Most Americans don't care a whole lot about foreign affairs, and that applies to the fight between Jewish Palestinians and Arab Palestinians.
There are exceptions, however, as reflected in responses to a tweet of Rula Jebreal reacting to the conference at the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee currently underway in Washington, D.C. Jebreal, a self-described "secular Muslim," ethnic Palestinian born in Haifa, and professional anti-Zionist, tweeted at 7:07 p.m. Sunday
Joe Biden getting jeered & told to "vote Trump" at @AIPAC for mentioning illegal settlements' role in eroding peace prospects & democracy
Jebreal's tweet apparently was a slight- but significant- reworking of a tweet by Jacob Kornbluh, described by employer Jewish Press as an "up-and-coming Jewish Orthodox blogger." His comment read
Biden booed and jeered as he criticizes Israel's expansion of settlements and illegal outposts (Guy yells: "vote for Trump") #AIPAC2016
Already you've noticed a problem here: The highly-educated and well-known Jebreal contended Biden "getting jeered and told to 'vote Trump'" after Kornbluh maintained "guy yells 'vote for Trump.'" One evidently objective commenter who apparently noticed tweeted "thought it was one 'attendee' who shouted vote Trump?.... of 19,000? No aipac fan but think context is important?" Another went with "clueless liberal Biden doesn't understand imprtance of Israel, or indeed the US, to maintain a solid security wall."
To be fair: Jebreal had her defenders. They did not, however, include accuracy.
Politico (though with an extremely misleading headline) noted
“Actions on either side to undermine trust only take us further away from the path of peace,” Biden said. He cited efforts by Israel’s critics to sanction it in international bodies like the United Nations — which Biden said the U.S. would continue to block — and Israel’s policy allowing settlements to proliferate. Such activities, Biden said, move Israel “toward a one-state reality, which is a reality that is dangerous"...
Biden also sought to confront lingering opposition to the Iran deal at AIPAC, which campaigned aggressively against the nuclear agreement. (Shortly before Biden’s remarks, the conference honored an activist who had lobbied Hispanic members of Congress to oppose the deal.)
So the Vice-President goes to the annual conference of a determined, singularly pro-Israel group and criticizes the Israeli government for its settlement policy and defends the Iranian deal anathema to Prime Minister Netanyahu. Politico reports "And In general, however, Biden was received warmly by the 18,700 people he said were in the audience."
Those vicious Zionists! Won't they ever open their hearts and minds to criticism?
The real lesson, for individuals supporting Arab Palestinians, should be that the government of Benjamin Netanyahu is pursuing a policy so antithetical to the cause of lasting peace that even engaged AIPAC members are willing to entertain the idea of changing Tel Aviv's settlement policy. That would be more or less the take of someone who is wants both a Palestinian homeland and a secure, Jewish state in the Middle East. Clearly, that would not be Rula Jebreal and others like her.
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2 comments:
To be fair, are you sure it was just one guy in the audience who yelled Trump? And what percentage of the attendees booed in response to Biden's remarks about the settlements (and what percentage internalized their disagreement and anger)? What percentage agreed with his statements?
You might have also mentioned that she is married to a Jewish American / American Jew (member of the Lehman banking family) and disclosed who pays her to be a "professional Zionist." She also has Israeli citizenship so you might also want to explain specifically what makes here an "anti-Zionist, "whether professionally so or not. And I'd like to see the video of the Biden speech to access the crowd reaction rather than rely on what Politico had to say about it.
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