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Kucinich Withdraws as Palm Beach County Democratic Keynoter Amid Uproar over His Israel Stance
U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich lasted less than 24 hours as headliner for the Palm Beach County Democratic Party's annual fundraising dinner after some of the party's elected officials blasted the Ohio Democrat's stance on Israel and threatened to skip the event.
Dennis Kucinich Kucinich, who has a history of criticizing the actions of the Israeli government and opposing congressional resolutions in support of Israel, withdrew Friday as the keynote speaker for next week's dinner after being announced Thursday.
The liberal former presidential candidate had been called in as a last-minute replacement for moderate Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu. Landrieu was dropped as keynoter this week because party activists were upset by her refusal to commit to blocking a Republican filibuster of health care overhaul legislation.
While Landrieu was the target of behind-the-scenes grumbling, Kucinich sparked public revolt.
State Rep. Kevin Rader, D-Delray Beach, said Friday he was withdrawing his pledge to buy a $1,500 table for the dinner and would encourage other Democrats to boycott the event because of Kucinich's record on Israel.
State Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, who's running for the seat that U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler is vacating, called Kucinich "someone whose position on Israel stands in total opposition to the conscience of this community."
County Commissioner Burt Aaronson called the selection of Kucinich "an absolute horror" and said he would refuse to share the podium with him.
Kucinich has opposed sanctions against the anti-Israel government of Iran. In January, he was one of only five House members to vote against a resolution condemning Hamas rocket attacks on Israel and reaffirming Israel's "right to act in self-defense to protect its citizens against Hamas's unceasing aggression."
Kucinich said Friday in an e-mail to county Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel that he supports the Jewish state and its right to defend itself and said his critics are "falsely characterizing me as 'anti-Israel.' "
But Kucinich said he did not want the controversy surrounding him to hinder the party's ability to raise money, so he would "humbly withdraw."
Siegel said the decision to invite Kucinich was made by a "leadership circle" of about 20 people and no one raised concerns about Kucinich's record on Israel.
Siegel heard those concerns Friday.
"People feel he's anti-Israel. I don't read it that way, but the leadership of AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) and other elements of the Jewish community do and I don't want to get into an argument with them," said Siegel, who is Jewish.
Siegel said he doesn't know who the party will get as a keynote speaker for the dinner, which is scheduled for Nov. 14 at the Palm Beach County Convention Center.
The event has traditionally been called the Jefferson-Jackson dinner, but the name was changed this year to the Truman-Kennedy-Johnson dinner because of qualms among party activists about Thomas Jefferson's slave ownership and Andrew Jackson's Indian-removal policies.
Siegel said the nixing of two keynote speakers this week shows party leaders are listening to the concerns of Democrats.
"In both cases, the same thing happened," Siegel said. "We responded to complaints from important elements of our constituency and neither one of them is speaking."
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144 Comments so far
Show AllWhy couldn't we give Israel back to the Palestinians and establish a Jews-only homeland in New Jersey? Just tell the non-Jews to leave, and tell them we don't care where they go.
Maybe Aipac would go for that. It's a good plan.New Jersey or Palm beach Florida.Take it up with Zionist president Rahm Immanual.The big problem would be,if there is an end to the Palestinian occupation and the war crimes and the genocide by Israel because New Israel is now in New Jersey or Palm beach or even Hollywood,then peace in the region might spread and then who would be buying the billions of dollars worth of white phosphorous bombs and depleted uranium missiles,drones and tridents and all the other war gadgets that the USSA war economists are so fond of selling.It could become a definete dilema.Maybe a trade with China.China has a contract to build all the new up and coming wind generators around the country.So there would be a trade possibility there.
The task is to convince the International big wheels that the War economy must end.
Fear of "enemies" is how they hold the racket together....
Weapons are the biggest product of the USA.
Dennis K knows the game the big shots play and they don't want to hear that they are full of it.
Israel has illegal nukes and can threaten the samson option if they don't get their way.
The zionist lobby are good shills for the war racketeers.
Now you should know what it means..."I would rather not argue with those people"
Good Luck
Well said.
