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The tragedy of the Middle East is that there are no viable solutions.

The status quo? While a lot of Jewish Israelis can live with the status quo, the message of last months bloody conflict was that Palestinians cannot. And not just Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. What came as a shock was the bitter communal violence between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel. Many Israeli Arabs find the status quo intolerable, and so do ultra-nationalist Israeli Jews.

The Abraham Accords promoted by the Trump administration were predicated on the status quo. Small, oligarchical Gulf Arab states would normalize relations with Israel in order to realize the benefits of trade, investment and tourism. Palestinian issues would simply be ignored. The Palestinians response? We will not be ignored!

A two-state solution? That has long been seen as the only viable option by U.S. presidents and many Israeli and Arab leaders. President Donald Trump said to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin NetanyahuBenjamin (Bibi) NetanyahuMORE in 2018, I like a two-state solution. Thats what I think works best. Trump added, oddly, I dont even have to speak to anybody, thats my feeling. After last months cease-fire, President Joe Biden said, We still need a two-state solution. It is the only answer.

But without any discernible peace process, the two-state solution seems to have become less and less realistic. Given ongoing settlement activity and annexations, Israel appears to be moving closer and closer to a one-state outcome. The prospective new Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, has called a Palestinian state suicide for Israel and has supported Israels annexation of much of the occupied territories. Israel is unlikely to accept a hostile state on its own borders, especially one likely to harbor terrorists. Few Israeli settlers in the West Bank would agree to live under the authority of a Palestinian state. In 2014, Bennett warned Israels Arab citizens not to become a fifth column traitors working for the enemy.

A one-state solution would be difficult to sustain as long as Israel defines itself as a Jewish state. To give up that identity would be an unacceptable betrayal of Zionism, Israels founding ideology. The alternative would be to treat Arabs as second-class citizens without the same political rights as Jewish citizens. That would be a betrayal of democracy.

Expel the Palestinian population? Some Israeli extremists have talked about it. Just imagine a Jewish state carrying out a policy of ethnic cleansing.

With one state becoming more likely, the Palestinian political movement has been moving away from the idea of a national liberation movement and closer to the idea of a civil rights movement. American liberals know how to respond to civil rights movements. They have been doing it for decades in the United States, in South Africa and all over the world. Americans who sympathize with the Palestinian cause see it as a human rights cause. Which it is, given the often brutal and discriminatory policies of the Israeli occupiers. But it is more complicated than that. Much more. Hamas lobs missiles at Israeli population centers, and Palestinian terrorism is a constant threat.

President BidenJoe BidenTrump touts record, blasts Dems in return to stage Trump demands China pay 'reparations' for role in coronavirus pandemic Lincoln Project co-founder: Trump's words 'will surely kill again' MORE is a traditional Democrat, and Democrats have been staunch supporters of Israel ever since President Harry Truman made the U.S. the first nation to give Israel de facto recognition minutes after the new nation was proclaimed in 1948. Biden has followed that tradition. The deputy White House press secretary said President Biden categorically rejects the description of Israel as an apartheid state or as engaging in terrorism.

For its first 20 years, Israel was seen as a country of the left. Many of its leaders came from the European socialist tradition. The Soviet Union was a strong supporter. The leading party was the Israeli Labor Party. The kibbutz movement was clearly identified with the left. All that changed with the 1967 war, when Israel conquered and occupied previously Arab territories. Starting in 1967, Israel came to be identified more and more with the international right.

At the same time, the Democratic Party has moved to the left. As a result, Israel supporters in the Democratic Party have been thrown on the defensive. Younger and more liberal Democrats including many progressive Jews have become openly critical of Israel. It used to be the case that the one place where you could always find bipartisan support for Israel was in the U.S. Congress. But some congressional Democrats have become outspoken in their criticism of Israel.

