Trump’s l/P ‘Deal of the Century’ Unveiled

(Actually manufactured by Bibi, Jared Kushner, Avi Berkowitz, et.al.; and Oy; such a ‘deal’ it is)

From early this morning: ‘Trump unveils long-hyped Middle East peace plan which Palestinians have already rejected (WATCH LIVE), 28 Jan, 2020, (with commentary; luckily they’ve archived it)

I haven’t been able to find a transcript, but I swear to the gods that at the end of the joint ‘presentation’, they played an instrumental version of Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a wonderful world’.  We might imagine the Palestinians hearing it Smokey’s way:

Via RT.com Jan. 27, ‘Iran slams Trump’s ‘delusional’ Middle East peace plan, calls on US to accept Tehran’s proposal instead’

Instead of a delusional “Deal of the Century”—which will be D.O.A.—self-described “champions of democracy” would do better to accept Iran’s democratic solution proposed by Ayatollah @khamenei_ir:A referendum whereby ALL Palestinians—Muslim, Jew or Christian—decide their future.

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 27, 2020

“In anticipation of a strongly pro-Israeli plan, Palestinian leaders in Ramallah and Gaza have also condemned the upcoming deal and called for a “day of rage” on Tuesday. They urged Palestinians to boycott American goods, and remove all US symbols remaining in the West Bank.”

‘Remarks by President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu of the State of Israel Upon Arrival’, January 27, 2020, whitehouse.gov (a stomach-churning read, but not as much as the joint presser in the Rose Garden above)

The jerusalem post has some very partial transcripts:

‘Deal of Century establishes Palestinian state, Jewish control of Jerusalem; “I have to do a lot for the Palestinians or it just wouldn’t be fair.”, Jan 28, 202O

“US President Donald Trump unveiled his “Deal of the Century” together with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House on Tuesday.

The peace plan, which Trump said was already supported by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main rival Blue and White head Benny Gantz, would give Israel full control of the settlements and its undivided capital in Jerusalem.

“If they are genuinely prepared to make peace with the Jewish state,” Netanyahu said, “Israel will be there. Israel will be prepared to negotiate peace right away.”

Trump said that the United States will recognize Israeli sovereignty over any land that “my vision provides to to be part of the State of Israel” and will require the Palestinians to recognize Israel as the Jewish state and to agree to solve the refugee problem outside of Israel.

The plan also establishes a Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem.

As part of the plan, Trump will reveal a map delineating Israeli and Palestinian state borders. He said the map will make clear the “territorial sacrifices that Israel is willing to make for peace.”

Trump said the plan will “more than double Palestinian territory… No Palestinians will be uprooted from their homes.”

Moreover, he said that although Israel will maintain control of Jerusalem, the status quo will remain on the Temple Mount and Israel will work with Jordan to ensure that all Muslims who want to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque will be able to do so.

The president said that if the Palestinians choose to accept the plan, some $50 billion will be infused into this new Palestinian state.

“There are many countries that want to partake in this,” he said. “The Palestinian poverty rate will be cut in half and their GDP will double and triple.” He then called for “peace and prosperity for the Palestinian people.”

But Trump noted that the transition to the two-state solution will present “no incremental security risk to the State of Israel whatsoever.

But Trump noted that the transition to the two-state solution will present “no incremental security risk to the State of Israel whatsoever.

“Peace requires compromise, but we will never require Israel to compromise on it security,” he continued. 

Netanyahu in his speech said that he has agreed to negotiate peace with the Palestinians on the basis of Trump’s peace plan. The prime minister noted several key reasons, but namely that rather than “pay lip service to Israel’s security,” the president “recognizes that Israel must have sovereignty in places that enable Israel to defend itself by itself.

“For too long, the heart of Israel has been outrageously branded as illegally occupied territory,” Netanyahu continued. “Today, Mr. President, you are puncturing this big lie. You are recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over all Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria – large and small alike.”

