Avigdor Lieberman Should Be Judged On His Actions, Not His Words: Commentary

Israel Policy Forum:

The global Left wing media has widely and predictably reviled the elevation of Avigdor Lieberman to foreign minister. Robert Fisk, writing in The Independent, compares Lieberman to Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic and mentions Lieberman's "racist comments." Al Jazeera, not unexpectedly, refers to him as "a racist settler living on usurped Palestinian land." The Nation implies that Lieberman is "fascist." The Left wing blogosphere, awash in anti-Israel rhetoric generally, is far more severe. Lieberman is referred to as a "thug," "racist," and "demagogue," while Justin Raimondo of antiwar.com asks of Lieberman, "A Jewish Hitler?" Many of the mainstream press' profiles of Lieberman discuss the labeling of him as racist, which perpetuates the association of Lieberman with racism. In this piece I have two major points. The first is that Lieberman's alleged racism is irrelevant. The second, related point is that we should judge him, as we should judge all politicians, by what he does, not by what he says.

Read the whole story: Israel Policy Forum

Comments

[Nicolaus]

I entirely agree.
Since he is under investigation for fraud and money laundering (not from the night club where he was a bouncer, though), one can should judge him as such.
Accusing him of wanting to 'bounce off' dissenting Arabs from their homes unless they swear an oath of allegiance to the land where they existed for thousands of years is COMPLETELY unconnected with his desire to resume his earlier vocation.

[Justtellthetruth]

In the US, the analog for Lieberman's party would be the KKK. They too seek to segregate and ideally racially cleanse the US. They do it for Racist reasons as well. However, they were never able to get the US army to help them achieve their goals, precisely because the vast majority of People in this nation are sickened by them and the constitution forbids the type of behavior they advocate.

So, if we are to take your advice with Israel andLieberman, then it should simply be made clear that the is no "special relationship" based on shared values, because they are defecating on our most cherished values, and in doing so bring terror down upon their own country as well as ours.

We should cut off Israel from all financial, military and diplomatic aid, and THEN allow Lieberman to use his racist principles to guide the nation of Israel. That way, we are not stained by association with his horrific ideas. Only then would I agree to give him the latitude you suggest.

[Pema]

I fear complete and total genocide to the Palestians. I have seen this run up to hell and if anyone thinks with this new israeli government things will get better, wrong. this is sending shockwaves thru the arab community. more white phoesous, more uranium lined shells, more death, more uranium ruined births. sickening. this artical is a whitewash.
everyone go to the link rog47Roger has posted.

[Fein]

By this logic then, Iran's anti-Israel comments then do not constitute any provocation.

I agree with that.

However I am sure that the Israeli Policy Forum will quickly construct a logical argument for why the same principle espoused for the Israelis is inappropriate in context with the Iranian state.

[Nicolaus]

Or the potential loss of advertising revenue?

[Rog49Thomas]

http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/spages/1061172.html

apparently due to the refined sensibilities of huffpo i am not allowed to make these dangerous comments

[WoodyTanaka]

What a load of half truths and rubbish in this article.

How about a proposal that both the Arabs and the Jews swear loyalty to a state that protects all of their rights and interests equally in every circumstance and does not glorify ethno-centric bigotry and prejudice into law?

[Rog49Thomas]

Would Commentary hold a similar view on Pat Oliphant's cartoon or the lyrics of Eric Owen or Crew X?

After all it's just speech, not actions. Isn't it?

[gazmac2]

According to a recent poll two thirds of Israelis wanted the Gaza war to continue, despite the huge number of civilian casualties.

Lieberman speaks to this majority in the language they increasingly want to hear. That is the problem. Israeli society will now be dragged even further to the right by Lieberman and his brand of anti-Arab racism.

http://gazasolidarity.blogspot.com/2009/03/big-majority-of-israelis-wanted-gaza.html