Is there an Israel lobby or not? The New York Jewish Week ought to be ashamed of itself for this piece attempting to discipline new Senator Kirsten Gillibrand for her mild comments re Israel that it regards as verboten.
In an interview
with the New York Observer’s PolitickerNY.com, she was somewhat
positive about the prospect Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu will become
Israel’s next prime minister, suggesting pragmatism may lead him to
“broaden his views.”
But just in case he doesn’t, she said she would be prepared to support diplomatic pressure on the Israeli leader.
“I think the president will use all the means and all the tools in
his toolbox to reach a solution for peace in the Middle East,” she
said. “And if he offers positive reinforcement or negative
reinforcement, that will be a strategic decision for the
administration and our secretary of state.”
That may not be a particularly radical thing to say, but in New York
Democratic politics it’s probably not the mark of political genius.
The headline for this article is, "Gillibrand comments on Israel jeopardize campaign contributions, votes." Yes, that's true, and proof of the Israel lobby that the Jewish press denied when gentiles asserted that it exists.
But aren't journalists supposed to provide intellectual leadership? Tell me what's wrong with Gillibrand's statement outside of the veiled threat the paper conveys? Do you believe, as Netanyahu does, in stealing other people's land for biblical reasons? This entire thing is the Jewish shame. The most powerful minority in the world acts at every moment in the U.S. to dispossess and dehumanize a faroff people on a religious/ethnic basis.
