By Mark Ellis, The Christian Post—
Last week presidential candidate Bernie Sanders named several outspoken critics of Israel to the Democrat platform-drafting committee that will undoubtedly provoke a fight over U.S. policies toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
One Sanders appointee, Cornel West, a Princeton University philosophy professor, referred to “the Israeli massacre of innocent Palestinians, especially the precious children,” in a 2014 Facebook post, according to the L.A. Times.
“The rockets of Hamas indeed are morally wrong and politically ineffective – but these crimes pale in the face of the U.S. supported Israeli slaughters of innocent civilians,” West declared, according to the Times.
Another Sanders appointment went to James Zogby, who heads the Arab American Institute.
“This would be the same James Zogby who has said Israel is committing ‘a Holocaust’ against the Palestinians. For good measure, Zogby has also called Israelis ‘Nazis.’ Not surprisingly, Zogby also supports the BDS Movement characterizing it as both ‘legitimate’ and ‘moral,’” notes Aaron Goldstein in the Spectator.
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS Movement) is a campaign to increase pressure on Israel to: end Israel’s “occupation and colonization” of Palestinian land and the Golan Heights, provide full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, and respect the right of return of Palestinian refugees to Israel.
“While people are very supportive of Israel, they are not so supportive of various policies supported by Israel,” Zogby said.
Another Sanders appointee to the platform committee is Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim to be elected to the U.S. Congress. Ellison generated controversy when he requested to use the Qur’an instead of a Bible at his photo-op reenactment of the swearing-in ceremony to Congress.
Ellison has also called for eliminating Israel’s blockade of Gaza. Read On…