However, Israel agreed that it will maintain the status quo in all areas that the peace plan does not designate as Jewish for four years to allow for an opportunity for negotiation. At the same time, as per the plan, Israel will immediately apply sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and other areas that the plan does recognize as Israeli.

‘The ‘Deal of the Century’: What are its key points?’, jpost.com, Jan. 28, 2020

Borders: Trump’s plan features a map of what Israel’s new borders will be should it enact the plan fully. Israel retains 20% of the West Bank, and will lose a small amount of land in the Negev, near the Gaza-Egypt border. The Palestinians will have a pathway to a state on 80% of the West Bank. Israel will maintain control of all borders. This is the first time a US president has provided a detailed map of this kind.

Jerusalem: The Palestinians will have a capital in Jerusalem based on northern and eastern neighborhoods that are outside the Israeli security fence – Kfar Aqab, Abu Dis and half of Shuafat.

Settlements: Israel would retain the Jordan Valley and all Israeli settlements in the West Bank, in the broadest definition possible, meaning not the municipal borders of each settlement, but their security perimeters. This also includes 15 isolated settlements, which will be enclaves within an eventual Palestinian state, unable to expand for four years. The IDF will have access to the isolated settlements. In order for the settlement part of the plan to go into effect, Israel will have to take action to apply sovereignty to the settlements.

Security: Israel will be in control of security from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. The IDF will not have to leave the West Bank. No change to Israel’s approach to Judea and Samaria would be needed.

Palestinian State: The plan does not include immediate recognition of a Palestinian state; rather, it expects a willingness on Israel’s part to create a pathway towards Palestinian statehood based on specific territory, which is 80% of Judea and Samaria, including areas A and B and half of Area C. The state will only come into existence in four years if the Palestinians accept the plan, if the Palestinian Authority stops paying terrorists and inciting terror, and Hamas and Islamic Jihad put down its weapons. In addition, the American plan calls on the Palestinians to give up corruption, respect human rights, freedom of religion and a free press, so that they don’t have a failed state. If those conditions are met, the US will recognize a Palestinian state and implement a massive economic plan to assist it.

Refugees: A limited number of Palestinian refugees and their descendants will be allowed into the Palestinian state. None will enter Israel.”

On the other hand, from mondoweiss.net:  ‘The ‘Deal of the Century’ is Apartheid, Sheena Anne Arackal January 28, 2020  (some outtakes)


“With great fanfare, President Trump finally unveiled his long-anticipated Middle East peace proposal. The proposal was labeled ‘The Deal of the Century’ because it was supposed to offer an even-handed and just solution to one of the world’s most intractable conflicts. Instead it does something very different. The ‘Deal of the Century’ resurrects and restores grand apartheid, a racist political system that should have been left in the dustbins of history.

Under President Trump’s newly unveiled peace plan, the Palestinians will be granted limited autonomy within a Palestinian homeland that consists of multiple non-contiguous enclaves scattered throughout the West Bank and Gaza. The government of Israel will retain security control over the Palestinian enclaves and will continue to control Palestinian borders, airspace, aquifers, maritime waters, and electromagnetic spectrum. Israel will be allowed to annex the Jordan Valley and Jewish communities in the West Bank. The Palestinians will be allowed to select the leaders of their new homeland but will have no political rights in Israel, the state that actually rules over them.”

‘Trump unveils peace plan, promising more land and control for Israel’, Yumna Patel, January 28, 2020, mondowiess.net (a few snippets)

“The room was filled with familiar faces  — Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, Jason Greenblatt, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Sara Netanyahu, and US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, Israeli Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer — and dozens of Israel’s supporters, who clapped and cheered throughout the announcement.
………………………………………………………..
“After the press conference, reports surfaced saying that Netanyahu would be announcing Israel’s full annexation of the settlements in the West Bank on Sunday, and that Ambassador Friedman expressed that Israel was “free to annex settlements in the West Bank at any time

While Trump boasted that his plan would promise a contiguous Palestinian state, doubled in size from its current form, the “conceptual map” released by his administration shows a fragmented and dwindling territory, connected by a series of proposed bridges and tunnels.”
………………………………………………………………………..
“We are asking the Palestinians to meet the challenges of peaceful coexistence,” Trump said.

