Top Democrats brushed off changes to the Democratic Party platform that erase reference to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, nix Hamas as a terror organization, and alter language regarding Palestinian settlement.
Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told CNN that he hadn’t been briefed “on what happened with the platform.”
“Personally, I’ve been involved, as you just said, in a lot of jobs. I’ve never read our party’s platform,” the Chicago mayor said. “I’ve worked with two great presidents who have been steadfast friends of the state of Israel.”
Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer last night the changes reflect that “the president’s position on Jerusalem is the position of bipartisan administrations going back many years, that this is a decision that needs to be made through negotiation between the two parties.”
“No one should mistake anything in this platform but the president’s undeniable commitment to the security of Israel,” she said.
The 2008 platform said, “Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel, the parties have agreed that Jerusalem is a matter for final status negotiations, it should remain an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths.”
The 2012 platform says, “The president’s consistent support for Israel’s right to defend itself and his steadfast opposition to any attempt to delegitimize Israel on the world stage are further evidence of our enduring commitment to Israel’s security.” The specific reference to Israel was removed.
“The Obama Administration has followed the same policy towards Jerusalem that previous U.S. Administrations of both parties have done since 1967,” a DNC spokeswoman said of the change in platform language. “As the White House said several months ago, the status of Jerusalem is an issue that should be resolved in final status negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians – which we also said in the 2008 platform. We will continue to work with the parties to resolve this issue as part of a two state solution that secures the future of Israel as a Jewish state and the homeland of the Jewish people.”
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D) reacted defensively to the changes on Fox News last night.
“The first president to recognize the state of Israel was Harry Truman, a Democrat. And every president since, Democrat and Republican, have stood closely with Israel. I know what’s going on here, in an effort to try to justify Sheldon Adelson and the money that he’s spending in the name of really standing up to Israel,” Durbin said.
“The Democrats and Republicans are committed to Israel’s future and security, and I’m one of them,” he said.
When host Bret Baier said he was going to move on after pressing the senator some more on why it was changed, Durbin snapped, “I hope you will.”
I think a core part of a 2nd term Obama presidency will be to sign a nonaggression pact with Iran, ie the Dempsey-Ahmadinejad treaty modeled on the Molotov- von Ribbentrop treaty of 1939, where Israel takes the place of Poland. Obama will then establish a coalition of the willing-Iran, Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia as an axis against Israel. Given the rapprochement between Egypt and Iran, and Egypt purchasing German submarines, this axis is already developing
So, Stephanie Cutter, who claimed to know nothing about the Bain Capital ad, now says:“No one should mistake anything in this platform but the president’s undeniable commitment to the security of Israel.” In her Leftist universe, this is obviously true because she has proclaimed it to be so; that it has no relationship to empirical reality is irrelevant. To be a Leftist is to be truly mentally ill.
It is clear by now that this administration and the Democratic Party leaders do NOT accept Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Jay Carney swallowed his tongue on this question, it has been taken out of the platform and they won’t answer a straight question with a straight answer on the matter.
So, President Incomplete Chair, (it has no back, it’s legs are wobbly and it’s forever in some form of folding position, and is completely off its rocker), addresses the issue with an incomplete answer.
His Mideast policy in general is one of boilerplate leftism. “We are FOR _____, but against _____” (“we are for the troops (BS), but against THIS war”)
The leftists are NOT “for” the troops. They just stopped calling them all baby killers and throwing feces at them. And they are not against THIS war…they are against America in EVERY conflict.
They are not FOR Israel, but against Israel’s defense of itself “out of proportion”. They are against Israel, against the capital being in Jerusalem, against the state existing as a religious nation.
They despise organized religion…when it comes in the form of Judeo-Christian beliefs systems. The left elevates all other forms of religious activity while beating down ALL Judeo-Christian tenets.
This “incomplete” answer to the question, should not be allowed to stand.
Why is Jerusalem INTENTIONALLY omitted from this platform? Because the small c communists have picked a side. Just ask Bill Ayers and all the flotilla proponents. Or George Soros. Don’t ever call the seat a Lazy-boy, that would be racist.
And Obama himself said in one of his books that he would ALWAYS stand with islam. (paraphrasing).
When you insert that into the discussion, along with the deep bow he made to the Saudi King, it’s quite clear why the language was changed. This president doesn’t give a crap about Israel or it’s security.
Attack on Religion – Democratic carefully scripted Convention (Christianity deliberately omitted from party platform)
Durbin dodges questions on no ‘God,’ ‘Jerusalem’ in Party platform Published: 8:31 PM 09/04/2012
By Jeff Poor (Daily Caller)
On Fox News Channel’s “Special Report” on Tuesday (9/4/12), Democratic Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin attempted to downplay news from earlier in the day that language about “God” and “Jerusalem” was stricken from the Democratic Party platform.
Durbin told host Bret Baier, who was broadcasting from the scene of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., that it is improper to glean from this that Democrats are godless people.