Fuck the Zionists. If they get Bernie Sanders to replace Kucinich as keynote speaker, we'll know that Berine is a fraud.
Cheers for Congressman Kucinich!
Sanders is not a Democrat and won't be invited to keynote at a Dem fundraiser. And, uh, watch your language.
Josh
"Power coceded nothing without demand. It never has and never will." Frederick Douglass
"The task is to convince the International big wheels that the War economy must end."
–(Jim Glover)
To "convince?" Please, be my guest, 'convince' away!
–The "International big wheels" can never be 'convinced' to voluntarily end the war economy by moral suasion, or quite frankly by anything short of their own demise.They can only be forced to.
Certainly there currently exist no oppositional forces to destroy them, so it seems feasible to try and 'convince' them by proposing rational and practical alternatives to force. Isn't that the 'reasonable' thing to do? Are not reasoned and compelling 'arguments' backed by a knowledgeable electorate and an aroused public the way to go? Most certainly!
I encourage you to try. Know that 'the perfect is the enemy of the good.'
Yet know with certainty that before the ink is even dry on such rational 'compromises' they will be sending fascist special forces paid for by your tax dollars to cave your heads in.
The point here being is that knowing in advance that the architects and profiteers of the capitalist war economy will never be willingly 'convinced' to relinquish power allows for the possibility of developing a politics up to the task of destroying them.
Unless of course, if truly destroying them is not what you had in mind?
–(Jill Bains)
You "encourage" me to try and then say they will cave my head in.
Thanks
The empire of War is in such a fall
while the whole world is watching
One for All.
This is a perfect example of right wing Zionists denouncing a left wing Zionist. Kucinich fully supports Israel's existence as a Jewish state on Arab land and supports the hoax two-state solution to the problem, that is, the status quo, the same division of Palestine that has existed for 60 years, Kucinich wants to remain for another 60.
It's as if Dennis Kucinich were ahead of his time, except is it not blisteringly clear that the time for getting it right is NOW?
has anyone heard of a guy by the name of count folk bernadotte? he's a swedish guy who rescued thousands of jews from europe, but was then shot and killed by david ben gurion's driver in 1948. bernadotte became a diplomat after ww2, when the un assigned him to go to palestine and try to make peace there. his assassin was a mr. cohen, who admitted to the crime only after the statute of limitations had run. i thought simon wisenthal said there should be no such time limits when it came to hunting down evil men. at least, that's what he said when he was rightly chasing nazis like eichman across south america. but the first prime minister of israel, david ben gurion, would not turn over his own chauffeur and best friend, though he knew he was a murderer! why did cohen kill the count? because the count was pushing a peace plan that would not allow a greater israel. israel continues to push its borders today, as it is now in the process of driving 60,000 arab residents of jerusalem from their homes. read about the count, though. google up his name. a true hero among cowards, whatever ensignas they emblazon to justify their ethnic cleansing.
First the smearing of the Goldstone report, now this. The Democrats have made it clear that they do not want a peaceful, two-state solution. They couldn't care less about the human rights of Palestinians. There is a political party that stands for the human rights of all people, though. Hint: Cynthia McKinney has already found it.
Just thought I'd check on McKinney .... is she a Zionist or not ....
Q: Do you advocate a 2-state solution for Israel & Palestine?
A (McKinney): The US ought to be an honest broker. Now we are definitely NOT an honest broker in the affairs of the Middle East. We've got to stop our weapons transfers to countries over there--all of them. We gave "bunker-buster" missiles to Israel--this is inflammatory. With regards to 1-state or 2-state, I would listen to the voices that are there. I would strip away the influence of AIPAC and listen to the human rights advocates who are there.
So, McKinney quibbles. Would she have listened to the 'voices that are there' as to whether South Africa should remain an apartheid state? I'm getting a little hard over on this issue, given the absolute preponderance of Zionists in the media and politics, if you do not denounce Zionism then you are a defacto Zionist. McKinney does not denounce the 2-state solution, i.e. the apartheid solution that has existed for 50 years, therefore she is a Zionist.