“This includes adopting basic laws enshrining human rights, protecting against political and financial corruption…ending incitement of hatred against Israel, and ending financial compensation to terrorists,” he said, referring to pensions paid by the Palestinian Authority to the families of prisoners and martyrs.

In his speech, Netanyahu demanded that Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish State, and that Israel will maintain military control of the entire Jordan Valley to establish a permanent eastern border in the area.”
……………………………………………………………..
“Throughout his speech, Trump repeatedly praised Israel for “wanting peace badly,” and praised Netanyahu for “willing to endorse the plan as the basis for direct negotiations.”

He boasted about everything he has done for Israel, listing off the recognition of Jerusalem as its capital, moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem, and recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights.”
………………………………………………………………
“Over the next 10 years, 1 million great new Palestinian jobs will be created,” he said, adding that the poverty rate will be cut in half, and the Palestinian GDP will “double and triple.”

“Our vision will end the cycle of Palestinian dependency on charity and financial aid. They will do fine by themselves. They are a very capable people,” he said.”

What none of the above coverage had included was that in the video Bibi had high-fived Trump for ridding the Middle East of the greatest terrorist in the world (or close to that, meaning the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani.  Bibi’d also laughed and said ‘It takes someone [like Trump] who knows real estate’.

(cross-posted from Café Babylon)

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wendy davis's picture

@humphrey

guess i'll have to go with this as my fave, partially because of his job title:

“What branch of government does the Middle East fall under again?”

John Nieves • Subpoena Filer

thanks, humphrey; it is ripe for satire, save for the serious issues mondoweiss and javad zarif had brought..

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boriscleto's picture

@humphrey They ran an article about Trump vowing to respect and protect all the Palestinian's traditional refugee camps.

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" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "

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wendy davis's picture

@humphrey

I reject this pro annexation plan, it is a step in the wrong direction.#PeaceSham

but i'll admit i laughed due to the fact that bibi swears he'll negotiate with the palestinians (if they duz be good)!

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wendy davis's picture

@humphrey

from sharmine narwani?

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I don't understand why Israel and Trump don't just officially declare the Palestinians to be sub-human and announce their plans to exterminate them.

It's obvious that they want to.
At this point, Israel using gas chambers for Palestinians seems inevitable. And Republicans would find a way to justify it.

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wendy davis's picture

@gjohnsit

well, they have to make it look like a 'good deal for peace and prosperity', and given the massive numbers of both AIPAC and CUFI (christians united for israel, the 'second coming', and tra la la) i suspect that a lot of Ds wouldn't mind, either.

on morning edit:for instance, did you ever see hellary clinton at aipac? there are earlier visits that show her zionist fervor more strongly, but this short clip by RT is pretty straightfoward : "Israel’s security is non-negotiable".

chuck schumer? same deal, and t'was he and graham who cut off aid to palestinians to begin with. lindsey and pompeo also called for a mutual defense pact with israel. did it happen?

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@wendy davis
but only because I'm so frustrated with the situation.

