by Stephen Lendman

The global BDS initiative is the single most effective campaign against longstanding Israeli ruthlessness. Hillary Clinton opposes it - supporting Israel’s worst crimes, against fundamental rights for Palestinians everyone deserves.

In July, she wrote a letter to major Democrat party contributor/ billionaire entertainment mogul Haim Saban expressing alarm about BDS, stressing the need to counter its activities, saying:

“(L)eaders and communities across America can work together” against it. “From Congress and state legislatures to boardrooms and classrooms, we need to engage all people of good faith (to explain) why the BDS campaign (seeks to) punish” Israel.

Fact: It seeks to hold Israel accountable for high crimes too grave to ignore.“It’s not the path to peace,” Clinton continued. Fact: It’s a vital peace initiative - unlike the longstanding sham process dead on arrival every time introduced because Israel wants endless conflict and instability - to advance its greater Middle East agenda at the expense of other regional countries.

Clinton expressed concern about “compar(ing) Israel to South African apartheid” - ludicrously adding the Jewish state “is a vibrant democracy…fac(ing) existential threats to its survival.”

Fact: Israel is a fascist police state. It threatens regional peace and stability. Its only enemies are ones it invents. It’s had no real ones in over 40 years.

As senator and Secretary of State, Clinton opposed “dozens of anti-Israeli resolutions at the UN, the Human Rights Council, and other organizations,” she said.

“Time and again, I have made it clear that America will always stand up for Israel - and that’s what I’ll always do as president.”

“The Jewish state is a modern day miracle - a vibrant bloom in the middle of the desert. We must nurture and protect it.”

Her emails show she’s been anti-BDS for years. The Scotsman discussed how she pressured “the Scottish and UK Governments to oppose a highly controversial boycott of the Edinburgh International Film Festival,” according to her newly released emails.

In 2009, noted film director Ken Loach called for boycotting the event if it showed Israeli Tali Shalom-Ezer’s film. Its embassy donated 300 UK pounds (over $450) for travel expenses so she could attend.

Festival organizers said they were returning the money - saying it was “a mistake” to accept it.

It came after Israel’s Cast Lead war of aggression on Gaza. The funds were returned. The Israeli Lobby pressured Clinton to intervene.

The Scotsman said “the row went right to the upper echelons of the American political system with Mrs Clinton suggesting pressure could be exerted on the Scottish Government and the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown to get the festival to reverse its decision.”

“The controversy was brought to the attention of Mrs Clinton by newspaper publisher Brian Greenspun, a college roommate of Bill Clinton, who forwarded a newspaper article on the boycott to the then US Secretary of State.”

“According to emails from her personal account released by the US Department of State, the article had originally been emailed to Mr Greenspun by Bruce Ramer, an entertainment lawyer and former president of the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group.”

“The emails were released amid controversy about Mrs Clinton’s use of private email accounts while she was Secretary of State.”

She responded saying “(t)hanks for the headsup on this. We are working to decide the most effective way forward, and I’ll keep you informed.”

“We have some good ideas as to what our govt can do, but we also want to see pressure from local people brought on the British and Scottish govts.”

“Can you and Bruce reach out to the community in London and Edinburgh to urge them to raise this w PM Brown and other govt officials? We’d like to see top down and bottom up pressure. Let me know what you think.”

Ken Loach denounced Israel’s involvement, saying “I’m sure many filmmakers will be as horrified as I am to learn that the Edinburgh International Film Festival is accepting money from Israel.”

“The massacres and state terrorism in Gaza make this money unacceptable. With regret, I must urge all who might consider visiting the festival to show their support for the Palestinian nation, and stay away.”

Clinton’s support for Israel is unwavering - entirely one-sided, ignoring Palestinian rights. She wants the global BDS movement undermined.

She claims she’ll be a better friend to Israel than Obama. She calls Jerusalem its “eternal and indivisible capital,” wants Washington’s embassy located there - despite the longstanding UN international city designation. Palestinians have as much legal right to it as Israelis.

She supports lawless settlement expansions in less than so many words. She opposes Palestinian statehood and full UN membership. She wants these and other important issues negotiated with Israel fundamentally against all Palestinian rights.

She’s against all initiatives created to hold Israel accountable for decades of high crimes. Her rhetorical support for peace is belied by her backing endless conflicts. She defends Israel’s right to wage wars of aggression she calls defensive.

A Clinton presidency will be disastrous for Palestinian rights. Sadly, US one-sided support for Israel won’t change no matter who succeeds Obama in 2017.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III".

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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