Black lawmakers vow to stand by Israel despite sitting out Netanyahu speech

[King_David]

WASHINGTON (JTA) — It was not the first time John Lewis had invoked the Jewish-black alliance that fought for equality during the civil rights era. But it was the first time that the Georgia congressman, a civil rights hero, invoked it to explain why he was skipping a speech by an Israeli prime minister.

“In many occasions we have worked side by side to strengthen our democracy and fight for equality and justice in this country,” Lewis (D-Ga.) said at a news conference March 3 where several Democrats who had boycotted Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech earlier in the day explained their absence.

But like many of the 60 lawmakers who chose to sit out Netanyahu’s appearance before a joint session of Congress, where the prime minister railed against the deal the Obama administration is negotiating over Iran’s nuclear program, Lewis saw House Speaker John Boehner’s invitation to Netanyahu to appear on Capitol Hill as a partisan ploy that trumped his traditional support for Israel.

“I am saddened that the speaker would threaten this historic position, bipartisan support of our Israeli brothers and sisters, by this action,” Lewis said. “It is for this reason that I chose not to attend this morning’s address.”


http://www.jta.org/2015/03/10/news-opinion/politics/black-lawmakers-vow-to-stand-by-israel-despite-sitting-out-netanyahu

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

1. What Lewis and MLK experienced in Selma are what Palestinians have to face every day and worse.

Lewis, who was savagely beaten by police when marching for voting rights with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Ala., 50 years ago, at a symposium on black-Jewish relations at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., argued for increased interactions between the community’s younger members who have no personal memory of the 1960s coalition.

I would hope that Congressman Lewis understands that Palestinians suffer under the same kind of discrimination, bigotry, intolerance and unbridled aggression that he and Dr. King marched against. The spirit of the good ole south is alive in Israel.

[King_David]

2. That's your opinion not his

Clearly.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

3. Are you playing Captain Obvious tonight?

That was my statement, dave. Yes. But it is an accurate one. Israel is hostile to Palestinians to the point where it subjugates, discriminates, destroys and steals whatever land it wants from Palestine.

Well gee-whiz. Now I am playing Captain obvious! This is fun.

[King_David]

4. The opinion of the wannabe leader of the Palestinian people's cause .

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

5. I really have no idea what that means, but okay...I guess.