Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) are four outspoken freshman congresswomen who are being described as AOC’s squad and women of color.
The Democrats and the media refer to the four congresswomen as progressive Democrats. Nothing could be further from the truth. AOC’s squad is not progressive, it is radical! The four women favor a socialist agenda. Two of them, Omar and Tlaib, have made a number of anti-Semitic statements and support the BDS movement whose sole purpose is to destroy the state of Israel. On two occasions Tlaib has called Trump a motherfucker, for which she is unapologetic, explaining that’s how her constituents talk.
Trump has justifiably attacked the four women because of what they stand for, socialism, and what at least two of them stand against, the Jewish people. But because they are women of color, Trump’s attacks have been deemed racist. ABC’s George Stephanopoulos has branded Trump’s attacks as “raw racist politics,” while leading Democrats have come out and flat called the President a racist.
On Sunday’s TV news shows, Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker said that Donald Trump is “worse than a racist” and Rep. Elijah Cummings answered “No doubt about it” when asked if Trump is a racist. And Bernie Sanders has repeatedly called Trump a racist. Then there is Houston’s Trump-impeacher Rep. Al Green who said, “To condemn a racist President is not enough, we must impeach him.”
Rep. John Lewis, who along with Tlaib cosponsored Omar’s BDS-protection resolution, said this in reference to Trump: “I know racism when I see it. I know racism when I feel it. And at the highest level of government, there’s no room for racism.” Lewis has some nerve referring to Trump as racist when he supports BDS, a movement that would ultimately result in the genocide of Israel’s six million Jewish people … I know racism too, Mr. Lewis, and that’s pure racism!
Trump doesn’t help his cause by putting his mouth in motion before putting his brain in gear. That’s what he did when he tweeted:
So interesting to see ‘Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run.
Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!
The problem with those tweets is that of the four women, only Ilhan Omar came from a foreign country, Somalia. And Trump failed to consider that “Go back to where you came from” is textbook racism.
On Wednesday, during a rally in North Carolina, Trump’s blistering of Omar caused the crowd to chant repeatedly, “Send her back.” This was immediately jumped on by the Democrats and the media as Trump stirring up racial hatred and dividing the country. The next day at the White House, Trump said of the chants, “I was not happy with it. I disagree with it.” But that rings hollow because he paused for 13 seconds before continuing his speech.
Actually, there have been accusations that Omar committed immigration fraud. Thursday’s Daily Mail reports that “Omar desperately tried to shut down accusations of bigamy amid claims she was briefly married to her BROTHER to ‘commit immigration fraud’ while she was still with her current husband.” She explained, “I am legally married to one and culturally to another.” If she did commit immigration fraud, lock her up and then send her back to Somalia.
Trump has been continually accused of racism since August 2017 when he said, “You also had some very fine people on both sides” about the rioting in Charlottesville, Virginia over a proposal to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee. The Democrats and the media immediately accused Trump of calling neo-Nazis very fine people. Trump in no way meant to praise neo-Nazis. There were people on both sides of the controversy who attended the demonstrations but did not participate in the rioting. These were the people Trump was talking about, and that should have been clear to everyone.
How times have changed. During the eight years he was in office, it was hard to find an unkind word in the media about President Obama, but it has been even harder to find a kind word about Trump since he became President. As expected, The New York Times is leading the media blitz against the President with numerous columns trashing Trump. Most recently, Times columnist Charles M. Blow called Trump “a raging racist” and Israel-hating columnist Thomas Friedman called the President a “racist, divisive, climate-change-denying, woman-abusing jerk.”
On July 16, Marvin Oswaldo Esquivel-Lopez was arrested in Des Moines for murdering a woman and her two young children. Esquivel-Lopez had been deported twice back to his native Guatemala. But he sneaked back into the US each time. You can bet that if Trump had called Esquivel-Lopez an illegal immigrant who came to this country and committed murder, the president would have been called a racist because the murderer is a Guatemalan.
