Putting on full display its unprofessional and panicked condition when it comes to Israel and its very powerful lobby, the Democratic Party Convention on Wednesday added its language of its 2008 platform and which is in line with the Republican platform which recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The fact that Israel's occupation of Jerusalem is in violation of international law doesn't phase the Democratic or Republican politicians. The individual politicians in both parties know their political careers depend on whether or not they make the Israel lobby happy.
Just as the Republican Party has no use for true democracy as it showed by silencing Ron Paul and his delegates, so the Democratic Party has no use for true democracy as it showed by its embarrassing display of following the agenda of the Israel lobby when it ignored the obvious FACT that nowhere near two-thirds of the delegates at the Democratic Convention voted in favor of recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital as this video of the vote clearly shows.
New York's Democratic US Senator Chuck Schumer took credit for adding the Jerusalem plank back into the party platform on CNN's Starting Point morning news program. It's not surprising that Schumer would do that as he said he sees himself as Israel's protector in the US Senate! Perhaps he should be in Israel's Knesset instead of the US Senate.
The neoconservative movement which on the surface claims to put American interest first but which in reality - as the war with Iraq proves and which the upcoming war with Iran will hammer home - puts Israel's interests first, enjoys support from both the Republican and Democratic parties. The neocons are followers of the father of the neoconservative movement, Leo Strauss. The main goal of Strauss was to have society based on the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. As Kenneth Hart Green wrote in the introduction to Jewish Philosophy and the Crisis of Modernity, Essays and Lectures in Modern Jewish Thought which is a collection of essays and lectures written and given by Strauss, "Strauss learned from Maimonides that religion is essential to any healthy political society, and certainly for the moral life of human beings. Over and above this, Maimonides convinced Strauss that Jewish religion, based on the Hebrew Bible, is most essential to ground a "genuine' morality for almost every human being." Of course, anyone who reads the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament quickly learns its driving purpose is to put Israel "on high above all nations of the earth." (Deuteronomy 28:1) The plank in the platform regarding Jerusalem being Israel's capital, although in direct violation of international law, is in direct alignment with neoconservative goals. The neocons couldn't care less that making Jerusalem Israel's capital will cause much more religious violence. The last thing on their minds is progress. As Leo Strauss wrote, "Judaism is a concern with return; it is not a concern with progress. "Return' can easily be expressed in biblical Hebrew; 'progress' cannot."
There are seven United Nations Security Council Resolutions condemning Israel's illegal occupation of Jerusalem and its annexation of Arab East Jerusalem through ethnic cleansing. Violation of UN Security Council resolutions are used by US politicians of both parties as reasons to wage war against Gentile nations that are in violation, but so far (I'm not holding my breath!) no US politician has applied that same standard regarding Israel's multiple violations. UN Security Council Resolution 476 clearly defines Israel as "the occupying Power" of Jerusalem and refuses to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital based on the principle that "acquisition of territory by forces is inadmissible." The United States, as a member state of the United Nations, cannot recognize Israel's illegal occupation of Jerusalem as legitimate. This is why the US has not moved its embassy from Israel's legal capital, Tel Aviv, to it's illegal capital, Jerusalem, in spite of the desire of US politicians to please the Israel lobby. UN Resolution 476 ends with, "Reaffirms its determination in the event of non-compliance by Israel with this resolution, to examine practical ways and means in accordance with relevant provisions of the Charter of the United Nations to secure the full implementation of this resolution." To date nothing meaningful has been done to stop Israel's raw aggression and occupation.
If the Democratic Party wants to take a stand on principle and show voters an important way in which they are truly different from the Republican Party they should not have this dangerous plank in their platform which parrots the plank in the Republican Party platform calling for Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel in violation of international law. They should explain to the voters the reason they will not violate international law by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital is because it will cause even more religious violence in the Middle East and around the globe which will have a real possibility of drawing America into even more wars in the Middle East.
