Facebook share Share on TwitterRSS feed

Innovative Minds © 2014. All Rights Reserved. www.inminds.co.uk

[Boycott - Zionist Lobby]

Is Israeli faith in the US unshakeable?


Linda S. Heard, Gulf News
17 April 2007

In February, Presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton stood up in front of the AIPAC crowd to proudly state "Israel's cause is our cause". In earlier times, her husband had actually vowed to grab a rifle, get in a trench and fight and die were Israel is attacked.


Without the United States, Israel could not survive. Washington supplies this minute wealthy country with economic, military and strategic aid and virtually gives it carte blanche to behave as it pleases.

One after the other US presidents and senators pay annual obeisance to the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and pledge their allegiance to the special relationship between the two countries. To do otherwise is tantamount to political suicide.

In February, Presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton stood up in front of the AIPAC crowd to proudly state "Israel's cause is our cause". In earlier times, her husband had actually vowed to grab a rifle, get in a trench and fight and die were Israel is attacked.

Not to be outdone, in March, Senator Barack Obama made his pilgrimage to AIPAC where he gave a speech promising to work towards ensuring Israel's military supremacy in the region.

In March, Senator Barack Obama made his pilgrimage to AIPAC where he gave a speech promising to work towards ensuring Israel's military supremacy in the region.


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose family has an Israeli soccer field named after it, was dubbed 'the AIPAC Girl' after she bowed to pressure from the lobby to drop a provision of the Iraq funding bill requiring President Bush to take permission from Congress before launching a war on Iran.

As long as the US is on its side Israel is untouchable. It has never been censored for its nuclear weapons programme because Washington readily accepts Israel's policy of nuclear ambiguity even though the US invaded Iraq ostensibly to find non-existent weapons and is sabre-rattling against Iran, which denies it has any intention of manufacturing nukes.

As long as the status quo is maintained, Israel's security is assured. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is free to snub Arab peace initiatives, and has no real accountability for his treatment of the Palestinians or the decimation of Lebanon.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose family has an Israeli soccer field named after it, was dubbed 'the AIPAC Girl' after she bowed to pressure from the lobby to drop a provision of the Iraq funding bill requiring President Bush to take permission from Congress before launching a war on Iran.


But what happens if America one day decides to view its support for Israel as more of a liability than an asset? That isn't as outrageous as it appears at first sight.

Until recently any mention of the Israel lobby's power to dictate US foreign policy was practically taboo. Then in March 2006, the London Review of Books published a work by two American professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt titled The Israeli Lobby.

Lobby influence

Its main thrust was the lobby has too much influence over the executive branch; it questioned the perception of Israel as David aggressed by Goliath and cast aspersions on Israel's loyalty towards the United States.

The article elicited a firestorm just as the authors later said they had anticipated. The lobby mobilised and did its best to get the two intellectuals written off as 'anti-Semites'.

Then in April 2006, another professor Tony Judt was invited to write an op-ed for the New York Times concerning Walt and Mearsheimer's essay on condition he included mention of his own Jewish ancestry.

In his piece, broadly supportive of opening up the debate, he questions why "the uncomfortable issues raised by Walt and Mearsheimer" were thoroughly aired in Israel but not in the United States.

The lobby may be viewed as a hostile entity within [America] promoting wars for Israel's sake for which young Americans inevitably end up as cannon fodder. It doesn't help that AIPAC officials were accused of passing on secrets to Israel gleaned from a Pentagon employee


"It was an Israeli columnist in the liberal daily Haaretz who described the American foreign policy advisers Richard Perle and Douglas Feith as 'walking a fine line between their loyalty to American governments...and Israeli interests'," wrote Judt.

"It was Israel's impeccably conservative Jerusalem Post that described Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy secretary of defence [now head of the World Bank] as 'devoutly pro-Israel'. Are we to accuse Israelis, too, of anti-Zionism?" Judt asks. The lobby's wrath was a given and Judt was pilloried as a self-hating Jew.

