Lindsey Graham Pushes to Cut U.N. Funding After Vote on Israeli Settlements

[DonViejo]

Source: Mediaite

by Josh Feldman | 12:04 pm, December 24th, 2016


Senator Lindsey Graham is pushing to cut U.S. funding to the United Nations in response to the U.N. Security Council vote yesterday to condemn Israeli settlements.

Before the actual vote on the resolution yesterday, Graham released a statement warning not just the U.N., but any nation that votes in favor of the resolution, about potential consequences:

Lindsey Graham ✔
@LindseyGrahamSC

If UN moves forward with ill-conceived #Israel resolution, I'll work to form a bipartisan coalition to suspend/reduce US assistance to UN.

1:18 PM - 23 Dec 2016
268 Retweets 506 likes

Lindsey Graham ✔
@LindseyGrahamSC

Any nation which backs this ill-conceived #Israel resolution and receives assistance from the US -- will put that assistance in jeopardy.

1:21 PM - 23 Dec 2016
356 Retweets 596 likes

When the vote took place, the United States abstained and declined to invoke veto power.

In his response, Graham tore into the “reckless” foreign policy of the Obama administration and said, “Regardless of the terrorist attacks they suffer, or the number of rockets fired their way, in the United Nations Israel is always the bad guy.”


Read more: http://www.mediaite.com/online/lindsey-graham-pushes-to-cut-u-n-funding-after-vote-on-israeli-settlements/

[Historic NY]

1. I find it disingenuous when the Swamp & Deplorables hate the Jew....

suddenly embrace Israel who is constantly inciting conflict and doesn't want to settle the conflict. Remember when the Congress did an end run around the President having Netanyahu here to address them.

[benld74]

2. Ignoramus in a suit

2 state has been the US stance for years.

Where the heck has he been?

Or is he turning too

[lastlib]

8. Asshole is as Asshole does.......

Leave it to Loon-dsey.

[stevenleser]

36. You will find that DUers are not big fans of homophobic statements, even against folks we dont like.

[DK504]

15. As we jump into the deep the pool

of fascism more and more of these morons are skinny dipping.

[Grimelle]

3. This

http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/west-of-eden/if-obama-treated-israel-like-reagan-did-he-d-be-impeached-1.400542?v=09E25A5B5997928CA2319E97E65149CC

[oberliner]

13. Yes, historically Republicans have been much more hostile to Israel than Democrats

Reagan and elder Bush being prominent examples. Bill Clinton was much friendlier (and nearly got a peace agreement).

[still_one]

27. Absolutely correct. I remember Percy and pete mccloskey quite well. Of course Buchanan, Novak, and

other hard line republicans, if not antisemitic, definitely had antisemitic leanings, and the Nixon tapes with Billy Graham only point to the way he felt toward Jews.

As we have trump, Israel has Netanyahu,

It is out of print now, but there is a book entitled "Double Vision" by Ze'ev Chafets, from 1985, and it explored a lot of these questions

[oberliner]

30. "Mad Dog" Mattis is hostile towards Israel as well

It will be interesting to see if there is any tension there.

[still_one]

31. I hope it doesn't get too interesting if you know what I mean.

[hatrack]

4. Aaaaand he's back to being the asshole we've known and loved all these years . ..

Your defiant stance was fun for the week it lasted.

Buh-bye.

[Scruffy1]

7. It's a regular thing with him.

He's really good at making loud statements to grab a headline then doing whatever his masters tell him. I am sure he is completely owned through blackmail or money.

[pansypoo53219]

5. southern ninny pissy pants.

the settlements cost them a bundle.

[elmac]

6. Well, we know whos greasing his palms.

[oberliner]

12. Who?

Do tell.

[stevenleser]

38. I almost don't want to hear the answer.

[stevenleser]

37. Really now? Please tell us who. nt

[MyOwnPeace]

9. What they SHOULD cut.........

is support for continued expansion of settlements.
This does NOTHING to increase the possibility of peace there.

