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Weiner should be ‘hounded’ for his support for apartheid

Anthony Weiner is running for mayor of New York and despite progressive positions on a number of issues, he is a rightwinger on Palestine, identifying himself with the pro-settler faction of the Israel lobby.

Three years ago at a debate over the Goldstone Report at the New School, the then-congressman denied there is an occupation:

WEINER: You can see a difference in the development in the West Bank with 11 percent year over year growth, with no Israeli occupation there either, with increasing access to checkpoints —

[Roger] COHEN: No occupation in the West Bank, did I hear you right? WEINER: Yes.

COHEN: Have you been to the West Bank lately?

WEINER: Yes.

COHEN: You didn’t see the IDF there?

WEINER: In Ramallah? No. In Nablus? No. Now can I tell ya there might be some people in this room who think Jerusalem is occupied.

COHEN: Well hold on a second there, let’s stick to the West Bank. You’re saying there is no IDF presence there?

WEINER: Yes.

Scott McConnell at the American Conservative was at that event and asks about the failure of New Yorkers to make these intolerant claims a political issue. Is the city bigoted on Palestinian rights?

He stunned the audience, and no doubt pleased his supporters, by making the most hard-right Zionist claims one could imagine. He claimed there was no Israeli occupation of the West Bank, he claimed Israel’s eastern border was the Jordan River. He wasn’t smooth or even educated on the subject, there was no phony hasbara about how he really desired a Palestinian state if the Palestinians only had better leadership. He simply claimed all the land for the Jews, Palestinians be damned.

I haven’t lived in New York in over ten years, but it is surprising to me this kind of thing isn’t a deficit in city politics. Evidently it’s not. A few months ago mayoral candidates outdid themselves to get on record as opposing Brooklyn College’s decision to allow BDS supporters to hold an event. Mayor Bloomberg finally punctured the suck-up frenzy by stating that New York shouldn’t really aspire to be North Korea, and as much as he might deplore BDS he really wasn’t bent out of shape by a forum at Brooklyn College. That was good enough, but the sad thing is that the other mayoral candidates, avowed liberals to man and woman, did want the city to be North Korea as far open debate on Israel-Palestine is concerned.

I have a question for readers who may be closer to the city’s political culture than I am now. The city’s demographics are more Asian, more Hispanic, fewer ethnic whites of any sort, probably a slightly smaller number of white “Protestants”—once  the catch-all category for young people who came from elsewhere in the country to work in advertising or finance or any industry which hired nationally.

I know there are  genuine progressives on Palestine in the city; I’ve demonstrated with them. I know also the issue is debated intensely among liberal Jews, and that a figure like Peter Beinart, an eloquent liberal Zionist, has a considerable following. I know also that 30 years ago, any mayoral candidate who was an out-and-out apartheid advocate, as Weiner is, would be outed, hounded by the left, and wouldn’t have a chance to be elected mayor. I know also that in the enclaves of “old” New York, in the  pockets  of Irish, Poles, Italians and the neighborhood church, most people would be respectful of Israel, and ready to think, vote, and act as if it should be defended. But they wouldn’t go so far as denying there are two sides to the question or think the other side should wiped out and not even heard.

So, really, a question.  Has New York become oddly extremist in my absence?  What if a candidate for mayor said, simply (as Henry Kissinger once did) I’m strongly committed to protecting Israel’s existence, but not its conquests? Would that now be a losing proposition in a Democratic primary?

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Before everyone else delves in the details and the who said what when and so on, I would like to offer a surely controversial opinion, which is not meant to be a mean spirited position, only an acknowledgment of reality. And here it is:

The Jewish community, collectively, supports apartheid, either by inaction or positive action directed at the removal of the Palestinians from the West Bank and East Jerusalem and send them to Jordan. In the collective thinking, Gaza can go to Egypt or, even better, it can be the base for a Palestinian “state” and maybe even include all the Palestinians from the West Bank. Unfortunately, the entire indoctrination machine, especially in the US (e.g., Sabbath school, summer camps, etc.) strongly supports and pushes the Zionist vision. (see Knopf-Newman’s The Politics of Teaching Palestine to Americans)

Yes, of course, there are pockets within the Jewish community that support a different outcome ranging from a one-state solution to a two-state solution and we have to support and be part of that effort, but can we say that that is the majority of the Jewish community?

A solution would have to include offering a more balanced view of the issue, educating people, especially, young people, but I am not sure how to achieve that without infringing on the first amendment that protects the freedom of speech, even the most extreme or hateful speech (KKK is an instance).

