Bernie Sanders boycotts AIPAC but spoke at conference featuring parade of anti-Semites and extremists

Democratic presidential front-runner Bernie Sanders, in refusing to speak at one of the largest annual pro-Israel gatherings, claimed he’s concerned about, “the platform AIPAC provides for leaders who express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights.” But last year, he happily spoke at an Islamic conference that featured a parade of anti-Semitic speakers who have denied Israel’s legitimacy.

As part of an effort to reassure his anti-Israel base, Sanders announced on Sunday his intention to boycott the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference, which features a number of speakers from both parties touting the need for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship.

But last August, Sanders spoke at the Islamic Society of North America's annual conference. ISNA has long generated controversy for hosting radical speakers and turning away more moderate voices.

Wajahat Ali, a Muslim journalist, lawyer, and playwright wrote in the Atlantic about how he was disinvited from ISNA after being told that the group requires Muslim speakers to share its values, specifically “[the] community’s support for the Palestinian people of all faith traditions, in their struggle against occupation and dispossession.” Ali was not actually a Zionist or a fan of Israeli policy, but he fell out of favor in ISNA circles because he was involved with “the Shalom Hartman Institute and its Muslim Leadership Initiative — a program that promotes engagement between American Muslims and Jewish scholars, both in Israel and in New York City, to learn how diverse Jewish communities debate and discuss Israel, Zionism, and Judaism.” In other words, engaging in a dialogue with the Israeli enemy was a crime in and of itself.

One example is Hatem Bazian, who has been dubbed “American’s most anti-Semitic professor.”

Here is the thing: the Bill of Rights says people are free. They are not bound by race, color or creed to defend any person or religion on the basis of a common ethnicity. Although individuals do so, and progressives have built an entire grievance industry out of identity politics, conservatives decry arbitrarily defending others because you share their genetics.

So while I think Bernie is morally wrong, as would any Christian president be morally wrong, to reject Israel in light of the transcendent words of the Bible, he has come along in his life as an American with the right to stand apart from the circumstances of his birth.

When I was a young adult, Christians in Ireland's north and south were at war with one another, and I did not admit to my Irish heritage because of the shame it. This situation is not exactly parallel, however—it's Arabs against Jews and Islam against Judaism, Christianity and Western Civ.

Americans of ethnic Jewish heritage have the right to identify as simply Americans, not necessarily religiously Jewish or pro-Israel. Until they start running for office and representing or speaking for others, that is.

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