
Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia has repeatedly apologized for his remarks on Israeli settlements, remarks in which he likened settlements popping up all over the West Bank to a termite infestation.
Yet even so, the Zionists are still piling on him.
âThe ripple effect continues for U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson a week after the Lithonia Democrat was quoted comparing Jewish settlement policy in the disputed West Bank to termites,’â reports the Atlanta Journal Constitution in an article published August 3.
This of course is what passes for US mainstream media coverage of the Palestine-Israel conflict. Tamar Hallerman, the author of the piece, demonstrates what would seem to be a rather pronounced lack of journalistic integrity in her reference to the West Bank as âdisputed,â rather than occupied. The word âdisputedâ has for years been a hasbara talking point. The West Bank is viewed by virtually the entire world as rightfully belonging to the Palestinians and regarded as a vital ingredient to implementation of the so-called two-state solution.
And as such, the settlements are regarded as illegal under international lawâsomething which Hallerman also fails to mention in her report. Virtually no one, other than Zionists and media functionaries like Hallerman, refer to the West Bank as âdisputed.â The proper term is âoccupied.â
At any rate, the main focus of her article is an editorial âblastingâ Johnson which appeared at the Atlanta Jewish Times on Monday and which is quoted extensively.
âThe editorial argues that if Johnson wants to receive votes from the pro-Israel community in the future, heâll need to answer questions about what he was doing speaking at an event sponsored by a pro-Israeli-boycott group in the first place,â Hallerman reports.
âMeanwhile, Johnsonâs apology tour continues. He met with the Atlanta chapter of the advocacy group the American Jewish Committee on Tuesday,â she adds.
Donât you just love the term âapology tourâ? It kind of falls into the same category as Philip Weissâ comment about Jews dominating the American mediaââand so what if we do?â It is of course imperative for Jews to try and downplay their political power, yet as we see every so often one or another will succumb to the temptation to boast about it.
So yes, Johnson is on a âtourâ visiting various Jews and Jewish organizations, apologizing for his remarks. Here he is in an August 2 meeting with members of the American Jewish Committee, whose website urges visitors to âstop BDS in its tracksâ by signing onto a form letter to Congress members:
The letter, by the way, describes BDS as a âvirulent movement,â and following his meeting with the group, Johnson tweeted amicably, âAppreciate meeting w/ @AJCGlobal today to open important dialogue â especially w/ #ATL director @DovWilker. Thanks!â
Johnsonâs initial remarks about termites were made at an event in Philadelphia on July 25. If you have not read my article, Termites and Israeli Settlers: A US Congressmanâs Analogy, you might consider doing so. As I noted, the congressmanâs critics seem to have little to say about racist rabbis in Israel who have articulated things far worse and who have even called for the murder of Palestinians.
The editorial at the Atlanta Jewish Times, cited by Hallerman, makes mention of the fact that Johnson holds the same congressional seat once held by Cynthia McKinney, and while the opinion piece seems to give him credit for being less of an âanti-Semiteâ than his predecessor, it doesnât seem to cut him much else in the way of slack.
Unlike McKinney, the woman he defeated 10 years ago to win his seat in Congress, Johnson doesnât hate Jews, many of whom have been crucial supporters, and he doesnât spout conspiracy theories accusing Jews or Israelis of carrying out false-flag terrorist attacks.
But his attitude toward Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has changed in recent years, and he spoke July 25 as someone who has earned a reputation as a leading congressional critic of Israel.
That day he criticized Israel and the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while lamenting the condition of the Palestinians. He portrayed Israelis as the villains and Palestinians as the victims, ignoring Palestinian terrorism against Israeli civilians, incitement by Palestinian leaders and rocket fire from Gaza.
The editorial doesnât divulge that Jewish donors hostile to McKinney funded Johnsonâs campaign in a deliberate effort to unseat her. This, however, is indeed what took place. So of course the âmany Jewsâ the editorial does allude to, i.e. Jews who have been Johnsonâs âcrucial supportersâ in the past, obviously have plenty of reason to be irked!
