A Missed Opportunity on The Jerusalem US Consulate Affair

There is a slight problem with the ad that appeared in today's Jerusalem Post (see text below).

The Consulate is sui generis in its definition of operations.

It does not deal at all with Israel or Israelis per se and reports directly to Washington, not through the Embassy. It doesn't exactly deal with Israel except incidentally..

As even Wikipedia has it: "The consulate is an independent mission that serves Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip."

As the Consulate replied to Cliff May's blog post, I found this over at Soccer Dad three days ago:

"Dear Sir,

Thank you for your feedback on the U.S. Consulate General Jerusalem's Website. Just to clarify, the Consulate General in Jerusalem is the principal representation to the Palestinian Authority. We also provide services to American citizens in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza. The U.S. embassy to Israel is in Tel Aviv and is focused on the bilateral relationship with Israel"

So, all the highlighted sections below are simply off the map. That's too bad.
The better case was blatant discrimination against American citizens and others based on race/religion.

The main point that should have been made was that American citizens resident in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and who are Jewish will not benefit from the Consulate's additional programs beyond the consular services (visas, passports, birth registration, etc.) provided.

The question can be raised: even a "Palestine" is ever established, and given the current discrimination by the US Consulate against Jews, can it be expected that the new state will act properly towards its Jewish residents or is the Consulate's policies and actions right now encouraging Arab discrimination - aveira gorret aveira (sin causes sin)?
In the highlighted sections, instead of "Israel" or "Israeli" what should have been written, in my humble opinion, was "Jewish".


---------- Forwarded message ----------

DID YOU KNOW...
That the website of the US Consulate in Jerusalem is Judenrein? That ALL of its content is solely about the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank? That NONE of its content is about Israel or Israelis?

DID YOU KNOW...
That the website of the US Consulate in Jerusalem appears in English and Arabic but NOT in Hebrew?

DID YOU KNOW...
That the website of the US Consulate in Jerusalem reports on programs financed by the US government solely for Palestinians but NOT for Israelis?

DID YOU KNOW...
That the website of the US Consulate in Jerusalem reports that the US government has provided more than $530,000,000 to fund Palestinian programs?

DID YOU KNOW...
That the website of the US Consulate in Jerusalem reports on the availability of educational financial grants to candidates who must be "a Palestinian resident of the West Bank, East Jerusalem or the Gaza Strip," thereby EXCLUDING Israelis and Americans from participating?

DID YOU KNOW...
That the website of the US Consulate in Jerusalem reports that the US government provided funding to establish Palestinian libraries in the West Bank but NOT for Israel?

DID YOU KNOW...
That the website of the US Consulate in Jerusalem reports that the US government provided funding for Palestinian summer camps in the West Bank and Gaza but NOT for Israeli summer camps in Israel?

DID YOU KNOW...
That the website of the US Consulate in Jerusalem reports that the US government provided funding for the preservation of "Palestinian Cultural Heritage" in the West Bank but NOT to preserve Israel's cultural heritage?

IS THIS CONSISTENT WITH AMERICAN FAIRNESS AND DECENCY?

THE VOICE OF AMERICAN CITIZENS IN ISRAEL MUST BE HEARD!


This message sponsored by AIAC: American Israeli Action Coalition.
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