Bush Campaign Lies
Saturday, April 17, 2004
Bush Campaign Lie #35: Kerry Flip-Flopped On Israel Security Fence
This is the 30th alleged Kerry 'flip-flop'. As proof of a reversal, the Republicans cite a speech Kerry gave at the Arab American Institute's Nation Leadership Conference in which he said: "I know how disheartened Palestinians are by the Israeli government's decision to build a barrier off the green line, cutting deeply into Palestinian areas. We do not need another barrier to peace" (emphasis mine). They then point to an article in The Jerusalem Post in which Kerry says "Israel's security fence is a legitimate act of self defense".
It is true that before each audience, Kerry emphasized what that audience wanted to hear. But there is no reversal of opinion here. In the same article the Bush campaign cites for the 'legitimate act of self defense' quote, Kerry campaign staffers point out "While he has objected to the route of the fence – as has Bush – Kerry has never opposed Israel's right to build the barrier for security reasons."
Kerry agrees that Israel can build a fence to protect itself, he just believes that the fence shouldn't encroach into Palenstinian territory. The Bush camp knows this, since they've clearly read the Jerusalem Post article. But what's more hypocritical is that this is exactly the position Bush held. From an article titled 'Sharon rejects Bush's concerns on security fence':
[Bush] said he would continue to talk with Mr. Sharon 'on how best to make sure that the fence sends the right signal, that not only is security important, but the ability for the Palestinians to live a normal life is important as well'.So is Bush a flip-flopper too? Well, perhaps not on the issue of the security fence per se, but as edwardpig tells us, Bush has made a rather startling reversal concerning Israel recently.
