Such leadership, boldness, and vision.
Senate Democrats are expected to support a resolution intended as a rebuff to President Obama’s call for basing Middle East peace talks on the 1967 Israeli-Palestinian borders.
It would be a rare rebuke of the president by the upper chamber and a sign that Democrats are worried about the impact of last week’s speech on the U.S.-Israel relationship and pro-Israel constituents.
So if you're keeping score at home, President Obama takes a position that was already the accepted position of the United States--
Prime Minister Netanyahu and Secretary Clinton had a good discussion today, with a friendly and productive exchange of views on both sides. Secretary Clinton reiterated the United States’ unshakable commitment to Israel’s security and to peace in the region. The Prime Minister and the Secretary agreed on the importance of continuing direct negotiations to achieve our goals. The Secretary reiterated that “the United States believes that through good-faith negotiations, the parties can mutually agree on an outcome which ends the conflict and reconciles the Palestinian goal of an independent and viable state, based on the 1967 lines, with agreed swaps, and the Israeli goal of a Jewish state with secure and recognized borders that reflect subsequent developments and meet Israeli security requirements.” Those requirements will be fully taken into account in any future peace agreement.
-- and Bibi stages a freakout, Republicans wanting to hurt the President stage a freakout, Orrin Hatch writes a resolution opposing what had been the position of the United States for decades, and now Senate Democrats will support it.
Why? Why? Why? Well, I could write a long piece about the power of AIPAC and the symbolic significance of Israel in our political culture and the poisonous effect of money on the government, but I don't really feel like it, because I want to focus on the pathetic cowardly soulless moral pygmies otherwise known as Democratic Senators.
And you can forget about the United States playing any sort of constructive role in securing peace and justice in the Middle East. Ain't gonna happen. It's up to the Palestinians themselves; fortunately, they're on the case. The Arab Spring has arrived in Palestine. The United States won't support them, but we can, and we should.
In any case, if you're among those who have made the argument that Israelis would give Palestinians a state if only the Palestinians would learn to employ Ghandhian tactics of non-violent protest, it appears your moment of truth has arrived. As my colleague writes, what happened on Nakba Day was Israel's "nightmare scenario: masses of Palestinians marching, unarmed, towards the borders of the Jewish state, demanding the redress of their decades-old national grievance." Peter Beinart writes that this represents "Israel's Palestinian Arab Spring": the tactics of mass non-violent protest that brought down the governments of Tunisia and Egypt, and are threatening to bring down those of Libya, Yemen and Syria, are now being used in the Palestinian cause.
UPDATE: Many of you (understandably) stay away from I-P threads, but since this issue is getting wider play of late, I'd thought I'd take this chance to introduce you to the conservative supporters of Israel who post here (conservative on this issue). They're a small but vocal minority best known for likening any criticism of Israel to anti-Semitism. Honestly, I didn't think they would try that bullshit in this diary. I was wrong.
This diary perpetuates an anti-Semitic meme... (2+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
Corwin Weber, WinSmith
that Jews, collectively, control government. Does the diarist not see that this gives such license?
The Senate has every right to resolve what it likes, right or wrong in content.
As shown above, it's a non-issue being blown out proportion, particularly here, and in my opinion the attention to this issue is excessive and causes more harm than good.
by citizen53 on Wed May 25, 2011 at 12:27:53 PM PDT
And:
I think Mondofront might work as well (4+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
MBNYC, Mets102, Corwin Weber, Red Sox
that line is an instant classic though.
DK4: For those times when pissing in the hummus isn't enough
by volleyboy1 on Wed May 25, 2011 at 11:24:40 AM PDT
"Mondofront," for the uninitiated, is an amalgam of Mondoweiss and Stormfront. It's their name for Mondoweiss, which they regard as anti-Semitic.
I don't take it personally; as a supporter of peace and justice in the Middle East, I'm accustomed to being called an anti-Semite, but I wanted a wider audience to pay attention to the tactics of the Daily Kos conservative supporters of Israel, a few of whom also spout virulent anti-Muslim bigotry, like this.
There is no Palestine.(0+ / 3-)
Never has been. The Palestinian people would like for there to be a Palestine. If they can stop murdering Israeli children long enough to talk like civilized adults, there just might be one.
Until then, they'll be gunned down in the streets like rabid dogs.
You can call me a 'right wing zionist' all you want. It doesn't change the fact that the base problem here is the Palestinian, Arab and Persian fundamental inability to lower themselves to living beside Jews without trying to kill them.
by Corwin Weber on Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 12:57:23 AM CST
This is what we're dealing with. Conservative supporters of Israel have every right to post here, but I would like more Kossacks to speak out against their smear tactics and bigotry.
Thanks.
UPDATE 2: Here one of the members say it's not surprising that an "anti-Semitic" diary made the rec list:
#
And remarkable that so many Kossacks (4+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
Flyswatterbanjo, PeterHug, callmecassandra, Involuntary Exile
lent their support to an "anti-Semitic" diary. Sorry, Volley.
by david mizner on Wed May 25, 2011 at 12:28:44 PM PDT
[ Parent | Reply to This ]
Remarkable? (2+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
hester, MBNYC
Not so much, really.
by Corwin Weber on Wed May 25, 2011 at 12:43:07 PM PDT
[ Parent | Reply to This | Recommend Hide ]
You see? Daily Kos is full of anti-Semites! You don't think this is what the conservative supporters of Israel believe?
#
[new] Ok, have you LOOKED.... (1+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
Mets102
...at the diaires list?
About every fifth one is a thinly veiled screed about how Jews control the government.
by Corwin Weber on Wed May 25, 2011 at 02:06:46 PM PDT