RUTHFULLY YOURS

Apparently the North Carolina Democratic Party hasn’t gotten the endlessly repeated “memo” regarding the Obama administration’s “unwavering support” for the state of Israel. During last weekend’s party convention, a resolution that would criticize Israel for its “illegal occupation of Palestine” was seriously considered before being tabled. Not killed — tabled. It has been referred to the state’s executive committee for further consideration at a later date.

Resolution number 26, titled “Bring a Just Peace to the Middle East: Israel and Palestine,” is a screed of leftist-inspired grievances, attacking the United States for providing Israel with “$3 billion annually in military aid.” According to North Carolina Democrats, such funds pay for “the Israeli occupation, disenfranchisement and impoverishment of significant numbers of the Palestinian population,” and the facilitation of “Israel’s overwhelming military might and its role as the only nuclear power.” That military might ostensibly threatens the “stability in a region witnessing increased demands for democracy and an end to autocratic rule.” The funding is also used by Israel to “continue … demolition of Palestinian homes, expansion of existing illegal settlements built on expropriated Palestinian land, and a continued blockade of essential goods from Gaza, causing a U.N. documented humanitarian crisis.”

Furthermore, U.S. aid “has caused increased violence and insecurity to Israelis and Palestinians and helps subvert any prospect for peace,” while “Israel’s human rights violations and its illegal settlements violate International and U.S. law, including the U.S. Arms Export Control Act of 1976,” all of which contributes to the “escalating tension between Israel, the Palestinians and the Arab world in the Middle East.” Such Israeli-instigated tension “threatens the peace and stability of the region and the world.”

Thus, the NC Democratic Party expects to hold its elected officials accountable “for helping end our government’s role in continuing the Israeli Palestinian tragedy by making the human rights of both peoples central to U.S. foreign policy by ending Israel’s illegal occupation, by advocating for a viable Palestinian state, and membership of that state in the United Nations.”

North Carolina Democrats then urged their congressional representatives to support several initiatives (emphasis added): “Bring all parties, including Hamas, to the table to negotiate and end to the Israeli Occupation and a secure peace based on the 1967 borders; An immediate end to settlement expansion and removal of existing settlement in the West Bank and Jerusalem; An end to Palestinian house demolitions; A halt to further construction of the wall; An end to the Gaza blockade; The establishment of the nuclear free zone in the Middle East; Redirecting U.S. Military aid to Israel to promote social and economic development for peace in both Israel and Palestine.”

Regrettably, this pernicious nonsense has remained under the mainstream media radar up to this point. Likely that is no accident. North Carolina is a battleground state in the upcoming election, and despite the fact that Mr. Obama carried it in 2008, it is currently up for grabs in 2012, with Mitt Romney holding a statistically insignificant lead of 48-46 percent.

Furthermore, the Democrat Party is holding their national convention in Charlotte, meaning the media will be there in overwhelming numbers. If the North Caroline Democrats’ anti-Semitic leanings (and there is no other way to interpret that idea that Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror group whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel and genocide of Jews, should be part of any “peace” negotiations) were to become part of the national conversation, the ramifications would extend far beyond the borders of that state. American Jews on the electoral fence in places like Florida and Pennsylvania might begin to understand that there are factions within the Democrat Party who are pro-Palestinian at best, and utterly anti-Israel at worst.

A responsible news media could pose serious problems for the national Democrat Party in this regard as well. Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz might be forced to explain how she reconciles the NC Democrats’ resolution with her contentions that the “natural home politically for Jewish voters in this country is the Democratic Party,” and that “Israel should never be used as a political football.” Perhaps she could explain a resolution proposed by members of her own party that legitimizes veritable blood libels, even as it demands absolutely nothing in return from the Palestinians.

The president himself might be dragged into this controversy as well. He could be asked to comment on whether or not he agreed with the state party’s resolution that characterizes the Jewish state as an “occupying force,” or whether Israelis live on “expropriated Palestinian lands.” Mr. Obama might be asked if he still maintains his largely unpopular contention that Israel retreat to its militarily indefensible 1967 borders, or reveal whether or not he favors an end to the Gaza blockade that keeps terrorist arms at bay. Or, perhaps Mr. Obama, sensing the larger stakes in play, might be forced to disavow a portion of his own party.

All of this would occur during the Democrat Party’s biggest moment prior to the election. Their convention is scheduled to take place during late August and early September. For better or worse, that’s the time when Americans traditionally begin to pay serious attention to the national election–meaning the chances that this story will get the attention it deserves anywhere other than non-traditional media sources is slim to non-existent.

Mr. Obama is already losing support among American Jews, according to a Gallup poll released earlier this month. And though Democrats would obviously howl if this odious resolution reached critical mass, there is no denying it exists and that a faction of their party supports it. That it has achieved such legitimacy as to be drafted and seriously considered by North Carolina Democrats surely shows how far the party has fallen from the mainstream.

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