15 Comments

I think his stance on BDS is actually more extreme than the other politicians you named. As far as I know, none of the other candidates have likened BDS to "Nazi boycotts." https://nypost.com/2021/01/23/andrew-yang-faces-backlash-for-comparing-bds-to-fascism/ On another issue where most of the candidates pander to a certain segment of the Brooklyn/Queens Jewish community -- yeshiva education, he also has gone out of his way to show that he can pander more than the other candidates. https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/city-hall/story/2021/02/18/andrew-yang-doubles-down-on-defense-of-yeshivas-1364452

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Thank you very much for this post. New York city and state politics have for too long been held hostage to those who equate any criticism of the state of Israel with anti-Semitism. In Brooklyn, in particular, politicians must start to eschew Islamophobia so that they can start to appeal to, and meet the needs of, increasing numbers of people of Islamic background with origins not just in Palestine, but in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria and other countries as well.

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So, Ross, if you think BDS is ineffective, do you have an alternative? Let's put this in perspective: BDS in in its 16th year. How was the BDS movement against apartheid South Africa doing in its 16th year? That would have been 1974, when few had even heard of it, and just Ron Dellums was pushing the issue in Congress, having been elected two years earlier. In 1994, that movement achieved total victory. Now in Congress there are three reps for BDS targetting Israel: Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Cori Bush. Struggles like these are not resolved by a quick fix but require patience.

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a) Not sure that the mayor of a US City needs to have a position on Israel and the Palestinians

b) The Palestinians have had the best shots they were ever going to get for a state. They blew it. Now, even he rest of the Arab world is not all that interested in their problems. Europe, China, Russia, just not that interested in the problems of the Palestinians. The Arabs see them as an annoying inconvenience when they do not see them as cheap labor.

Had you asked me 10 yrs ago, I would have said the best deal for the Palestinians, if not Israel, was for a single state where the Palestinians had full citizenship. But, that ship has sailed I think.

If I had to guess, we are going to watch young Palestinians flee the West Bank and Gaza for lives elsewhere outside the region. Could be Europe. Could be the US or Canada. Could be Central or South America. Anyway you look at it though, the diaspora are getting very old and as generations pass they will have less and less interest in returning to the Middle East. How many 4th generation Italian Americans do you know that crave a move to Sicily? They are not Italian anymore, they are American. Same is and will continue to happen with the Palestinians who leave and more and more are going to leave for a better life and opportunities.

Is it right?

Is this how it should have been?

Probably not but it is the reality and at this point nearly a fait a compli.

In any case, not sure it is something that the mayor of NYC needs to concern themselves with when there are SO MANY OTHER issues RIGHT here at home.

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