Six on Israel and US: Trump and Netanyahu Scandals a Very Dangerous Moment; Democrats to submit anti-Semitism resolution in r
panaritisp
"Omar has been under sustained attack for saying recently that it is worth talking about, in her words, “the political influence in this country that says it is okay for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country.”
“I want to ask, Why is it OK for me to talk about the influence of the [National Rifle Association], or fossil fuel industries or Big Pharma, and not talk about a powerful lobbying group that is influencing policy?” she continued—a clear reference to AIPAC, which is a powerful lobbying group that influences policy on Israel all the time.
It is, again, a very obvious truth that the mainstream political establishment in the United States demands support and loyalty with regard to Israel, and that is all Omar was saying. Did we all forget that, just a few weeks ago, the Senate, in a 77-23 vote, passed a bill that included a highly constitutionally dubious provision allowing local governments to punish companies that back a boycott of Israel? Or that states are indeed demanding that people literally pledge not to boycott Israel if they want contracts? What more evidence do you need?
Wait, you need more evidence? Here’s a tweet from Democratic Rep. Juan Vargas today:
“Questioning support for the U.S.-Israel relationship is unacceptable.” It’s there in black and white. Pointing out that this is the prevailing view in Washington is not anti-Semitic. (Though, speaking as a Jew, I can certainly say that assuming that all Jews feel the same way about Israel, or that Israel is automatically the representative for all Jews, is definitely anti-Semitic.)"
"Israel itself is trying to explain away its continued sales of tanks, weapons and boats to the Myanmar military dictatorship – while western nations impose sanctions on the government which has attempted to destroy its minority and largely Muslim Rohingya people. But Israel’s arms trade with India is legal, above-board and much advertised by both sides.
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The Israelis have filmed joint exercises between their own “special commando” units and those sent by India to be trained in the Negev desert, again with all the expertise supposedly learned by Israel in Gaza and other civilian-thronged battlefronts.
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Hindu nationalists had constructed “a narrative of Hindus as historically victims at the hands of Muslims”, an attractive idea to those Hindus who recall partition and the continuing turbulent relationship with Pakistan.
In fact, as Malhotra pointed out in Haaretz, “Israel’s biggest fans in India appear to be the ‘internet Hindus’ who primarily love Israel for how it deals with Palestine and fights Muslims.”
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“In terms of our Palestinian contacts, it’s like we’ve stopped existing for them,” said one U.S. diplomat, who was not authorized to speak to journalists and asked not to be identified.
The diplomat struggled to find words to describe the situation of American envoys who arrived in Jerusalem with the aim of building ties to the Palestinian Authority, which officially cut ties to the United States after Trump’s announcement of the embassy’s move. Palestinians said the move did not take into account Palestinian aspirations for East Jerusalem to serve as the capital of a future state of Palestine.
“We’ve all been downgraded to zero, in a way,” the U.S. official said. “What are we supposed to be doing now, really? No one has any idea.”
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