Is Trump a racist? The Democrats and the media want to convince us that the President is one. Many of us are racist but won’t admit it. On Wednesday, Trump said “I don’t have a racist bone in my body.” That’s a red flag because those are exactly the first words spoken by a bigot in denying he is a bigot.
Whether Trump is a racist is besides the point. He attacks AOC’s squad not because the women are women of color, but because of their radical rhetoric, and because by their support of BDS, they are against the Jewish people. That is not racist!
On Saturday, in an Israel Hayom op-ed, Melanie Phillips described Trump’s attack on the squad as: “Trump is standing up for the defense of America and its values, for legality and due process and for the Jewish people.” And in Saturday’s The American Spectator, Rabbi Dov Fischer wrote: “Throw them out, the whole lot of them, from Pelosi on down. Throw them all out.” To that I would also specify Booker, Cummings, Sanders, Green and Lewis … throw them out of congress!
White House aide Stephen Miller said Sunday that ‘racist’ is “a label that has been too often deployed by the left Democrats in this country to try to silence and punish and suppress people they disagree with.” Miller went on to say he “fundamentally disagrees with the view that if you criticize somebody and they happen to be a different color skin, that makes it a race issue.”
Best of all, on Monday, Piers Morgan aptly described AOC’s squad as “shrieking socialist snowflake sisters.” And that is the only reason why Trump is attacking them.
Branding the President a racist damages the standing of the US throughout the world. This obvious attempt to destroy the Trump presidency emboldens our enemies. While they have every right to disagree with Trump, all good Americans, whether Republican or Democrat, should stand by our President and demand that the constant spurious racist accusations made against him must stop, and that the media should stick to criticizing him without branding him a racist.
Jeff Larson says
Howie, you said it all:
“The problem with those tweets is that of the four women, only Ilhan Omar came from a foreign country, Somalia. And Trump failed to consider that “Go back to where you came from” is textbook racism.
On Wednesday, during a rally in North Carolina, Trump’s blistering of Omar caused the crowd to chant repeatedly, “Send her back.” This was immediately jumped on by the Democrats and the media as Trump stirring up racial hatred and dividing the country. The next day at the White House, Trump said of the chants, “I was not happy with it. I disagree with it.” But that rings hollow because he paused for 13 seconds before continuing his speech.”
Any other politician would just say something like, “The other day, I criticized the actions of four Congresswomen, and I stand by that criticism. However, the language I used was unnecessary and inappropriate. I regret my choice of words, apologize for them, and will strive to do better in the future.”
Why can’t Trump do something like that?
Bill says
“Why can’t Trump do something like that?”
Rule 1: Never apologize to leftists.
Rule 2: See Rule 1
The reason the crowd was shouting “send her back” was because there’s very real evidence that Ilhan el Said Elmi committed immigration fraud not only to get here herself, but also to get her gay brother/husband here as well. The consequence of immigration fraud is, among other things, you get stripped of your naturalized citizenship. el Said Elmi definitely qualifies for this remedy, and she should be removed not just from Congress, but from the country. I’m not going to apologize for telling her to go back where she came from. She needs to apologize to me and every other American citizen for committing fraud to get here.
Jim Burgess says
You said:
“That’s a red flag because those are exactly the first words spoken by a bigot in denying he is a bigot.”
Is that how you feel, or is that a statement that once the accusation of racism is leveled that some will take a simple denial as concrete proof that you are actually racist (meaning that once the accusation is leveled, it will stick in some people’s mind no matter what)?
Fat Albert says
“That’s a red flag because those are exactly the first words spoken by a bigot in denying he is a bigot.”
Those are also exactly the first words spoken by an honest person who isn’t a racist. Tell me Howie, when exactly did you become enamored of the “guilty until proven innocent” school of thinking?
Fat Albert says
Just out of curiosity, when, exactly, did Donald Trump become a racist?
Was it after he received a Humanitarian award by the National Jewish Health Hospital?
No doubt it was after he received the Tree of Life Award from the Jewish National Fund.
It must have been after he was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in celebration of “patriotism, tolerance, brotherhood and diversity”.
Surely it was after receiving the Presidents’s Medal by the Freedom Foundation for his support of minority youth programs.
