by Hugh Fitzgerald
Letting anti-Israel slander go unchallenged.
Kamala Harris apparently does not believe in truth. She believes, rather, in many “truths,” and she thinks it’s important, and desirable, that those various truths, which often clash with each other, be expressed, be heard. A report on her relativism is here: “Harris praises student for expressing ‘your truth’ after anti-Israel rant,” by Dean Shmuel Elmas, Israel Hayom, September 29, 2021:
US Vice President Kamala Harris has come under fire for not condemning a student after she accused US policy of facilitating “ethnic genocide” of Palestinians.
Harris’ exchange with the student took place at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia on Tuesday [Sept. 27]. Harris could be seen nodding as the female student lambasted the US for its support of its allies in the Middle East.
“I see that over the summer there have been, like, protests and demonstrations in astronomical numbers,” the student, who identified as half-Iranian, half-Yemeni, said on the Palestinian protests during the latest Gaza flare-up in May.
“Just a few days ago there were funds allocated to continue backing Israel, which hurts my heart because it’s ethnic genocide and displacement of people, the same that happened in America, and I’m sure you’re aware of this,” the student continued, referring to the special budget passed by the US House to support Israel’s air defense system, Iron Dome, accusing this and other such measures as “inflaming Israel and backing Saudi Arabia and what-not.”
The unnamed student — half-Iranian and half-Yemeni — has just accused Israel of “ethnic genocide and displacement of people.” Harris let this appalling lie pass. She did not utter a syllable of protest. She did not say, as she might have, this:
Just a minute, I cannot let your charge go unanswered. I find your statement that Israel commits “ethnic genocide” absurd and disgusting. There has been no “genocide” by Israel, either of Palestinians or of Israeli Arabs. There are no extermination camps, no mass roundups, no nothing. Genocidal threats have been made, but not by Israel. It is Hamas that carries on a nonstop campaign of terrorism against Israeli civilians, Hamas that lets loose arson balloons, Hamas that launches thousands of rockets into civilian areas, Hamas that in its very charter calls for the total destruction of the Jewish state. That sounds to me like a “genocidal” threat. And as for the Palestinian Authority, it continues its “Pay-For-Slay” program to reward past, and incentivize future, acts of terrorism against Israelis. Meanwhile, the IDF — the Israeli military – tries to minimize civilian casualties among the Palestinians by warning those in buildings where Hamas has hidden its rockets and its launching pads, to leave them when they are about to be targeted; the IDF uses telephone calls, emails, and its “knock-on-the-roof” technique to warn those civilians away.
And by the way, when you accuse Israel of “ethnic genocide,” It might interest you to know that both Mahmoud Abbas and the late Saeb Erakat of the P.A., and Ismail Hanniyeh and Yahya Sinjar of Hamas, have deliberately sought Israeli medical treatment both for themselves or for several of their closest relatives; apparently they were unconcerned with that “genocide” you bizarrely accuse Israelis of practicing.
Here’s a quick summary of the P.A. and Hamas leaders who clearly show they don’t believe in “Israel’s ethnic genocide.” Saeb Erekat, the P.A.’s chief negotiator, spent his life denouncing Israel and Israelis. But when he came down with COVID-19, he insisted on being treated at the Hadassah Hospital, where he received – as he knew he would – a standard care unobtainable in Palestinian hospitals.
His boss Mahmoud Abbas had an Israeli doctor come to Ramallah in 2018 to treat him at home for an undisclosed ailment. Abbas also has had his wife, his brother, and even his brother-in-law, Abu Louai (who lives in Qatar, which has excellent hospitals but Abbas still wanted Louai to be treated in Israel) treated in Israeli hospitals. He obviously did not worry about “genocide.” The Jerusalem imam Sheikh Ikrima Sabra for years spewed violent incitement against Israel from his pulpit. But when he needed heart surgery, Sabra insisted that it be performed at Hadassah Hospital. Jewish doctors saved his life; he then returned to defaming Israel and inciting violence and terrorism against Jews.
Ismail Haniyeh, the current leader of Hamas, arranged at various times to have his mother, his his daughter, and his sister-in-law all treated in Israeli hospitals. He obviously had no fears about genocide. Yahya Sinwar, another Hamas leader, was operated on by Israeli doctors for a brain tumor in 2007; this did not stop him from calling for more attacks on Israel, more killings of Israeli civilians.
