The view that Israel and the Palestinian Arabs equally share blame for the continuation of a decades old conflict is part and parcel of Kerry’s troubling perspective.
Moshe Phillips, AFSI
http://[http://www.forward.com/articles/104489
President Obama’s decision to nominate Senator John Kerry as his next Secretary of State will prove to be a disaster for Israel.
The choice of the American Jewish establishment to vehemently protest the expected nomination of former Senator Chuck Hagel while granting Kerry a free pass for his anti-Israel behavior follows their longtime pattern.
Hagel is a Republican who has a history of marking foolish remarks regarding Israel and has long been seen as an independent thinker on Middle East policy with a non-interventionist outlook.
Kerry, however, is the much bigger problem for Israel.
Hagel as Sec of Defense will be tasked with handling military issues. Kerry will be in a position to effect policy as it impacts Israel, set an overall tone for US in the Middle East and be a key player in future negotiations.
When it comes to criticizing Democrats who are hostile to Israel, the Jewish elites have a history of weakness. From Jesse Jackson to Jimmy Carter to Barack Obama, Democrats are treated with kid gloves and given the benefit of the doubt, while pro-Israel Republicans are never given their due praise.
When Kerry ran for president, he was vetted by the so-called pro-Israel community in the U.S. and little was made of his attitudes toward Israel because he had, for the most part, steered clear of controversy.
Kerry’s record since his presidential campaign tells a different tale. It was clear Kerry would not run for president again and his policy shift on Israel was ignored. What’s worse is that Kerry’s attitudes on Israel are still being ignored by the pro-Israel community.
Even Kerry’s failure to sign the December 20, 2012 letter in support of continuing sanctions against Iran has not been a matter of concern for pro-Israel activists. [Seehttp://www.adl.org/PresRele/
And this even though 73 of Kerry’s fellow senators signed the letter. [Seehttp://www.jta.org/news/
Kerry’s Israel problem goes back much farther than his troubling attitude towards Iranian sanctions.
When Kerry decided to take over for former President Jimmy Carter as the front man for Democratic criticism of Israel, he enlisted the U.S.’s first Muslim member of Congress for help.
Kerry was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when he stated on March 04, 2009 at a Brookings Institute address:
“Nothing will do more to make clear our seriousness about turning the page than demonstrating – with actions rather than words – that we are serious about Israel freezing settlement activity in the West Bank. For decades, American presidents, Democrat and Republican alike, have opposed new settlement activity and recognized that the settlements are an obstacle to peace.. ” [See http://www.brookings.edu/
It should be apparent that when it comes to pressuring Israel on Israeli settlements John Kerry plans to pick up at Foggy Bottom where James Baker left off.
Kerry’s idea that the settlements are the main problem echoes the rhetoric of Yasser Arafat’s successors, Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad. In his March 2009 remarks, Kerry even adopted the Arab view that Jerusalem is one of “the big three issues.”
Jerusalem is no issue – it is Israel’s capital.
The view that Israel and the Palestinian Arabs equally share blame for the continuation of a decades old conflict is just another part of Kerry’s troubling perspective.
While Kerry was on his February 2009 junket to the Middle East, it was no merecoincidence that Rep. Keith Ellison was in Gaza at the same time. This was a coordinated effort by senior Democrats to demonstrate to Israel’s government that the pro-Israel attitude of the Bush-Cheney years were over.
The Forward reported on April 10, 2009 that “…he (Ellison) presented the findings of his February 19 trip to Gaza at a Capitol Hill event sponsored by the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee.
The second-term congressman did not mince words when describing the hardship that Gaza residents are facing in the aftermath of the Israeli attack, or in addressing Israel directly on what actions ought to be taken to ease the suffering. “I come here with one message only,” he told the audience: “Open up the crossings, open up the crossings, open up the crossings.”
Later in his speech, Ellison once again chose the triple-repetition technique when calling on Israel to “stop, stop, stop the settlement expansion.”
[http://www.forward.com/
Kerry provided Ellison with the cover he needed for his verbal onslaught against Israeli settlements.
At the Democratic Convention in 2012 Kerry ignored the decision of his party leadership to remove Jerusalem from their platform and instead opened his podium speech by attacking Romney for his “neo-con advisors” and then proceeded to quote Benjamin Netanyahu out of context. [See http://www.politifact.com/
We all know what Kerry meant when he said “neo-cons” – it is code speak for pro-Zionists. Kerry’s words show that he will be hostile to the very existence of Israeli towns in the suburbs of Jerusalem. Democrats consider these “settlements” to be part of the “Occupied West Bank”and he will label them as such.
