Even if you looked hard, it would have been difficult to spot an American flag among attendees at the Democratic National Convention. What you would have seen, were Palestinian flags prominently on display.
By: The Algemeiner
Palestinian flags were prominently displayed by activists at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Monday, amid an apparent lack of American flags, according to numerous media and social media postings.
Eye-witness accounts and press coverage of the first day of the DNC pointed out the limited presence of Old Glory.
According to Daily Caller reporter Alex Pfeiffer, “It doesn’t look like there are any American flags. The stage is bland and grey, with no red, white or blue present. A thorough look at the crowd present also turns up no American flags.”
In addition, activists were seen holding up signs reading, “I support Palestinian human rights.”
Twitter users credited activist Ali Akin Kurnaz for initially raising the Palestinian flag at the Democratic Party confab. Kurnaz issued several tweets of his own during the first day of the event, criticizing the Democrats for what he claimed to be a pro-Israel stance:
Conservative bloggers, meanwhile, highlighted additional flag issues during the DNC, such as the party’s capitulation to protesters demanding the removal of the Mississippi state flag, which depicts the Confederate standard. In a video capturing its removal, demonstrators are heard chanting and cheering.
Chris Pandolfo, writing in the Conservative Review, said that as “Democrats in Philadelphia participated in a ‘sit-in’ under the Mississippi state flag…Inside the convention delegates shamelessly waved the Palestinian flag without thinking twice. Oh, the stench of hypocrisy.”
Jim Hoft, of the popular Gateway Pundit blog, criticized a DNC march where “Soviet Union flags were proudly displayed.”
The presence of the Palestinian flag at the DNC comes at a fragile time for pro-Israel Democrats, following major efforts — led by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who competed against and lost to Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary — to take a “toughened” stance on Israel.
Writing in +972 magazine on Monday, Arab American Institute president James Zogby — who was appointed by Sanders to the Democratic Platform Committee to push for an increase in party support for Palestinians — slammed the policy-making body for pandering to Israel:
The Democrats’ platform, though weak, is clearly more sober. They, too, find the need to shower excessive unwarranted praise on Israel, claiming that ‘a strong and secure Israel is vital to the United States because we share overarching strategic interests and the common values of democracy, equality, tolerance, and pluralism.’
For their part, the Democrats wrote their language influenced by one of their own billionaires, Haim Saban (a strong BDS opponent, who secured a written anti-BDS pledge from Hillary Clinton), and haunted by their mistaken fear of “losing votes” (their code, not mine, for Jewish voters).
The Democrats’ platform claims to want two states and supports ‘independence, sovereignty, and dignity’ for Palestinians. This aspiration is commendable, but when they reject terming Israeli control over Palestinians an occupation and refuse to call for an end to settlements, they give little hope to Palestinians that action will be taken to fulfill their aspirations.