free pass as well. We’re giving them billions of dollars as well,” she said.

“Have you advocated to boycott Saudi Arabia?” Garcia asked?

“Yes,” Stein said, to further applause.

All of it was getting a bit too real for CNN moderator Chris Cuomo. His brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a chief Clinton ally, has been a vocal opponent of the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement that Stein has shown sympathy towards. The effort aims to isolate Israel, as many worldwide did to South Africa during Apartheid, to try to force it to recognize the civil and human rights of Palestinians living under occupation and also Palestinian citizens of Israel.

“Another follow on this is that Israel is not Saudi Arabia or Egypt,” Cuomo reminded the audience. “It certainly occupies a special alliance with the United States and supporters would argue faces an existential threat that others do not. Do you see Israel being a special ally and in a unique defensive position in that part of the world?”

Stein replied by saying she herself is Jewish and has family who live in Israel “part time.”

“Well I happen to be of Jewish origins so yes I have a special connection to Israel…I don’t think we are doing Israel a favor by condoning a policy that makes Israel very insecure, that makes Israel the target of hostility from its neighbors.”

Stein gave fellow Jewish American Sheldon Adelson, owner of the most read Israeli newspaper, as an example of someone meddling in Israeli affairs to the detriment of all involved.

“He’s not even living there. I don’t think that’s good for someone to be influencing Israel’s policy when they don’t have to live with the consequences,” Stein said of Adelson.

Cuomo fired back with a “yes or no” question about whether Israel has a special relationship to the U.S.

“I understand you have family relations there…Do you believe they’re a special ally, yes or no?”

It was a meaningless and childlike question from Cuomo, and it received an appropriately meaningless and pedantic answer.

“I believe all our allies are special allies. Israel and all of them. We are all members of the human family. I think we have responsibilities to everyone to create a world that works for all of us. And by sponsoring a very hostile military policy that violates international law, that doesn’t do us any favors,” she said.

“There are people in Israel who are really working for human rights, who are actually building community with the Palestinians. There are human rights groups that are building trust, building community and building confidence. These are the groups we need to be lifting up to create a middle east that’s going to work.”

Cuomo and Stein were asking questions that came from different universes, practically. Stein’s assumptions were that human rights should guide American foreign policy, while Cuomo fixated on whether Stein appreciated the existential dread that Israelis have of Palestinians and their Arab neighbors. Cuomo asked her twice about how special Israel is to the U.S., when she had already answered: Israel was not more or less special than any of our allies. It’s also remarkable how easily Cuomo glossed over Stein’s family ties to the country, and her own Jewishness, in questioning her policy position.

For average Stein voters, however, it appears the candidate’s overall suspicion of militarism is the biggest draw.

Sherrie Gonzalez, a Brooklyn Bernie Sanders canvasser I met during the primaries, was an audience member at the town hall debate. She’s planning on voting for Stein.

“It sounds like she just wants to stop funding death and respect human rights for everyone involved,” Gonzalez told Mondoweiss.

Although she said she isn’t an expert on Israel/Palestine affairs, Gonzalez said Stein’s focus on cutting back military spending is what draws her to the candidate. That money, she feels, could better be spent at home and not financing Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land, or Saudi Arabia’s campaign against Yemen.

“For me, one of the most jarring points she made was about the number of military bases we have in comparison to the rest of the world. Like, take a guess as to how many bases the world has? It’s 30 [total]. 30 for everyone else. Russia has the most at 8. We have 800. It costs us over $100 billion a year to fund these. We could cut them in half and have $50 billion available for things here like rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure or I don’t know, a public [health care] option?”

“I agree so much with her that these interventions and coups cause more trouble than they solve and they account for something like 50% of the tax money I pay a year,” Gonzalez said.

But how to unravel this irrational and byzantine system of alliances based on their level of specialness, as Cuomo calls it, remains a mystery. It’s like Stein is walking into a big meeting of a neighborhood mafia, and telling everybody they will no longer be dealing in protection rackets, nor will they be selling guns, drugs or people. Everyone is going to have to go legit!

There isn’t space in this post for a full discussion of how this would happen, if it ever does. Gonzalez admits she doesn’t have the answers, either.

“How do we dismantle our Mafia empire?” I asked Gonzalez.

“I guess the biggest issue with our current situation is that we’ve developed an economy around it,” she said.

“Why is that a problem?”

“Because it’s an economy of death and oppression.”