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wendy davis's picture

@gjohnsit

caught me off guard, but it's not your fault at all, as i share your long frustration, even though mine extends to rage far too often. as you might have divined, i've been blogging about this issue for a long time, perhaps dating from the IDF attacks on the fist flotilla to gaza in international waters, no less. i just bingled 'mavi mamara', but that was in 2010. so...i dunno; maybe as far back as rachel corrie i learned of how great is the palestinian plight.

after your comment i began musing about the fact that the number of calories a human required to stay alive was calculated as the amount of food allowed into gaza, for instance. and all the hasbara lies told about the arab and muslim populations in israel. and the new 'deal' says right up front: no returns!

and that for those participating in the March of Return protests, some said there was no choice, as living under such conditions was too barbaric to even allow breathing freely. including, of course, bulldozers pushing over palestinian houses to make way for more jewish settlements. sadly, it was seeing a lot of hasidic jews involved in that which caused me to feel even more betrayed by judaism itself...which is not fair.

as a side note, danielle ryan at RT.com is positing that the Deal was designed to fail, and palestinian non-acceptance would show them as impossible to negotiate with, unrepentant...whatever she wrote. but rest assured, i'll credit you for causing me to choose tonight's closing song.

global reaction pieces today i mistrust a lot, as they differ, but i will say that clearly boris johnson loves it, small wonder.

thanks so much for coming back, but i hope you watched the short videos that i used to ballast my contention that it ain't just republicans who might engage in similar thought crimes.

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@wendy davis

the Deal was designed to fail, and palestinian non-acceptance would show them as impossible to negotiate with, unrepentant...

No Palestinian was consulted beforehand.
The Palestinians were an afterthought.
It stinks of it being a box that needed to be checked before doing whatever the Hell they want.

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Cassiodorus's picture

@gjohnsit -- it will say "Work makes you free." No, wait, that bit has been done before.

Perhaps the more telling analogy is in one of the mondoweiss.net articles: apartheid. This is a plan for Palestinian bantustans.

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"The war on Gaza, backed by the West, is a demonstration that the West is willing to cross all lines. That it will discard any nuance of humanity. That it is willing to commit genocide" -- Moon of Alabama

ggersh's picture

Being Jewish I simply hate what the Neocons/NeoLibs/Zionist/Christian Zionists/Evangelicals/Banksters have done in the name of "anti-semitism" for what they are doing is adding more to
anti-semitism than any Jew hater could ever dream of doing.

I hope I said all that correctly.

Here is the twiiter thread link

https://twitter.com/Kimmer4444/status/1222279495631228931

Add in tRumpolini's stupidity

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MumsORn55Sk]

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

wendy davis's picture

@ggersh

incendiary comments as well, but i get your drift, plus the map...

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snoopydawg's picture

....

Edited to make tweet better.

Well if Bibi and Trump have declared open season on other country's leaders then they should also feel that there is a target on their backs. Fair is fair.

Bibi's actions mock the Never Again movement. As long as people are dying from ours, Israel's and NATOs actions I think the point in null and void.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

wendy davis's picture

@snoopydawg

i guess i'd thought it was assumed all along that israeli intel had planned it earlier. as far as this:

Well if Bibi and Trump have declared open season on other country's leaders then they should also feel that there is a target on their backs.

iranians have declared the same, whether hassan rouhanni or some military generals, i can't remember. but i'd seen it at the tehran times, iirc. tit for tat.

but speaking of strife delivery, i keep meaning to ask you all if you've seen him lately, or know how to comment him in real life? i asked at the members contact project, and he'd never left any contact info, electronic, phone, nor snail mail. i'm wondering if he's okay, of course.

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wendy davis's picture

@snoopydawg

at mintpress news than just the video, but it's only the video. from what i remember, it was thought to be clear that mossad (israel's NSA) was the agency that had kept total track of soleimani's location, thus knew where in the world he was as he stepped off the plane (on his peace mission w/ saudi arabia purportedly, as well, no less), got into the two car convoy, and ....Rest in Power with Allah, General Quassem S.

your assassination has changed the middle east forvermore.

i'd just pinged that elijah magnier had tweeted title a recent piece 'iran will strike again', but i'd never read it. the flag reminder? but anyway, here are a few things from his account:

@ejmalrai
·
9h
Best consequences of @realDonaldTrump
policy on the ME:
- He has injected fresh blood to the "Islamic revolution" in #Iran to stand against the US hegemony
- He has united #Iraq against him
- He is uniting the Palestinians today
- He will have to pull out of #Iraq & #Syria soon.

