Ron Paul’s Son Sen. Rand Paul Won’t Comment on Father’s Past Comparison of Gaza to “Concentration Camp”;
Israelis Suprised Congressman Made Analogy
Posted on January 12, 2012 at 11:03am by Sharona Schwartz
Supporters of Ron Paul have been trying to make the case their
candidate is pro-Israel despite his past statements and opposition to
foreign aid to the Jewish state. Their job got a little harder after a
two-year-old interview Rep. Paul gave to Iran’s Press TV was recently
posted on YouTube in which he compared Israel’s treatment of Gaza to
that of a Nazi concentration camp.
In the 2009 interview, Paul talks about the “tragedy of Gaza,”
comparing it to a concentration camp, and appears to mock those who say
Hamas is the aggressor. He said, “To me I look at it like it’s a
concentration camp, and people are making bombs, like, they’re the
aggressors?”In New Hampshire this weekend, the Daily Caller asked Paul’s son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, about the video clip: (below)

Asked by TheDC in the spin room after the ABC News–Yahoo!
News Republican primary debate whether his father still stood by that
assessment of Gaza as a concentration camp, the younger Paul wouldn’t
say.
“I don’t know about that comment,” Rand Paul said before pivoting to
say that his “father doesn’t want [Iran] to have nuclear weapons, he
thinks it would be destabilizing for them to have them, but he thinks
there needs to be a healthy debate in Congress about what our response
should be.”
Pressed again on whether his father still thinks Gaza is like a
concentration camp, Paul mumbled “I don’t know that” before turning away
from TheDC to answer other questions.

Though the comparison has been made by some pro-Palestinian
activists, Israelis were surprised a presidential candidate would make
it. It was the lead story on Israel’s Ynet News
website Monday morning. Itamar Marcus, who heads the Israeli research
group Palestinian Media Watch which follows Palestinian media reports
from Gaza and the West Bank tells The Blaze:
“Comparing the Gaza Strip to a concentration camp is
disgusting and shows complete ignorance. Disgusting – because it
trivializes and insults the memory of the millions of victims who were
killed in the Nazi concentration camps and death camps. It shows
complete ignorance because there is no resemblance between civilians who
were murdered and starved to death in concentration camps, and the
military blockade of the Gaza Strip to keep weapons out of the hands of
genocidal preaching Hamas. If there is suffering in the Gaza Strip – and
there may be – it is totally the blame of the Palestinian leadership
there.”
The Blaze reached out to Israeli legislators across the political
spectrum for reaction, but representatives of Likud, Kadima,
Independence and Labor said they didn’t want to comment publicly on the
American election campaign.
Paul’s position on Israel got attention last month after former aid Eric Dondero wrote that the presidential candidate wishes Israel did not exist.

In response to that, Ron Paul’s campaign spokesman Gary Howard emailed the media a statement saying, “”Dr. Paul is the most pro-Israel candidate in this race.”

“He is the only leader who will stop sending tens of
billions of dollars in aid and arms to her Arab enemies, cut off
subsidies to companies who do business with Iran, and allow Israel to
defend herself as she sees fit, without the permission and interference
of the US or the United Nations.”
By contrast, Dondero, who previously worked for Ron Paul for 12 years wrote that though he does not believe Paul is anti-Semitic, he is “most certainly Anti-Israel, and Anti-Israeli in general:”

“He wishes the Israeli state did not exist at all. He
expressed this to me numerous times in our private conversations. His
view is that Israel is more trouble than it is worth, specifically to
the America taxpayer. He sides with the Palestinians, and supports their
calls for the abolishment of the Jewish state, and the return of
Israel, all of it, to the Arabs.”
The Republican Jewish Coalition last month did not invite Paul to its
candidates’ forum because of what it called his “extreme views” after a
November Republican debate where he said Washington should be less
involved in Israeli affairs. Reuters reported:
“They can take care of themselves,” Paul, who has called
for reduced U.S. foreign aid generally, said at the time. “Why do we
have this automatic commitment that we’re going to send our kids and
send our money endlessly to Israel?”
In an interview to the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz
last month, Paul said he’s “the one candidate who would respect
Israel’s sovereignty and not try to dictate to her about how she should
deal with her neighbors.” He reminded readers he supported Israel‘s 1981
strike on Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor. He added:
I believe that Israel is one of our most important
friends in the world. And the views that I hold have many adherents in
Israel today. Two of the tenets of a true Zionist are
“self-determination” and “self-reliance.” I do not believe we should be
Israel’s master but, rather, her friend. We should not be dictating her
policies and announcing her negotiating positions before talks with her
neighbors have even begun.
Ron Paul’s interview to Press TV was not the last time the
presidential candidate invoked the World War II comparison. In 2010, he
told Don Imus the situation in Gaza is “almost like in concentration
camps,” a comparison that makes claims Ron Paul is pro-Israel more
difficult to believe.

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