Sanders confirms he won't attend AIPAC

[oberliner]

Source: Politico

Bernie Sanders will be the only presidential candidate not speaking before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, he confirmed on Friday.

The Vermont senator’s campaign announced he had sent a letter to the pro-Israel lobbying group explaining why he will not be able to attend next week's AIPAC's policy conference — a major annual gathering point for the Jewish state's American supporters.

“I would very much have enjoyed speaking at the AIPAC conference. Obviously issues impacting Israel and the Middle East are of the utmost importance to me, to our country and to the world,” Sanders, who is Jewish, wrote to AIPAC President Robert Cohen. “Unfortunately, I am going to be traveling throughout the West and the campaign schedule that we have prevents me from attending.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-dem-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/bernie-sanders-not-attend-aipac-israel-220973

[Purveyor]

1. A big 'thank you' to Bernie!!! eom

[Ghost Dog]

29. Sí. ¡Que cojones! n/t

[Behind the Aegis]

2. I wish he could have gone, but I'd rather his efforts remain on the campaign trail!

More people will appreciate seeing him at the rallies.

[jwirr]

3. K&R

[Dont call me Shirley]

4. KnR

[riversedge]

5. He always flounders on foreign policy questions during debates.

[DeadLetterOffice]

8. What does that have to do...

... with him going to AIPAC?

[riversedge]

19. It has to do with foreign policy-which Sanders avoids or distracts from.

[motionspotlight]

20. It probably has more to do with Israel's military style government...

....it seems like he has the same viewpoints as Obama, pro-Two state, won't stand for what the Israel government is doing. And that's coming from a Jew who spent time in Israel, no RW nut can spin it as Obama's a muslim, ehh.

[LannyDeVaney]

21. He said it was due his campaign schedule ...

are you saying he is lying?

Surely you aren't implying he won't stand for what the Israeli government is doing, but would rather make up a story about the demands on campaigning?

[Pauldg47]

28. Your right....geeesh!

[OwlinAZ]

32. He was being polite

WHat he said was not untrue.
As for AIPAC,only a few who are walking out. The remainder are not the righteous.

[oberliner]

63. Obama has spoken at AIPAC and Biden is currently speaking there

AIPAC explicitly supports and advocates for a two-state solution.

[karynnj]

70. I think the administration thought they needed to be represented, and of the three people they could

- President Obama, VP Biden, or Secretary Kerry, Biden is likely the least controversial choice. Secretary Kerry negotiated the Iran nuclear deal with President Obama's blessing and commitment that the US do this. Biden was not really involved in that and although I assume he favored it behind the scenes, there is nothing public on that. President Obama is in Cuba - as is Kerry and Kerry is then heading to Moscow to speak with officials there on Syria and Ukraine. Good enough excuses not to be there.

[sulphurdunn]

37. If you want that opinion

to be taken seriously you'll need to back it up with some of those darn facts.

[PatrynXX]

41. The guy who voted against a stupid war flounders ha

very funny joke. Get ready for World Word IV next year.

[Historic NY]

51. +1

The foreign policy paper he promised last June still hasn't appeared.

[DhhD]

57. Realist Bernie Sanders knows when a write up is coming. Will Hillary Clinton follow Obama

in controlling Netanyahu and Kissenger?
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4723986,00.html


http://www.thenation.com/article/bernie-sanders-the-foreign-policy-realist-of-2016/


AIPAC to be held this week. Lets see what is said before Sanders issues a written foreign policy plan. Here is a list of confirmed speakers-mostly Republicans, two New Democrats.
http://www.policyconference.org/



Does anybody believe that Progressive Democrats would fit in even though Obama is showing his progressive side?

[DhhD]

55. Sanders must believe in the Two State Solution made at the end of WWII but broken by Israel

through the work of Henry Kissenger, and Presidents Nixon and Ford. See reply # 53.

Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy and Carter wanted peace in the world.
https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0LEVw4_s.5WPx8A_CSl87UF;_ylc=X1MDOTU4MTA0NjkEX3IDMgRmcgMEZ3ByaWQDSEd3X3VzU0pTZjZaTEgzV1c3OWx3QQRuX3JzbHQDMARuX3N1Z2cDMARvcmlnaW4Dc2VhcmNoLnlhaG9vLmNvbQRwb3MDMARwcXN0cgMEcHFzdHJsAwRxc3RybAM0MQRxdWVyeQNDYXJ0ZXIgYnJva2VyZWQgIHBlYWNlIGluIHRoZSBNaWRkbGUgRWFzdAR0X3N0bXADMTQ1ODQ4NDA0Mw--?p=Carter+brokered++peace+in+the+Middle+East&fr=sfp&fr2=sb-top-search&iscqry=


https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=AwrBT76Vs.5WZoEAfzCl87UF;_ylc=X1MDOTU4MTA0NjkEX3IDMgRmcgMEZ3ByaWQDZzBTdHkxdkZUaU9Hbm1kUnk5QnphQQRuX3JzbHQDMARuX3N1Z2cDMgRvcmlnaW4Dc2VhcmNoLnlhaG9vLmNvbQRwb3MDMARwcXN0cgMEcHFzdHJsAwRxc3RybAMzNARxdWVyeQNLZW5uZWR5IGFuZCB0aGUgdHdvIHN0YXRlIHNvbHV0aW9uBHRfc3RtcAMxNDU4NDg0MTQx?p=Kennedy+and+the+two+state+solution&fr=sfp&fr2=sb-top-search&iscqry=

[RoccoR5955]

59. AIPAC has nothing to do with foreign policy

It's just another lobbying group. Paying off legislators like all the others!

[PatrynXX]

40. don't know don't care

put Americans first

[Nickel79]

9. That's funny, considering it comes from

a person who supports a candidate that has repeatedly failed on foreign policy issues. HRC was tested and failed, multiple times.

[KPN]

35. Booyah!

[Human101948]

11. He should kowtow to a right wing organization?

AIPAC Is an Awe-inspiring Organization, but the Right-wing Tilt Is in Its DNA
Like a good defense lawyer, AIPAC highlights facts that promote its client while repressing evidence to the contrary. The Israeli right is expert at that.


read more: http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/west-of-eden/aipac-is-an-awe-inspiring-organization-but-the-right-wing-tilt-is-in-its-dna.premium-1.507791

[Mark 750]

14. Or maybe

it's just the way Henry Kissinger wouldn't answer it.

[jillan]

44. By not going he is making a statement.

[yurbud]

58. it would be tough to tear apart the lies at the heart of the Washington consensus

in a couple of minutes.

What are government claims to do and what they are actually doing are light years apart.

I give Obama props for some restraint on Syria and Ukraine when the neocons and other foreign policy hawks seemed intent on starting World War III.

Before the next big war, someone has to unpack what we have really been doing in the world and connect it to the causes of every other war in human history to show how absurd the stated reasons for the wars were.

[Hekate]

6. ?? This is the group that plans mass walkouts on Trump's speech....

Too bad Bernie can't be there due to the press of campaign business. It might have been entertaining to watch the clash of contrasts.

[DeadLetterOffice]

7. THANK YOU BERNIE!!! n/t

[zentrum]

10. Thank you Bernie!

You can bet AIPAC is pouring, flooding, money into HRC's campaign to stop him.

[BernieforPres2016]

12. Good for Bernie

Let the war mongers duke it out.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

13. Like shooting fish in a barrel, the genocide of Gaza in 2014

AIPAC supports genocide and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

In 25 days during July 2014, Israel "used more than 50,000 bombs in its war on the civilians of the Gaza Strip: 6,318 missiles have been fired by Air Force jets; 13,866 were fired by the navy; and 30,581 were fired by tanks and artillery stationed on the eastern border of the enclave."

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/13180-israel-has-used-50000-missiles-in-gaza-killing-almost-1500-palestinians





In 25 days during July 2014, Israel "used more than 50,000 bombs in its war on the civilians of the Gaza Strip: 6,318 missiles have been fired by Air Force jets; 13,866 were fired by the navy; and 30,581 were fired by tanks and artillery stationed on the eastern border of the enclave."

