Romney's remarks infuriates Palestinians

[nyker96]

(CNN) - A Palestinian leader blasted Mitt Romney's statements at a high-dollar fund-raiser in Jerusalem as "racist" Monday after Romney made a comparison between the per capita GDPs of Israel and Palestinian-controlled areas.

Link:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.co...rotest-romney-statements-as-racist/?hpt=hp_t2

Romney seem to me is very eager to pander to whatever group he's trying to get favor from at the moment and not caring about the repercussions. Probably the next time he meets palestinians he'll say how great they are and how bad Isralis are. He needs to moderate his speeches.

 

[Phokus]

Haha, that's so fucking stupid, gee, i wonder why Israelis have higher incomes than the Palestinians who get bombed to hell by American taxpayer funded Israeli weapons and have their trade controlled by Israeli and have their land stolen from them.

Boy, that Romney sure is a genius.

 

[cybrsage]

He is right. The Palestinian culture is one of death and hate...which is reflected in their economy. When the Palestinians start loving their own children more than they hate the Isralies, things will start to improve for them.

 

[Sinsear]

Well one culture has advanced with the civilized world and the other has instead opted for the savagery of the stone age. Truth hurts.

 

[woolfe9999]

Romney will say anything to curry favor with anyone. Suddenly, socialized medicine is great, if he's making a speech in a country with socialized medicine.

That said, I have to take issue with the reaction from the Palestinians:

"He does not know the situation on the ground, he does not know the settlement activities, he does not know that the Palestinian economy suffers most because of the Israeli occupation, because of the road blocks and closure and so on," Erekat said.

While this blaming of Israel for all their problems is predictable, one has to wonder why the rest of the Arab world is living in similarly poor conditions, in fact generally somewhat worse than the Arabs in the West Bank. Israel isn't occupying the entirety of the middle east. I'm afraid that while Romney may be doing his usual pandering here, there is an element of truth in what he says.

- wolf

 

[cybrsage]

Romney has always been a supporter of socialized medicine - just done on a smaller scale than what the fed gov wants.

 

[rudder]

Well to Romney's credit he made it through Poland without inserting his foot into his mouth.

 

[woolfe9999]

Romney has always been a supporter of socialized medicine - just done on a smaller scale than what the fed gov wants.

Israel has a compulsory program of government health insurance for all, similar to what they have in Canada and most of Europe. Romney supports the equivalent of Obamacare, on the state level, or so he says (he has also said it should be adopted nationally.) However, he has never said he supports government health coverage for all, which is what socialized medicine really is. Until now, of course. Because of who he is talking to. Next week he'll be talking to the Professional Bowlers Association and we'll suddenly discover that he thinks bowling is the greatest sport in the history of civilization.

 

[Murloc]

Romney isn't gaining any positive international publicity, he's getting bad press from foreign media due to his actions and words in Israel.

 

[EagleKeeper]

the Palestinians are upset that they are being exposed for who they are?

Blame Israel instead of themselves for their situation.

Who put them in that spot - greed and ego.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Romney isn't gaining any positive international publicity, he's getting bad press from foreign media due to his actions and words in Israel.

Foreign media does not influence voters in the US.

 

[JTsyo]

Wait who was in Jerusalem for a fund raiser, Romney or the Palestinian? I hope our candidates aren't holding fund raisers overseas. Though at the same time it doesn't make sense for a Palestinian to being raising funds there either.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Wait who was in Jerusalem for a fund raiser, Romney or the Palestinian? I hope our candidates aren't holding fund raisers overseas. Though at the same time it doesn't make sense for a Palestinian to being raising funds there either.

Foriegn money can not be used for the Presidential elections; where is this being used for?

 

[Pr0d1gy]

Foriegn money can not be used for the Presidential elections; where is this being used for?

Presidential elections.

 

[fskimospy]

Romney will say anything to curry favor with anyone. Suddenly, socialized medicine is great, if he's making a speech in a country with socialized medicine.

