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Secretary of State John Kerry has issued a statement on his controversial remark about Israel and apartheid that led Senator Ted Cruz to call for his resignation today, saying he “would have chosen a different word” if he had a second chance at saying it. Kerry says that during his service at the State Department and in the U.S. Senate, he’s “walked the walk” and shown repeated support for the state of Israel, reiterating his desire for a two-state solution “that results in a secure Jewish state and a prosperous Palestinian state.” He defiantly declares, “I will not allow my

Reporting for Duty, unfit as ever.Not since Jimmy Carter wrote the widely unread book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, has a higher ranking know-it-all suggested that Israel might become an apartheid state. For the record, “apartheid” is a term appropriated from the racist regime of South Africa and applied to Israel because it always elicits the desired outrage. As far as emotional college slogan campaigns go, it’s right up there with “Free Palestine.” The Apartheid accusation is false at every level, and was a deliberate propaganda strategy devised at the anti-Semitic Durban NGO conference in 2001. In other words it works...

Secretary of State John Kerry says he chose the wrong word in describing Israel’s potential future after coming under withering criticism for saying the Jewish state could become an “apartheid state” if it doesn't reach a peace deal with the Palestinians. In a statement released by the State Department Monday, Kerry lashed out against “partisan political” attacks against him, but acknowledged his comments last week to a closed international forum could have been misinterpreted. While he pointedly did not apologize for the remarks, he stressed he was, and is, a strong supporter of Israel, which he called a “vibrant democracy.”...

Big lies don’t always start out big. They don’t even always start out as lies. They only grow big in the cover-up when the truth has to be beaten off with a stick made out of even bigger lies. A brief read of the daily newspapers, a quick flick through the cable news networks and an ear cocked to the drive time news minute might give you the idea that Israel is isolated and besieged. Israel is indeed a small country. It’s always been isolated in a Muslim region that is willing to kill even fellow Arab Christians and fellow...

Secretary of State John Kerry has said he chose the wrong word in describing Israel´s potential future after being criticised for saying the Jewish state could become an ´apartheid state´ if it does not reach a peace deal with the Palestinians. In a statement released yesterday by the State Department, Kerry lashed out against ´partisan political´ attacks against him, but acknowledged his comments last week to a closed international forum could have been misinterpreted. He pointedly did not apologize for the remarks, but stressed he was, and is, a strong supporter of Israel, which he called a ´vibrant democracy.´

Demonstrating once again that Israel remains a favorite whipping boy of the liberal media, there was John Heilemann of New York magazine on today's Morning Joe defending John Kerry's grotesque claim that Israel risked becoming an "apartheid state." According to Heilemann, Kerry's ugly accusation was "not actually an unreasonable statement." To his credit, Joe Scarborough promptly riposted, saying "I couldn't disagree with you more." View the video here.

onday night Secretary of State John Kerry issued an almost apology for warning that if Israel did not make peace it would become an apartheid state. In the statement he issued (below) he never says he is sorry, simply that he has always loved Israel, the criticism he received for his statement was political, and if he could say it again he would change the words he used. For more than thirty years in the United States Senate, I didn’t just speak words in support of Israel, I walked the walk when it came time to vote and when it...

The secretary of state said that if Israel doesn’t make peace soon, it could become ‘an apartheid state,’ like the old South Africa. Jewish leaders are fuming over the comparison Kerry also said that at some point, he might unveil his own peace deal and tell both sides to “take it or leave it.”

Sen. Ted Cruz wants Secretary of State John Kerry to resign over his comment that without a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel risks becoming an "apartheid state." The Texas Republican, who's possibly running for president in 2016, took to the Senate floor Monday to call for Kerry to step down.

In what may be a sign of his frustration over the failure of his peace efforts, The Daily Beast revealed on Sunday that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said that if Israel doesn’t make peace soon, it could become “an apartheid state,” like the old South Africa. […] According to the report, Kerry’s use of the loaded term is already rankling Jewish leaders in America. The “apartheid” comment wasn’t the only controversial comment on the Middle East that Kerry made during his remarks to the Trilateral Commission, according to The Daily Beast. The website further reported that Kerry...