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/13180-israel-has-used-50000-








In a 25 day period in July 2014, ISRAEL KILLED 1400 Gazans, with 8,200 people wounded in the four-week operation. Up to 80% of the Palestinian casualties were civilians, according to local non-government organisations and the UN.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/31/gaza-faces-precipice-death-toll-tops-1400

[clg311]

22. Horrible.

Reading the 51 Day War by Max Blumenthal. It makes me angry that my tax dollars are supporting this barbarism.

[dreamnightwind]

33. Thank you for this post

Sad that this, and more, is excused by som many of us here. AIPAC sucks, and I'm glad that Bernie won't speak to them, although I actually would have enjoyed it if he went in there and spoke to them the way he spoke to Liberty University, citing some common interests while not glossing over disagreements.

[awoke_in_2003]

42. The elephant in the room

That too many American politicians ignore while sucking up to this lobbying group for a few shekels.

[EX500rider]

48. So let's see...

.....according to your numbers they fired over 100,000 bombs/missiles/shells in a highly populated area and only killed 1,500 and you think they were trying to kill civilians? Seems more like they did all they could to limit casualties or the numbers would be 100,000+ dead.

[NickB79]

54. "Only killed 1500"

Oh, ONLY?? That's all? Well, golly fucking gee, how humane of them.

I'd speculate that one of the reasons the numbers weren't much higher is that the Palestinians, having lived through shit like this for the past few DECADES, knew to take shelter in any basement, bunker or hole they could find the moment they knew the mini-war was going hot again.

[EX500rider]

56. Sorry, a basement won't save you from modern munitions...

....and yes, that is a incredibly low number for military operations in a urban environment considering the amount of ordnance expended and only possible with the utter and utmost care taken to avoid civilian casualties and I doubt any other country including the US could do half as well to keep civilian deaths as low.

[RufusTFirefly]

15. Also the only candidate who actually lived on a kibbutz. How ironic! n/t

[floppyboo]

16. Any one watch the national press at AIPAC today

Last edited Sat Mar 19, 2016, 12:38 PM - Edit history (1)

live stream on TRNN - They said they'd have it up on youtube. worth checking out. I don't know how supporting all these tax free organizations that support some of these policies would be kosher with Bernie

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

23. AIPAC is a foreign lobby group

it is all about getting congress to fund Israel to the tune of $3B a year for weapons etc,
while Israel takes more and more Palestinian land and kills more and more Palestinians.

Taking someone else's land, not just Palestinians but Jordanians, Syrians, is what Israel does.

It is racism, zionism, where only "one people" have human rights.

[farleftlib]

34. Exactly

Bernie is not an Israel-right-or-wrong candidate. He supports a two-state solution. AIPAC has far too much influence on our politicians already.

[oberliner]

68. That's a lie

Every member of AIPAC is a United States citizen.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

17. So I guess that means he's a self hating Jew who wants to march his fellow Jews into the ovens....

There can be no other explanation.





















Really? Was this needed?

[Jitter65]

18. He gets to have it both ways with this decision. Plausible deniability but full support of Israel

policies.

[Ghost Dog]

30. Plausible in that sense, perhaps. But AIPAC would doubtless like to assert

that its interests should be the top priority of any US presidential candidate.

[jillan]

45. As opposed to her kissing their butts

[Uhmercan Irishman]

24. Good to see SOMEBODY giving them the brush-off!

[flamingdem]

25. Ya see, Bernie is a smart politician!

For reals, that would not be a place to be and he has a perfectly good reason not to attend

[Scootaloo]

26. Oh well, isn't that a shame

*cough*

[Duckfan]

27. I signed the petition the other day for him to NOT attend.

Damn glad I did.

[burrowowl]

31. Good on Bernie!

[KPN]

36. Good call Bernie!

[sulphurdunn]

38. Damn old geezer

can't attend the AIPAC convention because he never learned how to kneel and kiss the money ring.

[Amimnoch]

39. Campaigning > international affairs.

Probably the smart move anyway. Everybody knows foreign affairs ain't his thang.

Maybe he can see Canada from his house.

Besides.. as president that whole foreign affairs thing is overrated.