Fair enough.

“I’m aware that just completely pulling out of situations can cause chaos but the outcome doesn’t change whether we do it now or 20 years from now,” she said.  “I think if I had answers, I would be running for office. I vote for as minimal suffering as possible if I can help it.”

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Current poll results strongly suggest that New York is a “safe” state for Clinton. Whether one likes that or not, there it is.

A consequence of that — if you believe the polls, as I do — is that you may safely vote GREEN without changing the electoral vote count. But doing so may “send a signal” to the Democratic Party that the Sanders folks (or call them the anti-corporatist folks) are calling for a new Party, a different Party from Bill Clinton’s and Obama’s.

Now, after this CNN interview, If you care about Palestine you evidently have another good reason to vote GREEN.

The only reason Israel has an existential threat from Palestinians and it’s Arab neighbours is because of its illegal occupation and land theft and subjugation and mistreatment of the Palestinian People and its clear meddling in Arab affairs to ensure its domination of the Middle East and the Arabs quite clearly want no part of what Israel is offering or wanting to do in the region.

What a breath of fresh air this lady is. She puts to outright shame all those embarasing bought and bent US politicians as well as the bought and bent MSM voices including the d—head CNN “moderator” Cuomo. He was clearly reading from a standard Zionist prep`d script with the usual “faces an existential threat” “special relationship” “special ally” drivel. As for the lady from the audience I suspect that she must have annoyed Cuomo somewhat by pre-empting the standard “whataboutery” routine which has been a longstanding and increasingly boring plank of the pro – JSIL and anti – BDS lobbies and which he had no doubt been rehearsing beforehand.

Interestingly the Green Party and its leader Natalie Bennett here in the UK are equally robust in their condemnation of JSIL and support for BDS.
http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/134303/green-leader-natalie-bennett-backs-cultural-boycott-israel

Bennetts predecessor Caroline Lucas was and remains similarly critical of Israel and a strong supporter of BDS. A good example of this was her support of a boycott of water meters installed by the Southern Water Authority because they were supplied by the JSILi company Arad Technologies which provides water infrastructure to illegal settlements in the West Bank. At least one local resident refused to have an Arad meter installed and Southern Water backed off and installed an ethical alternative:
http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/10647791.display/

So all you Southern Water company customers in the South of England and those elsewhere in the UK who are having water meters installed in the future by their local water companies please do check the provenance of the supply and if it is Arad do tell your water company that you insist upon an ethical alternative.

Little acorns.

She’s clueless. No one in the activist community is spending the time on Saudi Arabia and Egypt that they’re spending on Israel.

No one is talking about Egyptian and Saudi violations of human rights or international law.

Bless, Jill Stein for trying! Unfortunately, she dropped the ball a few times on this front, especially for sternly not calling out Coumo for his insistence in acknowledging Israel’s “special relationship” status with the US and for referring to the so-called “existential threat” Israel faces from their neighbors.

First, not a single AIPAC stooge in Washington can name a single thing Israel has done to promote and / or improve US diplomatic or military interests in the region. Not one. We aren’t even allow to have military bases or troops stationed in Israel, which is an exceptional case considering the number of bases and outposts we hold across the world with nearly every single one of our allies, not to mention our most “special” allies! They have, however, occasionally allowed us to fly over their airspace from our base in Turkey. Yes, Turkey! That great apparently “not so special ally” of ours.

Secondly, to claim that Israel faces existential threats from her Arab neighbors is a joke and should be called out at every mention! Not a single Arab state poses even close to such a threat to Israel, not even all of them combined! That’s because Israel is the ONLY state with a nuclear weapons arsenal in the entire region. Israel’s first and second strike capabilities alone ensure that no military threat, short of all out war with the US or Russia, poses a threat to her existence. None! Zero! Zilch! Nada! Add to this the number of ridiculously powerful military nations that would unflinchingly back Israel should she legitimately come under such an unprovoked existential threat and any statement or allusion to the contrary should be openly mocked, resounding rejected and scoffed at.

Still, Jill’s voice on this issue deserves credit where it is due and it was welcome and refreshing to here at least one politician avoid using the well rehearsed tired old diatribes, catchphrases and flash cards handed to them by AIPAC. Her not-so-subtle jab at both Cuomo and the audience member regarding US foreign policy hypocricy and inconsistency in regards to human rights abuses and breaking of International Law was a real winner too!