In October, a talk that Judt was due to give at the Polish Consulate in New York was abruptly cancelled after Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League - a Jewish advocacy group - telephoned the consul-general.

The danger for the lobby is overreach. Since 9/11 Americans have become more politically savvy about issues related to the Middle East and in this internet age there may come a day when they will no longer believe American and Israeli interests are one and the same.

When and if that day comes the lobby may be viewed as a hostile entity within promoting wars for Israel's sake for which young Americans inevitably end up as cannon fodder. It doesn't help that AIPAC officials were accused of passing on secrets to Israel gleaned from a Pentagon employee.

Some American Jews are concerned about an anti-Semitic backlash that could undermine America's support for Israel prompting the American Jewish Committee (AJC) to ask President Bush to quit threatening Iran for the sake of Israel's security.

Their fears may be well founded. Memories of the Holocaust are fading and with them the collective guilt experienced by the West is diminishing. It's conceivable that Americans will open their eyes to an Israeli Goliath and wonder why it's being propped up with their tax dollars.

That day may be a long way off. It may never happen. But, in the meantime, Israelis would be well advised to grab the Arab peace initiative with both hands.

Linda S. Heard is a specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She can be contacted at lheard@gulfnews.com.

Source: http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/04/17/10118755.html


Also Of Interest

Page URL: http://inminds.com/article.php?id=10025
Support Us
If you agree with our work then please support us.

Give one time donation:

