One woman was killed and at least 30 injured in a bomb blast today near the central bus station in Jerusalem. But by now all of you know that.
But while I was still gathering data and reports of the incident, I received an e-mail. This message must have been composed very fast, in a hurry one can only imagine was akin to the excitement of a hungry dog that catches a glimpse of some tasty food.
The e-mail came from the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and it was a fundraising appeal based on the Jerusalem bombing. It gives a stark impression of a possible conversation in AIPAC’s DC office:
“Hey, a bomb just went off in Jerusalem. A Jew was killed and other Jews were injured!”
“Wow, just what we need, we can really cash in on this now. How lucky we were already working on a fundraising appeal.”
“No problem, I can just stick murdered and injured Jews in.”
It’s a conversation one would think would befit a meeting of some Jew-hating white supremacist group. Instead, this rush to cash in on harm to Jews fits only too well in an organization that has mobilized huge amounts of money and people power over many years in their effort to support suicidal Israel policies which have brought nothing but harm not only to Israel but to the United States as well.
Over at Think Progress, Matt Duss showed himself to be equally speedy, but a lot more humane, in his response to the same AIPAC e-mail. His analysis is quite thorough, so I’ll hope you go ahead and read it.
I’ll just say this: AIPAC, more than any other single anti-Israel organization (and yes, anti-Israel is just what they are, though they are certainly more passionate about the harm they do to Palestinians), has created the atmosphere around this issue that so many identify as McCarthyist.
In light of that, there is only one way I can respond to their appalling behavior as Israelis lay dead and dying, in the wake of one of the most lethal weeks for Palestinians since Operation Cast Lead. It is to paraphrase the words of George Welch at Joe McCarthy’s hearings:
AIPAC, you’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?
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I hate this reponse, so prevalent in any publicised tragedy, where a group feels they absolutely need to single out how many members of their particular group were affected by the tragedy, in order to sensationalize it to their readers. “Airline disaster kills 500 people, 300 AMERICANS amongst the dead.” Oh no… NOW we care! Americans! Sheesh.
In this tragedy, as in others, PEOPLE were killed and injured. Once more life was ended or injured because of political/religious/territorial strife. Hate behind the event makes it worse, of course.. I understand that… but this is a tragedy for everyone, not just the people of one nation.
Tacking on fundraising just add insult to injury.