Ron Paul: ‘Israel should be the Hong Kong of the Middle East’

Washington Post ^ | 01/08/2012 | Felicia Sonmez

[Lattero]

At a campaign event that drew more than 300 people here late Sunday afternoon, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) defended his Israel policy in response to a question from an undecided voter, an answer that included, in part, the suggestion that Israel “should be the Hong Kong of the Middle East.”

“I would want to maintain very close relations with Israel,” Paul said. “I’d want to be a good friend of Israel. And I also want to respect them in many ways that I do not think the United States should undermine their sovereignty in any way.”

He went on to defend his position that the United States should not provide foreign aid to Israel and should not “tell them what to do.”

“If they want to have a peace treaty with their neighbors and they think they can work it out, they shouldn’t have to ask us for permission,” Paul said. “They shouldn’t have to ask us permission to defend their borders. That should be their business. But also, I do not believe that I should take money from anybody here and send money to Israel.”

He then rounded out his answer with the Hong Kong comparison. “We should be friends,” he said. “We should trade with them. I would encourage them to become the Hong Kong of the Middle East, or something like that. You know, have a really affluent society.”

[Lattero]

Huh?

[Impy]

LOL at first I thought it said "King Kong" and I was really puzzled.

[BereanBrain]

I used to think Ron Paul was just a misguided nut.

I now know he is a lying devious nut. (after watching his smears of other’s positions and creative history of his)

[Jonty30]

Hong Kong is the jurisdiction of China. Hong Kong residents don’t have the right to govern themselves.

He is saying that Israel, probably especially Jerusalem, should not have the right to govern itself. In effect, Jews living in Israel would have to rely upon the UN to protect it.

Guess what he’s really saying...

[LukeL]

I see the monetary support of Israel as part of the war on terror. Thousands of terrorists have met their maker at the hands of the IDF and Mossad.

[VicVega]

You don’t know much if anything about HK.

[Jonty30]

I do know that, ultimately, China gets the say, even if China allows a fair bit of freedom.

If China wanted to squish HK, could it?

Thanks for playing.

[VicVega]

You just validated your own ignorance of HK.

[Jonty30]

The only thing I need to know about HK is its relation to China. China allows the degree of freedom to a state or a satellite as long as its advantageous to the Party to do so, because China does Jack from the good of its heart.

Now, you can always enlighten me as to how I am wrong and well see if I really am wrong.

[VicVega]

Keep reading. It may help you.

[Jonty30]

The other Freepers don’t know what Ron Paul might mean by his statement and you won’t elaborate.

Not very helpful, so far.

[nathanbedford]

... His Israel stance in particular has proven a stumbling block among a Republican electorate that typically considers support for the Jewish state sacrosanct.

Some questions that we conservatives ought to be asking ourselves:

Why should this be? Why should Republicans remain steadfast when they receive so little for their fidelity? If you prefer an analysis on other than partisan grounds, why should the United States risk terrorist strikes because of its support for a nation of 4 million to 8 million people with virtually no oil against hundreds of millions of Arabs with oceans of oil?

Is it thrall to the Israeli lobby? Is it thrall to the evangelicals with an eschatological obsession? Is it a commitment to a capitalist democracy? Is it a commitment to a socialist democracy? What do we get out of it?

Do we remain in support of Israel because we have always been in support of Israel and simply cannot extricate ourselves? Why does the left today reject our commitment to Israel which for decades had been a cornerstone of the Democrat platform?

Have American Jews become so secular they are indifferent to the fate of Israel? If so, does that explain why very few American Jews shift their allegiance to the Republican Party in the wake of the Democrats turning against Israel? Is there a visceral dislike of Christians in the American Jewish community which that community identifies with the Republican Party which is so deep that it overcomes their commitment to support for Israel?

If fidelity to an ally requires us to expend billions of dollars and risk nuclear war, does that mean we should continue to spend billions of dollars and risk nuclear war on behalf of South Korea and Taiwan? Do these commitments make us stronger, weaker, more or less vulnerable? Do we apply the same standards to all of our allies irrespective of the power of their lobbies in Washington?

Can the United States financially afford to continue its support of Israel? Can we afford to compensate the Arabs because of our support for Israel in order to get Middle Eastern oil? Do we even know the extent of the financial cost of our support for Israel? Do we really understand the geopolitical implications of our support for Israel? Can we even discuss those implications in a politically correct environment?

[ansel12]

We don’t have anything to read, you won’t spit it out.

[Jonty30]

He wants Israel to be at the mercy of its neighbours, as HK is at the mercy of China.

If China wants to crush HK, US would not interfere.

If Israel’s enemies want to crush Israel, and are able to do it, US should not interfere.

So far, it supports what I said.

Tell me again, how wrong I am.

[Nextrush]

Military assistance for Israel looks like a good investment.

But economic assistance is another matter.

A nation that is 16 trillion dollars in debt needs to cut spending somewhere.

Foreign aid anyone????????

[JLS]

Hong Kong reverted, ie was given back to China. So does this mean Paul wants to give Israel back to the Palis?

[Tramonto]

I read it the same way as well. LOL

[Moose Burger]

In particular, Hong Kong doesn’t have its own army, it depends on China for its defense needs (meaning that China’s army is, for any practical purpose, keeping a gun trained on them). For Israel, that situation would mean being just a step from destruction.

[Jonty30]

Absolutely.

But as long as the Paulbots get their legal tokes, life is good.