Just as some California Democrats sought to blame Israel for all plagues and earthquakes, Palestinians were denied Israeli hospital care – by their own leaders. The Israeli embassy in London was accused by a Labour Party official of “whipping” charges of anti-Semitism. As if Jewish Brits needed their help.
In the end, most Democrats proved in two gatherings, 3,000 miles apart, that they had Israel’s back amid disturbing signs that we cannot depend on it to last.
It is paradoxical that some Democrats in California would issue the usual accusations of Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians when news breaks that the Palestinian Authority will no longer allow West Bank Palestinians to enter Israel for medical treatment.
In San Francisco, pro-Palestinian Democrats submitted six Israel-unfriendly proposals to the Resolutions Committee of the California Democratic Party at its state convention. The anti-Israel language was deleted when the committee rewrote five of the resolutions on Friday, May 31, with the sixth resolution being withdrawn by its sponsors.
The Jewish News of Northern California reported: “The resolutions dealt with a variety of issues related to anti-Semitism, Israel, Palestine and American involvement in the region. One included original language that required the Democratic Party to oppose ‘all efforts to stigmatize and suppress support for Palestinian human rights by falsely conflating it with anti-Semitism.’
“Another suggested Israel has a legacy of ‘settler colonialism,’ while still another would have required elected party officials to include equal-time visits to Palestinian territories whenever visiting Israel, and should contact the state party’s Progressive Caucus or Arab-American Caucus to plan those trips.
“Another demanded a Palestinian ‘right of return,’ which mandates descendants of Palestinians who fled what is now Israel during Israel’s 1948 War of Independence be allowed to return to Israel and to their original homes. Two resolutions supported returning the Golan Heights to Syria.”
I wonder if David Mandel, who wrote some of the resolutions as an activist with Jewish Voice for Peace, is equally concerned about how Arab extremists abuse their own. In the 71 years since Israel was created, Palestinian refugees languished in camps while leaders of oil-rich countries lived in luxury. The Palestinians might have been enjoying an independent state for almost the last two decades had not the late Yasser Arafat rejected such an offer at Camp David in 2000.
Israel is not free of blame, but dumping the full burden on Israel amounts to historical revisionism. Three recent developments came to light – the PA’s policy change on medical treatment, a secret salary increase for PA leaders and the complaints of Lebanese writers about Hezbollah’s control freaks.
Palestinian Media Watch last week reported on the following news release from the PA which describes the health-care reversal:
“(PA) Ministry of Health Spokesman Osama Al-Najjar announced the cessation of medical referrals to the Israeli hospitals, starting from yesterday (March 26, 2019).
“Al-Najjar explained that this decision was made in response to the deduction of sums from the taxes that (Israel) collects each month for the Palestinian coffers…He added that the cost of the referrals to the Israeli hospitals is $100 million a year, and emphasized that the Ministry of Health will be committed to find alternatives for the sick in the state hospitals and in private hospitals. He also said that they are discussing additional alternatives, in case there will be a need for them.
”Al-Najjar calmed our people that this decision will not affect the health services that they receive, and that the ministry is committed to providing the necessary treatment to all who need it. Al-Najjar said, ‘The decision is political par excellence, and comes in response to Israel deducting sums from the money that it collects for us.’”
On Friday, the Associated Press reported that the Palestinian Authority raised the monthly salaries for cabinet ministers from $3,000 to $5,000 two years earlier and made the increases retroactive to 2014. A series of documents leaking news of these pay hikes were posted anonymously to social media, prodding further outrage among West Bank Palestinians who have long viewed the leadership as corrupt.
North of Israel, two Lebanese writers assailed “Hezbollah’s suppression of free expression, leisure and political activity,” according to JewishWebSight. Muhammad Barakat wrote on Janoubia.com, “Israel has developed and advanced in agriculture, industry and technology – while ‘liberated’ South Lebanon has no factories except for those churning out fighters and wars. There are no real hospitals except those (teaching) religion and accusations of treason. There are no real hospitals except for the spiritual (ones) that anesthetize the people and convince the young to die instead of those who fund (the wars but do not fight).”
Qassem Marwani wrote in Al-Mudun, “Before Hezbollah tightened its hold on the mountain villages, it was possible to find a few liquor stores, but all their owners were forced to shut down. If anyone refused, his business was set on fire.
“…During one party (in Tyre), a Hezbollah official came and said, ’40,000 martyrs were killed in an earthquake in Iran, and you’re partying?’ At a restaurant in the village, a singer was performing at an engagement party. Then a vehicle pulled up with some gunmen in it; they stopped the party and silenced the music, claiming that in the next village people were holding a memorial for a martyr.”
Coincidental to the California convention, Senate Democrats and Jewish leaders reviewed a series of issues in midweek, and the session ended with acknowledgement that they shared the same goals, according to The Jewish Insider web site. “It was a very productive hour,” said Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware. “There was a vigorous discussion about how we all need to fight bigotry and anti-Semitism in all its forms and finding a positive shared path.”
Added Mark Mellman, president and CEO of Democratic Majority for Israel, “Everybody expressed real gratitude to the Democratic caucus for their steadfast support for Israel.”
There was a new reminder that Israel supporters have a right to fear radical changes among Democrats. Last week, Britain’s Labour Party suspended Peter Willsman after he accused the Israeli embassy in London of stoking Jewish protests against Labour for its rampant anti-Semitism, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
“The people that are in the Labour Party doing it are people who are linked,” Willsman said. “One of them works indirectly for the Israeli embassy…My guess is that they’re the ones that are whipping.”
My guess is that Democrats could one day experience Labour’s current nightmare.
Republished from San Diego Jewish World