Here is a prime example of what I call “the Jewish schizophrenia”: liberal on all issues of social justice and human need; fascist on Israel (emphasis in original):
New York’s senior senator explained that the current Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip — which is causing a humanitarian crisis there — is not only justified because it keeps weapons out of the Palestinian territory, but also because it shows the Palestinians living there that “when there’s some moderation and cooperation, they can have an economic advancement.” Summing up his feelings, Schumer emphasized the need to “to strangle them economically until they see that’s not the way to go”:
SCHUMER: The Palestinian people still don’t believe in the Jewish state, in a two-state solution. More do than before, but a majority still do not. Their fundamental view is, the Europeans treated the Jews badly and gave them our land — this is Palestinian thinking […] They don’t believe in the Torah, in David […] You have to force them to say Israel is here to stay. The boycott of Gaza to me has another purpose — obviously the first purpose is to prevent Hamas from getting weapons by which they will use to hurt Israel — but the second is actually to show the Palestinians that when there’s some moderation and cooperation, they can have an economic advancement. When there’s total war against Israel, which Hamas wages, they’re going to get nowhere. And to me, since the Palestinians in Gaza elected Hamas, while certainly there should be humanitarian aid and people not starving to death, to strangle them economically until they see that’s not the way to go, makes sense.
This is about as straightforward an endorsement of collective punishment as anyone could ask for. Collective punishment, of course, is forbidden under international law — but the deeper issue for me is the disgrace of a Jew endorsing the violation of one of the most basic principles of human rights.
There is no particular reason why Palestinians should “believe in the Torah,” since they are not Jewish. Chuck Schumer IS Jewish. Obviously his own lack of belief in the Torah — or, if I’m being charitable, his lack of understanding of the Torah — is far more relevant here.
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