“Well, I can just basically tell you if the narrative that is being presented on your station and through your channel and your network is that the Democrats are godless people, they ought to know better,” Durbin said. “God is not a franchise of the Republican Party. Those of us who believe in God and those of us who dedicated our lives to helping others in the name of God don’t want to take a second seat to anyone who is suggesting that one word out of the platform means that the Democrats across America are godless.”
And Durbin attacked Baier, suggesting this was not a pressing issue, whereas jobs and the economy are.
“I’m just telling you that you are harping on a trifle,” he said. “We know that both parties are devoted to this country. Both parties are God-fearing parties. Let’s get on with the agenda about creating jobs in America, about justice in this country.”
Baier pressed Durbin on the omissions once more, prompting Durbin to charge that this was much ado about nothing, since the document was “the most unread document in the history of American politics,” leading Baier to remind him that Democrats made an issue about the abortion language in the Republican platform.
“To suggest that this document and the insertion of two words here and one word there, it now defines politics in America, suggests to me that you’re not focusing on the real issues that Americans care about,” Durbin said. “[The focus is] for the American people to get back to work. We want to continue to create jobs.”
Second unrelated reporting:
Liberal Harvard professor finds Democratic platform omissions on Israel ‘deeply troubling’
Published: 3:49 PM 09/04/2012
By Jamie Weinstein (Daily Caller)
Senior Editor
Liberal Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz told The Daily Caller that he finds the 2012 Democratic Party platform’s omissions on Hamas and Palestinian refugees “deeply troubling.”
“I think one shouldn’t give too much weight to platform pronouncements, but in this case, I think the omissions are troubling — particularly the omission about the Palestinian refugee issue and Hamas are, I think, deeply troubling,” he told The Daily Caller, responding to a report in the Washington Free Beacon demonstrating how this year’s Democratic Party platform is not as pro-Israel as in years past.
The Free Beacon report showed how while in 2004 and 2008 the Democratic Party platform called for Palestinian refugees to be settled in a future Palestinian state — and explicitly not in Israel — the 2012 platform makes no mention of the issue. Similarly, the 2012 platform doesn’t explicitly take a stand on dealing with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which controls the Gaza strip, yet in 2008 the platform declared: “The United States and its Quartet partners should continue to isolate Hamas until it renounces terrorism, recognizes Israel’s right to exist, and abides by past agreements.” The platform does, however, “insist that any Palestinian partner must recognize Israel’s right to exist, reject violence, and adhere to existing agreements.”*
On the issue of Jerusalem, this year’s Democratic platform doesn’t take the stand that the city is the capital of Israel, while in past platforms it was explicitly stated.
Dershowitz said he is concerned that this year’s Democratic Party platform will make Israel a partisan issue, something he thinks is not good for the U.S.-Israel relationship.
“My goal is always to keep support for Israel a bi-partisan issue and never make a national election any kind of referendum on Israel,” he said. “I don’t think it is a good thing that the Republican platform seems to be more pro-Israel than the Democratic platform.”
Dershowtiz said that this is not the last the Democratic Party has heard about the platform as he is personally going to get to the bottom of what happened.
As soon as I hang up with you, I will call people I know in the White House and in the Democratic Party and find out what’s going on,” he said. ”But believe me this is not the last the Democrats will have heard about this issue. They will hear from me on this one.”
Dershowitz says while the platform debate could potentially just be chocked up to “carelessness,” he is afraid that anti-Israel extremists within the Democratic Party are having undue influence.
“It’s not the Democratic base. It’s extremists within the Democratic base who may have more influence than they should on platform,” he said. “I think extremists within the base may very well move the Democratic party away from its pro-Israel position.”
Noah Pollak, executive director of the conservative-leaning Emergency Committee for Israel, was less reticent than Dershowitz to tie the platform omissions to President Obama, suggesting that the changes are directly in-line with how the president has treated Israel while in office.
“Before this platform, the Obama administration had taken the Palestinians’ side on Jerusalem (not Israel’s capital), borders (negotiations should start at the 1949 armistice lines), and settlements (they should be frozen),” he emailed The Daily Caller.
“Now it appears Obama is taking the Palestinian side on a fourth issue — refugees. It’s shocking that the administration would open up this controversy, as if flooding Israel with millions of bogus Arab ‘refugees’ and destroying the Jewish State demographically is up for discussion.”
*This section has been updated to reflect that while the platform doesn’t explicitly single out Hamas, it does have language that would encompass the group
Is there a conscientious attack on America’s Judeo-Christian heritage? Judge for yourself! The evidence just keeps on piling up on a daily basis.
One has to live in a lead mine to not recognize this blatant fact. It’s happening worldwide for heavens sake. Christians are being massacred on a daily basis in Middle Eastern, African, sub-saharan, microneasian and Asian countries. What more does it take to wake-up North and South American’s???
Geez!!! These are two ultra liberal Democrats. One a politico the other an academic. But both recognize the frontal attack on religion in America.
Vote massively for massive fraud on a scale as never seen before is unfolding right before We The People’s very eyes. Take 10 to 15 friends with us to vote. Get registered. God Save America. Amen.