Posted on 01/16/2012 11:34:20 AM PST by mnehring
Ron Paul’s Son Sen. Rand Paul Won’t Comment on Father’s Past Comparison of Gaza to “Concentration Camp”; Israelis Suprised Congressman Made Analogy
Supporters of Ron Paul have been trying to make the case their candidate is pro-Israel despite his past statements and opposition to foreign aid to the Jewish state. Their job got a little harder after a two-year-old interview Rep. Paul gave to Iran’s Press TV was recently posted on YouTube in which he compared Israel’s treatment of Gaza to that of a Nazi concentration camp.
In the 2009 interview, Paul talks about the “tragedy of Gaza,” comparing it to a concentration camp, and appears to mock those who say Hamas is the aggressor. He said, “To me I look at it like it’s a concentration camp, and people are making bombs, like, they’re the aggressors?”
In New Hampshire this weekend, the Daily Caller asked Paul’s son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, about the video clip:
Asked by TheDC in the spin room after the ABC News–Yahoo! News Republican primary debate whether his father still stood by that assessment of Gaza as a concentration camp, the younger Paul wouldn’t say.
“I don’t know about that comment,” Rand Paul said before pivoting to say that his “father doesn’t want [Iran] to have nuclear weapons, he thinks it would be destabilizing for them to have them, but he thinks there needs to be a healthy debate in Congress about what our response should be.”
Pressed again on whether his father still thinks Gaza is like a concentration camp, Paul mumbled “I don’t know that” before turning away from TheDC to answer other questions.
Though the comparison has been made by some pro-Palestinian activists, Israelis were surprised a presidential candidate would make it. It was the lead story on Israel’s Ynet News website Monday morning. Itamar Marcus, who heads the Israeli research group Palestinian Media Watch which follows Palestinian media reports from Gaza and the West Bank tells The Blaze:
“Comparing the Gaza Strip to a concentration camp is disgusting and shows complete ignorance. Disgusting – because it trivializes and insults the memory of the millions of victims who were killed in the Nazi concentration camps and death camps. It shows complete ignorance because there is no resemblance between civilians who were murdered and starved to death in concentration camps, and the military blockade of the Gaza Strip to keep weapons out of the hands of genocidal preaching Hamas. If there is suffering in the Gaza Strip – and there may be – it is totally the blame of the Palestinian leadership there.”
The Blaze reached out to Israeli legislators across the political spectrum for reaction, but representatives of Likud, Kadima, Independence and Labor said they didn’t want to comment publicly on the American election campaign.
Paul’s position on Israel got attention last month after former aid Eric Dondero wrote that the presidential candidate wishes Israel did not exist.
In response to that, Ron Paul’s campaign spokesman Gary Howard emailed the media a statement saying, “”Dr. Paul is the most pro-Israel candidate in this race.”
“He is the only leader who will stop sending tens of billions of dollars in aid and arms to her Arab enemies, cut off subsidies to companies who do business with Iran, and allow Israel to defend herself as she sees fit, without the permission and interference of the US or the United Nations.”
By contrast, Dondero, who previously worked for Ron Paul for 12 years wrote that though he does not believe Paul is anti-Semitic, he is “most certainly Anti-Israel, and Anti-Israeli in general:”
“He wishes the Israeli state did not exist at all. He expressed this to me numerous times in our private conversations. His view is that Israel is more trouble than it is worth, specifically to the America taxpayer. He sides with the Palestinians, and supports their calls for the abolishment of the Jewish state, and the return of Israel, all of it, to the Arabs.”
The Republican Jewish Coalition last month did not invite Paul to its candidates’ forum because of what it called his “extreme views” after a November Republican debate where he said Washington should be less involved in Israeli affairs. Reuters reported:
“They can take care of themselves,” Paul, who has called for reduced U.S. foreign aid generally, said at the time. “Why do we have this automatic commitment that we’re going to send our kids and send our money endlessly to Israel?”
In an interview to the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz last month, Paul said he’s “the one candidate who would respect Israel’s sovereignty and not try to dictate to her about how she should deal with her neighbors.” He reminded readers he supported Israel‘s 1981 strike on Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor. He added:
I believe that Israel is one of our most important friends in the world. And the views that I hold have many adherents in Israel today. Two of the tenets of a true Zionist are “self-determination” and “self-reliance.” I do not believe we should be Israel’s master but, rather, her friend. We should not be dictating her policies and announcing her negotiating positions before talks with her neighbors have even begun.
Ron Paul’s interview to Press TV was not the last time the presidential candidate invoked the World War II comparison. In 2010, he told Don Imus the situation in Gaza is “almost like in concentration camps,” a comparison that makes claims Ron Paul is pro-Israel more difficult to believe.
Here is that clip:
Probably because he agrees with alterPaul, if he says so then people will talk.
I have never understood why Ron Paul and Pat Buchanan became so enamored with the vile “Palestinians” and their “cause”. Much of what they say makes sense, and yet they get is SO wrong on the Arab-Israeli conflict.
I have never understood why Ron Paul and Pat Buchanan became so enamored with the vile “Palestinians” and their “cause”. Much of what they say makes sense, and yet they get it SO wrong on the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Sounds like Senator Randy needs some of Daddy’s ‘bots to spin this one for him, and spam the Web with talking points to help him out.
Here is Ron Paul talking to Don Imus after the “flotilla,” referring to Gaza as a concentration camp:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTpJOVhIxWc&feature=share
I am a little surprised at the ease at with Rand shills for his old man. I had thought he was a more sensible person and not of the same mind has his father. After seeing him operate on his fathers behalf this election cycle, I am wondering just how close do Rand and Ron agree on some of these topics?
They’re both nuts...
To be sure, the Israelis are not as pure as the driven snow. They grudgingly tolerate Christians but wish they were not there. Many of the orthodox Jews are actively hostile to Christians.
Concentration camp no longer has the same connotation it had when it was coined in the 1890s. It means an extermination camp. So Paul is a fool to use it.
He’s probably much more politically keen than his father. Inquiry into those things were largely muted during his election campaign in 2010 because his opponent brought up a bazaar accusation against him going back to his college years that took center stage. As you can see by his election, it backfired wildly against the Democrat opponent.
Ping.
On the Imus video, Ron Paul also defends Hamas as a democratic institution and claims that Israel is blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza. He refers to “Palestine, Gaza and the West Bank” as if undisputed Israeli territory belongs to a state called Palestine.
Here is the interview with Iranian state TV:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1t4O9CcZQ0&feature=player_embedded
In the Iranian video, Ron Paul again says Gaza is a concentration camp and says that Hamas is not the aggressor. He trivializes the Hamas campaign of launching missiles into Israel.
You have to hear it to believe it.
It is equally likely that he doesn’t want to get into a public disagreement with his father.
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Thanks mnehring.
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