I thought of Orwell’s remark as it became clear that the Democratic National Committee in its platform is avoiding calling Israel’s policy in the West Bank an “occupation.” Though the platform calls for two states for two peoples as the only just, fair, and secure resolution possible for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Jeremy Ben-Ami and James Zogby explain in The Nation this week why “It’s Time for the Democratic Party to Mention the Occupation – If the next Democratic administration is serious about promoting peace, the party platform needs to condemn Israel’s illegal occupation by name.”

They say,

“Without admitting the existence of occupation, one cannot understand how Palestinians are daily deprived of their fundamental rights—or why they demand freedom and independent statehood. Without admitting occupation, one cannot understand why so many veteran Israeli political and security leaders warn that the country’s unending rule over another people is eroding its democratic institutions and leading it down (in the words of former prime minister Ehud Barak) “a slippery slope toward apartheid.” 

See – https://t.co/VwH6y9Rbdz