NPR's Diane Rehm Presses Sanders On Whether He’s US-Israel Dual Citizen

[Cali_Democrat]

Source: TPM

An interview with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) stopped in its tracks on Wednesday when NPR's Diane Rehm repeatedly pressed the Democratic presidential candidate whether he was a citizen of Israel.

"Senator, you have dual citizenship with Israel," Rehm said during the interview on her nationally broadcast show based on station WAMU.

"Well, no I do not have dual citizenship with Israel," Sanders, who is Jewish, interjected. "I'm an American. I don't know where that question came from. I am an American citizen, and I have visited Israel on a couple of occasions. I'm an American citizen, period."

Rehm cited "a list we have gotten" at NPR that said Sanders was "on that list."

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bernie-sanders-diane-rehm-israel

---

They have a list?



McCarthyism and anti-semitism all rolled into one.

[Mass]

1. Yes, the Internet is full of these lists. They have the name of every single Jewish lawmaker and a

few that could be (who knows).

Antisemits flourish on the web. Shame on Diane Rehm to trust such a list.

[Kalidurga]

2. McCarthyism and anti-semitism all rolled into one.

GMTA, it's exactly my first thought on the issue. BTW, why should he have to defend that accusation. It's like so Bernie you are Jewish...

[Wilms]

3. Wow! And good grief.

Can we alert on NPR? Is NPR even worth the bother?

[still_one]

11. I don't think the DU jury system will work for NPR, however, Bernie has

no problem handling himself

[riverbendviewgal]

12. I googled and she didn't

I was curious about her.... Ha...She is not a good fact checker.

In June 2015, Rehm interviewed 2016 Democratic Presidential candidate and United States Senator Bernie Sanders and said to Sanders, "Senator, you have dual citizenship with Israel."[11][12][13][14] Sanders stated that her statement was simply not true.[11][12][13][14] Rehm responded to Sanders denial by saying, "I understand from a list we have gotten that you were on that list."[11][12][13][14] Once again, Sanders stated that he is an American and only an American.[11][12][13][14] Sanders indicated that he was offended by the assumption.[12][13] Rehm's statements were criticized in The Federalist for being an anti-Semitic smear, when someone assumes that a Jewish person is a dual citizen with Israel, to chill speech and question the Jewish person's allegiance to America.[11] Sophia Tesfaye of Salon pointed out that Rehm apparently fell for an Antisemitic canard and did not successfully fact-check her information before she conducted her Sanders interview.[13] The Times of Israel, stated that the interview was controversial because Rehm seemed to have accused a Jewish presidential candidate of maintaining secret Israeli citizenship.[14]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Rehm

[closeupready]

18. That wiki entry on her is an interesting read.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

55. What do you know...

"Diane Rehm (/ˈriːm/; born Diane Aed; September 21,[1] 1936) is an Arab-American public radio talk show host."

Nuff Said.

[valerief]

4. Ah, the "liberal" (ahem, cough, cough, cough) NPR in action. We should write to Rehm and

ask her why she has dual citizenship with North Korea. After all, I read on a list she does. North Korea and Iran.

[63splitwindow]

5. An issue he quickly resolved...

As stated in OP, ""Well, no I do not have dual citizenship with Israel," Sanders, who is Jewish, interjected."

So what is the point of this thread?

[valerief]

6. The fact that she asked and said she has "a list." nt

[63splitwindow]

13. Allright. If such a "list" does, indeed, exist, the question becomes...

who put his name on it and what was the motivation to do so.

The question being asked, if sincere, to me is obviously appropriate. Dual citizenship with ANY COUNTRY is something the electorate should know about any candidate for POTUS. Is that debatable?

[valerief]

21. First, she should have identified that list, but she didn't. It was just "a list." And yes, dual

citizenship s/b exposed. But REAL journalists would have VALIDATED that information BEFORE asking the question. Her asking it and not knowing the answer says more about her than about Bernie.

[oberliner]

29. Of course it exists - it's all over the internet

Including being shared on Facebook with Diane Rehm apparently.

Here's one link to such a list:

http://www.boldfacenews.com/members-us-government-double-citizenship-us-israel/

You can tell us what you think the motivation was to put his name on that list.

[63splitwindow]

35. Well,

I give up. What WAS the motivation and on behalf of what candidate(s)? You can tell us.

[oberliner]

36. It's not on behalf of any candidate

Last edited Wed Jun 10, 2015, 06:42 PM - Edit history (1)

It's anti-semitic garbage listing every Jewish person (or person with a Jewish sounding name) who has or has had a position in government and accusing them of being dual citizens of Israel (and therefore not being entirely loyal to the US).

