Israel Matzav

Howard Berman's moral equivalence

Representative Howard Berman (D-Cal.) seems torn between his love for Israel, on the one hand, and the political reality of being in a leadership position in the Democratic party on the other. Berman is the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and on Tuesday he made a statement about the current crisis in relations between the US and Israel that included this little bit of moral equivalence.

The Palestinians may not like an Israeli announcement about prospective housing in Jerusalem, and the Israelis may not like the Palestinians naming a town square after a brutal terrorist, but the talks need to go forward.

Is there anyone else out there who is bothered by the comparison between honoring a mass murderer (the reference is to Dalal al-Mughrabi) to encourage more mass murderers on the one hand and building apartments for young couples on the other?

Jennifer Rubin adds:

The last statement, however, is an appalling example of moral relativism. Does Berman — who should know better — really mean to equate the extension of an apartment complex in Jerusalem with the Palestinian celebration of terrorism? Apparently so. One suspects that so do the Obami. Indeed, in the administration’s view, the apartment complex build-out warrants a “condemnation,” but the Palestinian cult of death does not. In fact the Obami’s current stance and rhetoric is worse than moral relativism: the White House has adopted the Palestinian narrative and now treats incitement to violence as a less egregious matter than the building of an apartment complex within a Jewish neighborhood of Israel’s capital.

Read the whole thing.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:02 AM