"The hate mail has started up again"

[Cheese Sandwich]

James Zobgy reports on bombings, threats, and hate mail he has faced for supporting Palestinian rights over the years. He says the hate mail has started up again since being named to the Democratic Party platform committee after a recommendation by Bernie Sanders.

...
When I spoke in favour of a two-state solution in 1988, before this position became fashionable, I was told: “You’ll never have a place in this party again". Following that year’s convention, Michael Dukakis rejected the endorsement of our Arab American Democratic Federation saying “it was too controversial". When, in 1990, Ron Brown, then Chair of the DNC, came to speak at an Arab American event I was hosting, he told me that he was threatened with a loss of support “if you even go into the room with those people".

And then there is the violence. The first time I received a death threat was 1970. My office was firebombed in 1980 and after 9/11 three men went to jail for threatening my life and the lives of my children. In every instance, the perpetrators claimed to be striking out for reasons to do with my ethnicity or Israel. Now, in the wake of the announcement of my platform committee assignment, the hate mail has started up again.

Even beyond this danger, by silencing my community and marginalising us because we might dare to advocate for Palestinians, there is the damage that this hysteria does to the national discourse. For example, I have been denounced for criticising Benjamin Netanyahu, but my writings on this subject are similar to those written by Israelis. At issue is not what we are saying, but that we are the ones saying it. We are accused of “singling Israel out", while in reality it is our critics who single out this issue as one we can’t discuss.

Mr Sanders has brought the matter of Israel-Palestine into the national debate. It belongs there and deserves to be discussed without fear.

I am proud that Mr Sanders has demonstrated the courage to do this and I am confident that the platform committee can forge a new consensus that reflects the will of the majority of Democrats on all of the critical issues – including the way forward to achieve a lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/bombs-threats-hate-mail-and-the-pro-israel-crowd#page2

[Tarc]

1. I find it hard to defend Zogby, a proponent of Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions

[JonLeibowitz]

2. Is this you failing to condemn the hate mail and bombing threats? Or perhaps you even approve?

[annavictorious]

5. Wait...there were also bombing threats?

They weren't mentioned in either the article or the OP.

Glad to hear that you are willing to condemn hate mail, given the abuse that both super delegates and Democratic state party officials have had to endure.

[JonLeibowitz]

6. There were in the past; it is unclear whether Tarc condemns those as well, or not.

[annavictorious]

9. Saying that you find it hard to defend an individual

is not the same as saying you do not condemn bomb threats against that person, but for some reason you immediately jumped to that conclusion.

[JonLeibowitz]

10. It is very similar. Defending him in this context is defending him against bomb threats.

In a situation with a bomb threat, we no longer have an intellectual exchange, so we must be defending a person's right to exist without harm.

[Tarc]

13. I don't really care what he has received, any more than I care that Trump supporters

got egged and disrupted.

[JonLeibowitz]

14. Disgusting statement, but not surprising given the source.

[Tarc]

15. Sorry, but ol' Zogby has said some deeply offensive and anti-Israeli things over the years

Comparing Israeli actions against Palestinians to the Holocaust, praising Hezbollah terrorists for being a "resistance movement", and so on. People who spew vitriol that many perceive as prejudiced don't earn a lot of sympathy points.

[Joe the Revelator]

7. I actually agree with you here...

[annavictorious]

3. And what happens if the "new consensus that reflects the will of the majority of Democrats"

does not conform to Zogby's vision? Will he still accept it?

[Cheese Sandwich]

4. I don't think people are necessarily supposed to accept things.

You just vote on it and you win or lose depending on the balance of power in the committee. His side may well lose the platform fight but at least they'll have got the fight on the record.

[Bluenorthwest]

12. The will of a majority of Democrats has often been unacceptable, ask LBJ about that.

In my lifetime, that majority had to be harshly persuaded when their positions have become unacceptable. That majority voted for DOMA. Should that have just been accepted?

[saidsimplesimon]

8. Recommended Cheese Sandwich

It is in the opinion section. Here is a related story of a Muslim candidate's desire to run for office:

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/274631-house-candidate-reid-told-me-not-run-because-im-muslim

A Democratic House candidate running in Nevada says Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told him he shouldn't run because he is a Muslim.

"On August 27th, I was told by Harry Reid: 'Let me be blunt, you are not going to be able to win because you are a Muslim,'" Jesse Sbaih wrote in an email to supporters Tuesday, which was also posted on the Daily Kos.

He added that an adviser to Reid also told him he would "have a problem winning, because you are a Muslim."
Sbaih, a lawyer and immigrant from Jordan, is running for Nevada's 3rd District. His accusations were first reported by The Washington Post.

Reid's staffers quickly denied the outgoing Senate Democratic leader made the comment, while acknowledging he met with Sbaih in August.
snip.....more at link

[annavictorious]

11. How is this related to the OP?

What's the point? That the Democrats are anti-Muslim?

[Cheese Sandwich]

16. that's probably what they were thinking

[Fumesucker]

17. Pro-Israel often comes off as anti-Muslim for some reason