And none of them having anything to do with his weener or personal life. Anthony Weiner is one of the most shrill and offensive supporters of the state of Israel. His ideology basically boils down to Israel can do no wrong and the Palestinians and Arabs are all a bunch of terrorists. In other words, his views on the issue are repulsive and doishonest. Follow me below the fold.
Courtesy of Juan Cole
http://www.juancole.com/...
The real scandal surrounding Anthony Weiner is that he is bigoted against Palestinians and has misused his position in Congress to support punitive policies against them. Americans appear to be bored by policy, titillated by private peccadilloes. But it is the policies that are important. Mahatma Gandhi was once kicked out of a brothel in South Africa. No one judges him by his lapses. Weiner, in contrast to Gandhi, has not worked for peace but has rather given knee-jerk support to the worst policies of the most far rightwing parties in Israel toward Palestinians. A social liberal in American terms, Weiner is so blinded by his allegiance to Israel and so studied in his ignorance of the Middle East that he has played a uniformly sinister role in that aspect of foreign policy. If he were replaced by, say, an up an up-and-coming Dominican-American politician from Queens who had some sympathy with Arabs, that would be all to the good.
Weiner:
1. Called for Columbia University professor Joseph Massad to be fired for being critical of Israel; Weiner thus spearheaded a new McCarthyism.
2. On the Israeli attack, in international waters, on the Mavi Marmara relief ship, Weiner sputtered: “”If you want to instigate a conflict with the Israeli navy it isn’t hard to do. They were offered alternatives. Instead they chose to sail into the teeth of an internationally recognized blockade.” The blockade of Gaza civilians is a breach of international law; it is not internationally recognized and has on the contrary been condemned by almost every nation and human rights organization.
3. Alleged that the New York Times is anti-Israel: “Amnesty International in particular, has always had bias against Israel, and frankly I would argue that in many cases, the New York Times has, as well.”
4. Alleged that the Palestine Liberation Organization is still listed by the US as a terrorist organization. It was dropped from the list over 2 decades ago.
5. Tried to bar the Palestinian delegation to the United Nations from New York.
6. Alleged that Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestine Authority, is not the head of the PLO. He is.
7. Refused to condemn the use by Israel of cluster bombs on the civilian farms of south Lebanon in 2006.
8. Alleged that the Israeli army does not occupy the West Bank and that there is no Israeli Army presence in the West Bank.
9. Called Israel’s war on Gaza a “humane” war. 400 children were killed.
10. Voted for Iraq War authorization in 2002, before later turning against the war.
I recall another " liberal hero" whose fans managed to ignore his vote for the Iraq War, in fact, he cosponsored one variation of the war resolution with a man named Joe Leiberdouche. Anyone want to guess who I am talking about and how that ended?
I am going to preempt I think what are the two likely excuses we are going to here from Weiner's apologists.
1. You can excuse Weiner for his extreme views on Israel because he represents his district
Bull, New York's 9th congressional district is composed mostly of white ethnic groups like the Irish, Italian and is 30 percent black, hispanic, and asian.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
His district is likely to be marginally pro-Israel is as most of the United States, but he would not face any political consequence to give boilerplate pro-Israel remarks that are typical of Congress. Weiner is an active supporter of the most radical pro-Israel propaganda in the United States. His mostly non-Jewish constituents certainly do not have Israel at the top of their mind when they go to the ballot box. Secondly, his overwhelmingly Democratic district certainly didn't support the Iraq War How will his defenders try to make an excuse for that whopper?
2. OK, he may suck on this issue BUT....
What has Weiner actually done for the Democrats? Sure he talks a big game in front of the cameras and an empty Congress, but is he an effective member of Congress? The simple answer is no. Plus, if you think ignoring an issue that leads to the enslavement of millions of Palestinians using tactics that would make the apartheid South Africans blush, you need to get your priorities straight.