By Aaron Klein
Domestic terrorist sees White House 'strategy' to create Palestinian state
NEW YORK – President Obama's appointment of Sen. Hillary Clinton – a perceived friend of Israel – to be secretary of state was a tactic to force a settlement with the Palestinians on the Jewish state, according to an assessment by one of the founders of the Weathermen terrorist organization
The former Weathermen leader, Mark Rudd, worked closely for years with Weathermen terrorist William Ayers, whose association with Obama has generated controversy for the president. Rudd still works with Ayers in a far-leftist organization, the Movement for a Democratic Society, which includes many former Weathermen members and communist and socialist activists.
As WND previously reported, Rudd also was a signatory to Progressives for Obama, a group of far-leftist activists, including former Weathermen members, who engaged in activism to help elect Obama.
In a recent interview with the Next Left Notes website, Rudd assesses Obama's first weeks in office. The Notes website is associated with the Movement for a Democratic Society, according to communist expert Trevor Loudon of the New Zeal blog.
Rudd stated Obama's appointment of Clinton was "strategic" to force Israel into accepting a deal with the Palestinians:
"(Some other appointments are) terrible at the top level, except maybe Hillary Clinton, whom I'm expecting to win a Nobel prize for forcing the Israelis to accept a settlement. Who but the nation's No. 1 shiksa (non-Jew), a certified lover of Israel, would the right wing accept to force the settlement? That was a strategic appointment."
The Obama administration supports Israeli-Palestinian talks aimed at creating a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and eastern Jerusalem.
 Mark Rudd |
Rudd had mixed reviews on Obama's other appointments, claiming that the U.S. president intentionally put conservative figures at the top but that mid-level positions were stacked with "center-leftists."
"All the others are strategic in the same way – giving the right the top positions," Rudd said. "The trick is to look at the next level, where Podesta put center-leftists, predominantly."
Speaking on Obama's overall performance, Rudd added, "I think he's acted in an extremely predictable way, knowing what we already know about him."
Rudd continued, "He's cautious and strategic. He knows that there is no mandate yet for abrupt shifts to the left."
Rudd originally was a top member of the Students for a Democratic Society, or SDS, leading the famed 1968 Columbia University strikes in which hundreds of students seized several university buildings. He also served as spokesman for the strikes, attracting international media attention.
In 1968, Rudd traveled with the SDS to Cuba, defying U.S. travel bans, where he says he was heavily influenced by the legacy of Che Guevara and by Cuban-style revolution. When he returned to the U.S., Rudd advocated for Columbia's chapter of the SDS to carry out militant, aggressive action, but he was turned down.
A bio published on his website explains Rudd worked to form the Weathermen as a radical alternative to the SDS, urging white Americans to reject their "white skin privilege" and begin "armed struggle" against the U.S. government.
The Weathermen took responsibility for bombing U.S. governmental buildings in the 1970s.
Rudd went underground in 1970, when a bomb exploded in a townhouse in Greenwich Village in New York City, killing three of his comrades. He lived for seven and a half years in hiding as a fugitive, finally surrendering in 1977, facing only low-level state charges after federal charges against Weathermen leaders had been dropped. He resurfaced as a teacher in New Mexico.
As late as 2005, Rudd wrote an editorial in the Los Angeles Times lamenting the state of the antiwar movement in the U.S:
"What's hard to understand – given the revelations about the rush to war, the use of torture and the loss of more than 2,000 soldiers – is why the antiwar movement isn't further along than it is. Given that President Bush is now talking about Iraq as only one skirmish in an unlimited struggle against a global Islamic enemy, a struggle comparable to the titanic, 40-year Cold War against communism, shouldn't a massive critique of the global war on terrorism already be underway?" he wrote.
Rudd condemned the Weathermen's decision to embark on an "armed struggle," calling it "stupid" since the violent acts led to the group's demise.
Rudd didn't condemn the terrorism itself, only its contribution to the downfall of the Weathermen.
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