Despite President Bidens efforts, Israel like every other issue in American politics has become more partisan. Democrats were outraged when Netanyahu accepted an invitation from the Republican Speaker of the House to address Congress a move that President Barack ObamaBarack Hussein ObamaWhy do we need a filibuster rule? Just look at today's political divisions Charter schools at 30: A bipartisan path to reducing inequality Obama: Proving UFOs exist 'wouldn't change my politics at all' MOREs White House denounced as a breach of protocol.

A Politico-Morning Consult poll taken last month showed 51 percent of Republicans more sympathetic to Israel and only 3 percent pro-Palestinian. Among Democrats, 12 percent said they supported Israel in the conflict, while 18 percent supported the Palestinians: 70 percent of Democrats said they either supported both sides equally or had no opinion. Among self-described liberals, support for the Palestinians outweighed support for Israel 24 to 10 percent. While Democrats have not become pro-Palestinian, support for Israel has declined sharply in President Bidens party.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon once told me in an interview that a true Zionist wants three things: a Jewish state, a democracy and Greater Israel (all the land promised to the Jewish people in the Bible, including the occupied territories). We can have any two of the three, Sharon said, but not all three. If Greater Israel were a Jewish state with a large Arab population, it could not remain a democracy. A democratic Jewish state could not include Greater Israel for the same reason. If Greater Israel were a democracy, the Jewish state would not survive, and the dream of Zionism would be lost.

Sharon believed that the only way a Jewish state could survive was to give up the idea of Greater Israel. He supported Israels withdrawal from Gaza, for which he is still reviled by many Israeli nationalists. Look how it turned out.

I once spoke to an American Jewish congregation and reported what Sharon said. To my surprise, the rabbi responded that Sharon was wrong.

Why do you say that? I asked.

Because, the rabbi explained, in the Torah [the first five books of the Bible], God clearly promised the Jewish people a Jewish state and a Greater Israel. But the word democracy is never mentioned. An undemocratic Israel?

Also unthinkable.

Bill Schneider is an emeritus professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University and author of Standoff: How America Became Ungovernable(Simon & Schuster).

The rest is here:
Israel, Democrats and the problem of the Middle East | TheHill - The Hill

Dallas businesswoman Kristy Noble was sworn in Thursday morning as the new chairwoman of the Dallas County Democratic Party.

Noble, 50, emerged victorious after hours of voting in a five-person race to replace Carol Donovan, who announced in May that she was resigning after six years as chairwoman of the party.

She promised to bolster her partys machinery and help Texas Democrats win statewide races, something the state party hasnt done since 1994. But Dallas County Democrats have dominated local politics, though Noble says there are still opportunities for improvement.

There is still room to increase the Democratic turnout in Dallas County, specifically in some of the gerrymandered safe districts, Noble told The News on Thursday. We have room to get more Democrats out to vote in areas that are primarily Democrat voting. We just have to have more focus on those areas, and there are still legislative seats that are not blue in Dallas County

During Donovans term Democrats wiped out all but two Republican statehouse members with districts entirely in Dallas County University Parks Morgan Meyer and Garlands Angie Chen Button. Both Republican lawmakers will be targets for Democrats in 2022.

And Noble said Dallas County could play a pivotal role in flipping Texas from red to blue.

If were going to really push to turn Texas blue, which is ultimate goal, we need every representative out of Dallas County to be a Democrat.

Noble is co-founder of the Funky East Dallas Democrats, one of the most active political clubs in Dallas County. She beat several candidates in an in-person/virtual election to win the seat. Now shell complete Donovans unexpired term.

It took three rounds of voting Wednesday for precinct leaders to select a winner. The election ended around midnight, with Noble finishing ahead of Dallas lawyer Millie Domenech, former DeSoto council member Candice Quarles and two other contenders.

Nobles priorities include increasing voter turnout in the south and southwest portions of the county, expanding the partys donor base and making the party more transparent and inclusive.

In some areas of Dallas County, particularly in the south, precinct leadership posts are vacant, meaning that those areas arent fully empowered to turn out votes or exercise their clout at party meetings. And though Democrats rely heavily on Black and Hispanic voters, there has never been a Black or Hispanic person to lead the local party.