[63splitwindow]

37. Thanks, the reason I ask...

is that the right wing-nut Cons I have observed appear to be VERY pro-Israel and hammer regularly on Obama for his actions vis-à-vis Israel.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

56. If you can look at that list

and truly believe that all those senators and representatives have dual citizenship (all with a (D) by their name BTW) then you should remove your tinfoil hat.

[63splitwindow]

58. Whoaaaaa....

Playing the insult card won't help your cause whatsoever, if fact will do harm. Of course he doesn't have dual citizenship nor do the others for the most part. I was only asking who made the list and what is their true purpose (who/what are they promoting?).

[Scootaloo]

31. She wasn't asking a question, she was making a declaration.

And such lists crop up regularly. They're something antisemites throw together to accuse Jewish lawmakers and public figures of "dual loyalties."

[63splitwindow]

63. Her "statement" was poor journalism...

and encapsulated the "list" BS I had never even heard of before this thread (note when I joined DU). It appears to me that Sanders handled it quite adroitly and diplomatically---- more than can be said for some of his supporters here. Those "supporters" are doing their candidate a disservice by their over-reactions here.

[leftynyc]

52. Except that list was posted HERE

in February:

http://sync.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=6288194

and from 2 weeks ago

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=1104429

(in fairness, the second one was hidden by a jury 4-3 - meaning 3 thought it was perfectly ok. So no, this issue is FAR from resolved. Even here.

Do you still consider it unimportant?

[63splitwindow]

59. The original topic...

was her asking the question. The question seemed appropriate, to me, if the issue (possible dual citizenship) had been legitimately raised. Until this thread I had never heard of the bogus "list" nor of the overall issue. Relax.

[leftynyc]

60. Really?

Bernie was born here and his parents were from Poland. How is it legitimate to state he's a dual citizen of Israel?

[63splitwindow]

62. Relax...

Really? Go bother someone else. How about, "To me, at the time, it seemed a legitimate issue to clear up once, for all, and for all posterity." If you can't recognize someone who is not your adversary (me), you have problems. Seriously. Before, I had no opinion at all about Sanders. If you are representative of his followers it bodes poorly for his chances. Note that his reaction to her was closer to what I am saying than your rant. Absorb that.

[still_one]

7. Inane question. Bernie was born in the U.S. And does not have dual citizenship. He is Jewish, and

he supports Isreal and a two state solution

Stupid question

[Dont call me Shirley]

8. I was wondering when that was going to get started.

Figures it was NPRKochwhore.

[oberliner]

9. Ms. Rehm later issued a statement to The Jewish Journal apologizing for her line of questioning.

“On today’s show I made a mistake. Rather than asking Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders whether he had dual U.S./Israeli citizenship, as I had read in a comment on Facebook, I stated it as fact.

He corrected me, saying he did not know where the question came from. I apologized immediately.

I want to apologize as well to all our listeners for having made an erroneous statement. I am sorry for the mistake. However, I am glad to play a role in putting this rumor to rest.”

http://www.jewishjournal.com/mostthingsconsidered/item/did_npr_host_diane_rehm_just_accuse_bernie_sanders_of_being_an_israeli_citi

[still_one]

16. She is an idiot if she is getting her information from face book

[antiquie]

17. "I had read in a comment on Facebook, I stated it as fact."

[oberliner]

23. Yes that is pretty weak coming from a journalist

You'd think she could have done a wee bit of fact checking on that first.

[Nay]

28. No shit. One truly hopes that her chickenshit comment did not come from her

heritage -- she was raised in a Christian Arab household. It's very hard for me to believe that she repeats every dumbshit line she gets from "comments on Facebook." She picked that dumbshit line for some reason. WTF??? Who does that?? Not journalists, hopefully.

[FrodosPet]

25. I shared a post on Facebook that said great blessings would come to me for sharing it on Facebook

So any day now, I am expecting a nice big check. If it's on Facebook, it must be true because they don't let you put stuff on Facebook that's not true. I think it is in the terms of service or something.

.

[6chars]

47. So according to her,

According to her apology, she should have asked "Is it true you are a dual citizen of Israel?" How about she just fact check, and how about she not ask unless there was a credible source not just odious internet trash?

"Rather than asking" she says. Is she serious? WTF???

[jalan48]

10. And the dirty tricks begin.

Bernie must now be seen as a serious threat to the establishment.

[blackspade]

19. +1000

[SoapBox]

22. ^This^

[Jack Rabbit]

26. I wouldn't support Bernie if he weren't a serious threat to the establishment

The oligarchy, aka the establishment, is too big for its breeches.

[INdemo]

38. Exactly...he is a serious threat

Could Bill Clinton be working in the shadows as he did in 2008?