[yurbud]

10. being a victim of suffering doesn't justify repaying it one hundredfold and stealing people's land

in the process.

The longer Israel waits to come to a fair two state solution, the more likely a multi-ethnic one state solution.

The latter would be more in line with our values.

[oberliner]

11. What on earth?

That is a strange sentence.

With respect to your other comments, multi-ethnic states pretty much all broke up a few decades ago. No one wants to re-unite Yugoslavia.

[okasha]

17. On the contrary,

every nation in the Americas is a multi-ethnic state. Some deal with it better than others. The US isn't dealing well at the moment; there are calls for division right here on DU, as well as from white supremacists.

[oberliner]

18. Every new country since 1990 has been created via a multi-ethnic state dividing itself up

Into smaller independent countries.

Czech Republic, Slovakia, Eritrea, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo, etc.

[okasha]

19. Granted.

But far more multi-ethnic states have held together than have broken up.

Those you cite were formed from linking previously independent states. They simply reverted to their previous forms.

[oberliner]

20. It does not seem like linking Israelis and Palestinians together would work out all too well

They each have their own separate national identities.

It seems like the two-state solution is the way to go. That is pretty much the world consensus as well. This UN resolution reiterated that point - as did the Obama administration.

[okasha]

21. I agree with that entirely.

[GoCubsGo]

14. Just when I was developing a tiny bit of respect for him...

All gone.

[lefty2000]

16. Lindsey is playing to the cheap seats.

He knows as well as we do that we need both Israel and the United Nations.

[Blue Idaho]

22. "Reckless" is a fat orange fuck trying to conduct foreign policy 140 characters at a time.

Even worse is a sitting Senator threatening our allies and friends 140 characters at a time.

[Mc Mike]

23. He's just telling his base "See, I can still be a deranged right wing nut, despite that anti-Drumpf

thing".

[treestar]

24. Does this mean the Republicans FAVOR the settlements?

They expect us to favor that?

[Grey Lemercier]

25. of course the favour them, as settlements mean ethnic cleansing and/or killing of Palestinian Arabs

I would wager less than 5% of Rethugs are not overt, blatant anti-Arab and/or Islamophobic.

[treestar]

33. yes, I can be good with Israel's right to exist

and all that, but I draw the line at those settlements. They to me prove it is about taking more land from the Palestinians.

[onecaliberal]

26. Reckless is starting a Fucking war that destabilized the entire Middle East. Didn't hear a peep abo

Republicans are sick and pathetic. They really do hate brown skin.

[tirebiter]

28. Isael would not exist

without Truman pushing it through the UN.

[oberliner]

35. That's definitely not true

Truman pushing it through the UN?

[Moliere]

29. Liars. All of them. Every administration prior to Obama voted the same way

[oberliner]

34. That's not true

Bush and Clinton administrations both vetoed similar resolutions.

Also, the Obama administration has previously vetoed similar resolutions in 2011.

To wit:

US vetoes UN condemnation of Israeli settlements

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/19/us-veto-israel-settlement

[Moliere]

39. You sure about that?

https://peacenow.org/WP/wp-content/uploads/US-Israel-UNSCRs-1967-present.pdf

# of times USA voted yes or abstained on resolutions critical of Israel:

Reagan: 21
Bush 1: 9
Bush 2: 6
Obama: 1

[oberliner]

40. Yes

Did you not read the link?

Obama vetoed a similar resolution in 2011, as have Bush and Clinton.

From 2011:

The Obama administration wielded its first veto at the UN security council last night in a move to swipe down a resolution condemning Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/19/us-veto-israel-settlement

Here's Clinton:

UNITED NATIONS, May 17— The Clinton Administration cast its first Security Council veto today, killing a resolution that called on Israel to reverse a decision to expropriate land in largely Palestinian areas of Jerusalem.

http://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/18/world/us-vetoes-a-condemnation-in-un-of-israeli-land-seizure.html