Setup monthly donation:
INMINDS Facebook Live Feed
Latest Video's
Latest News..
[all-by date]
[all-by category]
[all-by modify date]
INMINDS Twitter Feed
Boycott Israel Campaign
Featured Video's
You need Flash player 8+ and JavaScript enabled to view this video.
Why boycott Israel on Campus[1:50:05]
12 London universities discuss need for BDS on campuses. Speakers include Rafeef Ziadeh, Ilan Pappe, Karma Nabulsi & Mike Cushman
Love Letters to Gaza[31:08]
A unique theatrical event using personal messages of love, support and hope from people of all ages and all walks of life to the people of Gaza.
John Pilger[7:55]
journalist and documentary maker
Antiwar Mass Assembly 8 Oct 2011
Julian Assange[7:07]
founder of WikiLeaks
Antiwar Mass Assembly 8 Oct 2011
Lauren Booth, Sami Ramadani & Yvonne Ridley[6:28]
Reading the names of the dead
Antiwar Mass Assembly 8 Oct 2011
George Galloway[6:39]
Antiwar Mass Assembly 8 Oct 2011
Jemima Khan[8:42]
Antiwar Mass Assembly 8 Oct 2011
Why Boycott Marks & Spencer 2011?[23:29]
Demo outside M&S Oxford Street(24 Sept 2011)
Sean Clinton[4:59]
Israeli Blood Diamonds Campaign
Al Quds Day rally, Trafalgar Square (31 Aug 2011)
Lauren Booth[5:24]
Al Quds Day rally, Trafalgar Square (31 Aug 2011)
Lauren Booth - Prayer for Gaza[2:46]
Al Quds Day rally, Trafalgar Square (31 Aug 2011)
Benny Morris - Historian or Racist?[34:07]
Activists oppose visit of racist Israeli historian Benny Morris who justifies ethnic cleansing and genocide.
Is Israel applying apartheid?[2:12:56]
Speakers: Yael Kahn, Jody McIntyre and Ghada Karmi (5 May 2011)
Karen Mitchell[48:27]
Partner at Thompsons Solicitors
Life changing visit to Palestine in 2008 (21 Feb 2011)
Ramzy Baroud[1:59:32]
Editor-in-chief of the Palestine Chronicle
"My Father Was A Freedom Fighter - Gaza's Untold Story" (25 Mar 2011)
Women United in the Intifada[2:31:36]
Speakers: Lizzie Cocker, Ewa Jasiewcz, Alaa Kassim, Yvonney Ridley, Isis Amlak, Sukant Chandan, Ramzy Baroud (14 Mar 2011)
George Galloway[1:01:48]
Solidarity with the Middle-East Revolution, support the people - oppose US/UK intervention (SOAS, 11 Mar 2011)
Omar Barghouti[55:08]
BDS Movement co-founder
"Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions" book launch (7 Mar 2011)
Shir Hever[1:49:09]
Alternative Information Centre
The Political Economy of Israel's Occupation, Kings College London (17 Feb 2011)
Why academic boycott of Israel[1:29:37]
Speakers: Mohammed Abuabdou(PSCABI), Mike Cushman(BRICUP), Jodey McIntyre(activist) (8 Feb 2011)
Dashed Hopes - Gaza Blockade[1:23:08]
Mohammed-Ali Abu Najela (Oxfam), Andrea Becker (MAP), Ewa Jasiewicz (Free Gaza Movement) (1 Feb 2011)
Jordan Valley: Apartheid[1:17:12]
Sarah Cobham(Brighton Jordan Valley Solidarity), Chris Osmond (Corporate Watch) (House of Commons, 1 Feb 2011)
Dump Veolia Demo[7:00]
Protesting at settlement supporter Veolia's sponsership of exhibit at the Natural History Museum (23 Oct 2010)
Boycott Israeli Dates [1/2][9:11]
Are you financing Israels brutal occupation this Ramadan?
Boycott Israeli Dates [2/2][9:05]
Are you financing Israels brutal occupation this Ramadan?
Lee Jasper [1/2][10:13]
[4 of 8] Genocide Memorial Day 2010 Session One, 17-1-2010
Lee Jasper [2/2][9:51]
[5 of 8] Genocide Memorial Day 2010 Session One, 17-1-2010
One Oppressor One Bullet[8:11]
Imam Achmad Cassiem, veteran of the armed struggle against apartheid in South Africa, speaks at the StW rally (London, 19 Feb 2005)
Salwa Alenat [1/2][9:56]
KavLaOved (Workers Rights hotline)
[1 of 8] Israel's Occupation - Abuse of Palestinian Workers (LSE 19 Nov 2009)
Salwa Alenat [2/2][8:57]
KavLaOved (Workers Rights hotline)
[2 of 8] Israel's Occupation - Abuse of Palestinian Workers (LSE 19 Nov 2009)
For Anwar [1of2][10:01]
Carmel Agrexco Valentines Action 7 Feb 2009
For Anwar [2of2][9:56]
Carmel Agrexco Valentines Action 7 Feb 2009
big
[all videos (over 200)..]
Featured MP3 Podcast

"Everywhere we went (in Gaza) the same question was on every body's lips - 'You are here but where are the Arabs?' One little girl said to me 'where is this Arab world that they teach us about in school? Where is this Ummah that they talk to us about on Fridays? Why did they leave us alone?'. That's what she said to me, with tears in her eyes 'why did they leave us alone?' I had to turn my face away from her when she said it, and I'm not an Arab, I had to turn away.. I couldn't face her in the face of such a question.."
Leader of Viva Palestina aid convoy to Gaza
US tour hosted by Al-Awda, April 2009 [71min / 56Mb]
[need flash]

[all podcasts..]
Newsletter
To subscribe
enter your email:

COPY VERIFICATION CODEcopy this code —>
Feedback
If you wish to comment on this page:

(all fields optional)



COPY VERIFICATION CODEcopy this code —>
The opinions expressed on this site, unless otherwise stated, are those of the authors.
All logos & trademarks are the property of their respective owners and their use is covered under 'fair use' policy.
Copyright © 1998-2012 Innovative Minds www.inminds.com All Rights Reserved.
The opinions expressed on this site, unless otherwise stated, are those of the authors.
All logos & trademarks are the property of their respective owners and their use is covered under 'fair use' policy.
Copyright © 1998-2012 Innovative Minds www.inminds.com All Rights Reserved.