WHAT’S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE HILLARY IS APPRENTLY NOT GOOD FOR THE GANDER CHRIS

Chris Christie was compelled to apologize for describing the West Bank as ‘occupied territories,’ but Hillary Clinton’s supporters insist she owes no apologies for saying the very same thing

Clinton not only writes in her new book that in 1981 “I got my first glimpse of life under occupation for Palestinians,” but she also wrote that Palestinians “were denied … dignity and self-determination.” That’s far worse than anything Chris Christie said.

Of course, Hillary doesn’t have to apologize because she can count on America’s liberal Jews to support her for President, no matter what.

HILLARY DRAWS FLAK FOR WRITING THAT PALESTINIANS ARE UNDER JEWISH ‘OCCUPATION’ AS REVIEWERS CONTINUE TO SHRED HER BOOK
NJ Gov. Chris Christie apologized for referring to the West Bank as ‘occupied territories,’ but an adviser to the 'Ready for Hillary' presidential campaign PAC insists Clinton has said nothing she should feel sorry for

By David Martosko

Mail Online
June 10, 2014

Hillary Clinton is stepping somewhere between meshuga and chutzpah with a lament in her new book about how Palestinians in Israel's West Bank are living 'under occupation.'

In the memoir, due in stores on Tuesday, Clinton recounts a 1981 trip she took with her husband Bill between his nonconsecutive terms as governor of Arkansas.

'When we left the city and visited Jericho, in the West Bank,' she writes in her book Hard Choices, 'I got my first glimpse of life under occupation for Palestinians, who were denied the dignity and self-determination that Americans take for granted.'

Those are fighting words for any U.S. politician who hopes to court American Jewish voters.

The last elected official to make the same gaffe was Gov. Chris Christie, the constantly embattled New Jersey Republican.

Christie recalled during a March 29 speech before the Republican Jewish Coalition that he had taken 'a helicopter ride from the occupied territories across' in 2012 'and just felt personally how extraordinary that was to understand, the military risk that Israel faces every day.'

With the third-rail of Middle Eastern politics sparking, Christie made a hat-in-hand apology the following day to Sheldon Adelson, the über-wealthy conservative casino owner and serial campaign financier who had organizer the meeting.

But Clinton isn't expected to follow suit.

During a broadcast of CNN's 'Crossfire' program on Monday, a senior adviser to the Ready For Hillary political action committee, which is laying the groundwork for a 2016 presidential campaign, insisted that Clinton won't be falling on her sword.

'Does she owe Israel an apology for using the same language that Chris Christie used and then had to apologize to pro-Israel voters and pro-Israel groups?' asked S.E. Cupp, the conservative half of the show's left-right anchor desk.

'Hillary Clinton is going to stand by the words in her book,' said Tracy Sefl, the Clinton supporter. 'She is not going to apologize for something she need not apologize for.'

Cupp wasn't impressed.

'Then you think that she believes that the Palestinian territory is "occupied"?' Cupp asked. 'She's not going to apologize for that, and she asserted that on purpose?'

'I'm sure that when we all actually read the book and listen to her give these interviews, her words will stand for themselves,' Sefl shot back.

'She said it twice in the book,' chimed in Tim Miller, executive director of the conservative America Rising PAC.

Miller co-authored an opposition-research-heavy book for his organization, and released it to coincide with Clinton's. The title: Failed Choices.

Co-host Paul Begala, a veteran strategist from Bill Clinton's White House days, insisted that the former first lady 'is very, very strong on' Israel.

'If that's the tree you guys want to bark up, I wish you luck,' he said.

Cupp asked Sefl, 'Does (Hillary Clinton) owe Israel an apology for using the same language that Chris Christie used, then he had to apologize to pro-Israel voters and pro-Israel groups?”

On Middle Eastern issues, Secretary of State Clinton painted a centrist self-portrait during her 2009-2013 time in office, and avoided clinging tightly either to Israel or to the Palestinian Authority.

But on the thorny issue of West Bank settlements, she wore President Barack Obama's policy like a shield.

In a May 2009 joint press conference with Egypt's foreign minister, she said the White House wanted 'to see a stop to settlements – not some settlements, not outposts, not natural growth exceptions. ... And we intend to press that point.'

Palestinians living in West Bank cities like Hebron, Jericho and Nablus believe they have a sovereign claim to landlocked territories west of the Jordan river, saying that Israel is 'occupying' Palestinian lands.

Israel's position is that 'Palestine' hasn't existed as a geopolitical entity since the British government ended its civil administration there in 1948. At most, Tel Aviv says, the land is 'disputed,' not occupied.

And that, Israel insists, means the land's status must be negotiated, not mandated at the barrel of a gun or handed over under threats from Hamas and other anti-Israel organizations that the U.S. sees as terror groups.

In 1948 the West Bank was declared part of Jordan, but that country relinquished control of it 40 years later, stripping West Bank Arabs of Jordanian citizenship.

Israel has built settlements on just over 1 per cent of the West Bank and maintains civilian and military control of about 7 per cent of the territory overall.

Armed clashes between Israeli soldiers and pro-Palestinian protesters are common in other areas of the West Bank where Israel and the Palestinian Authority share control.

Clinton, Begala pointed out Monday, won praise from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a 2012 tribute video prepared for a public forum on Middle Eastern issues.

'I've just had the opportunity to work with her to achieve a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas,' Netanyahu says in the video.

'Hillary Clinton is a strong and determined leader, she's principled and pragmatic. ... As someone who knows a thing or two about political comebacks, I can tell you that I don't think we've heard the last of Hillary Clinton.'

But the maybe-running Hillary's book has already become more of a liability than an asset, with news networks procuring advance copies and interviewers leaning on her for news.

In one embarrassing interview with ABC News, she complained that she and President Clinton were 'dead broke' when they left the White House in 2000.

Since then she has raked in $8 million in book earnings, and now charges $200,000 for public speeches.