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Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton gives a speech before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) earlier this year. (Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty)
Hillary Clinton: Boycotting North Carolina Is Noble and Just; Boycotting Israel Is Bigoted and Hateful
Sep 13, 2016
Hillary Clinton, in a June 2, 2015, letter to billionaire donor and Israel supporter Haim Saban:
"I am writing to express my alarm over the boycott, divestment, and sanction [BDS] movement. ... I know you agree that we need to make countering BDS a priority. ... I am seeking your advice on how we can work together -- across party lines and with a diverse array of voices -- to reverse this trend with information and advocacy, and fight back against further attempts to isolate and delegitimize Israel. ... Particularly at a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise across the world -- especially in Europe -- we need to repudiate forceful efforts to malign and undermine Israel and the Jewish people."
Hillary Clinton, speaking to AIPAC on March 21, 2016:
"Many of the young people here today are on the front lines of the battle to oppose the alarming boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement known as BDS. Particularly at a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise across the world, especially in Europe, we must repudiate all efforts to malign, isolate, and undermine Israel and the Jewish people. I've been sounding the alarm for a while now. As I wrote last year in a letter to the heads of major American Jewish organizations, we have to be united in fighting back against BDS."
\u201cThe @NCAA is right to pull tournament games from North Carolina because of the anti-LGBT HB2 law. Discrimination has no place in America. -H\u201d— Hillary Clinton (@Hillary Clinton) 1473772231
Could someone explain why it's noble, enlightened, justifiable, and progressive to boycott an American state, but hateful, bigoted, retrograde, and evil to support a boycott of a foreign country that has been imposing a brutal, discriminatory, and illegal occupation for many decades, a boycott that is led by people with virtually no political rights? How did that happen? Hillary Clinton is far from the only person espousing this bizarre distinction -- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as but one example, is punishing companies that support a boycott of Israel while forcing state employees to honor the boycott of North Carolina -- but what could possibly justify U.S. politicians drawing the moral and ethical lines about boycotts in this manner?
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Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, constitutional lawyer, commentator, author of three New York Times best-selling books on politics and law, and a former staff writer and editor at First Look media. His fifth and latest book is, "No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State," about the U.S. surveillance state and his experiences reporting on the Snowden documents around the world. Glenn's column was featured at Guardian US and Salon. His previous books include: "With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful," "Great American Hypocrites: Toppling the Big Myths of Republican Politics," and "A Tragic Legacy: How a Good vs. Evil Mentality Destroyed the Bush Presidency." He is the recipient of the first annual I.F. Stone Award for Independent Journalism, a George Polk Award, and was on The Guardian team that won the Pulitzer Prize for public interest journalism in 2014.
Hillary Clinton, in a June 2, 2015, letter to billionaire donor and Israel supporter Haim Saban:
"I am writing to express my alarm over the boycott, divestment, and sanction [BDS] movement. ... I know you agree that we need to make countering BDS a priority. ... I am seeking your advice on how we can work together -- across party lines and with a diverse array of voices -- to reverse this trend with information and advocacy, and fight back against further attempts to isolate and delegitimize Israel. ... Particularly at a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise across the world -- especially in Europe -- we need to repudiate forceful efforts to malign and undermine Israel and the Jewish people."
Hillary Clinton, speaking to AIPAC on March 21, 2016:
"Many of the young people here today are on the front lines of the battle to oppose the alarming boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement known as BDS. Particularly at a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise across the world, especially in Europe, we must repudiate all efforts to malign, isolate, and undermine Israel and the Jewish people. I've been sounding the alarm for a while now. As I wrote last year in a letter to the heads of major American Jewish organizations, we have to be united in fighting back against BDS."
\u201cThe @NCAA is right to pull tournament games from North Carolina because of the anti-LGBT HB2 law. Discrimination has no place in America. -H\u201d— Hillary Clinton (@Hillary Clinton) 1473772231
Could someone explain why it's noble, enlightened, justifiable, and progressive to boycott an American state, but hateful, bigoted, retrograde, and evil to support a boycott of a foreign country that has been imposing a brutal, discriminatory, and illegal occupation for many decades, a boycott that is led by people with virtually no political rights? How did that happen? Hillary Clinton is far from the only person espousing this bizarre distinction -- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as but one example, is punishing companies that support a boycott of Israel while forcing state employees to honor the boycott of North Carolina -- but what could possibly justify U.S. politicians drawing the moral and ethical lines about boycotts in this manner?
Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, constitutional lawyer, commentator, author of three New York Times best-selling books on politics and law, and a former staff writer and editor at First Look media. His fifth and latest book is, "No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State," about the U.S. surveillance state and his experiences reporting on the Snowden documents around the world. Glenn's column was featured at Guardian US and Salon. His previous books include: "With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful," "Great American Hypocrites: Toppling the Big Myths of Republican Politics," and "A Tragic Legacy: How a Good vs. Evil Mentality Destroyed the Bush Presidency." He is the recipient of the first annual I.F. Stone Award for Independent Journalism, a George Polk Award, and was on The Guardian team that won the Pulitzer Prize for public interest journalism in 2014.
Hillary Clinton, in a June 2, 2015, letter to billionaire donor and Israel supporter Haim Saban:
"I am writing to express my alarm over the boycott, divestment, and sanction [BDS] movement. ... I know you agree that we need to make countering BDS a priority. ... I am seeking your advice on how we can work together -- across party lines and with a diverse array of voices -- to reverse this trend with information and advocacy, and fight back against further attempts to isolate and delegitimize Israel. ... Particularly at a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise across the world -- especially in Europe -- we need to repudiate forceful efforts to malign and undermine Israel and the Jewish people."
Hillary Clinton, speaking to AIPAC on March 21, 2016:
"Many of the young people here today are on the front lines of the battle to oppose the alarming boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement known as BDS. Particularly at a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise across the world, especially in Europe, we must repudiate all efforts to malign, isolate, and undermine Israel and the Jewish people. I've been sounding the alarm for a while now. As I wrote last year in a letter to the heads of major American Jewish organizations, we have to be united in fighting back against BDS."
\u201cThe @NCAA is right to pull tournament games from North Carolina because of the anti-LGBT HB2 law. Discrimination has no place in America. -H\u201d— Hillary Clinton (@Hillary Clinton) 1473772231
Could someone explain why it's noble, enlightened, justifiable, and progressive to boycott an American state, but hateful, bigoted, retrograde, and evil to support a boycott of a foreign country that has been imposing a brutal, discriminatory, and illegal occupation for many decades, a boycott that is led by people with virtually no political rights? How did that happen? Hillary Clinton is far from the only person espousing this bizarre distinction -- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as but one example, is punishing companies that support a boycott of Israel while forcing state employees to honor the boycott of North Carolina -- but what could possibly justify U.S. politicians drawing the moral and ethical lines about boycotts in this manner?
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