Noble told The News that shell be an inclusive leader and help build the party across all areas of the county.

With the existing precinct chairs, we empower them by charging them with the following: How do we get out the vote? How do we register voters? And how do we build a more Democratic, active community within each of their neighborhoods and precincts? she said. We then listen to them and empower them to start that process. If we can do that with existing precinct chairs, thats going to build the momentum in those areas.

Since 2006, Democrats have dominated Dallas County politics, winning nearly every contested countywide race. The exception was 2014, when Republican Susan Hawk beat incumbent Democrat Craig Watkins to become Dallas County district attorney. In 2018, former state District Judge John Creuzot reclaimed the seat for Democrats.

Donovan wished her successor the best.

Though I look forward to my retirement, I will miss the adventures, the excitement and mostly, the people with whom I worked, Donovan said in a statement released by the local party. The party welcomes the new chair and I wish her a successful term.

Dallas County voters in the 2022 Democratic primary will pick the next chairperson of the local party. That race, expected to be held in the spring, will feature voters across the entire county, not just the partys precinct leaders.

Noble said she will run for reelection in 2022.

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Kristy Noble elected to lead the Dallas County Democratic Party - The Dallas Morning News

(Maricopa County Recorder's Office)

PHOENIX The Republican and Democratic parties continued losing ground to other in metro Phoenix voter registration numbers last month, according to elections officials.

Other independents, no party preference and parties other than Democrat, Republican or Libertarian made a net gain of 7,146 active voters in May, according to data in a tweet Tuesday by the Maricopa County Recorders Office.

That nearly doubled the combined pickup by the two major parties, with Democrats adding 2,201 voters and Republicans 2,007.

Most of the other gains came in the form of 5,655 new registrations. On top of that, 3,322 previously registered voters switched to other, although 1,841 moved from that group to an official party.

Meanwhile, Democrats added 2,660 new voters in May, but they lost 459 more voters who changed affiliation than they gained.

Republicans had a larger pickup of new voters than the Democrats, with 2,860, but their net loss through affiliation changes was also higher at 853.

Among the changes, 317 Republicans switched to Democrat, while 260 voters went in the other direction.

With other on the rise, the major party shares in the Phoenix area have decreased since the 2020 general election. The GOP still has the largest slice of the county voting pie but has been losing ground.

In fact, Republicans are down more than 7,000 voters since the November election, while Democrats have increased by around 1,300. That gain, however, is dwarfed by the more than 31,000 other pickups.

As of Thursday morning, according to Maricopa County Recorders Office data, metro Phoenix had 2,620,261 active voters, with 907,884 Republicans (34.6% of the total), 815,696 Democrats (31.1%), 24,389 Libertarians (1%) and 872,292 other (33.3%).

By contrast, according to the Arizona Secretary of States Office, Maricopa County had 2,595,272 active voters at the time of the November 2020 general election, with 915,227 Republicans (35.3%), 814,343 Democrats (31.4%), 25,025 Libertarians (1%) and 840,677 other (32.3%).

According to the latest available statewide data, Arizona had 4,292,330 active voters as of April: 1,496,769 Republicans (34.9%), 1,374,001 Democrats (32%), Libertarians 37,948 (.9%) and other 1,383,612 (32.2%).

The recent Phoenix-area registration trends are far different than what was seen after the previous presidential election.

The changes between the November 2016 general election and April 2017 were far more balanced, with Republicans and other each gaining more than 11,000 active voters and Democrats adding about 7,000.

CORRECTION: Earlier versions of this story incorrectly counted 734 party switches within the other category as gains for that category. The impacted numbers have been updated.

Have a story idea or tip? Pass it along to the KTAR News team here.

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GOP, Democrats losing ground to other in metro Phoenix voter registration - KTAR.com

Court documents released this week revealed that U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks of Huntsville has not yet been served with a lawsuit accusing him of breaking laws to help incite the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The lawsuit comes from Democratic U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell of California. Those documents revealed Swalwell has gone as far as hiring a private detective to serve Brooks.

