NYC Mayor Bloomberg and Police commissioner Kelly travelled to Israel to demonstrate their support for the Israeli government and their offensive against Palestinians in Gaza
NY Times - In Israel, Bloomberg shows his support
I know this is short, but aside from being upset at Mr. Bloomberg's cynical visit and exploitation of this tragedy for political gain as inferred in the article, I'm wondering if Mr. Bloomberg is traveling on his own dime or at the expense of the NYC taxpayer? Is he paying for the police commissioner's trip as well or is the NYC taxpayer paying for this?
Why doesn't the press confirm these facts as this is critical for 8 million taxpayers to know if their politicians are campaigning and rallying in favor of human rights abuses on their dime AND time.
Update: Interesting Post at HuffingtonPost on Bloomy's trip to the 'Holy' Land
Also, the mayor's role is not to conduct foreign policy as he is merely a local elected official (I know that here in Gotham we all like to think of ourselves as more important than everyone else). He has a right to side with whomever as a private citizen. But his conduct is callous and should not be done in their official roles of mayor or police commissioner of NYC. Why is there a need for the NYC Police commissioner to visit a war zone? Is the commissioner learning how to conduct urban warfare because the mayor is planning collective punishment against neighborhoods in NYC if we refuse to hand him the mayoralty for a 3rd term?
It is improper for the mayor and commissioner to make a visit to a war zone in support of politicians conducting human rights abuses against an occupied population just so that they can enhance their chances of winning the prime minister's seat in the upcoming Israeli elections. ONLY members of the Federal Executive branch should be conducting foreign policy. His public statements show a total bias and a disregard and respect for the lives on innocent Palestinian civilians. It is just cynical for him to blame Hamas for not 'building a country' when in fact they were democratically elected because they were the only group providing jobs and services to the Palestinian population.
He somehow chooses to ignore that you cannot build a society or a viable economy when, for all intents and purposes, you are incarcerated and cannot travel nor import or export goods and services. For over 2 years Israel and the Bush administration have done everything they can to collectively punish the people of Gaza by sealing them off and only allowing the minimum amount of international aide so they don't starve. Basically converting 1.5 million people to beggars living off international donations.