Published on

Wednesday, March 07, 2018

by

Common Dreams

Schumer Denounced for 'Absolutely Disgusting' AIPAC Speech

"At AIPAC, Democrats try to outdo Trump in their devotion to Israel's oppression of Palestinians."

by

Jake Johnson, staff writer

 83 Comments

"Bigoted, divisive, embarrassing, as is the fact that you let your caucus gut Dodd-Frank while you were busy sucking up to AIPAC. New Yorkers deserve better representation," wrote journalist David Klion. (Photo: AIPAC/Screengrab)

"Bigoted," "outrageous," and "disgusting" were just a handful of the many adjectives critics used to denounce Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-N.Y.) speech this week before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which attributed ongoing Middle East conflict not to Israel's decades of brutal U.S.-backed occupation of Palestinian territories, but to Palestinians' failure to "believe in the Torah."

"The fact of the matter is that too many Palestinians and too many Arabs do not want any Jewish state in the Middle East," Schumer told the audience gathered for AIPAC's annual conference in Washington, D.C. "Of course, we say it's our land, the Torah says it, but they don't believe in the Torah. So that's the reason there is not peace. They invent other reasons, but they do not believe in a Jewish state and that is why we, in America, must stand strong with Israel through thick and thin."

Watch:

https://twitter.com/_/status/971277315945717760

That a prominent Democrat would give a speech heaping praise on Israel while either erasing or attempting to justify the suffering of the Palestinian people is hardly surprising—then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton gave such a speech just two years ago—but the explicit religious bent of Schumer's remarks were characterized by critics as particularly worthy of condemnation.

David Klion

✔@DavidKlion

As your constituent, neighbor, and fellow Jew, really appalled by this, @SenSchumer. Bigoted, divisive, embarrassing, as is the fact that you let your caucus gut Dodd-Frank while you were busy sucking up to AIPAC. New Yorkers deserve better representation https://twitter.com/_Saeen_/status/971277315945717760 …

12:25 PM - Mar 7, 2018

Glenn Greenwald

✔@ggreenwald

This is absolutely disgusting - even worse when you watch the video. Ladies and gentlemen, Washington DC's Senior Democrat: https://twitter.com/_Saeen_/status/971277315945717760 …

7:59 PM - Mar 7, 2018

Sacha Saeen@_Saeen_

Replying to @_Saeen_

Transcript of the above excerpt of Senator Chuck Schumer's speech at AIPAC.

Tell me how US foreign policy isn't driven by religious beliefs again?! pic.twitter.com/HalUAs0pah

12:24 PM - Mar 7, 2018

Gareth Porter@GarethPorter

At #AIPAC, Democrats try to outdo Trump in their devotion to Israel's oppression of Palestinians. Schumer explains why there is "no peace": It's because the Torah says the land belongs to the Jews, but the stubborn Palestinians don't believe in the Torah. http://bit.ly/2oWGJSw 

8:49 PM - Mar 7, 2018

Schumer was not the only Democrat who joined Vice President Mike Pence, Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in speaking before AIPAC this week.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) also spoke before the conference this week.

But as Philip Weiss of Mondoweiss noted in an article on Tuesday, "Not one of the big Democrats addressing the conference could bring themselves to speak about the occupation or discrimination against Palestinians, issues that are souring young progressives on Israel."

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