Probably it was after he was awarded the Muhammed Ali Entrepreneur Award.
Oh, that’s right, now I remember – Donald Trump because a racist 5 minutes after Hillary Clinton called to concede the Presidential Election in 2016. If you believe anything different you’re a fool.
Howie Katz says
Fat, I thought I was defending Trump, but you cherry picked a statement out of the article to make me look like I called him a racist.
I don’t know if Trump is a racist or not, but I can tell you this, “an honest person who isn’t a racist” would simply say , “I am not a racist.” You may not be willing to accept it, but it is a well-known fact that “I don’t have a racist bone in my body” is the standard line used by bigots.
Although Trump said that, it doesn’t necessarily make him a racist. If Trump is not a racist though, this is just one more example of his failure to choose his words carefully and wisely.
Bill says
Trump has already said he is not a racist, many times. He should no longer even bother, rather, just savagely attack and counter attack. Leftists don’t get to set the narrative anymore. They need to be called out for THEIR racism.
I love what he’s done with Cummings. Cummings has presided over a shithole and probably has directed some of the money taxpayers have sent to Baltimore for his own personal use, via his wife and her non profit and for profit enterprises.He needs to defend his failure. Trump didn’t fail Baltimore….Cummings did. Attack. This is what we elected Trump to do.
Mainstream says
I am old enough to remember when the Ku Klux Klan was telling black Americans to “go back where they came from” when they insisted on attending mostly white schools or using public swimming pools, conveniently forgetting that they were also immigrants generations back, and that the African-Americans for the most part did not come here willingly.
We as Republicans should not contort ourselves or abandon our values to defend indefensible tweets. One of these four Members of Congress is a black American, born in America. The only reason anyone would suggest she should “go back” anywhere is if we think black people do not belong in America. This is textbook racism.
Mainstream says
*did NOT come here willingly
Fat Albert says
Howie,
I recognize that you were, in general, defending Pres. Trump. I also realize that he often engages his mouth (or tweet) before putting his brain in gear. I apologize for being a bit strident in my response.
However, I’m getting really tired of all of the casual pejorative epithets being thrown around these days. As a society we’ve taken what used to be serious accusations and made them into meaningless scholar taunts. “Racist”, “Nazi”, “Communist”, “Rapist” and others have all been used to the point that they don’t actually mean anything anymore. Most people couldn’t give an actual coherent definition of “Racist” to save their lives. “Nazi” even more so.
Mainstream, I remember the Klan handing out pamphlets on street corners every Saturday – dressed in their asinine regalia. I also remember the first black student at our high school. He got a couple of death threats – until some fellas from the football team found out who was sending them. . .
I’m not going to defend anyone saying “send them back”. But it would be nice if, maybe, there was a little outrage when one of that oh so P.C. “squad” called the Commander-in-Chief a “racist motherfucker” along with other pejoratives. How about this: Forget “send them back” let’s go for “Kick ’em out!”
Perplexed says
I don’t get it. I read two different opinions in this article. Are you calling Trump a racist or not?
Howie Katz says
I did not say that Trump is a racist! He may be, considering his ‘racist bone’ statement, but that does not necessarily mean he is a racist. It’s just a red flag.
Besides that, what difference does it make? Ever since Charlottesville, The Democrats and the media have been determined to make people believe Trump is a racist, and that’s got to stop!
Bob Walsh says
There is a large chunk of the left that absolutely believes that ANY criticism of ANY kind offered up for ANY reason of ANY program, policy or position expressed by ANY minority is racist. No discussion, no question. It is an idiotic position, but it is there.
Fortunately the left wing does not control the whole country, yet. We will find out in about 16 months just how much of it they do control. Clearly all of the people in the running for the Democrap nomination for President are running to the left so far and so fast they are trampling over each other. Even the mainstream media, which is almost as far left as the psycho left socialists, is asking the occasional question. One of them pointed out to Kamala Harris a couple of days ago that total confiscation of all wealth of all of the top 1% would not pay for some of the programs she is hard at work pimping for.
