Thread by @abushalom

1. THREAD: Dual Loyalty and Dan Shapiro (@DanielBShapiro) A Longform Twitter Thread by Ira “@abushalom” Glunts

This is a 25-tweet thread.

This thread can be read as a web page by clicking the thread link in comments below.

2. Rep. Ilhan Omar @ilhanMN complained that as a US Congressperson she feels pressured to demonstrate a certain amount of allegiance to the State of Israel. This simple valid statement brought a barrage of disingenuous attacks against her.

3. Her attackers, mostly Jewish, claimed that Omar used an “antisemitic trope” they allege is meant to signify a charge of “dual loyalty,” which is a claim anathema to many Jewish Americans. Former Ambassador to Israel, Daniel B. Shapiro was one...

4. ...of the attackers. The accusation against Rep Omar is clearly and demonstrably incorrect. However my subject here is not a refutation of these mendacious and transparent claims which were made for the sole purpose of shielding Israel from criticism,...

5. ... rather it is to describe Dan Shapiro as an example of what is meant by the phrase “dual loyalty.” For an excellent explanation of why Omar’s tweets were not antisemitic or inappropriate, see this post by David Samel, mondoweiss.net/2019/02/ilhan-…

6. Firstly, I want to state, that I am Jewish. Secondly, I see nothing essentially
wrong with having loyalty to two nations if the loyalty does not negatively impact either state to which one feels allegiance…

7. The problem is not dual loyalty, it is a question to which states one is loyal. Israel is a colonial settler state which has and continues to violently oppress its indigenous population, the Palestinians. It is also a state that through …

8. ...its many agents, most transparently the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs, actively is engaged in inappropriate and illegal operations within the United States. In this lawbreaking, they are assisted by many US citizens who have a…

9. ...strong allegiance to the Jewish State, such as the members of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). (See al Jazeera documentary at tinyurl.com/ybl2qyq4 )

10. Daniel B. Shapiro is a Jew who was appointed US Ambassador to Israel during the Obama administration. Shapiro is a person who has strong allegiance to both Israel and the US.

11. As Ambassador, Shapiro’s willingness and ability to speak an imperfect but serviceable Hebrew impressed and endeared him to many news interviewers. In Israel Shapiro was not reluctant to publicly display his Jewishness or his allegiance to Israel.

12. During his tenure as Ambassador, I heard Shapiro speaking Hebrew on the radio (via the Net) with Israeli media anchor, Ayala Hasson-Nesher, about an Obama policy that had irked the Israelis. Shapiro startled me by declaring plaintively that...

13. he does not always agree with his government’s policies. While Ambassador, Shapiro changed his Facebook profile photo to a tulip whose petals formed the outline of a Star of David. The Ambassador, who had taken the photo, proudly pointed out …

14. ...the Star of David pattern. I wrote an open letter to the Ambassador taking him to task for posting the tulip cum-Star of David-photograph.

15. I pointed out the American belief in separation of church and state, plus the matter of dual loyalty. See letter in the post below:

mondoweiss.net/2016/02/hey-am…

16. Dan Shapiro has enjoyed a popularity among even the “Progressive Including Palestine (PIP)” community who frequent the Mondoweiss website. Shapiro’s positive image is the result of his association with Obama which gave the impression…

17. … that Shapiro was more critical of Israel government policy than he actually was. According to the Israeli journalist Akiva Eldar, Shapiro was once a liberal Zionist, but since relocating to Israel he has moved sharply...

18. ...to the right, probably as a result of hanging out with too many Israeli security types. . After he was replaced as Ambassador at the beginning of the Trump administration, Shapiro and his family chose to remain in Israel, where Daniel is a...

19. ...Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the INSS, an important high level Israeli establishment security think tank. Shapiro’s daughter recently finished high school in Israel.

20. Whether the Shapiro family will emigrate to Israel, with the Ambassador’s daughter joining the Israeli defense forces is unclear. However, Daniel Shapiro appears to have found employment well-suited to his considerable talents and interests.

21. He is in a position where he can explain the Americans to the Israelis. In addition, his frequent visits to the US appear to indicate that he may be acting as an unofficial American ambassador to Israeli officialdom from the American Jewish community.

22. Dan Shapiro, despite his characteristic affability and calm diplomatic demeanor, went full wild Batya in his very vituperative undiplomatic attack upon Rep. Ilhan Omar after her “it’s all about the Benjamins” tweet.

https://twitter.com/DanielBShapiro/status/1094942090092601344?s=19

23. Shapiro’s 11-tweet assault thread contain the same old tired pro-Israel lobby attacks. The charge of anti-Semitism, the threats (we worked with her), the assumption that a supporter of BDS is beyond the pale and much more .

24. Shapiro is just one of many Jewish Americans with a strong allegiance to Israel who have been influential in the making/promoting official US policy in regard to Palestine. Others are @Martin_Indyk @AmbDennisRoss @AaronMiller2 @USAmbIsrael @jdgreenblatt45

25. Do we want people loyal to Israel making and promoting US foreign policy in the Middle East? The answer is: not if you care about justice.

Look at this UN video released only day ago to see what the US dollars support. END

@threadreaderapp -- unroll