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White House press secretary Jay Carney, who previously asked to have the term "Judenrein?" as applied to plans for a new Palestinian state explained, today avoided altogether a question about the issue.
Carney, who typically has allowed the old-stream media members in Row 1 of the White House briefing room to ask a majority of the questions at the daily press briefing, today implemented a new procedure.
He allowed one Row 1 reporter to ask several questions, then skipped to the back of the room to allow a reporter to ask a single question.
That way he allowed front-row occupants CBS to have seven questions and AP, ABC, CNN and Bloomberg four each. Several back-row reporters were allowed to ask a single question, but no one in between was recognized.
WND's Les Kinsolving, the second-most senior reporter on the White House beat behind only Connie Lawn, was in the third row. He had wanted to ask: "South Africa was boycotted [years ago] because of apartheid. If a Palestinian state is born that bans Jews, does the president believe that this administration should boycott it as the U.S. boycotted South Africa?"
It was only about two weeks ago when a related issue arose.
At that time, Kinsolving asked, "The PLO's U.N. ambassador, Areikat, has been quoted by The Washington Times and other media as saying – and this is a quote – 'It would be in the best interests of the two peoples that the proposed future Palestinian state be free of Jews.' And my question: Does the White House believe that this statement is or is not Judenrein?"
"Is not what?" Carney said.
"Judenrein. Free of Jews. … No Jews – a Nazi term."
It was PLO Ambassador Maen Areikat who said in an interview, "I think it would be in the best interest of the two people to be separated."
He had been asked, "Do you foresee in an independent Palestinian state, for instance, a member of the Jewish minority there, if they existed, being elected mayor of Ramallah?"
Areikat responded: "Well, you know, I personally still believe as a first step we need to be totally separated and we can contemplate these issues in the future. But after the experience of the last 44 years of military occupation and all the conflict of friction, I think it would be in the best interests of the two peoples to be separated first."
USA Today, which reported on the comment, later amended its report to note that Areikat said he was "referring to Israelis, not Jews."
"We obviously don't believe that – we believe that any action taken by either side that makes it harder to come together and – in direct negotiations to resolve the issues between the two parties so that we can have a two-state solution that both sides support, is not helpful, not conducive," Carney said at the time.
"And that would include include actions as well as statements. That would apply to that," he said.
WND had planned today to ask a second question: "The AP reported that the National Air and Space Museum was closed down on Saturday when more than 100 demonstrators seized and held a guard. Does the president believe that was a legitimate protest or not?"
Ask President Obama your own question.