[shawn703]

43. Campaigning > AIPAC

Fixed it for you

[jillan]

46. Lol at the Hill supporters not understanding that Aipac

Stands in the way of peace in the Middle East

[Kalidurga]

52. LOL harder at the ones that were anti-Israeli policy

last week.

[BainsBane]

60. Evidently you haven't looked at Sanders voting record

or public statements on Israeli Palestinian issues.

[Wolf Frankula]

47. My Respect for Bernie just went Up Several Notches

I hope to vote for him in the primary and General Election.

American pols at the AIPAC convention.
"May I please, please lick Binyamin Nuttyyahoo's asshole clean?"
"May I please, please eat Israel's shit?"
"We will happily starve our people to make Israel fat."

AIPAC are foreign agents and should be made to register as such. Israel is NOT our friend.

Wolf

[oberliner]

62. "AIPAC are foreign agents and should be made to register as such"

Membership in AIPAC is restricted to US citizens.

[LeFleur1]

67. He Can Hide Now

but what happens if he's elected President? He can't hide from world affairs then. Foreign policy is a very big part of the presidency today. Pretending nothing is happening outside our country would be dangerous to us all.

[Major Hogwash]

49. Good.

They won't be able to twist his words later on.

[EndElectoral]

50. Sanders is Jewish. Surprised AIPAC didn't offer him the same courtesy they did Republicans.

I'm glad he's not going to be a group whose only priority is Zionism. They don't believe in a two state solution. It is primarily a hard liners lobbying organziation.

[oberliner]

61. "They don't believe in a two state solution"

AIPAC actually explicitly supports and advocates for a two-state solution.

AIPAC chief urges bipartisanship, two-state solution

http://www.timesofisrael.com/aipac-chief-urges-bipartisanship-two-state-solution/

From the AIPAC website:

Two states for two people.

AIPAC strongly supports a two-state solution and works tirelessly to bring peace to the region. A two-state solution – a Jewish state of Israel living in peace with a demilitarized Palestinian state – with an end to all claims is the clear path to resolving this generations-old conflict.

http://www.aipac.org/learn/issues/issue-display?issueid=%7B8DB2B03A-3F5F-4A92-BED7-3CFDE9C87609%7D

[harun]

64. Bravo Bernie, Bravo.

[tabasco]

66. Thanks Bernie!

These corrupt assholes have way too much influence on the U.S. government.

[karynnj]

69. From the livestream I watched for a while yesterday, he would have had a hostile audience

I turned it on, thinking that Joe Biden would be speaking - he wasn't. A man, I did not recognize was and he spoke of intending to introduce legislation to keep Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. He was well received - even as he said that the multinational, historic Iran deal did not do that ... it would just delay it. That this mind set is STILL what works at AIPAC shows that they are completely at oods with all but a few militant Democrats, the Republicans, the Israelis and maybe some militant Sunni countries!

This does NOT represent where the American Jewish people are and it is as repugnant that candidates are pandering to them as it is that they pander to Sheldon Adleson. The sad thing is their extreme position med more mainstream Jewish organizations like some of the Jewish Federations who backed them on Iran. I was speaking to a leader of one at a synagogue event and it was interesting how we talked past each other rather than to each other - though I did understand his point. Jews not refusing to contribute are hurting the good work they actually do. I do not think he got my point that THIS was a reason they should not have used their outreach against Obama. His response was to ask if I trusted Netanyahu - and the conversation ended when I said no, but I do trust Kerry, Obama and the entire UN security council.

Looking back at the conversation, it started as he spoke of how many federations had lost donations. Given that many big donors are either Republican or not affected by politics, this suggests that there are many American Jews very angry that AIPAC and Netanyahu claim to speak for them.

[oberliner]

71. You can watch Biden's full speech on YouTube

Haven't found a transcript yet online though.

[karynnj]

72. Thanks - Did you like Biden's speech? nt

[oberliner]

73. I thought it was pretty good

It is unfortunate that Israel has been led by a PM like Netanyahu instead of someone more reasonable who might have been more amenable to the Obama administration's attempts to broker a long term peace deal.