Loading ...Sanders, Clinton delegates seek common ground on Israel
BY REBECCA SHIMONI STOIL
TIMES OF ISRAEL
WASHINGTON — Two delegates to the Democratic Party’s platform drafting committee — one appointed by Hillary Clinton and the other by Bernie Sanders — said Thursday the platform must reflect the hardships faced both by Israelis and Palestinians.
Days after the Republican Jewish Coalition slammed a number of the Democratic committee members for their views on Israel, Rep. Keith Ellison teamed up Tuesday with Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez to pen a letter to J Street supporters, stressing their support for the two-state solution and for recognition of both Israeli and Palestinian rights.
Ellison, who was appointed to the committee by Democratic runner-up Bernie Sanders, and Gutierrez, one of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s representatives on the panel, described themselves in the letter as “both supporters of the two state solution” who had “just returned from trips to Israel and Palestine.
“Some have speculated about divisions within our party over the future of American foreign policy in the Middle East,” the two wrote. “The truth is that when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we’re on the exact same page. We agree on the core principles that will shape our party’s vision.
“It’s clear how this conflict must end. Israelis must be able to live securely, free from terror,” they continued.
“Palestinians must be able to govern themselves in their own state, free from checkpoints, curfews and housing demolitions. The futures of both peoples are inextricably linked, and that future depends on the two-state solution.
Israel-related planks in the Democratic platform have been the subject of contention both inside and outside the party. Sanders was entitled to appoint five delegates to the sometimes-contentious committee. Three of those five — Arab American Institute head James Zogby, professor and activist Cornel West, and Ellison — were cited in an internet ad series put out by the Republican Jewish Coalition as evidence of an anti-Israel movement within the Democratic Party.
“The real question is going to be that a commitment to security for our precious Jewish brothers and sisters in Israel can never be predicated on an occupation of precious Palestinians,” West complained. “We’re going to have to talk seriously about occupation,” he continued, adding that he didn’t know if the platform committee would allow a use of the word “occupation.”
Former representative Robert Wexler, a Clinton appointee on the committee, responded that he “would not support and would in fact oppose the use of the word ‘occupation’ for the very reason that it undermines our common objective. The objective of the Democratic Party is to achieve a negotiated two-state outcome.”
Ellison and Gutierrez’s letter did not share Wexler’s concerns.
“Israelis today live in fear of acts of terror that can turn peaceful marketplaces and neighborhoods into scenes of violence and horror,” the two warned. “Palestinians struggle under an unjust occupation that deprives them of the rights, opportunities and independence that they deserve.”
Ellison and Gutierrez argued that their viewpoint was “not controversial” and in fact reflected “consensus goals and principles shared by the vast majority of Democrats of every race, ethnicity and faith.”
J Street itself weighed in earlier this month on what it believed were the fundamental consensus points that should be highlighted in the party’s platform.
Speaking just before the open session at which West and Wexler exchanged barbs, J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami argued that a consensus platform would “advocate the rights of both Jewish and Palestinian peoples to states of their own,” emphasizing that support for a two-state solution is a long-standing policy held by both Democratic and Republican administrations. Ben-Ami argued that similarly “every administration since [Lyndon] Johnson has expressed American opposition to settlement construction and expansion.”
Despite West’s vocal support for the BDS movement, Ben-Ami said that the Democratic platform should also “express a very broad-based American opposition to the global BDS movement.” Ben-Ami emphasized that in the Democratic platform, “commitment of the US to Israel’s security should be stated prominently and unambiguously.
“You can have a real consensus around denunciation of violence, terror and incitement, while also stating American opposition to unilateral types of moves like settlement expansion,” he continued.
While Democratic delegates debate their party’s stance on Israel and the Palestinians, their opponents have highlighted West, Ellison and Zogby as evidence that pro-Israel voters should abandon the Democratic Party.
In the last two presidential elections, Jews have overwhelmingly voted for Democratic candidates but Republicans hope to reverse that trend.
The Democratic Party’s platform drafting committee will have to conclude its work in advance of the party’s nominating convention, which will be held in Philadelphia in late July. Despite overtures such as Ellison and Gutierrez’s, supporters of Clinton and Sanders seem poised for conflict over a number of issues, as Sanders has so far refused to concede defeat and acknowledge Clinton as the party’s presumptive nominee.
Source: www.timesofisrael.com