That said, I have to take issue with the reaction from the Palestinians:



While this blaming of Israel for all their problems is predictable, one has to wonder why the rest of the Arab world is living in similarly poor conditions, in fact generally somewhat worse than the Arabs in the West Bank. Israel isn't occupying the entirety of the middle east. I'm afraid that while Romney may be doing his usual pandering here, there is an element of truth in what he says.

- wolf

I think Romney could have made a very reasonable comparison between Israel and the Arab world as a whole, but a comparison between Israel and Palestine not so much. Being occupied and being denied access to markets has an enormous detrimental effect on any economy. Romney is on really shaky ground when trying to argue that their culture is a cause of their economic problems in that area. The rest of the Middle East doesn't have much of an excuse though, I agree.

 

[cybrsage]

Wait who was in Jerusalem for a fund raiser, Romney or the Palestinian? I hope our candidates aren't holding fund raisers overseas. Though at the same time it doesn't make sense for a Palestinian to being raising funds there either.

Foriegn money can not be used for the Presidential elections; where is this being used for?

Presidential elections.

Romney, speaking to a group that included Las Vegas casino owner Sheldon Adelson and New York Jets owner Woody Johnson,

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.co...rotest-romney-statements-as-racist/?hpt=hp_t2

 

[woolfe9999]

I think Romney could have made a very reasonable comparison between Israel and the Arab world as a whole, but a comparison between Israel and Palestine not so much. Being occupied and being denied access to markets has an enormous detrimental effect on any economy. Romney is on really shaky ground when trying to argue that their culture is a cause of their economic problems in that area. The rest of the Middle East doesn't have much of an excuse though, I agree.

Yeah, being occupied is a problem for any economy, because an economy relies on functioning infrastructure and trade. Things like blockades and obstructed roads will diminish commerce. On that point, there is no real dispute. The problem remains, however, of why the Palestinians are doing the same to slightly better than the rest of the Arab world. Why, indeed, were they doing substantially better than the rest of the Arab world under Israeli occupation up until around 2000? And why then did they then decline to living standards roughly equivalent to the rest of the Arab world?

First off, one can only conclude that Israeli occupation has been rather a mixed bag for them economically. For the first 30 odd years, the benefits of it seemed to outweigh the detriments. Where do you think the now partially obstructed infrastructure came from? Hint: much of it didn't exist before Israeli occupation.

Over the past 12 years OTOH, the detriments and benefits seem to roughly cancel each other out. And I think we know why that is, and what is different about Israeli policy since 2000 and why. In any event, the controversy over Israeli hardline policies aside, this is about the accuracy of Romney's remarks, so the real question is, is there any basis to assume that the pals will do any better economically if Israel packed up and left tomorrow? If so, why? What precedent is there for such an assumption?

 

[Phokus]

What precedent is there for such an assumption?

China opening up their trade. That would instantly make the Palestinians better off.

 

[fskimospy]

Yeah, being occupied is a problem for any economy, because an economy relies on functioning infrastructure and trade. Things like blockades and obstructed roads will diminish commerce. On that point, there is no real dispute. The problem remains, however, of why the Palestinians are doing the same to slightly better than the rest of the Arab world. Why, indeed, were they doing substantially better than the rest of the Arab world under Israeli occupation up until around 2000? And why then did they then decline to living standards roughly equivalent to the rest of the Arab world?

First off, one can only conclude that Israeli occupation has been rather a mixed bag for them economically. For the first 30 odd years, the benefits of it seemed to outweigh the detriments. Where do you think the now partially obstructed infrastructure came from? Hint: much of it didn't exist before Israeli occupation.

Over the past 12 years OTOH, the detriments and benefits seem to roughly cancel each other out. And I think we know why that is, and what is different about Israeli policy since 2000 and why. In any event, the controversy over Israeli hardline policies aside, this is about the accuracy of Romney's remarks, so the real question is, is there any basis to assume that the pals will do any better economically if Israel packed up and left tomorrow? If so, why? What precedent is there for such an assumption?

