Anti-Palestinian organizer Abe Foxman praised the words and wisdom of Sarah Palin, and condemned her critics.
For those that missed it:
I disagree with the Obama administration on that," Palin told Walters. "I believe that the Jewish settlements should be allowed to be expanded upon, because that population of Israel is, is going to grow. More and more Jewish people will be flocking to Israel in the days and weeks and months ahead. And I don't think that the Obama administration has any right to tell Israel that the Jewish settlements cannot expand. -- Sarah Palin
Palin is saying that Obama should not ask Israel to support International law or its word on past agreements and stop the settlement building. Because "Jews need a place to live" (could her statement be partly motivated by her desire to rid the US of its Jewish citizens?)
Palin, of course, does not see a need for a place for Palestinian people in their own homeland.
Naturally, Abe Foxman of the ADL comes to Palin's defense. As he did for Rev. Hagee before her.
In a call to JTA late Thursday, ADL national director Abraham Foxman called "the height of chutzpah" J Street's statement Wednesday which said "Palin's pandering to her right-wing base comes at the expense of the security of the State of Israel" and her remarks "reveal a glaring ignorance of damaging facts."
"Who authorizes them to determine what the security of Israel is?" Foxman asked of J Street. "Israel determines its security."
"They're attacking a celebrity for supporting Israel, but not in the way they want her to support Israel," he said referring to the former governor of Alaska. --- JTA
Foxman is backing the theory that limiting the taking land from Palestinian Arabs in land captured by military force would hurt "Israel's security". He is also attacking an organization, J Street, that opposes expanding the settlements in the West Bank, but fully supports US sending billions of dollars every year to Israel without conditions. (Unlike, say, Federal Highway funding to States, which would be automatically canceled to a state that chose to lower the drinking age for example).
This is just one yet another example of how far the AIPAC-wing of the anti-Palestinian politics in the US has gone. Now they are the ones who are busy embracing the lunatic fundamentalists.
But this is not the first time Foxman has done this. Rev. Hagee is also embraced by Foxman, although Hagee's anti-Jewish "god made the Nazi's hunt the Jews so Israel would be created" theology did give them some pause.
"I think there is a role for [Pastor John Hagee]. He has earned a certain recognition with the community because of his support for Israel."
--Anti-Defamation League national director Abe Foxman, 3/9/07
It should be noted that this embrace by Foxman and the AIPAC establishment has not faltered. Hagee is no longer addressing AIPAC crowds, as that does present a public relations problem. Yet AIPAC continues to directly support Hagee's creation, "Christians United for Israel (CUFI)". It does so in many ways, including having AIPAC functionaries address CUFI events, and CUFI bigwigs address major AIPAC events (e.g.Pastor Victor Styrsky of CUFI at aipac's "national summit". This despite CUFI's anti-Arab/Muslim militancy, their complete denial of any rights of Palestinians to live on their homeland, though some are so kind to say that some Palestinians may be permitted to stay in their homeland, it is very different than acknowledging any rights for Palestinians.
This is a very disturbing alliance. a sad day for the ADL, a group that has helped in many progressive causes in US history, and to this day much of its membership remains engaged in important battles for the separation of Church and State, supporting abortion rights and many other important issues. It's a sad day for America when the leader of such a group goes to bat for the wingnuts of extremism and racism.