We may not get the government we deserve, but we sure as hell get the government that we tolerate. Perhaps we should stop tolerating ignorant, arrogant bullshit (from both sides).
DanMan says
Rashida Tlalib identifies herself as Palestinian. Cortez grew up as Sandy from the Bronx and changed her identity to burnish her bonafides as a ‘person of color’. That would be communist pink. Ilhan Omar espouses her hatred of America with just about every utterance and Ayanna Pressley vomits racist declarations of divisiveness that can’t be mistaken for anything but hatred of whites.
Trump didn’t have anything to do with creating these bell ringers of the democrat party. They came straight out of casting and are fully supported by a lot of democrats. The MSM are mainstream democrats and are giving all the cover these gals need to continue to pump the sludge without filter.
But here’s the game. By continuously slamming Trump as a racist they are really calling his supporters racist. If that makes you want to write an article calling out both sides you’re still a racist. That’s how the game is played.
Tom in Lazybrook says
Guys, Trump is attacking AOC, Tlaib, etc. because he needs to run against them rather than the Democratic nominee.
As more moderate Democrats gain more prominence in the nomination process, expect even more outrageous and offensive comments by Trump as he tries to focus attention on the fringes of the Democratic party.
The danger for the Republicans is that by elevating the squad, Trump is helping them gain supporters, which in the long run may help advance their agenda.
Trump and the squad are BOTH in a mutually beneficial spat.
Fat Albert says
“As more moderate Democrats gain more prominence in the nomination process” forgive my incessant giggling, but what “more moderate” candidates do you see that the rest of us don’t? Like it or not, these four are the face of and the heart of the current Democrat party. If you’re a Democrat, they represent you!
Tom says
As a Republican are you represented by Rep. Steve King, who was stripped of his committee assignments for racist comments and asking why white supremacy is considered offensive. King has been elected by his district in Iowa and has every right to sit in the House of Representatives.
He no more represents me than four freshman representatives represent the Democratic Party and its members.
And, while some Republicans like Mitch McConnell have suggested King “find another line of work,” and the House minority leader said he was not in the party of Lincoln. But I haven’t heard anyone screaming, “Send him back.”
Mainstream says
Sen. Bennett might be a tad more moderate, but I don’t see him in the top tier.
Bill says
If we’re searching for racists under every bed, we need look no further than the Gal Qaeda women here. These hate filled women are nothing if not racists. Are you a straight, white male Christian? Well, the two Muslims hate anyone of any color who isn’t Muslim, but that’s a separate issue. They hate you for who you are, and their followers would gladly see you subjugated or dead. Conservatives who love America need to stop cowering in fear at the thought of being called racist, or any of the other pejoratives leftists/globalists/communists toss out to make conservatives feel defensive and bad. We will not be subjugated or made to feel bad about who we are.
Our job is to create a playing field where those who want to be independent, to do for themselves, and not suck on the government teat have the opportunity to do so. The Trump economy seems to be doing just that. The Hate Squad and their ilk can only appeal to people who feel like they can’t make it on their own, and need Uncle Sugar to take care of them. It’s a siren song that ends in disaster, every time, without fail.
When I hear someone throw out the race card, I almost feel bad for them…..it tells me they have no argument, and tossing base, BS insults is really the best they can do. It’s certainly nothing that even warrants a response, other than to attack. Conservatives and populists need to stop denying or arguing the point and go straight to the attack mode. This is why Trump does so well. He’s a fighter. He attacks. Remember when Romney and McCain were racists? They cowered in fear from the accusation. Trump attacks. That’s what we need. If tossing out the race card is the best someone can do, tell them straight up they are a dumb ass that can’t debate, which is the truth.
I suspect there are more people now that quietly feel that way then there were in 2016. Listening to racists harass whites for the last 3 years…..I suspect the ‘silent majority’ has finally just had enough.
Trump 2020!
howie katz says
In my article I quoted Congressman John Lewis as telling the House: “I know racism when I see it. I know racism when I feel it. And at the highest level of government, there’s no room for racism.” Let me elaborate on that.