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Israeli Apartheid Explained with Humor
âHe (Rep. Hank Johnson) portrayed Israelis as the villains and Palestinians as the victims, ignoring Palestinian terrorism against Israeli civilians, incitement by Palestinian leaders and rocket fire from Gaza.â
âAtlanta Jewish Times
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Moreover, the specter of McKinney apparently looms rather sinisterly in the anonymous editorial writerâs imagination. âShort of going full Cynthia McKinney, Congressman Hank Johnson couldnât have done much more to anger the Jewish community than unleash a comparison between termites and Israelis living on the West Bank,â the person writes in what is essentially an unintended tribute to the former Georgia congresswoman.
Thankfully of course Johnson also doesnât âspout conspiracy theories accusing Jews or Israelis of carrying out false-flag terrorist attacks.â That would certainly be to his detriment and lead to an extended, much-prolonged apology tourâand of course as we all know, Jews donât celebrate in parking lots while âdocumenting the event,â take out insurance policies on asbestos-filled buildings, or get themselves appointed to oversee commissions investigating what happened on a day that âchanged the worldâ and that led to a series of wars against Israelâs enemies and a flood of refugees pouring into Europe. Jews donât do any of these things! So repeat after me: Itâs all just a coincidenceâŠjust a coincidenceâŠjust a coincidenceâŠ
The editorial also invokes the Nazis (you wouldnât expect otherwise), calls Johnsonâs termite comment âa particularly vile association,â and quotes one of his more contrite apologies:
âThe language I used was not only unacceptable but it was hurtful,â he wrote in a message to constituents. âI deeply regret using this terrible metaphor. It was not only nonconstructive, it was wrong.â
Iâm just guessing here, but I suspect a lot of people in Johnsonâs congressional district are supporters of the Black Lives Matters movement, and of course a good many activists in that movement have openly expressed solidarity with Palestinians. Could that have anything to do with why Johnson accepted the invitation to speak at the event in Philadelphia?
A number of Johnsonâs critics have attacked him not only for his comments about termites, but also for speaking at what they view as an anti-Semitic event. The event at which he spoke was not anti-Semitic, but it has been portrayed as such. âProgressive for Palestine: Is the US Ready to Rethink Policy on Israel?ââthis was the title of the program. It was sponsored jointly by the American Friends Service Committee and the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. The latter group should change its name to the âUS Campaign to End the Israeli Disputationâ or else prepare to go on being accused of anti-Semitism. At any rate, the main point Iâm making is that not only were Johnsonâs words criticized, but the program itself.
âWhy was Johnson speaking to such an anti-Israel gathering at all?â asks the Atlanta Jewish Times editorial, in what is perhaps typical of some of the jabs. âThatâs the question he must answer if wants to receive any more votes from the pro-Israel community.â
âAny more votesâ from a group that makes up roughly two percent of the population is of course of scant consideration. The real question is whether Johnson will undergo savage media attacks in conjunction with buckets of money funneled to the campaign of some possible future opponent. Clearly the congressman has been warned.
UPDATE:
For those who think it worth the effort, an online petition has been started to urge Johnson to âplease keep speaking out about West Bank settlements.â

Richard Edmondson is an author, novelist, poet, and journalist whose writings often focus on Middle East issues, the Zionist lobby, and religion. His latest novel is The Memoirs of Saint John: When the Sandstone Crumbles, a story about an archaeological team doing a dig in Syria and set amidst the current conflict in the country.
In 2014 Richard attended an International Conference on Combating Terrorism and Religious Extremism, held in Damascus. The book is part two in the Memoirs of Saint John series.
Two other books by Richard are Rising Up: Class Warfare in America from the Streets to the Airwaves, relating his experiences founding and operating an unlicensed or “pirate” FM radio station in San Francisco in the 1990s, as well as a volume of poetry entitled American Bus Stop: Essay and Poems on Hope and Homelessness.
Richard is cognizant of the words of the early Christian writer Tertullian, who in the second century-basically prognosticating the fall of the Roman Empire-wrote: “We have made merry amid the ludicrous cruelties of the noonday exhibition.”
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