John Kerry’s leadership at State will be the beginning of a new effort by the Obama Administration to pressure Israel to surrender territory to the Palestinian Authority, deny Israel’s sovereignty in Jerusalem, negotiate with Hamas and accept a hostile Palestinian State along its vulnerable borders.
Israel and its American supporters are in for a very tough time with Kerry and they seem to have no idea what is in store.
Moshe Phillips is a member of the executive committee of the Philadelphia Chapter of Americans for a Safe Israel / AFSI. The chapter’s website is at: www. phillyafsi. com and Moshe’s blog can be found at phillyafsi. blogtownhall. com.
@ Laura:
But is that anatomically possible?
“Not an apt analogy as in the case of Israel the Jew is the “native” unlike the U.S. occupation of Indian lands, the Jews are the natives and only the Jew is indigenous to the land of Israel. In truth, when we speak of occupation, it is the Arab that occupies Jewish land of the state of Israel.”
I believe the same, Yidvocate.
I remember, with amazement, that King Hussein, before he passed away, gave the west bank of Jordan to NOBODY in the hopes that those who want to live there will get along and live in peace. Since his death, the Arabs have done nothing but complain and make war threats. King Hussein is spinning in his grave.
Mr. Zuheir Muhsen a PLO leader ,Syria 1971-1979, he Said”The Palestinian people does not exist.The creation of a Palestian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity.In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians,Palestianians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical ressons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab nations interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestianian people to oppose Zionism.”
On top of that they teach their children to hate the Jews and all their plans is to destroy the state of Israel. No nations should make peace if the people dont have democratic institutions and every thing they plan is desructive to them and to the people of Israel who want to help them.
America and the rest of the world has kissed the filthy arab butts for all
these years because of oil. No other nation has endured the hate surrounding
it on all sides and spit at them in the face of constant danger. They have
only their strength and ingenuity, bought at a high price to keep from being
destroyed. When are the huge oil and gas finds of Isreal going to come to
fruition, so they can get their butts kissed instead of kicked?
John Kerry as head of the State Department will make no difference. The State Department has always been and will probably always be anti-Semitic and anti-Israel. Israel has never had a friend there.
Not an apt analogy as in the case of Israel the Jew is the “native” unlike the U.S. occupation of Indian lands, the Jews are the natives and only the Jew is indigenous to the land of Israel. In truth, when we speak of occupation, it is the Arab that occupies Jewish land of the state of Israel. In our Orwellian universe however, truth is inverted.
When is Israel going to wake up to the fact that the democrat party is no friend of Israel and its’ leader the incompetent Muslim Obama and his willing executioners like Kerry cannot harm Israel? 2000 years of trying to please anti-Semites like Obama has never worked. It has been counterproductive. Bibi’s announcement of building homes on Jewish land (what an atrocity LOL) has had no negative outcome exception the Euro-Nazis on orders from the Black-Nazi Obama, withdrew their ambassadors, but nothing more. The issue of the Fakestinians Mafias gangs bringing cases against Israel to the International Court is nothing to be afraid of. The UN or any other organization has never attempted to enforce any ruling by this phony court. If Israel doesn’t recognize this phony court’s jurisdiction over Israel then by rules of the UN the court has no jurisdiction. When Iran agreed to have the court hear the US case against it over 300+ Americans hostages held by Iran and the court ruled against Iran , Iran just ignored the court and there were no consequences. Kerry can only harm Israel,if Israel continues to allow the US which is no friend of Israel ,to dictate how Israel can protect its’ citizens from the baby murdering Fakestinian mobsters, or where Jews can live in their own country. The next time , Obama’s crew of anti-Semites complain about “settlements” Bibi should reply with “When are you going to give back lands stolen from native Americans”. Or ask Kerry when is he going to permanently move out of Massachusetts and stop occupying lands stolen from native Americans?
John Kerry like Hilary Clinton–will do the bidding of the anti-Semite Barack Obama–and it won’t be pretty!
@ Laura:
If Israel doesn’t we at least should.
He is a phony and fraud, he may have fooled Heinz, but not the rest of us.
A real gold digger.
He like Hillary are no friend of Israel.
He should not be welcomed until at least the US opens their embassy in Jerusalem, the capital of the sovereign Jewish Nation of Israel.
Israel ought to tell Kerry what he can do with himself.