Charlotte, North Carolina (CNN) – Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison, one of only two Muslim-Americans in Congress, reacted Thursday to the controversy over his party's newly-updated platform that references Jerusalem as being the capital of Israel.
"I do not want to see this issue used as a cudgel to beat on the president with," Ellison said. "They're trying to use the issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a way to divide people."
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(CNN) – A co-chairman of the committee charged with drafting the Democrats' official party platform said Thursday it was "unfortunate" that references to Jerusalem and God were initially omitted from this year's document, but could not explain events that led to that exclusion.
"It was an unfortunate omission," Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Cory Booker said on CNN's "Starting Point," stressing that the discrepancies between this year's platform and 2008's – which did include language referring to God and Jerusalem – did not detract from President Barack Obama's core beliefs.
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(CNN) - After the Democratic Party convention platform was modified to include support for Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, CNN Chief National Correspondent John King looks at the importance of the Jewish vote this November.
Charlotte, North Carolina(CNN) – In a rare display of just how quickly a tightly scripted national political convention can unwind, Democrats on Wednesday struggled to complete a voice vote amending their party platform to include language referring to Jerusalem and God.
It took three attempts from Democratic National Convention Chairman Antonio Villaraigosa before the platform was amended, and a loud chorus of delegates yelling "no" met each attempt to pass the changes by voice vote.
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(CNN) - Democrats voted to update their party's platform Wednesday evening at their convention to include a reference to Jerusalem being the capital of Israel, as well as the insertion of the word "God," neither of which was included in their platform this year but was in previous platforms.
President Barack Obama himself intervened regarding the Jerusalem language, a senior Democratic source told CNN, adding, that he thought the original draft was "a strong statement and he didn't want there to be any confusion about his unshakeable commitment to the security of state israel. The issue of the day is Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah."
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Charlotte, North Carolina (CNN) – The Democrats' official platform, released late Monday, omits a clause from the party's 2008 document proclaiming Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a subject of intense diplomatic scrutiny that Obama's Republican challenger Mitt Romney has put at the center of his position on the Jewish state.
In 2008, Democrats wrote in their platform, "Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel. The parties have agreed that Jerusalem is a matter for final status negotiations. It should remain an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths."
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(CNN) – It was the end of a long, hot day in Israel when it happened: Republican lawmakers, along with a smattering of aides and family members, dived into the Sea of Galilee, a holy site for Christians where the Bible says Jesus walked on water.
Several GOP sources familiar with the events on August 4, 2011 said one of those Republicans, Rep. Kevin Yoder of Kansas, wasn't wearing any clothes. Others say they dived in for religious reasons.
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(CNN) – A group of House Republicans were scolded last year for their behavior during a fact-finding trip to Israel, including skinny dipping in the Sea of Galilee, a spokesman for GOP Majority Leader Eric Cantor said late Sunday after reports of the incidents were published online.
"Twelve months ago, [Cantor] dealt with this immediately and effectively to ensure such activities would not take place in the future," Cantor spokesman Doug Heye wrote in a statement.
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(CNN) – America's economic engine is fueled by individuals working hard, Mitt Romney said Tuesday, not by a government-run cooperative akin to a kibbutz.
"It's individuals and their entrepreneurship which have driven America," Romney said at a fund-raising event at Maggiano's Little Italy in Chicago. "What America is not a collective where we all work in a kibbutz or we all in some little entity, instead it's individuals pursuing their dreams and building successful enterprises which employ others and they become inspired as they see what has happened in the place they work and go off and start their own enterprises."
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(CNN) - Mitt Romney's campaign released two new television ads Sunday hitting President Barack Obama on two fronts: the United States' ties with Israel and the still-recovering economy.
The first ad, "Cherished Relationship," comes exactly one week after the presumptive GOP nominee made a high-profile trip to Israel.
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