Rejecting U.S. Support for Palestinian ‘Ethnic Purification’

benjamin-netanyahu-on-his-relatiIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told “Face the Nation” on Sunday, October 5 that preventing Jews from living and building in mostly-Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem would mean a policy of “ethnic purification” that is unacceptable in democratic societies. In so doing, Netanyahu once again showed his mastery of nuance in American politics — a nuance, as it turns out, that even American presidential candidates do not always recognize.

Appearing on the CBS-TV interview program opposite anchor Bob Schieffer, Netanyahu strongly defended the recent purchase by Jewish families of apartments from Arabs in Jerusalem’s Shiloach neighborhood, as well as the Israeli government’s plans to build homes for Jews and Arabs in the city’s Givat Hamatos section.

Netanyahu told Schieffer that he was baffled by President Obama’s criticism of the latest Jerusalem developments, since the idea of barring members of a particular ethnic group from living in specific areas is clearly against American values. He said that neither the United States nor Israel should ever have a policy of enforcing “ethnic purification.”

That phrase brings to mind a generation-old controversy in American political history.

The year was 1976. Jimmy Carter, the former governor of Georgia, was locked in a tight race for the Democratic presidential nomination. The hot issues of the day included the busing of African-American children to mostly-white schools and the building of low-income housing in higher-income neighborhoods. A significant number of Democratic primary voters in some states were strongly opposed to both.

When a reporter asked Carter about the housing issue, Carter evidently tried to appeal to conservative white voters by declaring: “I see nothing wrong with ethnic purity being maintained. I would not force racial integration on a neighborhood by government action.”

That comment ignited a firestorm of questions from reporters. At first, Carter stood his ground. At a news conference in Indianapolis two days later, he reiterated: “I see nothing wrong with ethnic purity being maintained in Indianapolis. I have nothing against a community trying to maintain the ethnic purity of their neighborhoods.”

By the next day, the condemnations were coming thick and fast. Seventeen black members of Congress and the National Urban League denounced Carter’s statements.

Carter buckled. He publicly apologized, announced his endorsement of employment legislation that the Congressional Black Caucus had been promoting, and declared: “I don’t stand behind any sort of connotation of ethnic purity. I don’t want any community to maintain its ethnic purity. If someone from a different ethnic group wants to go into a neighborhood, I would fight for that person’s right to do that.”

Nowadays, Carter is much more likely to be seen hugging a leader of Hamas, than standing on the same political side as an Israeli prime minister. After all, Carter has authored an entire book accusing Israel of “apartheid,” and has even publicly claimed that “obviously the Palestinians have a worse time than the Rwandans.” (Not so obvious to those who know that one million people were slaughtered in the 1994 Rwanda genocide.)

But Carter’s amended declaration speaks for itself: “If someone from a different ethnic group wants to go into a neighborhood, I would fight for that person’s right to do that.”

The new Jewish residents of Jerusalem’s Shiloach and Givat HaMatos neighborhoods no doubt appreciate that principle, regardless of who is the person articulating it.

And Prime Minister Netanyahu was spot-on to use the argument to a nationwide American audience in rejecting the Obama administration’s latest criticism.

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  • veritaseequitas

    Bravo Bibi. That maggot Obama hoist by his own petard is a wonderful sight to behold. The Democrats always scream about equality, but it seems they don’t really get what that means.

  • sylence

    Why than the separate roads? Or is that another side of the coin of democracy?

    • Giborei1967

      As an outed, known anti-Semite you have ZERO credibility on any subject connected to Israel or the Jewish people. Your keyboard tqqiya is more appropriate for AJ not FPM.

      • sylence

        Wow, I have zero credibility and yet you took the time to reply… what a douche. I have EVERY credibility to criticise zionist policy. It does not make me an anti-semite, it just makes me human. But for some, like you, truth hurts, and you don’t want to listen. That is the point where you become engulfed in fear and hatred, easily manipulated.. Want to try a test, sheep, and see how easy it is? I will manipulate you so hard, your head will spin and you will have uncontrollable bursts of anger.

