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TechnoratiAmerica, Stop Sucking up to Israel
Barack Obama has been busy - offering the Jewish People blessings for Rosh Hashanah, and recording a flattering video for the President's Conference in Jerusalem and another for Yitzhak Rabin's memorial rally. Only Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah surpasses him in terms of sheer output of recorded remarks.
In all the videos, Obama heaps sticky-sweet praise on Israel, even though he has spent nearly a year fruitlessly lobbying for Israel to be so kind as to do something, anything - even just a temporary freeze on settlement building - to advance the peace process.
The president's Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, has also been busy, shuttling between a funeral (for IDF soldier Asaf Ramon, the son of Israel's first astronaut Ilan Ramon) and a memorial (for Rabin, though it was postponed until next week due to rain), in order to find favor with Israelis. Polls have shown that Obama is increasingly unpopular here, with an approval rating of only 6 to 10 percent.
He decided to address Israelis by video, but a persuasive speech won't persuade anyone to end the occupation. He simply should have told the Israeli people the truth. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who arrived here last night, will certainly express similar sentiments: "commitment to Israel's security," "strategic alliance," "the need for peace," and so on .
Before no other country on the planet does the United States kneel and plead like this. In other trouble spots, America takes a different tone. It bombs in Afghanistan, invades Iraq and threatens sanctions against Iran and North Korea. Did anyone in Washington consider begging Saddam Hussein to withdraw from occupied territory in Kuwait?
But Israel the occupier, the stubborn contrarian that continues to mock America and the world by building settlements and abusing the Palestinians, receives different treatment. Another massage to the national ego in one video, more embarrassing praise in another.
Now is the time to say to the United States: Enough flattery. If you don't change the tone, nothing will change. As long as Israel feels the United States is in its pocket, and that America's automatic veto will save it from condemnations and sanctions, that it will receive massive aid unconditionally, and that it can continue waging punitive, lethal campaigns without a word from Washington, killing, destroying and imprisoning without the world's policeman making a sound, it will continue in its ways.
Illegal acts like the occupation and settlement expansion, and offensives that may have involved war crimes, as in Gaza, deserve a different approach. If America and the world had issued condemnations after Operation Summer Rains in 2006 - which left 400 Palestinians dead and severe infrastructure damage in the first major operation in Gaza since the disengagement - then Operation Cast Lead never would have been launched.
It is true that unlike all the world's other troublemakers, Israel is viewed as a Western democracy, but Israel of 2009 is a country whose language is force. Anwar Sadat may have been the last leader to win our hearts with optimistic, hope-igniting speeches. If he were to visit Israel today, he would be jeered off the stage. The Syrian president pleads for peace and Israel callously dismisses him, the United States begs for a settlement free ze and Israel turns up its nose. This is what happens when there are no consequences for Israel's inaction.
When Clinton returns to Washington, she should advocate a sharp policy change toward Israel. Israeli hearts can no longer be won with hope, promises of a better future or sweet talk, for this is no longer Israel's language. For something to change, Israel must understand that perpetuating the status quo will exact a painful price.
Israel of 2009 is a spoiled country, arrogant and condescending, convinced that it deserves everything and that it has the power to make a fool of America and the world. The United States has engendered this situation, which endangers the entire Mideast and Israel itself. That is why there needs to be a turning point in the coming year - Washington needs to finally say no to Israel and the occupation. An unambiguous, presidential no.
81 Comments so far
Show AllThe US and Israel are two partners in the same criminal enterprise so don't expect one to stop sucking up to the other.
The US and the UK used the UN to create the fake state of Israel in 1948 for a purpose, to do their dirty job in the Middle East. 700,000 were dislodged in the process. That was just the initial theft, of course, it didn't stop there and it continues today. More and more land theft, genocide and ethnic cleaning each year. It's a two way street, billions of dollars are involved, don't expect it to end.
the UN created all sorts of new configurations in the Middle East after WW2...not Just Isreal...once again...blame blame blame the Jews...stop with the one sidedness of your comments
Read your history my friend. The bulk of the blame, in my opinion is the British Empire. The Brits are responsible for most of the borders in the region, check it out. Blame the Jews? Are we reading the same thing here?
Dear Socialist...while I agree the British were heavily, if not totally responsible for all of this (Balfour Declaration), in fact it was the UN General Assembly that adopted the UN Special Commission Plan for Palestine Nov. 29, 1947 creating a Jewish state and an Arab state and (as far as I've been able to figure) 80% of Palestine was given or ceded or whatever to Transjordan (British Mandate)...so, seems it is more than me that needs to read their history...the reason I didn't go into this was because I was referring back to a post that used the UN designation and rather than go into it used it also (correctly)...however it is also true that the whole Middle East was divided up after the fall of the Ottoman Empire...my, how these Empires fall.
Yes, I don't see any disagreement. One thing to keep in mind: the Brits were the imperial power and did nothing to stop the Zionists crimes. The Balfour Declaration gave away land that did not belong to the British in the first place. They could have stopped it. WWII had been over for several years when Israel became a state. So, my blaming the British does not mean I do not blame the Zionists or the US.