Brooks has been relatively quiet on the matter, until Friday afternoon.

Thats when his Twitter account began a string of tweets for Swalwell showing Brooks in various forms of disguise from wearing a cap that say Im not Mo Brooks to hiding behind a tree.

As of Friday afternoon, Swalwell had yet to respond.

As you can imagine, the responses range from total support to complete outrage.

Check them out below, and learn more about the lawsuit HERE

.@ericswalwell pic.twitter.com/BsWDmrFCev

Mo Brooks - Endorsed By President Trump (@MoBrooks) June 4, 2021

.@ericswalwell pic.twitter.com/GWOExf1Onw

Mo Brooks - Endorsed By President Trump (@MoBrooks) June 4, 2021

.@ericswalwell pic.twitter.com/0gDoH20FfP

Mo Brooks - Endorsed By President Trump (@MoBrooks) June 4, 2021

.@ericswalwell pic.twitter.com/UbY4uf51id

Mo Brooks - Endorsed By President Trump (@MoBrooks) June 4, 2021

Original post:
Huntsville's US Rep. Mo Brooks hits Twitter to troll Democrat trying to sue him for Capitol riot - WAAY

West Virginia Democrats are complaining that the state party set up an affirmative action committee that has been required since 1974 and then immediately ignored the wishes of the diverse committee.

Bottom line, leaders of the state party decided to submit a draft affirmative action plan to the national party without members of the new affirmative action committee signing off.

This all came to a raucous climax during a two-hour Thursday night meeting that was streamed online.

The treatment and disrespect on display last night was unconscionable, said Democrat Hollis Lewis, the co-chairman of the affirmative action committee.

In the aftermath, Democrats have complained that the meeting deviated from a previously-posted agenda, that members of the affirmative action committee were stonewalled from participating in the actual discussion of affirmative action, and that party leaders talked over members of the party from traditionally-underrepresented groups.

Democrats today used words like egregious treatment and disrespect to describe what happened.

Members of the party spoke out on practically any available format. Former Delegate Amanda Estep Burton of Kanawha County laid out her concerns on 580 Live radio. Mary Ann Claytor, a two-time candidate for state auditor, spoke out on MetroNews Talkline. And several more Democrats outlined their deep concerns in a streaming press conference that lasted nearly an hour.

It just kind of made me sad, said Aryanna Islam, a former House of Delegates candidate from Marion County, who described herself as a rare young voice on West Virginias political landscape.

Were trying out best to be involved, but we feel like were constantly shut out, shut down. Last night sent a message that the diversity in the party is kind of like an afterthought. Its another box to check.

Kim Felix, a Democrat from Mercer County, also described a deep feeling of being let down. She made a point that the existing affirmative action plan hasnt been drafted by one person of color.

My initial reaction is one of sadness in that young persons like myself and people who identify as people of color have attempted to be proactive and involved and engaged in the Democratic Party. Incidents like what occurred yesterday really signal and send a message to young people that we are not valued, nor are people of diversity welcomed into the party, Felix said.

It would be my hope that we would be welcomed with open arms. What were hoping for today is to signal to the Democratic Party that this cant continue.

The affirmative action issue developed from reform efforts stretching back two years by Democrat Selina Vickers. She and state party leaders reached agreement on a memorandum of understanding, and establishing an affirmative action plan is an aspect of that. We recognized major problems. No transparency. No diversity, Vickers said today.

A change to party bylaws on March 15 allowed two months until May 15 to get in line with the national charter. The affirmative action plan was a key component of doing so. State party leaders asked for an extension on that aspect, and the Democratic National Committee allowed that until June 4, today.

The affirmative action committee met for the first time two days ago.

When it was time to implement it, instead of acting in good faith, they tried to ram through a plan, Vickers said at todays press conference. The whole thing is to have people of diversity develop a plan, do outreach and bring people into the party. In my opinion, these incredible people who are stepping up and trying to build this party were completely disrespected.

A half hour into the Thursday night meeting, longtime Democratic Party Chairwoman Belinda Biafore gave her own version of the background. Even that was rocky.