[leftynyc]

53. Do you blame Bill Clinton

for the fact the same list was posted here in February (and not hidden by jury) and just two weeks ago (hidden 4-3). How did Bill manage that?

[iandhr]

39. This has nothing to do with "threat to the establishment."

This is good old fashioned anti-Semitism.

[oberliner]

41. That is definitely not what is happening here

This nonsense has been going around for a while now.

[yurbud]

61. it's an odd line of attack if so since establishment loves Israel

they have been our "bad cop" on the Middle East beat for decades, which is partly why they get a pass on their treatment of Palestinians, occasional invasion of neighbors like Lebanon, and their nukes.

[iandhr]

14. Good old fashioned anti-semitism.

[blackspade]

15. WTF is this crap?

National Propaganda Radio at its finest...

[SoapBox]

20. What the hell?

No wonder I stopped listening to them about 4 years ago.

Steve Inskeep and Michelle Norris would make me nuts with their anti-Democrat "snark" comments.

[jalan48]

24. I quit in 2003 in the run up to the Iraq War.

The announcers on NPR sounded like cheerleaders for Bush and Cheney. Besides that they all sound the same to me. It's as if NPR has a school where the teach their broadcasters to all speak alike.

[JI7]

27. That list is mentioned on du all the time

[63splitwindow]

30. Is that THE list in question...

and, if so, who started/maintains it?

[Scootaloo]

32. Yes? Can we see it on DU?

[oberliner]

40. You posted on one such thread

So you obviously know that we do see such a list referenced here.

[Scootaloo]

42. Please refresh my memory.

also, I wouldn't be surprised if someone, sometime had posted such. DU seems to collect al lsorts of lint as it rolls through the itnernet. I'm puzzled about JI7's "all the time" point, though

[oberliner]

43. The thread where you call Israel a "shitty little client state"

Here's the link:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=1103693

Earlier in the thread I had a little back and forth with a poster who brought up "the list" and provided some links.

[Scootaloo]

44. I'm glad you had a link, 'cause that wouldn't have narrowed it down otherwise

Gotta say, this exchange made me laugh, and I haven't even read the posts yet...

Can you post a link to that list?
oberliner

What list?
sulphurdunn

The list of the dual American/Israeli citizens in the GW Bush administration
oberliner

This post was hidden by jury decision.
sulphurdunn

Dem sources, though... Ifamericansknew? Ron Paul forums? Boldface news?

Woooo.

[oberliner]

45. Here's another one

http://sync.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=6288194

With an altogether different link for this "information".

[Scootaloo]

46. I'm laughing so damn hard here

That link header. Colloidal silver! sylphs! Chemtrails! Planet X! And oh, oh,there it is, "Protocols of Zion."

Got any more Oberliner? This is great shit. Sylphs, really?

From Ken Adachi <Editor>
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/sylphandchemtrailindex.shtml

This is a new index page devoted to examing the recent activity of Sylphs in transmuting, neutralizing, and destroying the noxious substances being sprayed as chemtrails. The deployment of orgone generators has apparently played a significant role in helping to bring about this remarkable development. If you are new to this subject, start by reading the oldest article at the bottom and work your way up to the most recent articles at the top.

"Sylph" is the name given to air elementals by the ancient Greeks. If the subject of Sylphs is new to you, you can learn more by reading this essay from ZS Livingstone written in 2004 (http://educate-yourself.org/zsl/sylphstransmutechemtrails06jun04.shtml)

What's not to love?

[mulsh]

33. She didn't press she accused, an important distinction. A good example of why I abandoned NPR/PBS

news a few years ago. Mr. Sanders handled it adroitly.

Expect more of this crap. At least she showed her hand, and in doing so I'm fairly certain the hand of those she answers to at work.

[Koinos]

34. NPR is no longer "public" radio.

It is "owned" by corporate donors.

[project_bluebook]

48. what can we expect from

National Petroleum Radio.

[nolabels]

50. Nazi's Plutocracy Radio

Just like Nazi's when coming up to tell their populations what to think they too where funded by Large Corporations

[Little Tich]

49. Wow, that's pretty offensive... n/t

[truthisfreedom]

51. I know which NPR reporter to question from now on.

Sickening.

[Bradical79]

54. What the hell?

You get to interview a candidate for the Democratic nomination and you accuse him of being some kind of secret Israeli? And you have some sort of mysterious list? You would expect someone who scored such an interview to at least be decerning enough to understand the likely origins of such a list.

I know a lot of false accusations of antisemitism get thrown around where Israel is concerned, but something like this is pretty blatantly antisemitic.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

57. BHO was never able to prove there's no Kenyan birth certificate ...

... and Sanders can't produce his "not Israeli" papers, either.

The life of birthers continues ...



(opinion of D. Rehm just went down a notch)