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The one American politician that has taken America by storm and also happens to be Jewish, has not yet confirmed his attendance at the AIPAC convention. If Bernie Sanders indeed stays away from the sewage spill also known as the AIPAC convention, he will be the first major politician in America to do so. This may be one of the strongest statements ever made by an American politician regarding AIPAC, and what makes it particularly powerful (if indeed he stays away) is that he is Jewish. Could it be that there is one principled American politician running for president who has dignity and refuses to jump in to this cesspool?

The entire AIPAC convention would be funny if it weren’t so tragic. A piece written by Rabbi Eric Yoffie and published in the Israeli daily Haaretz, Israel’s most liberal and least relevant newspaper, is calling for Jews “to speak up” against Donald Trump at the upcoming AIPAC convention. Yoffie is the former president of the Union for Reformed Judaism, the largest Jewish organization in America with strong Zionist ties. It is fascinating to see Israel’s supporters become queasy about Trump’s explicit racism. What could be more natural than Donald Trump speaking at the AIPAC convention? A convention dedicated to supporting a racist state with genocidal policies. But Rabbi Yoffie and his colleagues prefer a less overt expression of racism, one that is more befitting polite society – But Trump? Really, how low can they go?

Rabbi Yoffie’s article comes following a statement by the Central Conference of American Rabbis who say they want to engage Trump at the convention and perhaps express their concern over his misogyny, anti-immigrant statements and blunt racism. They seem satisfied however by merely saying, “We will find an appropriate and powerful way to make our voices heard” but clearly these rabbis are not gutsy enough to actually stand up and say: “If Trump is in, count us out!” And the Zionist hypocrisy goes even farther, with Peter Beinart, more a J-Street Zionist than an AIPAC one, though if you ask me, the differences are negligible, asking on Twitter whether AIPAC would invite a candidate to speak if they had advocated banning all Jewish immigration into the United States — referencing Trump’s proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the United States. What Mr. Beinart perhaps isn’t prepared to acknowledge is that there is no conflict here precisely because Trump promotes hate towards Muslims and so does AIPAC. Had Trump been overtly anti-Semitic, that would have been another story.

It does seem as though Trump picked up Hitler’s “how to get elected” handbook and read it cover to cover. The similarities are too striking to be coincidental: His racial slurs, broad characterizations of Latinos and Muslims, his unwillingness to denounce David Duke and white supremacists and his undeniable love of violence - publicly encouraging his “people” to engage in violence – “Get ‘em outta here” and “I wanna punch him in the face!” - are all clear indicators of fascist tendencies. As Hitler’s experience has shown, these violent expressions attract the crowds. And though ideologically he fits right in with the Republican party, Trump is too low class to represent it: he lacks the good looks of Mit Romney, the calm, reasonable temperament of John Kasich, and certainly lacks the record of John McCain, all of whom are just as racist and violent but maintain an outward civility. Trump is plain, dumb, and racist and what’s worse, he is damn proud. Trump is raw America. Like a sewage leak he keeps exposing the stench of white American society, the stench of a society that was built on racism and violence and continues to breed racism and violence generation after generation.

AIPAC always invites major presidential candidates to speak at their convention so they had to invite Donald Trump and sure enough he’s coming. Some of the other confirmed big names that will speak at the convention are Vice President Biden, Hilary Clinton, Paul Ryan, John Kasich and Ted Cruz. All will surely grovel at the feet of the Israeli lobby, depending as they do on it’s good services for their careers. And then there is Donald Trump who doesn’t need AIPAC, and would just as soon place Jews, Arabs, Latinos, Gays and Blacks in camps if the opportunity arose. So Rabbi Yoffie and the other liberal Zionists – along with the Republican “establishment” find him to be an embarrassment.

If the leaders and Rabbis of the Reformed movement in America were sincere about racism, if they cared about human rights, and particularly about the rights of Muslims then they wouldn’t stop at Trump. Donald Trump is a freak show to be sure, but AIPAC is a lobby that works for Israel. How is it possible that the Reformed movement has no problem with that? Israel is permitted to be racist but Trump isn’t? Trump talks up a storm for sure, but Prime Minister Netanyahu has the blood of thousands of innocent civilians on his hands. Former Shabak chief Avi Dichter and the mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barakat, both of whom are also confirmed speakers at the convention, are willing executioners of Israel’s violent racist policies against the people of Palestine, yet the Rabbis said nothing about them. The state of Israel has been enforcing a racist, apartheid regime in Palestine for seventy years, yet the Reform Rabbis see no issue with that. Israel holds thousands of Palestinian political prisoners, but the Rabbis don’t have an issue with that either. Israel is in the midst of a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing in Palestine, but here too the Reformed leaders see no problem. Only Donald Trump embarrasses them.

According to a story in the the Jerusalem Post:

“Both religious and lay leaders will mobilize thousands of attendees to stage a silent walkout before Trump’s speech, and hold an independent session on human rights and dignity outside the venue.”

As the saying goes, a camel cannot see his own hump. Having Donald Trump at the AIPAC convention is good medicine for all the attendees. He is the mirror they choose not look at for fear of seeing their own reflection. If anyone cares about racism and violence, they are welcome to join the Pro-Palestine, pro-justice protest that will be held during the conference, outside the convention center.