re: #520 Obdicut

But we really have to admit the effect that politics has had on this, as well— that the tight embrace of Israel attempted by the GOP has worked way too well in many cases, and the GOP has tarnished Israel by association; this has been made much worse by a far-right government in Israel, by repeated violation of settlement agreements that every US administration has protested against, etc.

From my perspective, yes and no.

You read the account Letty Cottin Pogrebin wrote of the UN’s Women’s Conference in Copenhagen in 1980, and you can see the outlines of what happened in 2001 in Durban. The current climate on campus is about as grassroots as the Tea Party. It didn’t just happen, it was carefully nurtured, created, and is nourished today by full-time activists who promote a carefully coordinated agenda worldwide. It’s continued through Labor governments and Likud governments, good relationships with America and cooler ones.

And the GOP business—well, frankly, it’s hard for me to tell whether the chicken and the egg came out of that one first. Sure the GOP has a swell time promoting themselves as Israel’s bestest friend (on skimpy evidence), but that’s also a godsend for anti-Israel activists who know that young liberal students will believe a lot of anyone they can smear with being friends with Republicans.