Considering that "the voices that were there" in South Africa would mostly have spoken to her against apartheid, I assume McKinney would have listened.
When she's talking about 1 or 2 state solutions, that's not a question of "apartheid or no apartheid."
Considering someone who clearly states that all the people in the region should be represented as a "de facto Zionist" seems strange, given that you have just quoted a contrary opinion.
You don't have to have a 2 state solution if there were a guarantee that human rights for all would be protected. But you know how hard it is for the government of Israel to not beat on the heads of the Palestinian people. The people of the region should be the ones to make that determination, not some spectators on the other side of the ocean from there.
[The people of the region should be the ones to make that determination, ]
This is the Zionist position, given that the people of the region that have power are ..... think for a minute now...... the Zionists.
And, it's idiocy anyhow, the invasion of Palestine was launched from Europe with the ultimate backing of the British and the US. It's Europe and the US that has financed the Israeli apartheid state for the last 60 years. It's Europe and the US that has prevented the UN from solving the problem that Europe and the US, with the Jews, blackmailed it into making in the first place.
It is the US's responsibility to solve the middle east problem because ultimately we created it by our unflagging support of apartheid Israel. If we withdrew our support, which is impossible given the Zionist influence in US politics, Israel would eventually be annihilated by the Arabs. Better to solve the problem now, as it was solved in apartheid South Africa with a one-state solution, than wait for the cataclysm.
FORMER congress woman and presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney experienced a week in the Israeli prison system,after being removed by Israeli Gestapo from the peace activist's boat in INTERNATIONAL WATERS.I'm not seeing the correlation "defacto Zionist""therefore she is a Zionist"It had not occurred to me but I plan to look into it and figure it out,whether she is or is not a Zionist?Has she ever denounced Zionism?Interesting points,then Dennis Kucinich would be in that similar arena? or no? I know that AIPAC psychopaths got her out of office with the elaborate funds donated from the NEW YORK GARDEN CLUB towards her opponent's campaign.
I have no quarrel with the Jewish people. However, when the Israeli government treats a people like they were German Jews,I am beyond disgusted. Apparently, as is happening here, more laws are being passed to criminalize any Jew with a conscience who protests government policy.
As to the current "politically correct" trashing of most of the founders of this nation, remember that ethnocentricity may be in vogue today, but one has to take in to account the times in which one lived. I remember John Kennedy addressing a blue ribboned group of Nobel scholars in the following words; "This is the greatest concentration of intellect that has gathered in this room since Thomas Jefferson dined alone."
I'm not surprised at the Democrats abandoning Jefferson. If Thomas Jefferson were alive today, I'm sure he would have nothing to do with either party.
Finally, I decided long ago to never vote for a member of the two-backed beast again i.e., the Republicrats. The article above only reinforces my decision. There is very little difference between being Bushwhacked and living in the Obamanation except that the present occupant can speak in complete sentences and is of a darker hue. And, one can carry the analogy back for many years of similar government. It all boils down to the Oligarchy and its drive to own and control everything, including our own nation of serfs and wage slaves.
I fully support Congressman Kucinich. He has the courage to stand up to the typical withering attacks from likudnik psychopaths.AIPAC and it's minions are on the wane. Americans are waking up from the hypnotic propaganda machine they run.
Little victim Israel, always on the run, always threatened with it's very existence. Israel is an aggressor nation that reverts back to "victim" status to justify it's destruction of Palestinian society. Every time they are criticized it's boo hoo hoo, you are anti-semitic. Don't you remember the holocaust? Yes we do. And it was horrendous. But that does not justify the apartheid cleansing of Palestinians from land that is theirs. Kucincih knows that, and that makes him unique in American. A little man with vision and courage.
From article: "Kucinich said Friday in an e-mail to county Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel that he supports the Jewish state and its right to defend itself and said his critics are "falsely characterizing me as 'anti-Israel.' "
That is exactly what is wrong with this issue that doesn't get discussed. Does a country have a right to be a 'jewish' state or christian state?
