Clinton Holds Line On Israeli Settlements In Addressing AIPAC

[Purveyor]

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton continued the administration's denouncement of construction in East Jerusalem while likening the peace process to Jews following Moses out of Egypt in addressing the AIPAC conference on Monday.

Clinton was the White House's representative to American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference. Vice President Joe Biden was sent last year, receiving a warm reception from the crowd, but Clinton's address came after a serious diplomatic clash between Israel and the U.S. after new settlement construction was approved during Biden's visit to the region.

The secretary of state said that the move "exposes daylight between Israel and the United States that others in the region hope to exploit.

"We objected to this announcement beecause we are committed to Israel and its security," she said. "...Because we do not want to see the progress that has been made in any way in danger."

MORE...

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/88279-clinton-holds-line-on-israeli-settlements-in-addressing-aipac

[Jefferson23]

1. Smart speech, oh well AIPAC, better luck next time.

[orion007]

2. Same old, same old, ,nothing new here

[Jefferson23]

3. If you truly believe that, you're not paying attention very closely.

[orion007]

4. Enlighten me....What has she accomplished?

Nothing that I can see.
All the media coverage because she calls up Bibi and yells at him over settlements.
Then she backs down even from her own(useless) words, and then starts spewing about our love for Israel that will last until the end of time.

The US should put up or shut up when it comes to Israel, since it won't threaten a timetable for cutting off aid.

[Jefferson23]

5. I want to say, my intention was not to swipe at you. It did appear to me

from your previous comment, you over looked what is most significant..she didn't apologize. She also states and does not feed into old fears when she says: "Clinton, while demanding that Hamas "renounce violence, recognize Israel and abide by previous signed agreements," said neither military action nor restricting access to the Gaza Strip had stemmed the threat against Israel."

"A two-state solution is the only viable path for Israel to remain both a true democracy and a Jewish state," she said. "...The status quo strengthens the rejectionists. All of our regional challenges... become harder if the rejectionists grow in power and influence."

"...Only by choosing a new path can Israel make the progress it deserves," she added. "Only by having a partner willing to work with them will the Palestinians be able to see the same future."(end)

The rejectionists, who do you think she was referring to??


The report from Petraeus, this is the key for Obama, and ultimately the Palestinians, if he wants it. Actually, he really can't afford politically to ignore it, even if he wanted to. So there is tremendous potential for good, finally. Everything is different because of the report, everything.

Let us hope together, that Obama uses it wisely and with courage.

Israel is empowering al Qaeda, Petraeus warns
by Paul Woodward on March 16, 2010

http://warincontext.org/2010/03/16/israel-is-empowering-al-qaeda-petraeus-warns/

[Scurrilous]

6. Settlements strain Israel's relationships with U.S. and Hillary Clinton

<snip>

"As members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee entered the Washington Convention Center on Monday for their annual conference, a man stood outside, handing out copies of what he called "today's statement."

On AIPAC letterhead, the statement trumpeted: "AIPAC Calls on the Israeli Government to Immediately Defuse Tensions with United States; Urges Israel to Freeze All Settlements."

This was news: Even the pro-Israel lobbying group was not going to tolerate the humiliation of Joe Biden by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government, when it announced the construction of more housing in a disputed area of Jerusalem during the vice president's trip to the Jewish state.

National Public Radio broadcast the statement to millions on "Morning Edition." ABC News ran with it, too.

Alas, AIPAC spokesman Josh Block pronounced the statement a forgery.

Indeed, the real AIPAC officials rallied to the Netanyahu government's defense. The only rebuke they delivered Monday was of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, their guest speaker. AIPAC Executive Director Howard Kohr, departing from his prepared text, took a swipe at Clinton for calling Israel's insult of Biden "insulting."

"When disagreements inevitably arise, they should be resolved privately, as is befitting close allies," Kohr lectured. As Clinton waited backstage, he also informed her that the two nations "are allies, friends -- they should treat each other as such." Further, he said, alluded to the housing construction: "Jerusalem is not a settlement." The lights went up, and the 7,500 in the hall jumped to their feet, applauding.

Sensing an opportunity, the loyal opposition joined with AIPAC in taking Netanyahu's side against the Obama administration. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), the Republican speaker at AIPAC's dinner Monday night, seconded Kohr's view that allies should "disagree quietly." Added Graham: "Howard said it best: Jerusalem is not a settlement! . . . No government in the United States should ever look at Jerusalem as a settlement!"

The place went wild."

more

[Scurrilous]

7. AIPAC Leaves Town, But Who Are These People? - M.J. Rosenberg

<snip>

"Yeah, yeah, I know I'm a "self-hating Jew." Of course, by AIPAC's standards the assimilated Theodor Herzl, who founded Zionism, was another SHJ. But, I'm not going to focus on the implications of being a SHJ, one who has been involved with supporting Israel for 40 years.

I want to look at these 8000 AIPAC activists who were in town this week. These people make me pray that my neighbors aren't watching C-SPAN. Or, at least, that they know that AIPAC represents American Jews the way Pat Robertson represents American Christians.

Who are these people?

Who are these Jews who cheer madly for Eric Cantor before they go utterly nuts cheering Prime Minister Netanyahu who proceeded to give a speech totally sticking it to the United States?

I don't know who these people are because nobody I know would go near an AIPAC meeting.

I'm a fairly traditional Jew (my wife was born in a Displaced Persons camp after WW2) and we get weepy over Mount Rushmore and a good Obama speech not some illegal settlement in the West Bank. Our kids keep tabs of how many of the 50 states they can visit. My father thought western Pennsylvania was his homeland. (Although, he sure loved Tel Aviv when I took him there).

And for us the Holocaust is something real, not a political slogan to be brandished against candidates whenever or wherever. Or to be used by organizations in direct mail fundraising campaigns.

My wife's parents, Holocaust survivors, loved Israel but not the way they loved the United States after they chose this country over Israel. And they always wanted to see Israel at peace. They also resented American Jews who seemed only to discover the Holocaust after the Six Day War when it could be used as a political tool. Nobody helped them out when they came to this country, long before the Holocaust became fashionable and a political weapon to be cited ad nauseam by the Netanyahus and hacks in the US Congress.

AIPAC people are a weird subset among American Jews. 80% of us voted for Obama and probably 90% of us would feel our gorge rising at the mere sight of Cantor or Joe Lieberman. But not AIPAC.

Also, as Jews -- and unlike AIPAC -- we identify with Palestinian suffering and not just Jewish pain. And we understand that right now, and especially since the Gaza war, it has been Palestinians who have done almost all of the suffering and not Jews.

And we understand, as AIPAC refuses to, that the status quo will end Israel's existence as an independent Jewish state -- no matter how much they kiss up to John Boehner and Eric Cantor. And that Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton are Israel's real friends precisely because, at long last, they seem to be trying to change the deadly status quo."

more