Holy shit! A senior Palestinian Authority official accuse Romney of making a "racist statement"

[ProSense]

Romney: Israel’s Superior Economy To Palestinians Result Of ‘Culture,’ ‘Providence’

Benjy Sarlin

Mitt Romney offered up a curious assessment of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at a fundraiser in Jerusalem on Sunday, suggesting that Palestinian suffering — rather than an obstacle to peace — was actually an encouraging sign of Israel’s greatness.

“I was thinking this morning as I prepared to come into this room of a discussion I had across the country in the United States about my perceptions about differences between countries,” Romney told a group of high-dollar donors at a fundraiser in Jerusalem’s King David Hotel. “As you come here and you see the GDP per capita, for instance, in Israel which is about $21,000 dollars, and compare that with the GDP per capita just across the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority, which is more like $10,000 per capita, you notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality.”

As the Associated Press noted, Romney actually got the numbers very wrong: Israel’s GDP per capita was $31,000 in 2011 and Palestinians’ per capita GDP was just $1,500. Romney at no point mentioned that the Palestinian territories have for decades been occupied without sovereign control, where residents face significant restrictions on movement and employment.

“It is a racist statement and this man doesn’t realize that the Palestinian economy cannot reach its potential because there is an Israeli occupation,” Saeb Erakat, a senior Palestinian Authority official, told the AP.

- more -

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/07/romney-israel-palestine-gdp-culture.php

[joost5]

1. Leave it to Romney

He has no clue what struggles the Palestinians have had under occupation. For him to utter this nonsense without acknowledging the occupation shows how dangerous he is. There would never be Middle East peace in a Romney presidency.

[Scootaloo]

5. ...There's never been a middle east peace under any presidency

No US president, sitting or otherwise, has ever lifted a single finger for the benefit of the Palestinians. The two closest there've been are Carter and Clinton.

Carter wrote a book that was so garbled and self-apologetic as to be useless. A third of the history is wrong in one direction, and another half is wrong in the other direction. It reads like "A Dummy's Guide to Israel and Palestine," at least where it doesn't read like a badly edited first draft of a high school political report.

Clinton got his chuckles by pretending that Palestinians and Israelis could negotiate on equal terms. They can't, the power disparity is too great; it'd be like China and Tuvalu negotiating a dispute, if nobody's got Tuvalu's back, they're getting screwed. So, the Palestinians got screwed, and Clinton later blamed the Palestinians for getting screwed, a narrative which has become a favorite of people who love fucking over Palestinians and saying it's their own fault.

So that's the two US presidents in the totality of history that have bothered trying to offer a hand to the Palestinians. Let's not pretend Romney is breaking new ground in this instance.

However, the part where Romney stands next to Netanyahu and knocks US policy and the president? That's new ground.

[Trillo]

2. I would expect Rmoney to place money high on a pedestal.

It is interesting to read that some Palestinians feel Romney's valuing of money is racist.

[ProSense]

3. It's not

"Romney's valuing of money." It's the notion that success is based on "providence."

This is right in line with Romney's Anglo-Saxon assertion. Worse.

[Scootaloo]

8. Actually...

Romney's argument is a pretty common one in the "I'm not racist but..." department. Basically, the "not a racist" (i.e., TOTALLY racist) person points out poverty in a particular group and contrasts it to wealth in a different group, and concludes there's something just inherently wrong - "pathological" is a favorite term - with the first group.

It hinges on ignoring that the first group is usually a victim of oppression by the second.

That's what Romney's doing here; "Well, there must be something wrong with the Palestinians." And yes, it's still racist.

[Aerows]

7. It's not that

If you read the whole speech, he's basically saying that those cultures and countries that have prosperity have it because they deserve it (somehow superior) and those that don't have it don't deserve it (inferior).

Never mind that Israel gets tons of foreign aid from the US, and has enormous control over what resources Palestinians have access to. Gee, I wonder why Israel is more prosperous than Palestine? It MUST be that they deserve prosperity and the Palestinians don't.

[Aerows]

6. Read what his campaign released

in it's ENTIRETY at the bottom of this article, and it's even more chilling than this assessment.

It really gives insight into this man's world view. He essentially believes that if you are prosperous, it is because you are good and deserve it, and if you aren't, it's because you are bad and don't deserve anything.

I think just about everyone with an IQ above room temperature could figure out that people who are oppressed and prevented from having access to resources are not going to do as well as those who are doing the oppressing and keeping those resources. Not to mention if they have a large country giving them foreign aid.

[Scootaloo]

9. Unfortunately, a large portion of America shares the belief

"Prosperity Doctrine" is a major philosophy in our culture, both in regards to religious and secular life.

It's why we get pissed when a Wal-Mart greeter buys beer, it's why we scorn and even beat the homeless, it's why there's such rage at the thought of health care for the poor.

The Prosperity Doctrine is one of the pillars of American culture, sad to say.

[nanabugg]

10. Not to mention that all the US military aid to Israel that keeps them from having to spend their

resources on weapontry and please don't forget all the pyramid, embezzeled, scammed money that folks like Adelson, Abrmoff and Madoff have stashed in the Israeli economy either directly or indirectly. The Palestinians used to be among the most educated and talented people in the ME. They were always builders and farmers with much success. Occupation, racism, discrimination are always devastating to the occupied or endentured.

[starroute]

11. So what's his explanation for Utah being down there in the bottom quintile?

Culture? Or Providence?