(Newser)
–
When Democrats clumsily changed their party platform to include the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Alex Yudelson was among those booing lustily—even as a fellow New York delegate shouted, "Aye!" When asked why he'd voted in favor, that delegate shrugged. "I don't know," he replied. "The moment epitomizes for me the absence of level-headed and intelligent political discourse about Israel," Yudelson writes in the Daily Beast.
Yudelson doesn't hate Israel—he's Jewish. "But before supporting Israel, I support peace." Even conservatives like Benjamin Netanyahu and George W. Bush recognize that a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict must include a divided Jerusalem. "So why did the Democratic Party continue this destructive charade?" Yudelson asks. It's an example of "post-truth politics" in which "rhetoric overwhelms public discourse." Voters are left without a debate, or a choice, on the issue. "The platform deserved the wrath it incurred." Click for Yudelson's full column.
