OUR ZIONIST CANDIDATE

We assume that our mayor’s sojourn in Israel has more to do with his gubernatorial bid than with personal tourism preference.

We assume that Newsom is doing what he does best—getting the support of rich people.

There must be potential donors to Newsom’s campaign for whom pro-Zionism is a necessary condition.

Thanks to the SF Bay Guardian for finding this egregious example of Newsom’s Zionist ass-sucking: Newsom repeats the tired old party line that anti-Zionism equals anti-Semitism. In a Jerusalem Post interview Newsom says:

“To those who make that assertion [that Israel oppresses Palestinians], I would like to see it backed up in the context of the capacity of understanding. I think there is a lot of bias and bigotry, and frankly a lot of anti-Semitism…"

Clearly the interviewer was fishing for the last statement, “I think there is a lot of bias…” Very strange are the weasel words that precede it. “I would like to see it backed up in the context of the capacity of understanding.”

What could this possibly mean?

There’s “understanding.”

Then there’s “the capacity of understanding.”

Then there’s “the context of the capacity of understanding.”

Understand?

Newsom said he "absolutely" believed some of the anti-Israel speech emanating from his city was anti-Semitic.

Poor Newsom! What’s he supposed to say? He could as easily have agreed that some of the anti-Israel speech was… psychotic.

SFGate ran an op-ed criticizing Newsom’s trip to Israel. Her perspective on the “birth” of the state of Israel:

On May 15, my family will commemorate an-Nakba, Arabic for "the catastrophe," which is the dark underbelly of Israel's foundation. Sixty years ago, Jewish militants and, later, the Israeli army, forced 2 out of every 3 Palestinians - more than 700,000 people - to flee their homes. Many Palestinians who resisted expulsion or were unable to leave were massacred in cold blood, as were those who returned to harvest food from their orchards or gather personal belongings left behind. The Palestinians who fled now constitute the oldest unresolved refugee population in the world, despite their internationally recognized right to return. Meanwhile, Israel permits any Jew from anywhere in the world to immigrate and obtain citizenship.

Newsom’s trip is being paid for by the San Francisco Jewish Community Federation, clearly a pro-Zionist organization. This page explains the programs JCF funds.

I wonder how Newsom accounts for the receipt of such valuable consideration as plane tickets, hotels, meals, and incidentals, from SFJCF. Is this considered a campaign contribution? A gift?

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