@ejmalrai

There are 86 UNSC resolution in favour of a #Palestinian state and the #US shredded all these.

So never ever return to talk about the "rule of law".

We live in a jungle and the law of jungle is what the #US wants.

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snoopydawg's picture

@snoopydawg

busy busy reading lots of political stuff, but I will look again and see if I can find his whole comment. No I do not know how to contact him, but hope he is well and will stop in again soon.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

wendy davis's picture

@snoopydawg

awhile if anyone knows how to contact him. not to be a bummer, but i've conducted four eulogies for online friends over the years, meaning: it happens. three erstwhile commenters at the café may have left this mortal coil as well, but my email inquiries get no response; all were in poor health. not knowing is the hardest part, of course.

and i wish that mintpress news would have had more than the video tweet so we could discover what sources, etc. it all whirled by so quickly, that video.

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Shahryar's picture

with some unconnected sections

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Raggedy Ann's picture

@Shahryar
our Native American club at the university are in solidarity with the Palestinians because they see what's happening to them equitable to what they continue to suffer through. Treaties broken, lands run over and pipelined through. Complete disregard for the native people. Equitable.

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

wendy davis's picture

@Shahryar

had also written:

"President Trump’s plan for racial control and segregation should sound disturbingly familiar. Indeed it should immediately bring to mind the Bantu homelands which were the cornerstone of South Africa’s ‘grand apartheid’. While ‘petty apartheid’ was the term used to describe racial segregation on buses and public facilities, ‘grand apartheid’ referred to the many laws which enforced territorial and political separation between black and white South Africans.

The Bantu homelands, which were key to the territorial and political separation of racial groups, had their origin in the Land Acts of 1913 and 1936 which created reserves for the native black population. Then in 1970 the Bantu Homelands Citizenship Act made the native population legal citizens of their Bantustans, denying black South Africans political rights in white South Africa. The South African government created Bantu homelands in order to claim that South Africa, a state with a majority black population, was actually a state with a majority white population. The Bantu homelands were political sleight of hand; a poorly veiled attempt to give racist ethnic rule the veneer of democratic respectability."

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wendy davis's picture

@Shahryar

(north america) and israel are stolen lands, as was south africa. bruce cockburn never specifically mentioned israel, but he easily could have.

i haven't read sharmine narwani's 'israel has no right to exist' (as per the tweet) but i'll bet it's a pip.

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wendy davis's picture

and i'd like to end the night with this quote:

“There was no corner of the known world where some interest was not alleged to be in danger or under actual attack. If the interests were not Roman, they were those of Rome's allies; and if Rome had no allies, then allies would be invented. When it was utterly impossible to contrive such an interest—why, then it was the national honor that had been insulted. The fight was always invested with an aura of legality.

Rome was always being attacked by evil-minded neighbors, always fighting for a breathing space. The whole world was pervaded by a host of enemies, and it was manifestly Rome's duty to guard against their indubitably aggressive designs. They were enemies who only waited to fall on the Roman people.”

~ Joseph Schumpeter, 1951

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to live in a country that doesn't make it's reason to be the meddling in every other countries affairs, and coddling the wealthy and ultra wealthy. All justified by the bible and the constitution and other dead piles of paper.

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wendy davis's picture

@Snode

but you've reminded me of william blum's (may he be kickin' ass on the other side) master lists: over-throwing other peoples governments; US bombings of other countries.

bibi and trump are sure hoping that this 'deal' will get him re-elected as PM in a coming third election. but trump hedged his bets and had benny gantz visit him at the WH, too, just in case.

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lotlizard's picture

where Palestinians are concerned. This latest U.S. proposal is just the West’s I/P policy train arriving at the next station of a decades-long journey down the same non-branching track. Blood and soil and the “law” of conquest — what else is new?