My parents and I came to America as Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany in July 1936, exactly 83 years ago. My father had held an executive position with Karstadt, a large German department store chain. The Nazis demanded that the company be Judenrein, and because my father was a Jude, Karstadt was forced to fire him. We were fortunate to have a sponsor in the US. Both sets of my grandparents were shipped off to concentration camps and never heard from again.
John Lewis is an acclaimed civil rights leader. Lewis was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and was one of the leaders of the 1963 March on Washington during which MLK gave his famous “I Have A Dream” speech.
That was then and this is now. Ilhan Omar has introduced a House resolution in support of BDS. She found only two cosponsors – Rashida Tlaib, as can be expected, and John Lewis.
The true purpose of the BDS movement is to destroy Israel. Mahmoud Abbas and other PLO leaders have repeatedly vowed there will be only one state, a Palestinian state that is Judenrein. If the BDS supporters and the Palestinians achieve their goal, making Palestine Judenrein will require the expulsion or the genocide of the six million Jewish people in Israel.
As a civil rights leader John Lewis is a first-degree hypocrite. By cosponsoring Omar’s BDS resolution, Lewis is supporting racism, pure and simple. Lewis is not only a racist, but he is also anti-Semitic! I say that because … I know racism too and I know anti-Semitism when I see it.
Ross says
So, Howie, it’s racist to apply pressure to Israel to encourage an end to the ongoing killing of Palestinian children? I don’t support BDS because I think there are better ways to encourage Israel to change, but I understand why BDS supporters think it’s a good option.
Criticizing Israel is not anti Semitic.
DanMan says
Ross the obtuse doesn’t acknowledge the bombs that rain down on civilians in Israel and therefore can’t engage in intelligent conversation on the topic.
Howie you have perspective on this most of us don’t. I can’t understand why American Jews vote almost monolithically for democrats. That being said, I have considered John Lewis the worst type of racialist on par with Obama. They use their race as both a sword and a shield.
Howie Katz says
Dan Man, you are spot on. Ross is either ignorant about what constitutes anti-Semitism or he is anti-Semitic himself. His charge about the children is outrageous to say the least. Yes, Israel has killed some Palestinian children, but only when they were using deadly slingshots against Israeli soldiers and the police. Oh yes, the Israelis also killed some children that Hamas was using as human shields when Israel bombed Gaza in retaliation for the deliberate attacks on Israeli civilians. But before the attacks, Israel like no other country has ever done, warned the Palestinians about exactly when its air force would strike and what targets were to be bombed.
Fat Albert says
Gee Ross, it would be so much easier to keep from Killing the odd Palestinian child if the adult Palestinians would stop using them was human shields.
If the Palestinians really wanted to cease hostilities all they would need to do is stop.
There are lots of things for which you can criticize Israel. Defending themselves against terrorist attacks from Palestinians is not one of them.
Tom says
I don’t want to talk about current events in Israel and Palestine because the facts are too disputed. From what I know, both sides in Gaza have violated the laws of war and the leaders on both sides should have to answer for them.
But just because someone like Ross disagrees with Israeli government policy doesn’t mean he’s either anti-Semitic or anti-Israel. The recent Israeli election showed a lot of disagreement with the government’s policies but it goes back further than that.
Take Judge Thedor Meron.
Meron is Jewish and was born in Poland. He spent his teen-age years in Auschwitz,where most of his family died. He emigrated to Israel where he became a legal adviser in the foreign ministry. His career came to a screeching halt after the 1967 war when he wrote an internal memo criticizing his government for violating the Geneva Conventions. He eventually ended up in the US, became a US citizen and was president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Meron was the US judge on the court.
A couple of years ago, I heard him being interviewed in BBC where he said he’d write that memo again.
Or how about the Kahan Commission, created by the Israeli government in the 1980s when Christian militias in Lebanon allied with and supported by Israel murdered hundreds of Muslims in two Palestinian refugee camps. The commission not only criticized the Israeli Army for failing to protect the refugees but hinted that the government should consider charging the then-defense minister and later prime minister Ariel Sharon with war crimes.
