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Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) National President Morton A. Klein and ZOA Director of Research & Special Projects Liz Berney, Esq. released the following statement:
ZOA strongly condemns U.S. Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides’ immoral, anti-Jewish, discriminatory anti-Israel statements during Nides’ webinar this week with the extremist left wing pro-BDS group Peace Now. A U.S. official should not be legitimizing the pro-BDS group Peace Now.
First, Nides denounced the Jewish State of Israel and Jews building homes in and around Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria as “stupid” and “infuriating.” This is intolerable! Would Nides ever call the Palestinian Arabs’ terrorist dictator Mahmoud Abbas stupid and infuriating?
Moreover, Jerusalem and Judea/Samaria are the Biblical Jewish heartlands where the Jewish kingdoms stood and most Jewish Biblical history took place. These areas are guaranteed to the Jewish people under binding international law – including U.S. treaty obligations. Would Nides ever say that it would be stupid for Blacks to live in a white suburb because it might infuriate and agitate the Whites? That would of course be unlawful housing discrimination. Jews are the indigenous people in Israel. Nides needs to stop inflicting his discriminatory demands on Jews in Israel.
In addition, Nides bragged about his constant pressure on Israel to stop Jewish building, and touted his success in obtaining the cancelation of a critical housing project in the E-1 corridor between Jerusalem and Jerusalem suburb Ma’aleh Adumim. (This was like preventing Americans from building units between Washington, D.C. and its suburb Bethesda.) The cancelation of the E-1 project moreover endangers Jewish lives. E-1 is a favorite corridor used by Palestinian Arabs to attack Jews on their way home from Jerusalem. Jewish homes in the area could do much to stop the terror onslaught.
Nides’ patronizing, stupid and infuriating statements and pressure on Jews to stop Jews from living in the Jewish homeland are unacceptable. ZOA again urges Israel’s government to ignore Nides’ pressure and to immediately restart the E-1 housing project.
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