Bernie Sanders: Don't Count Out anti-Semitism as Factor in Israel Boycott Movement

[oberliner]

It would be a mistake to count out anti-Semitism as a driver of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, Senator Bernie Sanders said Monday evening on MSNBC.

“I think there is some of that, absolutely,” the Vermont senator said after being asked if he would link BDS to anti-Semitism like his rival for the Democratic presidential nod, Hillary Clinton.

“Israel has done some very bad things, so has every other country on earth,” Sanders said. “I think the people who want to attack Israel for their policies, I think that is fair game. But not to appreciate that there is some level of anti-Semitism around the world involved in that I think would be a mistake.”

http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/u-s-election-2016/1.710396

[Agnosticsherbet]

1. Thanks, Senator Sanders. That is a comment with which I agree.

[King_David]

3. Bernie Sanders just confirmed the obvious

The BDS movement is a gang of thugs , antisemitic Jew hating , bigoted , hateful and often homophobic .

The Jewish candidate sees Antisemitism where it really is.

Fuck the antisemitic BDS movement and all their supporters.

[Jefferson23]

4. Vote for the only mensch running for president..Bernie Sanders. n/t

[King_David]

5. +1

[Jefferson23]

6. He is such a great man, I want him to win the primary and I believe he will then win the WH. n/t

[Israeli]

9. good to see you ...

I hope so to Jefferson.

[Jefferson23]

10. Hi Israeli..we're trying, Bernie has come a long way..so we'll see.

[Little Tich]

7. Bernie Sanders is against the settlements and the occupation - but at the same time against BDS?

I don't get it...

[shira]

8. Sanders realizes BDS is a hate movement against Israel, not settlements.

Last edited Thu Mar 24, 2016, 06:01 AM - Edit history (1)

You don't get it because you don't want to get it.

[Jefferson23]

11. Bernie is not going to support BDS, no US president will do that..not even as a Senator.

As president why would he?

[Little Tich]

13. Obama supports labelling settlement products imported to the US - a practice that is considered BDS

when the EU is doing it.

While I personally don't think it qualifies as a boycott, it's at least an attempt to differentiate the settlements from Israel.

[Jefferson23]

14. Yes but that is very different and BDS is not a monolithic block. Those who joined to boycott

Israel but did not align themselves with the movement made clear on paper what
they were boycotting. No Senator nor US president is going to do either one but
they would probably acknowledge those distinctions if asked, I think.

The Presbyterian Church was a very selective divestment and made clear
Israel's right to exist, which is not in line with BDS..although Israeli hardliners
prefer to group them together.

If Bernie were to win the presidency I would not expect him to support
any form of BDS, more likely he would speak candidly about
the settlements to Americans and how that impacts the lives
of Palestinians and Israel's security etc..including the Gaza blockade.

[leftynyc]

12. Because he sees it for what it really is

A piece of crap that peddles in anti semitism, apologize for terrorists has never done one worthwhile thing since it's started.

[King_David]

21. Yep

[azurnoir]

15. Haaretz quite gratuitously misquotes Bernie in the first paragraph and title

here from the transcript of Chris Hayes interview with Bernie Sanders

HAYES: Clinton also – and then I`m going to move to Cuba. But Clinton
also today talked about the boycott, divest, sanction movement, which is an
international movement. Some of the people who advocate those tactics
believe that Israel should be a binational state. They don`t believe in
Zionism. Some are Zionists, but they want to see Israel support a two-
state solution more strenuously, move away from the settlements. She
linked to it racism, to anti-Semitism basically. She said – she connected
BDS to anti-Semiticism. Do you think that`s a fair linkage?

SANDERS: I think there is some of that, absolutely. Look, Israel has done
some bad things. So has every other country on Earth. I think if people
want to attack Israel for their policies, I
think that is fair game but not to appreciate that there is some level of
anti-Semitism around the world involved in that I think would be a mistake.

http://www.msnbc.com/transcripts/all-in/2016-03-21

[oberliner]

16. There are no quotation marks in the first paragraph or the title

Thus, no misquoting.

The quotation marks are in the second paragraph and third paragraphs and are completely 100 percent accurate (as confirmed by your link).

[Little Tich]

17. Misleading headline - I should have known... n/t

[oberliner]

18. Did you not read the actual article?

It's best to do so rather than just reading a headline.

[Little Tich]

19. Interestingly, the transcript conveys a slightly different different impression than the OP.

The headline and the summarized question in the OP implies a stronger link between BDS and anti-Semitism than what the transcript of the question and Bernie's answer does.

[King_David]

20. Trying desperately to spin this your way huh?

FAIL !!!


Ha ha ha ha

I think we can trust a Jewish Candidate to tell what is and what is not antisemitic.,.

There's a good lesson here... Nobody is qualified to tell us Jews what is and what isn't Antisemitism.
WTF has the chutzpah to try if they aren't even part of this ?

[King_David]

22. Straight people do not get to tell Gay people what is and what is not homophobic...

Same thing applies here : you do not get to tell Bernie Sanders , a Jew , what is and what is not antisemitic.