Many people find it easy to oppose the idea of a muslim state but that is no different than a christian or jewish country.
Furthermore, the UN's Bill of Rights talks about no country imposing a religion on people.
In Isreal you have a defacto apartheid system where if you are muslim you have less rights.
Oh wait, the jewish lobby raises a lot of money for politians, so they must be okay.
It's just like when a republican does something it is bad, if a democrat does it, it must be okay.
If a muslim person does it, it must be bad. If a jewish person does it, it id okay.
Double standard is not justice.
sierra7
Bravo! For Dennis K.
The froth at the mouth Israelis that support the continuing crushing of the Palestinians (and the anti-Jewish in country) are getting closer and closer to acting like animals with the Palestinians.
The majority of Americans are totally ignorant of the actions of the radical Zionists since the late 1940's.
Now we know why Dennis K. was excluded by the Democrats from all the public debates in the last Pres. elections.
Damn the Republicans.
Damn the Pentagon.
Damn Wall Street.
And, damn the genuflecting Democrats!
We need more political parties that have the courage to take our bought and paid for system apart and renovate.
Well, bravo Kucinich!
Meanwhile, the Dems continue to eat their own. Lurid. I am amazed at their confusion to find themselves without a Republican leadership before which to retreat. So often they seem to recite lines from the wrong play.
So, Jefferson owned slaves, Jackson worked hard to remove the Native Americans, the indigenous people of America, from their land. So they changed the name to Truman(only use of nuclear weapons against humans), Kennedy(Bay of Pigs), Johnson(Vietnam escalation); what a relief! Kucinich was demonized because he doesn't support the removal and genocide of the indigenous people of Palestine by Israel. Also, I don't see Israel stepping up to the plate to help us ANYWHERE! NOWHERE! They just take from us, and help run our government. Where is the "AIPAC" that lobbies for the U.S. that helps in the Knesset? There is none! No self respecting government would let outsiders help make their decisions. Corporations should also be banned. Kucinich is one of the very few in our Congress that stands up for the human being over governments and corporations.
Careful, you're not allowed to criticize Jews on this site or they'll ban you.
No, actually, you're not "allowed" to stereotype Jews (or blacks or whites or any other ethnic or religious group). If you do, people will think you're a bigot and an idiot, and that you're better off watching FOX than trying to contribute to an on-line discussion.
Josh
"Power coceded nothing without demand. It never has and never will." Frederick Douglass
Careful, you're not allowed to call blacks an "ethnic group" on this site or they'll ban you.
DENNIS KUCINICH FOR PRESIDENT 2012 !
Given fair exposure in the media, there is a best choice to lead our nation: DENNIS KUCINICH. I was very impressed with him at the Media Reform Conference in Memphis. Since then, everything he says makes the best of sense. America is long overdue for a man of his caliber who does not have a price tag.
Gerhardt J. Steinke, Madison, Wisconsin and Freiburg, Germany
Given fair exposure in the media...well,
THAT aint happenin...Poor Dennis was cropped out of photos, not mentioned at all, had his words twisted or taken out of context, made to look like an idiot, ANYTHING but given fair exposure in the media during his last run for prez. Corporations don't want him anywhere NEAR the White House, and there's not much Kucinich can do about it.
We don't even need a president.The girl scouts could lay wreaths and do all the frou frou stuff!
Ah, bien! an opportunity to reconstruct the earlier comment eaten by the Mister Crash smiley-face:
____________________________
In the spirit of pragmatism over principle that is the hallmark of the Obama maladministration and the Democratic Party, I have to agree with the Palm Beach County Democratic Party on this one.
It's obvious that they were just trying to protect their flanks against the prospect of another rout by the "Jews for Buchanan"!
· Yr Obd't Servant
I think your comment is anti-Palestinian.
So far, 1 and probably not going to bother counting... ;)
Being PRO-Israel is ANTI-American.
A zionist virus has attacked our country. It's time for the people to behave like an immune system and become anti-bodies to the zionist virus.
PS For what it's worth, a penny for my thoughts, is that when there is rhetoric like this at peace rallies, I cannot join.
