Ted Cruz booed off stage at Middle Eastern Christian conference

[Indy Texas]

The Democrats have  an ex-president that wrote Palestine: Peace not Apartheid, the GOP do not.

Ron Paul called Gaza a concentration camp IIRC.  And Jimmy Carter isn't influencing US policy.  Even progressives like Warren and Sanders are pro-Israel.

What does being pro-Israel even mean at this point? Can you oppose West Bank settlements and be pro-Israel? Can you support Palestinian statehood and be pro-Israel? Are you required to adhere to the Yisrael Beitenu party line in order to be pro-Israel?

[KCDem]

Being "pro-Israel" (whatever that means) is starting to mean being pro-genocide.

[MalaspinaGold]

The Democrats have  an ex-president that wrote Palestine: Peace not Apartheid, the GOP do not.

Ron Paul called Gaza a concentration camp IIRC.  And Jimmy Carter isn't influencing US policy.  Even progressives like Warren and Sanders are pro-Israel.

What does being pro-Israel even mean at this point? Can you oppose West Bank settlements and be pro-Israel? Can you support Palestinian statehood and be pro-Israel? Are you required to adhere to the Yisrael Beitenu party line in order to be pro-Israel?

Short answer: yes, yes, no
Long answer: hell yes, hell yes, hell no

Don't tell Adelson this though. He may get an aneurysm.

Pro-Israel basically is equivalent to Pro-America, utterly meaningless. And I think it's a good idea to keep it that way.

[IceSpear]

The Democrats have  an ex-president that wrote Palestine: Peace not Apartheid, the GOP do not.

Ron Paul called Gaza a concentration camp IIRC.  And Jimmy Carter isn't influencing US policy.  Even progressives like Warren and Sanders are pro-Israel.

What does being pro-Israel even mean at this point? Can you oppose West Bank settlements and be pro-Israel? Can you support Palestinian statehood and be pro-Israel? Are you required to adhere to the Yisrael Beitenu party line in order to be pro-Israel?

Yes, yes, no.

In fact, I'd wager the majority of pro-Israel people support a Palestinian state, despite the feverish imaginations of the Hamas apologists.

[Chunk Yogurt for President!]

Being "pro-Israel" (whatever that means) is starting to mean being pro-genocide.

That's basically it, sadly.  And the media along with most politicians are complicit in this.

[MalaspinaGold]

The Democrats have  an ex-president that wrote Palestine: Peace not Apartheid, the GOP do not.

Ron Paul called Gaza a concentration camp IIRC.  And Jimmy Carter isn't influencing US policy.  Even progressives like Warren and Sanders are pro-Israel.

What does being pro-Israel even mean at this point? Can you oppose West Bank settlements and be pro-Israel? Can you support Palestinian statehood and be pro-Israel? Are you required to adhere to the Yisrael Beitenu party line in order to be pro-Israel?

Yes, yes, no.

In fact, I'd wager the majority of pro-Israel people support a Palestinian state, despite the feverish imaginations of the Hamas apologists.

While that may be true, a significant number of them, are like Netanyahu and AIPAC, nominally pro-two state, but determined to drag their feet the whole time, and would secretly prefer a one-state.

[Brittain33]

Being "pro-Israel" (whatever that means) is starting to mean being pro-genocide.

That's basically it, sadly.  And the media along with most politicians are complicit in this.

How are you guys defining genocide these days? We have other words describing the nastiness of killing lots of civilians in a lopsided war that don't rise to the level of "genocide." If Israel is committing genocide in an area with among the fastest population growth rates on Earth, the term has no meaning.

It's not defending Israel's blockade and periodic attacks on Gaza to point out more people died in a single day of transports from the Warsaw Ghetto to Treblinka in August 1942 than in Gaza in the last year, in case the temptation to use the g word is to make some equivalence with the Holocaust.

[pbrower2a]

Being "pro-Israel" (whatever that means) is starting to mean being pro-genocide.