        • Giborei1967

          You are an outed anti-Semite with ZERO credibility and ZERO influence on anyone except your fellow haters. You were PROVEN as an anti-Semite according to the Sharanski 3D test, the definition of the US State Department and according to German Law. Yes, moron, if you published your trash in Germany you would be prosecuted AND convicted. Your attack on the right of the Jewish people to live in Zion EQUALS anti-Semitism. I am not replying to you seeking a debate. I simple wish to show the evidence to other posters who may not have read your vile anti-Semitic trash from other posts. I seek out all anti-Semites on this post and out them with evidence. You can continue to delude yourself with any of your real or imagined sick fantasies. You cannot harm Israel nor the great Jewish people. You will be destroyed by your own hating kind.

          • sylence

            Oh I am sooooo scared right now..
            Freedom of speech is unknown to you, or you are born with deficiencies?

          • Giborei1967

            Convicts loose many rights. As an anti-Semite you are not “human” you are SUB-HUMAN! And yes, you are lucky not to have met anyone with Krav Maga skills to cure your mental disorder called anti-Semitism.

          • sylence

            And you are what? Übermensch? Hmm..it reminds me of something, but I can’t quite place my finger on it…

          • UCSPanther

            You should be familiar. The Ustasha were allied with Hitler.

            Both would be enemies of Israel were they still around…

          • sylence

            Thanks for reminding me, bravo! What I wantet to say was – zionist jews are nazis but with different religion. Many enemies Israel has, right? Must be tough on you..

          • UCSPanther

            Many enemies?

            I see it as a target-rich environment…

          • sylence

            Figures. Nation that claims that “”loves life”” is a bit too trigger happy. (did you see the double quotation marks?)

          • UCSPanther

            If wanting to survive is a crime, then bring it…

          • sylence

            Fighting for survival? Still? Why is that?

          • UCSPanther

            Fighting for survival never goes out of style.

          • sylence

            You must be a “real man” than…

          • UCSPanther

            I’ll take that as a compliment, Ustasha.

            Must miss the glory days of all the killing under Anton Pavelic…

          • sylence

            Do you come in different shapes and sizes, or just the standard dumb stuck in a ’40. loop?

          • UCSPanther

            I’m just toying with you, Ustasha.

            This is a pro-Israel, Pro-Jewish site. If you don’t like it here, don’t bother reading.

          • sylence

            To get a good picture, one has to gather info from all sources.

          • UCSPanther

            I could keep at this all night, Croat…

          • sylence

            Me to, nazijew

          • UCSPanther

            What’s that?

            Antisemitism? Looks like you just gave yourself away, Ustasha.

          • sylence

            no, it just rhymes funny

          • mark

            Hah, no muslim can ever be a real man, cowardice is such a huge requirement in islam.

            Too coward to leave despite the quran proving allah is a liar and loving evil too much to care how false allah/islam is.

          • sylence

            Hmm, muslims are cowards, and you still have trouble subjugating a nation without an army after what, 60+ years? It must be real easy to hide behind a wall while bombing trapped civilians, such bravery on display…

          • iluvisrael

            because Israel represents everything her savage inbred neighbors loathe. The moslems are just following orders from the pedophile messenger of islam – a bloodthirsty cult.

          • sylence

            Hmm..I met quite a few of those “bloodthirsty” muslims. Quite a peaceful bunch. Guess the zionists succeeded in labelling all of islam as bloodthirsty. Fits their agenda perfectly.

          • mark

            Are you the common muslim lying for his master satan?

          • sylence

            Everyone disagreeing with zionist policy surely must be one?

        • UCSPanther

          And from your comment feed I see you are very much in favor of another Holocaust, like this little gem:

          “It would be a good experiment if there was no IDF forces to guard the jews.”

          Like a good little Ustasha, you don’t like the idea of armed Jews…

          • sylence

            Paranoia goes a long way, doesn’t it? Tell me, do you see holocaust threats even when you open a refrigerator and see an outdated sausage?

          • UCSPanther

            Whatever you say, Anton Pavelic…

          • sylence

            Sheesh…If you want to do it right, than google a little bit. It’s Ante not Anton. This just made you look stupid.

