Bernie Sanders mildly criticized Israel s actions during the 2014 massacre of over 1400 Palestinian civilians by describing it as  disproportionate.  I m going to stress the word  mild  here because it will be held up as an extreme attack on Israel because that s where our political system is today. Any politician that even slightly disagrees with Israel s tendency to shoot first, ask questions never is labeled as the next coming of Hitler by the rabidly pro-Israel right and the slightly less rabid pro-Israel left. A fact that did not escape CNN s Jake Tapper:Tapper then inquired why Sanders, who like many American Jews identifies as Jewish but says he s  not very religious,  was taking a  critical  position on Israel. It is interesting that the first Jew in American history to win a delegate, much less a primary, is taking a position on Israel that is Usually in American politics everyone just supports Israel and whatever Israel wants to do. You re taking a more critical position,  Tapper said.It s rare for anyone, much less a journalist, to put it so bluntly so kudos to Tapper as well. Bernie, not one to shy away from controversy, gave a perfectly reasonable response that will in no way mollify his pro-war critics: A more balanced position,  Sanders interrupted.  Whether Jewish or not Jewish, I would hope that every person in this country wants to see the misery of never-ending war and conflict ending in the Middle East. It s a difficult issue. Other people have tried to deal with it for years. All that I m saying  as somebody who is absolutely pro-Israeli, absolutely 100 percent supports Israel s right to exist in peace and in security  I think that the only way we succeed is of course the United States supports Israel, but you cannot ignore the needs of the Palestinian people. You can t just be concerned about Israel s needs. You have to be concerned about the needs of all the people in the region,  Sanders added.Ohhhhhh .he s going to pay for that. One of the basic tenets of the pro-Israeli worldview is the Palestinians are not real people. They re all  terrorists  and  terrorist sympathizers,  even the small children. Keeping them deprived of food, medicine and other basic human needs is only natural since they re little better than animals. If you think I m exaggerating, you must not have spoken to many strident Israel supporters or listened to how the Israeli government and people talk about a Final Solution to the Palestinian Problem.Here s Bernie completely crazed, anti-Semitic (but not really) rant:Featured image via screen cap.