General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIf Trump’s Racism Shocks You, So Too Should AIPAC's
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/03/21/if-trumps-racism-shocks-you-so-too-should-aipacsAll of this would be business as usual were it not for the controversy stirred up by Donald Trump’s participation in the conference. Many Jewish and non-Jewish groups and individuals plan to protest Trump at AIPAC this week because he does not reflect their values. Trump’s flagrantly racist statements and violent and exclusionary rhetoric are deeply troubling to many across the political spectrum. But it is important to note that AIPAC inviting Trump is not an aberration, it is in line with AIPAC’s mission to support Israel regardless of how illegal and repressive its policies are.
The reality is many of the alarming statements and political proposals that have even AIPAC goers up in arms over Trump’s participation are already policy in Israel. Israel’s Law of Return privileges Jewish immigrants over non-Jews, Israel already refuses to open its doors to Syrian refugees (many of whom are of Palestinian origin), and is building highly militarized walls both on its southern border to keep out migrants and refugees, and throughout the West Bank to seize land and limit Palestinian freedom of movement. There is not much difference between Netanyahu’s racist fear-mongering to get votes in the 2015 Israeli election, and the blatant racism of Trump, or the no-less-racist dog-whistling by other candidates. And AIPAC unquestioningly supports Israel’s rights to continue these oppressive practices.
Those who are frightened by what they hear from the US Republican frontrunner ought to be dismayed by what they see coming out of AIPAC. One can only hope that AIPAC’s alignment with Trump will help to reveal the lobbying group for what it is: a tired political institution that has peddled in Islamophobic and racist tropes against Palestinians, Muslims and Arabs for decades as part of their work in securing unquestioning US support for Israel; and their grasp on American politics is slipping.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
ladjf
(17,320 posts)For that matter, we are reading page after page of posts that are largely steep in racism of all sorts.
Everyone is calling everyone else , except for people similar to themselves, racists.
A better understanding of the origins of racism and the real pragmatic motivations to practice racism
might clear up many misunderstandings. Racism is a psychological tool to decrease competition so that
by applying racism, those individuals worthiness is diminished while the racists profits from their loss.
If half of a population is green , the other half is purple, then if one color or the other is able to
convince everyone that the other color people are not as good as our color, half of the competition is gone.
More opportunities for the racist. These are extremely primitive behaviors.
Currently, Trump is doing the most effective job of applying racism in various forms and using it to his advantage. His skill in racist propaganda is on the verge of getting him elected. The outcome might be so terrible that we have a completed cycle of thesis, antithesis and synthesis with Trump as the antithesis and the next would be the improvement gained from the bad experience in the antithesis.
Clinton doesn't practice racism as a technique of manipulation. Her success stems for her clarity of goals and how to achieve them. In my opinion, she is fundamentally a materialist. All other actions stem from that. Just since her husband left office they've acquired over $100,000,000+ while having no profession other than Mrs. Clinton was a paid State Department official. She is proven to be one of the most successful fund raisers for her own benefit in American History.
Sanders appears to be a brilliant idealist with 30 years of political experience to hone his understanding
and techniques. He shows no racist qualities, nor materialistic urges. It appears that he has simply
recognized the horrible delimma facing America (and the rest of the World as well) and has deciding to
invest the few years he has left to doing whatever he can to remedy a total collapse into anarchy.
Believe it or not, there are many people in America that feel the same way but none high enough in
politics to be up for the job. He believes that the problem could be fixed under the right conditions.
He might be correct or maybe not. But, he is the ONLY one that at least wants us to try. Maybe the odds are, as the joke goes, "slim to none". Which is preferable? For me, I'll take slim over none every time.
malaise
(268,885 posts)and remember Carter's profound comment about apartheid. Their only worry re Trump is that at one time he said he'd be neutral re Israel an Palestine
