The new mayor gives a speech to AIPAC. In
the speech, he said visiting Sderot, a city near the Gaza Strip especially
moved him. Mr. de Blasio said, “If they wanted to have time for their kids to
play, they have to be in a missileproof, bombproof play area, because you could
not know otherwise if your children would be safe.”
Back on Election Day, John del Cecato,
the de Blasio campaign's chief media strategist, said, "De Blasio will win
because New Yorkers have not accepted that this tale of two cities needs to be
our future." I have a different “tale of two cities” for the new mayor.
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| Fare's father stands in his son's bedroom. |
I traveled further west, to the village
of Beit Hanoun in Gaza, where I met a young father whose 8 year-old son had
been decapitated in his sleep by an Israeli missile during the “Pillar of
Cloud” attack. Fares Al-Basyouni was 8 years old. The children of Gaza have no
“missile proof, bombproof” play areas, and they are not safe from Israeli
missiles even while they sleep.
Paraphrasing Mr. de Blasio, “You can’t
have an experience like that and not feel solidarity with the people and know
that they’re on the front line of fighting against so many challenges.”
I stand on the side of justice.
If pandering to AIPAC is the
“progressive path” the mayor claims to be on he will be a massive disappointment
to real progressives.