Opposition to Israeli government policies which could violate international law like expanding Jewish settlements in occupied territory does not make one either anti-Semitic or anti-Israel.
Basically, what I’m saying is that Israeli governments have done things over the years that are breaches of the law of war and the Geneva Conventions. That is well documented. Many American Jews and Israeli voters disagree with a lot of the current government’s policies. In fact, the current prime minister was unable to form a cabinet after the election so he’s called for new elections.
It’s just as wrong to throw around charges of anti-semitism willy nilly as it is to do the same with charges of racism. Policy disagreements do not make one either racist or anti-Semitic.
Howie Katz says
You are right, Israel is not saintly. But when the whole Arab world called for its obliteration drastic measures were called for. Every criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitic, but almost every criticism of the Jewish state is a cover for the hatred of Jews. And that is exactly what BDS is and the young American liberal Jews who support the movement are too stupid to realize that it is a cover for the destruction of Israel.
The Palestinians are not really interested in a two-state solution. While PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas says in English that he wants two states living side by side in peace, in Arabic he has vowed time after time that there will be only one state “from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea, and that will be a Palestinian state with no Jews.
Israel has been accused of committing war crimes. So has the U.S. But no country can avoid killing civilians when enemy combatants are intermingled with the civilian population. And no country other than Israel warns the civilian population of when and exactly where it is going to drop its bombs in order to reduce civilian casualties. And when Palestinian civilians, including children, are killed because Hamas uses them as human shields, then people like you, Tom, say Israel committed a war crime.
The internal political mess in Israel has less to do with Netanyahu’s policies than it does with Israel’s crazy patchwork of multiple parties having a seat at the table. Except for the fading Peace (at any cost) Now movement, most liberal Israeli’s support the conservative government’s Palestinian policies. They know that the Palestinians want to obliterate them, and without secure borders, that is exactly what will happen. The pre-1967 Israel is way too small to ever be secure against any enemy. It is only nine miles wide near Tel Aviv.
As a refugee from Nazi Germany, I am a strong supporter of Netanyahu’s Palestinian policies. I know what it means for Jews to be persecuted.. My parents and I were lucky to have had a sponsor because otherwise we would not have been able to come here. During the Nazi era, America turned back thousands of Jews who ended up in the ovens of Auschwitz and other death camps. Israel is the last refuge for Jews who continue to be persecuted throughout the world.
Tom, like the lawyer you are, you have cherry picked some Jews who have condemned the policies of Israel from the get-go. That does not mean they were right. As a matter of fact, the Jews you mentioned were no more right than the Democrats who are trying to destroy the Trump administration.
I want to make one thing crystal clear. Although I am a strong supporter of Israel, my loyalty is only to one country, the good old USA!
Anti-Semitism is any statement or act against the Jewish people. BDS is an act against the Jewish people of Israel. John Lewis is anti-Semitic for cosponsoring Ilhan Omar’s resolution together with Rashida Tlaib. As I said before, criticism of Israel is almost allways a cover for hatred of Jews. And you Tom, as a knowledgeable person, ought to know that. I sure as hell know anti-Semitism when I see it, apparently you don’t.
Tom says
Howie: I wasn’t going to respond to your last post but your statement that Judge Meron and the Kahan Commission were cherry picked and “some Jews who have condemned the policies of Israel from the get-go” needs some response. And, I want to defend Judge Meron from the baseless attack by you just as I defended him from baseless attacks by the Rwandan government.
The Kahan Commission was appointed by the Israel Cabinet and all three members were on the Israeli Supreme Court, including the president of the court. Read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kahan_Commission.
Somehow I don’t think a bunch of anti-Semites or opponents of Israeli policy from the get-go would likely have made it to that country’s supreme court. They were three respected judges who did their job of getting to the bottom of a truly nasty situation.
As for Judge Meron, yes, I have a hell of a lot of respect for him. After he became a judge, I appeared before him twice and got the chance to answer a bunch of tough questions that made me feel like a law student again. And, his questions were always right on point and got to the heart of the complex legal issues.
