May 1, 2014

John Kerry’s Apartheid State Department

Comments about Israel and apartheid anger our ally and highlight Kerry’s ineptitude.

When John Kerry unsuccessfully ran for president in 2004, his waffling positions became so legendary that former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino trained her dog to retrieve a flip-flop at the mention of Kerry’s name. Well, it seems neither the passage of time nor the ascension to U.S. secretary of state has lessened Kerry’s ability to say one thing and then say another. Unfortunately, the repercussions now are much greater than they were on the campaign trail.

The most recent case in point is Kerry’s inflammatory and now infamous remark about America’s strongest ally in the Middle East, Israel. Speaking about the now-failed “peace” talks – which were supposed to be a crowning jewel of Kerry’s cabinet tenure but instead ended last night at midnight in another stalemate – Kerry said, “A two-state solution will be clearly underscored as the only real alternative. Because a unitary state winds up either being an apartheid state with second-class citizens – or it ends up being a state that destroys the capacity of Israel to be a Jewish state.” He added, “Once you put that frame in your mind, that reality, which is the bottom line, you understand how imperative it is to get to the two-state solution, which both leaders, even yesterday, said they remain deeply committed to.”

The remark, made in a closed-door meeting of the Trilateral Commission of high-level leaders from around the world, has rightly outraged Jewish leaders, as the term “apartheid” most commonly brings to mind the racial segregation that defined South Africa for nearly half of the 20th century. It was so bad that even Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) noted that “any linkage between Israel and apartheid is nonsensical and ridiculous.”

Seeking to backtrack in classic “I voted for it before I voted against it” fashion, Kerry quickly issued a non-apology clarification: “I will not allow my commitment to Israel to be questioned by anyone, particularly for partisan, political purposes, so I want to be crystal clear about what I believe and what I don’t believe,” Kerry said in the statement, adding, “I do not believe, nor have I ever stated, publicly or privately, that Israel is an apartheid state or that it intends to become one. Anyone who knows anything about me knows that without a shred of doubt.”

Droning on per his usual, Kerry said, “I have been around long enough to also know the power of words to create a misimpression, even when unintentional, and if I could rewind the tape, I would have chosen a different word to describe my firm belief that the only way in the long term to have a Jewish state and two nations and two peoples living side by side in peace and security is through a two state solution.”

Now, some might paint Kerry’s comments as a thoughtless slip, but this is an unconvincing argument. As The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto writes of the closed-door meeting, “The purpose of granting such an assurance of confidentiality is to encourage candor. And it is hard to believe that Kerry would be especially careless in his choice of words before such an eminent audience.” Much more likely is that the promise of confidentiality freed Kerry to say what he truly thinks. Indeed, swooping to Kerry’s defense yesterday afternoon was White House Press Secretary James Carney, who said that while the word “apartheid” was the wrong choice, the White House agrees with the message Kerry was expressing. In other words, “We mean apartheid but we’re not saying apartheid.” The White House teleprompter apparently was not available to provide an emergency replacement word.

The tragedy in all of this is not Kerry’s backpedaling or Carney’s lexical jig. Rather, it’s the open insult of one of America’s greatest allies – an ally that, day by day, this administration increasingly treats like an enemy.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.