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wendy davis's picture

@lotlizard

is donald trump's absolute fealty to zionist israel (his fealty to bin salman is a whole 'nother part of it), but during the 80th and 81st Great March of Return protests (café babylon, nov. 2019)

"‘PCHR Gaza: 95 Civilians Shot And Injured, Including 43 Children, At 80th Great March Of Return’, By Staff, Imemc.org, Oct. 26, 2019

Israeli forces continued to use excessive force against peaceful protesters, wounding 36 civilians with live bullets and shrapnel in addition to other injuries in the upper body due to direct targeting with rubber bullets and tear gas canisters.

Thousands of civilians took part in this week’s peaceful protests entitled: “For our Prisoners in Israeli Jails and al-Aqsa Mosque”, raising the Palestinian flag and chanting national slogans.” [snip]

“The protests lasted from 3:00 to 6:30 pm, and involved activities such as speeches and theatrical performances. Hundreds of civilians protested at varied distances from the border fence across the Gaza Strip, where some protesters set tires on fire and a few of them attempted to throw stones, Molotov Cocktails and firecrackers at the Israeli forces, who responded with excessive force.”

it seemed clear that trump's zionism acted as an Americkan imprimatur to unleash the IDF further, as well as to 'normalize' nations moving their embassies from tel aviv to...jerusalem. how many did? i've forgotten, but many, in any event.

i'd also featured a bit of miko peled's A Public Relations Scam: J Street Conference Attracts War Criminals and Zionist Liberals Alike’; J Street was designed to make Zionists, particularly Israeli liberals, feel good about themselves and look good to the outside world without actually having to commit to peace’, mintpressnews.com, Oct. 25, 2019

"Normalization

To enhance its image as a peace-promoting Zionist organization, J Street invites Palestinians and members of organizations that promote so-called peace and dialogue to its conference. The willingness of these individuals and groups to participate in a conference alongside war criminals like Ehud Barak and blatant racist, Zionist demagogues like Senator Chuck Schumer, inevitably and understandably raises serious questions as to their own sincerity towards achieving peace and respecting human rights.

...with names and photos of elected officials.

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Had been Jim Webb he would have whomped Trump and Israel woudn't be wagging the dog (us) yet again - and we wouldn't be having this conversation...

“According to Morris Amitay, former director of AIPAC, Webb's voting record on Israel is the “worst [he's] ever seen."

Now that's what I call an endorsement.

BTW - remember this?

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wendy davis's picture

@Blue Republic

'Webb opposed a Senate Resolution expressing support for Israel's Operation Cast Lead against Hamas.'

thanks, but no, i don't reckon i've watched a Dem (or R, for that matter) debate for eons, if ever. Aha: wrong! i'd seen some clips of Dubya with a thickish rectangular thingie on his back under his coat leading to the conclusion that he was being fed answers.

thanks, blue republic; that was fun!

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wendy davis's picture

(some may be redundant; hard to know until/unless one clicks in)

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Who, in their right mind, could see trumpet dealing anything but theft.
Not in my name.

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wendy davis's picture

upthread about his 'welcome to the gas chambers, ladies and gentlemen', (a book om the holocaust i'd read long ago in a set 'writers from the other europe'), his comment had inspired tonight's closing song written by peter yarrow. a chanukka song with a twist, and id imagine they'd been called 'self-loathing jews' and worse back in the day.

thank you all, and sorry if i missed answering any comments, but my eyes are too tired to look at the whole stream again.

Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice
Justice and freedom demand
But light one candle for the wisdom to know
When the peacemaker's time is at hand

Light one candle for the strength that we need
To never become our own foe
And light one candle for those who are suffering
Pain we learned so long ago

Light one candle for all we believe in
That anger not tear us apart
And light one candle to find us together
With peace as the song in our hearts

[video:https://youtu.be/h1cRXgDFiSs?t=2s]

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