That's basically it, sadly.  And the media along with most politicians are complicit in this.

That's how Sheldon Adelson promotes US-Israeli relations.

Permanent war with the Arab neighbors and near-neighbors of Israel is bad for Israel. Peace is the definitive achievement of national security.

[CJK]

What bothered me most about Cruz's remarks was his statement "those who hate Jews hate Christians" and "If you hate the Jewish people you are not reflecting the teachings of Christ."

Really? Historically, massacring and expelling Jews have been extraordinarily popular amongst Christians. The Crusaders hated Jews, so according to Cruz they hated Christians as well.

As for the second statement, the gospel of John strongly denounces the Jews. In the Book of Revelations Jesus says that Jews are the "synagogue of Satan". 

As a Christian, I am deeply offended by Ted Cruz telling me who I can and can't hate.

[TJ in Oregon]

What bothered me most about Cruz's remarks was his statement "those who hate Jews hate Christians" and "If you hate the Jewish people you are not reflecting the teachings of Christ."

Really? Historically, massacring and expelling Jews have been extraordinarily popular amongst Christians. The Crusaders hated Jews, so according to Cruz they hated Christians as well.

As for the second statement, the gospel of John strongly denounces the Jews. In the Book of Revelations Jesus says that Jews are the "synagogue of Satan". 

As a Christian, I am deeply offended by Ted Cruz telling me who I can and can't hate.

Aren't Christians supposed to love everyone, even our enemies?

[bedstuy]

What bothered me most about Cruz's remarks was his statement "those who hate Jews hate Christians" and "If you hate the Jewish people you are not reflecting the teachings of Christ."

Really? Historically, massacring and expelling Jews have been extraordinarily popular amongst Christians. The Crusaders hated Jews, so according to Cruz they hated Christians as well.

As for the second statement, the gospel of John strongly denounces the Jews. In the Book of Revelations Jesus says that Jews are the "synagogue of Satan". 

As a Christian, I am deeply offended by Ted Cruz telling me who I can and can't hate.

It looks like you're writing an anti-Semitic screed.  Would you like help?

[TJ in Oregon]

Clippy!!! Thanks for bringing back a piece of my childhood.

[Deus Naturae]

Santorum criticizes Cruz.

[Indy Texas]

Santorum criticizes Cruz.

Makes sense. Santorum likes Israel but as a traditionalist Catholic, he doesn't have fever-dreams about it in the same way that evangelical Protestants like Ted Cruz do. And since the bulk of Middle Eastern Christians are some variety of Catholic (Maronite, Melkite, Chaldean, etc), he probably shares a certain affinity with them that Cruz doesn't.

[Dixie Reborn]

As a Christian, I do not view Israel as an ally.

[pbrower2a]

What bothered me most about Cruz's remarks was his statement "those who hate Jews hate Christians" and "If you hate the Jewish people you are not reflecting the teachings of Christ."

Really? Historically, massacring and expelling Jews have been extraordinarily popular amongst Christians. The Crusaders hated Jews, so according to Cruz they hated Christians as well.

As for the second statement, the gospel of John strongly denounces the Jews. In the Book of Revelations Jesus says that Jews are the "synagogue of Satan". 

As a Christian, I am deeply offended by Ted Cruz telling me who I can and can't hate.

Aren't Christians supposed to love everyone, even our enemies?

On some other forum, one poster (a self-proclaimed Christian) accused me of one of the worst crimes possible short of murder. I prayed for him and put the prayer for him in the forum so that he could  recognize what I was doing. After all, I am reasonably certain that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said plenty of prayers for those who hated him -- segregationist politicians and even terrorists.

 

[nolesfan2011]

The Democrats have  an ex-president that wrote Palestine: Peace not Apartheid, the GOP do not.

He was condemned by his own party.. remember the DNC convention.... and Santorum vs. Cruz battle for Evangelicals is starting to be defined with stuff like this