Sarah Palin has said a lot of stupid things since entering the national stage last year, but this, from her interview with Barbara Walters, is right up there with the stupidest of them all:
I disagree with the Obama administration on that. I believe that the Jewish settlements should be allowed to be expanded upon, because that population of Israel is, is going to grow. More and more Jewish people will be flocking to Israel in the days and weeks and months ahead. And I don't think that the Obama administration has any right to tell Israel that the Jewish settlements cannot expand.
She's siding here with the most extreme elements of Israeli society, the far-right colonialists who wish to occupy Palestinian land (and call it their own).
And she seems to think that Israel should expand as much as it wants, with no regard whatsoever for the Palestinian people, let alone for any possibility of peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
And what does it mean that "[m]ore and more Jewish people will be flocking to Israel in the days and weeks and months ahead." Is there some reverse diaspora about to happen that I'm not aware of? Does Palin know something the rest of us don't?
As for whether the U.S. can tell Israel what to do... well, look, I'm generally a friend and supporter of Israel, and I think it has every right to assert its sovereignty over its own territory, but the occupied territories pose a rather more complicated challenge that the U.S. has every right to be concerned about. Besides, where would Israel be without the U.S.? This doesn't mean the U.S. can order Israel around, but it does mean that the U.S. can and ought to involve itself in Israeli affairs that threaten or undermine peace efforts or that otherwise could impact, and do impact, Israel's neighbors. Besides, there will only be peace in the region, and between Israel and the Palestinians, if the U.S. acts as an honest broker, and if the U.S. isn't simply Israel's unconditional ally and advocate. Palin clearly doesn't grasp any of that, and her "policy" is both ignorant and dangerous.
And some people actually think she belongs in the Oval Office?
Crossposted from The Reaction.