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Biden in Israel

The President Visits the Middle East

Joe Biden is making his first presidential trip to the Middle East this week, with stops in Saudi Arabia and Israel (with only a quick visit to the occupied West Bank). The usual clouds hover and, in the case of Israel, the biggest is definitely Shireen Abu Akleh.

The Palestinian journalist was killed by the IDF over two months ago and from there things have sadly gone exactly how everyone expected. Israel initially suggested she died amid dueling gunfire until witnesses and video proved that wasn’t true. They then declared that they would not launch any kind of criminal investigation. The State Department said it trusted Israel to investigate itself and angered everyone when it put out a recent statement that essentially admitted Israel was responsible but also suggested the whole thing was a big accident.

The family of Abu Akleh requested a meeting with Biden, which he sidestepped but the State Department invited them to Washington. A New York Times headline speculates that the move could risk “Palestinian anger.” The Biden administration has received all kinds of pressure from lawmakers on this issue. The fact that Abu Akleh was an American citizen is obviously a factor here. For instance the Democratic Senators of New Jersey, where she was a resident, wrote the administration a recent letter expressing concerns. This is Bob Menendez and Cory Booker, two politicians that have been rabidly pro-Israel since arriving in DC.

“Ms. Abu Akleh’s courageous and unbiased reporting provided critical news not only for Palestinians and Israelis, but for the international community as a whole,” they write. “In her 25 years as a journalist, she became one of the most prominent names across the Middle East. As a strong advocate of media freedom, the U.S. must continue to promote and protect journalists’ ability to do their jobs across the globe without threats to their lives, in and out of conflict zones. Our support as they advance truth, transparency, and accountability has never been more critical.”

The administration also received a recent letter from Senators Van Hollen (D-MD), Leahy (D-VT), Murphy (D-CT) and Durbin (D-IL) on the issue. This one takes direct aim at the existing probe, saying it “hardly constitutes an independent investigation into the overall circumstances of her killing” and declaring that the review “does not meet any plausible definition of the ‘independent’ investigation…Nor does it provide the transparency that this case demands.”

So far the investigation hasn’t come up on the trip. At least not publicly. Although Biden has already declared himself a Zionist and told Israeli television that progressive House members who criticize the country are “wrong.”

“Israel is a democracy,” said the president. “Israel is our ally. Israel is a friend, and I think that I make no apologies.”

New York’s 10th

Yuh-Line Niou is a state assemblywoman in New York, where she’s one of the many Democrats running to represent the 10th congressional district. In a recent interview with Jewish Insider she said that she supports the BDS movement. “It’s really important to make sure that we can speak up against anything that we feel is unjust,” she told the website. “It is the right of every American, I think, to exercise their right to free speech as they see fit, and I think that we should not punish those who voice their support of protected speech activities. I think that’s the core of deliberative democracy. I think that this is such a bedrock issue, the right to use your voice and use your dollars to create social change. I still remember when I was a young person I decided I wasn’t going to wear any Nikes.”

Niou was actually a classmate of Rachel Corrie at Evergreen State College. “It was just this trauma that I think our class will never get over,” she recalled. “I think that was my first time thinking about what it means to have peace and what it means to support humanitarian action.”

Niou’s comments were immediately attacked by pro-Israel politicians in New York. It’s no surprise that the first tweet was fired off by Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY). “BDS is not merely a ‘protest.'” he wrote. “It takes the sinister position that Israel should no longer exist as a Jewish state. It’s an eliminationist movement at its core, one that should itself be protested by any public official professing a concern for peace.”

Former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is one of the candidates running against Niou in the 10th district, also took to Twitter over the interview. “The BDS movement does not recognize the right or need for Jewish statehood,” he wrote. “That is unacceptable. I have always opposed BDS and will build a strong coalition within the Democratic Party to stop BDS from undermining Israel’s economic and physical security.”

The actual goals of the BDS movement are easy to find, and if you’re reading this newsletter you probably know them already, but let’s review them nonetheless:

1.) Ending Israel’s occupation of all Arab lands and dismantling the apartheid Wall.

2.) Recognizing the rights of Arab-Palestinian citizens in Israel.

3.) Honoring the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes. This is a demand that’s stipulated by a United Nations resolution.

It’s unclear whether Torres or de Blasio know about the movement’s actual goals, but it doesn’t really matter. BDS is consistently smeared as antisemitic by many Democrats and the activism is either framed as violent and dangerous, or irrelevant and ignored, depending on the argument. Both men have received support from pro-Israel groups and support for the country is part of the image they’ve cultivated. De Blasio recently turned on AIPAC over its support for January 6th Republicans, so the attacks are probably seen as a good move from his camp. He gets to signal that his commitment to apartheid has not wavered.

Torres’s tweets were criticized by a number of people.”I have to say I am thoroughly tired of speaking on behalf of Jews,” tweeted Jason Rosenberg. “There are Jewish New Yorkers that believe that Israel is an apartheid state, that BDS is not antisemitic, and do not need a non-Jewish member of Congress smearing people in their name.”

“I do not pretend to speak for anyone but myself and express any opinion but my own,” shot back Torres. “It’s a free country, and I have a right to express whatever opinion I wish on whatever topic I wish. And if you have an issue with it, that’s your damn problem.”

So if you have an issue with Torres being anti-Palestinian, that’s your own damn problem.

Can Niou win if she backs BDS? The movement’s critics like to pretend that Democratic voters are very passionate about Israel, but the polling shows that’s not true. New York already has multiple local lawmakers who support the boycott and there’s even a few House members that do, even if they don’t express it publicly very often. The reality is that most voters don’t know what BDS is. A recent Pew study found that 53% of Americans have heard nothing at all about the movement. It’s fashionable to say that a band canceling its concert in Israel doesn’t have much impact on the situation, but this kind of stuff obviously raises awareness about the effort. The polling also shows that most Democrats who know the BDS demands end up supporting it. The movement’s actual demands that is.

Odds & Ends

? ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt visited the Ben & Jerry’s factory sitting on stolen Palestinian land and took pictures with its new owner Avi Zinger. The factory is not too far from Masafer Yatta, where 2500 Palestinians are about be expelled from their homes. Greenblatt said he was grateful for Zinger’s “doggedness to keep his business running, employing and serving Israelis & Palestinians, and fighting back against BDS hate.”

? Iraq War architect Condoleezza Rice has become a part-owner of the Denver Broncos.

? Another month another poll showing that support for Israel is declining among young people. This one comes from Pew and finds that 56% U.S. adults between ages 18-29 have an unfavorable view of the country.

⚖️ During a CNN appearance former national security adviser John Bolton casually mentioned that he’s planned coups.

?? On Israeli television President Biden admitted that he’d rather tank any progress his administration has made on another Iran Deal than take the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps off the terror list, a move that would have virtually no impact beyond its symbolism.

?? Fantastic piece in The Intercept from Alice Speri on Israel’s recent history of killing Americans.

? Really great analysis from Alex Sammon in The American Prospect about AIPAC’s influence on the Democratic primaries.

Stay safe out there,

Michael