Americans are in no position to criticize others when we should be focusing criticism on our own mess.
However to amplify here, I would propose the larger truth:
Being Pro-Israel is being Anti-human in the larger and purer sense of the term.
–(Jill Bains)
Define support for Israel. Does it mean cowering in silence when Israel engages in war crimes? If you truly were in support of Israel then you would speak out against the wide spread and continuing crimes it is committing against the Palestinian people. you would take the time to speak out against the collective psychosis that has fallen like a shroud over her with not only the hawks and the power hungry in government but too many of her ordinary citizens blathering and sputtering and quivering and calling for war against what they call the demon Iran rising up to kill them all. It takes blatant racism to accept the wild fantasy of Iran choosing to be the first state to want to commit suicide by attempting to attack Israel. this rabid and delusional behaviour guarantees Israel's continued lack of security if not it being destroyed. It is Israel that is downright suicidal. Israel has given up security for occupation. If you were a supporter of Israel and wanted her to be secure and safe you would have the common sense to point this out. And if you were able to find your own humanity, something that appears to be out of your reach, you would see that the Palestinians have as much right to peace and security and as decent a standard of living as Israelis.
Are you an American? do you criticize the US government? Or is that forbidden as well? Does my criticizing the U.S. government's policies make me anti-American? Are you so completely blind as to not see that by denying human beings their right to criticize the policies of governments you are acting like a fascist?
My point is that your definition of support for Israel is totalitarian in nature. You make a mockery of the Constitution. You most certainly have the right to be overcome with hysteria over someone as decent as Kucinich, a man who is clearly seeking only justice and security for the people of the Middle East including Israel. Your labeling those of us who are seeking the same as a "mob" only reinforces my contention that your reaction to this is irrational and ultimately does Israel much more harm than good. You're in the throes of serious delusional thinking - understandable given this madness is so common among self-described "supporters of Israel"- and need to address your fears with deep contemplation and self-examination.
I am a supporter of Israel's right to exist in peace and security within internationally recognized borders. I am against wars of aggression and the persecution and murder of human beings. There is nothing Kucinich has said or done that I can find that contradicts these principles. If you were a true supporter of Israel you would find these ideas perfectably reasonable.
I did not reply to comments calling for the destruction of Israel because they should not be dignified with a response nor would I engage or otherwise argue or debate with Holocaust deniers because I value my humanity.
I believe you're missing my point entirely. Your original post implied you not only believed that everyone has the right to formulate their own definition of "support for Israel" but that you yourself agreed that Kucinich's views and votes were in direct opposition to the security of Israel, a charge that is baseless. If this is true and you personally agree that Kucinich stands in opposition to the peace and security of Israel and think he and people like him (a group that numbers in the tens of millions around the world including a significant proportion of Israelis) should be disinvited from speaking at events or otherwise shunned by those who claim to know what is best for Israel then I stand by my contention that this kind of thinking is delusional and paranoid and is in keeping with the totalitarian nature of what is considered respectable debate about Israel in the U.S. I have to assume you're well aware that within the state of Israel, there is FAR more open and vigorous debate about the nature of Israeli crimes.
As for Floridian progressives, I'd be curious to meet one who supports Israel's lawless policies. The slaughter in Gaza for instance? Preposterous.
The AIPAC mafia has spoken.
Only International bankers who start wars have any say in our government anymore. George Washington had slaves, why don't we quit using the dollar since it just benefits the Federal Reserve. I think I'll stop accepting dollars for debts owed to me. I'll accept Euros or Yuans or Gold or Barter from now on.
Dennis, IT'S TIME TO SPLIT OFF FROM THE MAFIA PARTY. Go Green. Go Libertarian, Go Independent. I won't vote for you for president if you're a Democrat (I already got burned with Polosi.)
TJ
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." - Thomas Jefferson
Right on!! This may be the only hope for this country.. However the corporate state has that one
covered to, making it almost impossible for third parties to compete in this fashist country.