“So, really, a question. Has New York become oddly extremist in my absence? ”

No. People do not accept your apartheid analogy, and most find it offensive. The people you demonstrated with represent virtually no one other than themselves, and their viewpoint is not popular either in the city or in the country at large. Weiner’s view is not a majority view either, but he represented a constituency that is to the right of the city on Israel.

“He stunned the audience, and no doubt pleased his supporters, by making the most hard-right Zionist claims one could imagine. He claimed there was no Israeli occupation of the West Bank, he claimed Israel’s eastern border was the Jordan River. He wasn’t smooth or even educated on the subject, there was no phony hasbara about how he really desired a Palestinian state if the Palestinians only had better leadership. He simply claimed all the land for the Jews, Palestinians be damned.”

I was stunned, more by the clumsiness of the statement than by the substance. But the audience was most pro-Palestinian, as one would expect at a place like the New School. Weiner’s claim, by the way, sounded more to the right than it actually was. What I believe he was trying to say was that in most populated areas of the West Bank, Palestinians govern their own, and that until an agreement is signed, Israel’s border is the Jordan River. But in my estimation, he’s not the hard-right politician he sometimes seems to be on this issue. I believe that he’d support a two-state solution with a divided Jerusalem if it came along. And therein lies the lesson with a lot of political rhetoric; in the absence of progress, people tend to become more hardline.

As a self-appointed spokesman for the canine community, I perfer that concerned citizens, canine and otherwise, “hound” A.W. by treating him as if he were the nearest fire hydrant [figuratively speaking only, of course].

LOL. It was very clear what his statements were. He wasn’t cut off at all, he was allocated his time, and even if he ‘intended’ something else, he clearly displayed a lack of knowledge. The event went on to discuss what the definition of the West Bank was, and he wasn’t limiting it specifically to just a few Palestinians Cities. Go back and watch it (I’m recalling from memory, but I remember the extra dive to clarify his position).

To say he represents a constituency that is “to the right” is a massive understatement.

I do agree with you though that his opinions are malleable so as long as they fall in line with those that support him. For someone to spout such vulgar claims, but still appear to be incredibly ignorant, is a clear sign that he or she is following the money and power. Maybe at some point in his heart he believes it, but he is clearly pandering to an extreme right.

RE: “Has New York become oddly extremist in my absence? What if a candidate for mayor said, simply (as Henry Kissinger once did) I’m strongly committed to protecting Israel’s existence, but not its conquests? Would that now be a losing proposition in a Democratic primary? ~ Scott McConnell

SHORT ANSWER: Yes, because the Zionists believe in “full-spectrum dominance” of U.S. foreign policy as to the Middle East. They know that the rest of the world has had it with Israel’s expansionist, “iron wall”xxx lugheadedness, and they are determined to squelch even the slightest variance (here in the U.S., whether in N.Y.C. or the backwoods of Alabama) from the hard-line Likudnik agenda.

SEE: “Jewish Donors Warn Obama on Israel”, By Laura Meckler, Wall Street Journal, 5/19/11

[EXCERPTS] Jewish donors and fund-raisers are warning the Obama re-election campaign that the president is at risk of losing financial support because of concerns about his handling of Israel.
The complaints began early in President Barack Obama’s term, centered on a perception that Mr. Obama has been too tough on Israel.
Some Jewish donors say Mr. Obama has pushed Israeli leaders too hard to halt construction of housing settlements in disputed territory*, a longstanding element of U.S. policy. Some also worry that Mr. Obama is putting more pressure on the Israelis than the Palestinians to enter peace negotiations, and say they are disappointed Mr. Obama has not visited Israel yet. . .
. . . Robert Copeland, a Virginia Beach, Va., developer, who has given large donations to many Democrats, has already decided he won’t vote for Mr. Obama in 2012. “I’m very disappointed with him,” he said. “His administration has failed in Israel. They degraded the Israeli people.” . . .
. . . Malcolm I. Hoenlein, the executive vice chairman of The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said he saw potential for the discontent to affect Mr. Obama’s fund raising.
“It’s that people hold back, people don’t have the enthusiasm and are not rushing forward at fund-raisers to be supportive,” he said. “Much more what you’ll see is holding back now.” . . .

ENTIRE ARTICLE – http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703509104576331661918527154.html

* Note the WSJ’s use of the term “disputed territory” in referring to the West Bank!