Last summer you may recall that there was a wonderful floor demonstration at the Democratic Convention when the party sought to reinsert language in the platform calling Jerusalem the capital of Israel (and to reinsert a reference to God into the platform, too). Well, LA Mayor Anthony Villaraigosa was chairing the convention at the time, and on CNN he tells Jake Tapper that Obama himself wanted the language back in:
I got a call, said that the President was absolutely livid, the President wanted it back in immediately. My response to that was Great, but we got to whip it…. So I had to go up there and do what I did….
I banged the gavel for God and Jerusalem and I’m proud that I did.
Laura Rozen reported as much at the time, but it’s good to hear it from Villaraigosa. And let’s be clear: Obama did this not because he cared about the grassroots, which include many younger Jews, but because he cared about major Jewish organizations and donors, and because he was running to Romney’s right on the issue, or trying. And in 2008 at AIPAC he said Jerusalem must never be divided. He sure knows how to feint left and move right.
A city is not just buildings- they can get moved far away, nor is it a geographic location- a new city can replace a forcibly abandoned one. A city is also people.
Relatively half of the people who lived in Jerusalem in 1947 and their descendants are now living in forced exile. They lived in Jerusalem for many centuries, if not as long as anyone else. Are they not a major part of Jerusalem?
How does this livid resolution serve the true Jerusalem when it effectively separates the city’s land from so many of its native people?
geez i thought this potus was a muslim….
that israel had to be mentioned at a US rally…
yikes
Reading Abdeen Jabara’s piece makes me wonder who is more asinine: Obama, who thinks people are gullible enough to believe his rhetoric or those who actually do believe his rhetoric!
Anyone who listened to Obama’s speeches in Israel can only conclude one thing and one thing only: not only does Obama believe his own rhetoric, he clearly suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder!
Obama is not a disappointment, he is a disgrace. He has betrayed oppressed minorities, trampled basic human rights & violated international law!
Gart Valenc
Twitter: @gartvalenc
Who had it removed in the first place?
Whoever it was, they certainly managed to demonstrate that Israel’s star is fading fast, whatever Obama and Villaraigosa might say. I’ll bet more than one pair of zionist pants were soiled that day.
“Obama did this not because he cared about the grassroots, which include many younger Jews, but because he cared about major Jewish organizations and donors, and because he was running to Romney’s right on the issue, or trying.”
That’s a silly interpretation. No rational person would conclude that Obama was running to Romney’s right on Israel. Taking Jerusalem out of Democratic platform (and it’s a vague endorsement that has nothing to do with borders) was something that did not reflect the will of the Democratic party (the protest on the floor was a protest in a half-filled hall and was at least in part about putting God back in the platform) and was very clearly not worth the trouble it caused because of how it was used by the GOP.
When you nitpick like this, the only people you help are right-wingers who attach undue significance to little issues like this that they don’t deserve and further politicize Israel. Maybe this is your plan – find common cause with Likudists on the right who want to politicize Israel in America like Malcolm X found common cause with neo-Nazis who believed in segregation.