Weve been working for over a year now, Biafore began.

Madam chairwoman, said Mary Thorp, the other affirmative action co-chair, cutting in.

Excuse me, Im trying to explain what the plan was about, Biafore said, continuing along.

Biafore described the deadline to submit the affirmative action plan and emphasized that it was a draft. She acknowledged the affirmative action committee was just being formed and described it as customary for the executive committee to come up with a first draft.

Thats when Walt Auvil, a Parkersburg resident on the state Democratic Party Executive Committee, broke in with a point of order. He suggested it would be a good idea for members of the affirmative action committee be seated on the executive committee so they could actually vote on the affirmative action plan.

It defeats the purpose of having an affirmative action committee if theyre not part of the affirmative action plan, Auvil said.

Biafore responded that their admittance was next on the agenda, after consideration of the affirmative action plan.

Susan Miley, a Democrat from Harrison County, spoke up to agree with Auvil.

I cant even comprehend us not seating the members of an affirmative action committee prior to voting on the affirmative action plan when theyre the ones who are supposed to be the ones creating the affirmative action plan, Miley said. Thats just insane to me.

Pat Maroney, a former Democratic Party chairman, chimed in to again emphasize the approaching deadline. He said the affirmative action committee could make changes to the draft later on.

We have before us an affirmative action plan. We have to adopt it first before any of the proposed members become members of the committee, Maroney said. Its a question of which comes first, the chicken or the egg.

The egg splattered from there.

Why are white people drafting a plan for Hispanics and Black people? Why? Miley shot back.

She wanted to know why West Virginia couldnt plead for an extension from the Democratic National Committee by being open about just how little participation there was in the plans development.

The state party today produced a letter from the national Democratic Party denying another extension, saying West Virginia has already had enough time.

I dont understand why an arbitrary deadline that we have no control over, that we have no say in whatsoever, and Im sure has been looming longer than five days much longer than five days why all of a sudden that is the deciding factor versus the voices of the people that actually live here, that actually care about this affirmative action plan, Miley said.

Biafore responded that the state party just needed to hit the deadline and then could amend the affirmative action plan.

I just want to stress that what everybodys missing is this is simply a starting point, Biafore said Thursday night. After I turn this in tomorrow youve all read it; its not like theres anything binding in it. You got to work and get whatever you want and well come back and approve it and amend it and send it on. Ive just got to get something to the DNC that says look, were making a good-faith effort here.

Today, Democrats outside of leadership continued to express outrage.

Lewis, the affirmative action committee co-chairman who has served as a Kanawha County magistrate, said concrete actions not just an apology, would be necessary to win back trust. The first step, he said, should be delaying submission of the affirmative action plan and allowing participation.

We want to see actionable steps. The first thing is to ask for an extension, not put that plan through and give us time to have input, he said. An apology is fine, but we need actionable steps to go with that.

Amanda Estep-Burton, a former delegate from Kanawha County, aired out a Facebook post Thursday evening and then went on local talk radio this morning.

Theres a complete lack of leadership. It was an absolute mess, said Estep-Burton. They completely violated all of their own bylaws.

They didnt get input from any underrepresented person when they created and drafted this plan to present to the DNC.

Another Democrat, Mary Ann Claytor, participated in the press conference and also went on statewide radio.

We had not had input in that plan, and we wanted our members to have that input, Claytor said. We didnt want to have a committee that was just full of party heads to make the decision.

We wanted to have our members involved because we believe the best representation is listening to the voices of the concern of your members.

Claytor was among the last to speak at Thursday nights meeting. She wanted to know why so few people could make amendments.

So that means that we dont have any voice in this. I dont know why you all have a caucus, she said.

Lewis followed up by punctuating his own frustration. As a Black West Virginian, this is a slap in the face.

Nick Casey, another former party chairman, drove a stake in the meeting.

I move we adjourn.

The rest is here:
Democrats erupt over affirmative action plan that cuts out affirmative action committee - West Virginia MetroNews