I also find myself wondering who is picking up the tab...
"Mayor Newsom's Israel trip is ill-advised"
"Mayor Gavin Newsom's acceptance of an all-expense-paid trip to Israel this week exhibits poor moral and political judgment....
In choosing to support Israel through this highly political visit, Mayor Newsom includes us in a journey with much broader moral and political implications, for him and for our city. The mayor will not press Israel to adopt the ideal of equal rights for all citizens or abandon the exclusivist and tribal aim of preserving the "Jewishness" of the nation's citizenry. Instead the mayor's decision to join Israel as it celebrates 60 years of apartheid conveys approval of its practices - contradicting the democratic, secular, progressive and humanistic values that San Francisco espouses. And his tour achieves nothing toward bettering America's tattered image among Arabs and Muslims, whose resentment toward the United States' unconditional support of Israel is palpable.
Israel has wooed enough American politicians into supporting its catastrophic and untenable discriminatory practices. The mayor should focus on issues of importance to San Franciscans rather than joining the ranks of those American politicians.
--MORE--"
I can't emphasize the last point enough; so many U.S. politicians cater to Israeli interests rather than America's.
That's the power of the LOBBY!
