Palestinian-Israeli freedom fighter Haneen Zoabi MK on Israel and Trump:
"Israel, she says, wants to 'close the file on the Palestinians' demand for a state. Binyamin Netanyahu... 'is shifting the paradigm from managing the crisis to solving the crisis - but [this is] a one-sided solution in the interests of Israel. Something has changed in the minds of Israelis: Palestinians have ceased to exist. The walls are not just physical, they are also psychological.'
"This mindset is reinforced by the new US president, she says. 'Donald Trump may seem bizarre and unique to most of the world, but not for Israel. His kind of populism [and] his way of violent speech are the dominant model in Israel. Israel is the only country not shocked and not afraid of Trump. On the contrary, Netanyahu and Trump represent the same model.' If Trump follows through on his election pledge to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, signifying endorsement of Israel's claim of the city as its 'eternal and undivided capital', there should be 'strong reaction', says Zoabi.
"Zoabi said that Trump's ban on people from some Muslim countries entering the US was a dangerous formalisation of Islamophobia. 'This hatred is nothing new, it's part of the culture, but now it's being turned into policy. It's becoming part of the norm that you can talk with hatred about Muslims without feeling any shame,' she said." (From Haneen Zoabi: 'Israel is the only country not shocked by or afraid of Trump', Harriet Sherwood, theguardian.com, 31/1/17)
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3 comments:
A positive aspect of this is that the Guardian is reporting Zoabi - I haven't been to the site as I refuse to give the Guardian "hits" to use for revenue, so I am relying on your report, MERC. Trump, as I have said before, will force a separation of the "liberal" from the "Zionist". It is starting to happen.
How can the protesters in the US object to an immigration policy based on religion while supporting Israel?
Meant to add, MERC:
In particular that old hypocrite Chuck Schumer:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/scumer-tears-trump-immigration-ban
Yes, G, Freedland's Guardian is pretty bloody dreadful, but I agree with you, it's great to see the wonderful, fearless Haneen Zoabi get a sympathetic profile. She also points out that MKs like herself are now working under the shadow of a recently passed law which guns for offences such as 'incitement to racism' or 'supporting armed struggle', which could result in expulsion. (As if Zionism itself wasn't quintessentially 'incitement to racism'.)
Re your second point, as usual, you're 100% correct - there is no such creature as a liberal Zionist, and the sooner American Jews understand that the better. Let's hope it's a collateral benefit of the Trump/Netanyahu bromance.
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