These recipients of Israeli medical care were unembarrassed; they did not think of themselves as hypocrites; they knew that you could accept aid from Infidels and still want those Infidels dead.
But my main point is this: Not one of these Palestinians who sought medical attention for themselves or family members in Israeli hospitals, believed Israel was guilty of “ethnic genocide.”
That’s what Kamala Harris should have said. But she didn’t.
Back to the article on Harris letting the anti-Israel slander go unchallenged:
Harris did not directly address the student’s accusations but said she was “glad” that she was not afraid to come forward with her grievances. “This is about the fact that your voice, your perspective, your experience, your truth, should not be suppressed and it must be heard, right? And one of the things we’re fighting for in a democracy, right?” Harris said. “Our goal should be unity, but not uniformity, right?” Harris stated. The vice president then added, “Unity should never be at the expense of telling anyone personally that, for the sake of unity, ‘Oh, you be quiet about that thing. You suppress that thing. Let’s not deal with that thing.’ That’s not unity. True unity is everyone in that room has a voice.” She then touted once again that pluralism should be cherished, but once again did not take the opportunity to call out the accusations of genocide.
Not the truth, but “your voice, your your perspective, your experience, your truth” is what Kamala Harris wants. “Your truth.” But what if “your truth” is a monstrous lie? What if that “lie” — that Israel commits “genocide” — were to be believed, and revenge taken on Jews, both in and out of Israel?
“The point that you are making about policy that relates to Middle East policy, foreign policy, we still have healthy debates in our country about what is the right path, and nobody’s voice should be suppressed on that,” she added.
I cannot make sense of this. It’s a mind in a state of deliquescence. We need “unity.” This “unity” comes when “everyone in the room has a voice.” It doesn’t matter, apparently, how idiotic and false that “voice”may be. Do you think if in her audience someone had expressed his views, as a member of the Proud Boys, or Q-Anon, or the American Nazi Party, Kamala Harris would have been quite so sanguine and encouraging? You know the answer to that. If a Proud Boy had offered his views on Black Lives Matter, or if a member of QAnon had described the “satanic, cannibalistic, pedophile ring” that was operating out of the basement of a pizza store in Washington, Kamala Harris would immediately have cut that Proud Boy or QAnon off, saying “there is no point in listening to such vile nonsense.” And if either one of them continued, she’d ask security to take them away. But she does not feel the same way about someone accusing Israel of “ethnic genocide.” Why not?
Harris says that “nobody’s voice should be suppressed.” But no one has asked for a voice to be suppressed, only that if what is uttered is a complete fabrication, then it should be answered, right then and there. Not to answer, as Kamala Harris did not, is to let the lies stand, unrebutted and thus likely to be believed by the ill-informed. Harris not only did not answer the girl’s vaporings, but instead praised her remark as part of a “healthy debate…about what is the right path” is for our country. Calling Israel guilty of “ethnic genocide” is not part of a “healthy debate.”
Presumably if someone asked ”how do we get the truth out when so much of our media is controlled by Jews” or “we all know that on 9/11 Jews didn’t go to work at the World Trade Center that day,” Kamala Harris would also let those statements go unanswered, and instead praising the remarks as contributing to a “a healthy debate.” A “healthy debate,” or the spreading of noxious lies that would not be out of place in the pages of Der Stürmer? On what theory does Kamala Harris think it just fine to have someone accuse Israel of “genocide,” and why did she not rebut such a charge? Doesn’t she have a responsibility to correct such malignant falsehoods at a meeting that she herself is hosting?
Kamala Harris has just given us her very own Preview of Coming Attractions. As she is, so shall she be, if she ever gets a chance to become, God help us, the President of the United States, she’s shown what we may expect. She doesn’t think she has a responsibility to step in and correct the record, when scandalous and meretricious accusations against Israel are made. She nods, she praises the accuser, she treats dangerous slander with respect. She does do one thing, however, for her boss, for which he must surely be thankful. She makes him look good.
Hugh Fitzgerald
Source: https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/10/kamala-harris-praises-student-who-accused-israel-hugh-fitzgerald/
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