Bernie Sanders Plans Push To Include Palestinian Rights in Democratic Platform
Identity politics? Bernie Sanders has some thoughts. Image by Getty Images
WASHINGTON — Bernie Sanders wants to make Palestinian rights more of a priority in the Democratic Party platform, according to a report.
The Washington Post reported on Friday that Sanders, the Vermont Independent Senator seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, wants to see changes to a platform to better reflect Palestinian aspirations for statehood.
Sanders, the only Jewish candidate to ever have won major party nominating contests, has throughout the campaign defended Israel’s right to security, but also has called for an end to settlement expansion and has criticized what he has said has been Israel’s disproportionate response to Palestinian attacks.
The platform as approved in 2012 refers to aspirations for a “just and lasting” agreement that would result in two states. Much of its 300 or so words are otherwise given over to protections for Israel’s security and a demand that Palestinians “recognize Israel’s right to exist, reject violence, and adhere to existing agreements.”
Its only allusion to longstanding American calls on Israel not to prejudice a two-state outcome through settlement building is “ to encourage all parties to be resolute in the pursuit of peace.”
The party platform stirred controversy during the 2012 convention when a vote to insert language affirming Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was met with boos.
Sanders is currently trailing front-runner Hillary Clinton in delegates, and the former secretary of state appears to have all but clinched the party nomination.
Separately, Sanders told CNN in an interview that he was backing Tim Canova, a primary challenger to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who in her separate capacity as Democratic National Committee chairwoman has feuded with Sanders’ campaign.
Sanders has said the DNC has rigged the election through its administration of its rules and by a debate schedule that at first appeared aimed at burying news coverage with placement in low-viewing time slots.
The DNC added debates and Wasserman Schultz has said that the rules were in place for years.
Wasserman Schultz, one of the most prominent Jewish members of the party’s congressional caucus told the New York Times that she remained neutral in the race between Sanders and Clinton.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