          • UCSPanther

            The anglicized spelling is correct, Ustasha.

          • sylence

            So Ante Pavelic and Anton Korošec have the same name now? Wow, you must be a literacy prize nominee….

          • UCSPanther

            If it works, it works.

            Only an Ustasha would get bent out of shape over the spelling of your “Dear Leader’s” name…

        • iluvisrael

          the rabid anger is all yours – you seethe with anger over Israel’s mere existence, just like all Jew haters – keep seething!

          • sylence

            It’s funny how you guys alway come to the same conclusion, but in most cases are wrong. I don’t hate Israel per se, only what the zionist government is doing to the palestinians. Exist as long as you want, but let others exist as well, or is that a too abstract concept to grasp?

          • iluvisrael

            tell that to the family if isis victims you dimwit

          • iluvisrael

            You’re seething sy!

        • Softly Bob

          Truth hurts only those who don’t refuse to acknowledge it and yet you have the audacity to accuse us of not listening. I’ve listened to both sides of the argument many times and the anti-Israel argument is based on lies.
          Anti-Zionists are deluded by the lie. Historical evidence and current evidence goes against anti-Zionists. They are all idiots at best and evil at worst.

          • sylence

            I can say the opposite is true. Who is right? And while we argue, have in mind that real people living in Gaza and West Bank are still under oppression…

          • Softly Bob

            Yes, they’re under oppression from Hamas, not from Israel.

          • sylence

            Thats why they would vote for Hamas if elections were held today..

      • Trond Larsen

        Well, you got him to bite.

    • Gee

      Israeli vs. Arab – might be because of the thousand of Arab terrorist attacks on innocent Israeli civilians which resulted in the deaths of dozens an maiming of thousands.

      Why are more than 4 million American not allowed to vote? American born and they have never committed a crime, over 18 and are not allowed to vote – there is a true American value – hypocrisy

      • sylence

        Oh, last time I checked, more civilians dead on the arab side than the israeli..the numbers are in thousands and tens of thousands maimed..maybe the jews need the wall to protect themselves from harming palestinian civilians?

        • mjazzguitar

          Hamas should stop using them as shields then.
          That’s if your statement is even true.

          • sylence

            I have seen plenty of evidence and testimonies of IDF using palestinians as human shields, but evidence for your claim can be found where?

          • mjazzguitar
          • sylence

            It’s a bit shady as only one journalist has this story. Ayman Mohyeldin was a peoples person in Gaza, how come he didn’t have the same stories?

          • mjazzguitar

            You’d have to ask him, but there are tons of stories on the internet concerning the palestinians’ use of human shields. The media is biased against Israel, for the most part, anyway.

          • sylence

            And a lot stories, yes, coming from the hasbara and repeated by western media, but evidence is yet to be seen. There are also a lot of reports and actual evidence provided of IDF using palestinians as human shields.

    • mjazzguitar

      Stone throwing palestinian arabs.
      Israeli arabs use those roads.

  • watsa46

    The West insists on imposing APARTHEID against the Jews in Jerusalem and in the “future land of the Palestinians”. How funny! Yet the WHOLE world accuses Israel of being an apartheid state. The MORONISM of the Western world suggests that they suffer from a major case of anencephalism.

  • mjazzguitar

    Obama threw out years of negotiation by meddling in Israel’s affairs, after saying on his apology tour that we too often meddled in other nation’s affairs. He made settlements an issue when the issue of settlements was to be taken up during final status negotiations.
    He also said that the pre-1967 borders should be a starting point for negotiations, when actually they were not borders at all, just the 1949 armistice lines, when the arabs were prevented from destroying Israel. He’s taking sides with the Muslim, as he said he would, and it doesn’t matter whether or not they are terrorists.
    He’s an amateur with no experience in international affairs and has no business trying to represent America’s interests on the world’s stage.

  • couldashitamiata

    “DeFace the Nation” Edited Bibis’ response so as not to sound so critical of Barry. Journalism at its finest………IN CHINA!!!!!!!