The secretary of state said that if Israel doesn’t make peace soon, it could become ‘an apartheid state,’ like the old South Africa. Jewish leaders are fuming over the comparison.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) demanded on the Senate floor Monday that Secretary of State John Kerry resign from his post following highly controversial remarks about the state of Israel. Kerry came under fire from lawmakers and a variety of pro-Israel organizations after he told world leaders in a closed door meeting that Israel risks becoming “an apartheid state” if it fails to reach peace with the Palestinians. Israel cut off peace talks late last week after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas formed a unity government with the terror group Hamas, which announced that it would not renounce violence or recognize...

Sen. Ted Cruz called for the resignation of Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday afternoon, criticizing Kerry for reportedly telling world leaders that he fears Israel could become an “apartheid state.” The secretary said in a closed door meeting last week that Israel might transform into an “apartheid state” without a two-state solution to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, according to the Daily Beast. The Texas GOP senator said he read Kerry’s comments with “great sadness” but that those type of remarks are precisely why he voted against the former Massachusetts senator’s nomination last year. “I was...

In one of the clearest statements by the White House that they are completely engulfed in their own worldview, the State Department on Sunday cited both Daily Kos and Think Progress while defending Secretary of State John Kerry's offensive apartheid statement. This previous Friday, Mr. Kerry stated that Israel risked becoming an "apartheid state" if they did not give in to Palestinian demands during peach talks between the two groups. The State Department quickly went on defense to protect the asinine statements. Jen Psaki, spokeswoman for the State Department, tweeted out two articles in which other people had warned that...

Mother Jones does love found footage, doesn't it? The progressive mag's airing of Mitt Romney's "47 percent" comments at a fundraiser definitely hurt the former Massachusetts governor in his attempt to boot President Obama in 2012. Now Mojo is back with the vid above, which the mag must hope will discombobulate Republicans and help put the brakes on a libertarian-leaning senator whose anti-war and anti-NSA stances draw long looks from disaffected liberals and lefties."Rand Paul: Jimmy Carter was better on the budget than Ronald Reagan" is how the vid begins. It shows the Kentucky senator in a variety of settings...

David Corn of Mother Jones has assembled a number of clips from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) over the years criticizing former President Ronald Reagan for the budgets he signed into law. In some cases, Paul declared Reagan worse on budgetary issue than his predecessor, former President Jimmy Carter.

SIMFEROPOL, Crimea — After Russia annexed Crimea practically overnight, the Russian bureaucrats handling passports and residence permits inhabited the building of their Ukrainian predecessors, where Roman Nikolayev now waits daily with a seemingly mundane question. His daughter and granddaughter were newly arrived from Ukraine when they suddenly found themselves in a different country, so he wonders if they can become legal residents. But he cannot get inside to ask because he is No. 4,475 on the waiting list for passports. At most, 200 people are admitted each day from the crowd churning around the tall, rusty iron gate. “They set...

Paris (AFP) - Former US president Jimmy Carter said Tuesday the West should not impose sanctions that would hurt the Russian people over their leaders' actions in Ukraine. "So far, we have limited the sanctions to the leadership of Russia, and I think that is the proper approach," the Nobel peace laureate told AFP on the sidelines of a discussion in Paris on climate change. "I don't think we would go so far as to impose The statesman was taking part in a meeting with students as a member of The Elders group set up to promote human rights around...

The grandson of former President Jimmy Carter, who is running for governor in Georgia, suggested Monday that if he wins the gubernatorial race he will not stop the state from issuing license plates featuring the Confederate battle flag. During an appearance on MSNBC’s “The Daily Rundown,” state Sen. Jason Carter, a Democrat, said people have the right to sport the Sons of Confederate Veterans-backed license plate, which features an image of the Confederate flag. He also said he would rather have people focus their attention on the role that Georgia and its leaders played in the civil rights movement.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter joined nine other Nobel Peace Laureates in sending a strongly worded letter to President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, urging them not to approve construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. The letter opened as follows: "You stand on the brink of making a choice that will define your legacy on one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced – climate change. As you deliberate the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, you are poised to make a decision that will signal either a dangerous commitment to the status quo, or bold leadership that...