We have stopped buying anything that is not an absolute necessity. And of course buy nothing on
Sunday.. You know what I have found that I do not need to work anywhere near as much. Have lots of free time. And pay very little taxes to the empire.
I suggest Netanyahu as a replacement speaker. He's a Democrat, isn't he? (He was due to arrive in the US last night, here to speak at an assembly of Jewish Federations. As an afterthought, he'll fit in a meeting with Obama this evening.)
What’s wrong with this picture?
$5 billion or so in foreign aid continues to transfer every year from a now failing and nearly bankrupt people to a moderately wealthy, wholly ungrateful, racist nation, which then proceeds to use this gift in the furtherance of an on-going annihilation of the ill-fated Palestinians, all the while the beneficiary shamelessly brawls in opposition to the benefactors’ right to speak-out in protest.
Ole Dorothy!!!
God loves ya!
TheAZCowBoy
Tombstone, AZ.
Dennis got another boot, eh! I like him even more. I thought "Palm Beach Democrats" were not just your typical corporate elitists. Oh well, let them eat Bentleys!
THANK YOU...THANK YOU Dennis Kucinich....are you the ONLY person left in Congress who speaks the TRUTH about issues!!!!??? Whether it is healthcare in America or peace in the Middle East!!!!!????
I won't be called 'racist' or 'prejudiced'....I'm Jewish!!!
BUT IT IS HIGH TIME THAT AMERICA STOPS FUNDING ISRAEL, UNTIL A PEACE SETTLEMENT IS REACHED IN THE MIDDLE EAST!!!!
LOCK THEM ALL IN A ROOM ON BREAD AND WATER UNTIL THEY COME TO SOME KIND OF PEACEFUL UNDERSTANDING!!!
AND USE THE BILLIONS THAT WE NOW SPEND IN SUPPORTING ISRAEL AND SUPPORTING THE OBSCENE WARS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN ON HEALTHCARE FOR ALL PEOPLE ON AMERICAN SOIL!!!!
I live in Europe, and while our healthcare is not perfect, socialized medicine is much better than what you have in America!!!!
GOOD FOR YOU DENNIS!!!!!
Anyone who criticizes Israel in ANY way is called an anti-semite as a means of silencing ALL criticism of Israel.
I would make YOU president if I could or at least certainly give you a prominent place in the White House.
You are a good guy and you tell it like it is!!!
Please keep up the good work!!!
Israel has a stranglehold on congress; here's the way it works:
Israel "lobbies" congress for $billions, which it gets, then it kicks back a small amount to bribe all congress members with "campaign contributions", which they eagerly accept.
NO ONE, and I mean no one, stands a chance in congress or getting elected in the first place if they stand up to Israel.
Good luck to you Dennis!!!
Bring America Back !!!!..............!!!!...This is the perfect place to recommend for Progs reading the book: "Those Who Dare To Speak Out"..by a former Congressman, and it's fact and revelations are as valid today, as they were
when the book came out !!!
Considering that Andrew Jackson committed genocide against Native Americans, naming a pro-Zionist dinner after him would be most appropriate. I can't really think of a better name for such a dinner, actually.
Yeah but... what's a jew???
CONGRESSMAN KUCINICH YOU HAVE MY VOTE FOR PRESIDENT, I AM ONLY SORRY I WAS UNABLE TO VOTE FOR YOU THIS LAST ELECTION. OUR VOTE IS WITH YOU.
If Kucinich had any courage he would've remained as the keynote speaker for this ghastly event. And if he weren't a coward he would start his speech by saying, "good evening, Israel is the greatest terrorist state in the history of the Middle East and you and I are paying for it."
But he's a smart politician writing pretty articles for CD and making Obama-style phony speeches, when action is needed Kucinich always ends up supporting the Democratic fascist on top, like he did in 2004 when he supported Kerry and 2008 when he supported Obama. Nothing has changed, he knows that his fake rhetoric and fraudulent outrage are able to keep him reelected so why risk it? So he cut and ran again: "he supports the Jewish state and its right to defend itself" something Gingrich or Giuliani would say. Bravo.