It may very well end up that the Palestinians would be no better at administering their economy than most of the other Arab states are, I agree. (although some such as Jordan really seem to be getting their house in order)

It just seems like a bad idea to make such a comparison between two areas with the 300 pound gorilla of a military occupation in the room.

 

[woolfe9999]

It may very well end up that the Palestinians would be no better at administering their economy than most of the other Arab states are, I agree. (although some such as Jordan really seem to be getting their house in order)

It just seems like a bad idea to make such a comparison between two areas with the 300 pound gorilla of a military occupation in the room.

It's impolitic with respect to the Arabs and the Pals, no doubt. Yet Romney is running for POTUS, and the US electorate leans pro-Israel. In particular, he wants the Jewish vote in Florida. He's been running ads designed to cleave the Jewish vote from Obama just in the past 2 weeks.

It's a given that Romney believes essentially nothing and that every last thing he says is pure political calculus. The only difference being whether in a given case he plays the politics well or botches it. It seems to be about an even chance based on past history. This particular case probably works out well for him on balance.

It also coincidentally happens to be largely true, at least in the broad sense. There are cultural differences, not just between Israel and the Arabs, but between the Arabs and all of western civilization, and those differences certainly contribute to economic realities. With the oil wealth in many of those countries, there is no excuse for the amount of poverty they have. And the tendency to blame the west (Israel/US/Europe) for their problems is part of the very cultural problem that is holding them back. Maybe they should try blaming their own leaders for once, and not just for failing to be as theocratic as they want.

 

[cybrsage]

Foreign media does not influence voters in the US.

It does influence the hard core liberals...who would never vote for a man with a (R) by his name anyway.

 

[cybrsage]

With the oil wealth in many of those countries, there is no excuse for the amount of poverty they have. And the tendency to blame the west (Israel/US/Europe) for their problems is part of the very cultural problem that is holding them back. Maybe they should try blaming their own leaders for once, and not just for failing to be as theocratic as they want.

They wanna see blood,
They wanna see hate,
Like a needle in your vein,
A sickness with no name,
In a world that's insane,
Was America to blame?
When you're praying for a change to a God with no face!

So when they point the finger,
You flip one back,
And say f--- that.
F--- THAT!

- America, by Duece

 

[werepossum]

It's impolitic with respect to the Arabs and the Pals, no doubt. Yet Romney is running for POTUS, and the US electorate leans pro-Israel. In particular, he wants the Jewish vote in Florida. He's been running ads designed to cleave the Jewish vote from Obama just in the past 2 weeks.

It's a given that Romney believes essentially nothing and that every last thing he says is pure political calculus. The only difference being whether in a given case he plays the politics well or botches it. It seems to be about an even chance based on past history. This particular case probably works out well for him on balance.

It also coincidentally happens to be largely true, at least in the broad sense. There are cultural differences, not just between Israel and the Arabs, but between the Arabs and all of western civilization, and those differences certainly contribute to economic realities. With the oil wealth in many of those countries, there is no excuse for the amount of poverty they have. And the tendency to blame the west (Israel/US/Europe) for their problems is part of the very cultural problem that is holding them back. Maybe they should try blaming their own leaders for once, and not just for failing to be as theocratic as they want.

Well said, although I suspect that Romney, like Obama, does believe in things but is willing to own up to only those things conducive to gaining and holding power.

 

[blankslate]

Well said, although I suspect that Romney, like Obama, does believe in things but is willing to own up to only those things conducive to gaining and holding power.

Governor Romney is as much of a flip-flopper (if not more so) as Senator Kerry

 

[Jhhnn]

He is right. The Palestinian culture is one of death and hate...which is reflected in their economy. When the Palestinians start loving their own children more than they hate the Isralies, things will start to improve for them.

Well one culture has advanced with the civilized world and the other has instead opted for the savagery of the stone age. Truth hurts.

the Palestinians are upset that they are being exposed for who they are?

Blame Israel instead of themselves for their situation.

Who put them in that spot - greed and ego.

Guys who didn't even read the OP's link wade right in. Well, knee-jerk right in would be more accurate.

And you have the nerve to speak of others' hatred...