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Biden and Kerry Prove Muslim Lobby Matters, Israeli Lobby Doesn’t
Posted By Daniel Greenfield On October 27, 2014 @ 11:24 am In The Point | 5 Comments
When Joe Biden criticized the Saudis, Turkey and the UAE for enabling ISIS, the Vice President of the United States was humiliated by being forced to make personal apologies to the leaders of those countries.
Vice President Biden on Saturday apologized to Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for saying the Turkish leader admitted his country made mistakes by allowing foreign fighters to cross into Syria.
Biden spoke directly to Erdogan to “clarify” comments made on Thursday at Harvard University and apologized for “any implication” that Turkey or other allies had intentionally supplied or helped in the growth of the Islamic State or other extremists groups in Syria, the White House said.
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. has one more stop on what has become a Middle East apology tour in the wake of his impolitic answer to a Harvard student’s question: Saudi Arabia.
After apologizing to officials from Turkey and the United Arab Emirates over the weekend, Mr. Biden is trying to connect with Saudi leaders…
Turkey, Mr. Biden said, has admitted allowing foreign fighters to cross into Syria, while Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia funneled weapons and other aid to Syrian rebels that ended up in the hands of Al Nusra, Al Qaeda and other extremist groups.
The White House expressed relief on Monday over Mr. Biden’s apologies, with the press secretary, Josh Earnest, noting that “the vice president is somebody who has enough character to admit when he’s made a mistake.”
Now contrast that with what happened when Kerry blamed ISIS growth on Israel.
“As I went around and met with people in the course of our discussions about the ISIL coalition, the truth is we – there wasn’t a leader I met with in the region who didn’t raise with me spontaneously the need to try to get peace between Israel and the Palestinians, because it was a cause of recruitment and of street anger and agitation that they felt – and I see a lot of heads nodding – they had to respond to. And people need to understand the connection of that. And it has something to do with humiliation and denial and absence of dignity, and Eid celebrates the opposite of all of that,” Kerry said.
The Israelis are upset and getting blasted for it by the State Department.
“By any means it is an inaccurate reading of what the Secretary said,” Harf continued. “He did not make a linkage between Israel and the growth of ISIL, period.”
Later, Harf accused Bennett of having an agenda.
“In terms of this specific Israeli minister’s comments, I think, and I think the Secretary thinks, and everyone thinks that what you say actually matters and not just how someone tries to distort it for their own political purposes,” Harf added.
So no apology, obviously. And no regrets or even retraction.
Blaming Muslim countries for the growth of ISIS is not allowed. Blaming a Jewish country is.
The entire ugly episode is yet another reminder that the powerful Israeli Lobby is a myth. The real power is with the Muslim lobby.
I’m not a big fan of Voltaire or this particular quote, but it does fit here. “To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.”
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