Unlike your family who, thank God, escaped the Nazis, Judge Meron and his family were caught up in the occupation of Warsaw. He was sent to Auschwitz and was lucky to survive. Most of his family didn’t. He’s an expert on the law of war and international humanitarian law and he’s got the tattoo on his arm to prove it.
While an official of the Israeli government, he had the courage to speak truth to power. That’s rarely career enhancing and it was not in his case. The memo was written in 1967, just after the Six Day War, and concluded that setting up Jewish settlements in occupied territory violated the Fourth Geneva Convention. I heard him on a BBC interview a couple of years ago and he said he would write the memo again.
When he came to the US (and became a US citizen), he taught law at New York University where he became a world renowned scholar on the law of war and international humanitarian law. He was chosen for the Yugoslav Tribunal in 2001 by President Bush and for the residual mechanism for that court and the Rwanda Tribunal by President Obama. He was on the Appeals Chamber for both the Yugoslav and Rwanda tribunals.
The Rwanda government and some government-controlled groups were critical of Judge Meron’s decisions as a judge and demanded his resignation. Part of the criticism was that he treated black Rwandan war criminals like white Yugoslav war criminals when it came to parole. Another part was that he required the prosecution to present evidence proving beyond a reasonable doubt that defendants were guilty before he would affirm a conviction. Eventually, the pressure on the UN became so great that he was forced to retire in January of this year.
Whatever you think of Judge Meron’s views of the law, he’s not an anti-Semitic Israel hater. He’s an outstanding lawyer and judge who has led an amazing life searching for justice. He was right in 1967 that building Jewish settlements on occupied territory was a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention related to civilians and he’s still right.
You owe Judge Meron and the members of the Kahan Commission an apology.
Howie Katz says
Tom, I do not owe anyone an apology. You have a very bad habit of putting words in my mouth. Where did I call your beloved Judge Meron or the members of the Kahan Commission anti-Semitic? Nowhere! Here is what I said: “Tom, like the lawyer you are, you have cherry picked some Jews who have condemned the policies of Israel from the get-go. That does not mean they were right. As a matter of fact, the Jews you mentioned were no more right than the Democrats who are trying to destroy the Trump administration.”
You got your exercise by jumping to a conclusion. Because I wrote that almost all criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic, you wrongly concluded that I called Judge Meron an anti-Semite. Of course was not, but his condemnations of Israel were wrong, deadly wrong! Because he was an Israeli Supreme Court judge doesn’t make him any more right than, let’s say, US Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor or Elena Kagan.
You’ve done this with several of my previous posts. Kindly stop putting words in my mouth!!
Fat Albert says
Tom,
You might want to work on those reading comprehension skills. Howie didn’t say that Judge Meron and the members of the Kahane commission were cherry picked. He said that YOU cherry picked them as examples of Jews who disagree with some of the policies of Israel. He didn’t say that Judge Meron was evil, or racist, he simply said that (in his opinion) Judge Meron was wrong.
You may believe that Israel has done a number of things for which it should be called to task. That’s OK. Nations are not perfect. Israel has made mistakes. On the other hand they are quite literally surround by a host of nations who are committed (self admittedly) to the destruction and elimination of Israel as a nation and Jews as a race. Frankly, given the kind of rabid, incessant, violence exhibited by their enemies, I believe Israel has been a model of restraint.
Thanks for all of the information about Judge Meron. He appears to be a remarkable person. That doesn’t mean he’s always right. But, regardless of how he might feel about specific things that Israel has done, He would never support the BDS movement.
DanMan says
“I don’t want to talk about current events in Israel and Palestine because the facts are too disputed. ”
heh
Fat Albert says
By the way, speaking of reading comprehension:
President Trump never suggested that the “Squad” should leave and go to another country. The exact quote is “Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how….” Given that each one of the four comes from a metropolitan district with significant economic and social issues, the most reasonable reading is that they should go home and help make their homes, i.e. Detroit, Minneapolis, Boston and New York, decent places to live. Only an imbecile could read what he plainly wrote and think that he meant different countries.