The evidence of Israeli involvement in orchestrating 9/11 is overwhelming--and exceeds by far the scant evidence presented "proving" Osama Bin Laden's involvement in 9/11.
http://whodidit.org/cocon.html Look at the number of dual citizens (US/Israeli) involved in 9/11.
Watch CORE OF CORRUPTION full version on Google Videos.
Watch 911 MISSING LINKS at http://911missinglinks.com Again, look at the number of dual citizens (US/Israeli) involved in orchestrating 9/11 and the coverup.
Get over the emotional stigma of "conspiracy theory" and look at the evidence. Don't succumb to the hypnotic control making questioning of the "special alliance" with Israel a taboo.
Like Julius Caesar stabbed by his 'friend', we should be saying, "et tu, Israel!" regarding their role in the "false flags" attack, 9/11.
May I remind my fellow correspondents who are making broad generalizations about "the Jews" that that people who are known (by themselves and others) as Jews are among the most diverse people of any on Earth, representing every human tendency. Progressives should fear genuine anti-semitism as they fear racism.
Tony Vodvarka
Please don't turn this into anti-semitism. This is about being anti-land theft, genocide and ethnic cleansing.
I fully understand and loathe the use of false charges of anti-semitism by many concerning this subject. However, I repeat, any use of broad generalization concerning "the Jews" does suggest genuine anti-semitism.
Many (perhaps most) do not see that clinging to any label or singular identity invites it's opposite--or anti-label. Not condemning anyone here, just making an observation. When one labels himself or identifies strongly with a particular belief, it becomes an exercise in self-limitation. Belief always is and will be a kind of resistance, and this will be revealed upon meeting its opposite.
chessgame56, that was beautifully written. I myself have given up on ideological labels and am willing to find common ground from all sides. Being "fixed" in one label makes it easier for others to fudge the label.
nativetongueredux...just curious...you are a native of where or what? Please don't take offence I'm just curious...I live in Mexico and here most people are a mixture of European and Indigenous people...hard to know anymore who is what.
OK 'fellow POW'
I must interrupt you here, to 'de country fy- "Israel" is one thing ,over due, and would spare many thousands more innocent lives, on both sides but; to de-countryfy
'gringolandia' is an entirely different matter.
You must consider the fact that we should always consider our next generations.
I am a grandfather, and grand uncle of many, and what I wish to leave behind is an entirely intact 'gringolandia'------
We need them to be able to pay 'reparations' and it would take them several generations at the present rate--- so let's not give them yet one more excuse not to.
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha----
Thanks for your laughs-----------
"NativeSon"
NativeSon, I like the way you framed it well. I don't believe that vengeance is a good idea and certainly not to future generations who had nothing to do with what happened in the past.
Wow, that racist comment was so enlightening and helpful to the conversation thanks.
Gee I did not know that everyone in the USA was a "gringo". I better go take a cultural geograpy course.
Socialist have 0 use for racists, so bugger off and stew in your own hatred.
I don't care who you are, you sound like a phony to me. A bourgeois accountant eh? Please
I'm certain to get all sorts of ranting back at me but I always find it interesting how quick everyone is to blame everything on the Jews...always, everywhere, every time. I'm not Jewish and not one of those crack pot evangelicals but it seems odd that 12 million out of, what, 6 billion people on the planet can illicit such strong rhetoric. Even more interesting is how easy it is to blame blame blame the Jews. Granted the country of Israel is doing some very sad things...what country isn't...certainly the USA is no paragon of virtue. Seems Saudi Arabia could be another state as we certainly suck up to that corrupt society, but no one is bashing them only the Jews...is it because we love oil more than honesty? Maybe it is because the world holds Israel to a different standard and again, I wonder why. So go ahead lash out at me but please ask yourselves why such a minute amount of humanity hold such power over the minds of so many of you...must be something there because if you want to look at evil it seems Israel's neighbors have some explaining to do.
rdk, I share some of your concerns. It is not the Jewish people who are the problem but the zionists running Israel and giving Jews a bad name that is. I was upset at some of the comments on this site myself. You are absolutely right about Saudi Arabia. The American electorate is hooked on oil and will continue to rely on Saudi Arabia and Iraq for oil until all runs out. I am a white Christian female but I am open to people of all religions and races because I feel that there is a lot of good I can learn from them. I have been told by a few Jewish friends of mine that the zionists always try to pressure and persecute the peace loving Jews into fighting against the Palestinians. An older friend of mine once told me that the neighboring Arab dictatorships are as mean to the Palestinians as is Israel but why no outrage? There are a lot of great things to admire in all cultures and we cannot afford to allow one bad apple to close an entire shop.
I don't know much about foreign policy and while it may be true that Jews were kicked around so much but I do not see what you offer as a solution. What happened in the past happened and there's nothing that can be done to correct that but we can learn from our mistakes and try not to repeat them. Getting angry with that "never again" feeling doesn't help anyone but hurts oneself and I see some Jews, not all of them, making that serious mistake and setting up their own fall.
The absolute blatant hypocrisy of any jew ('observant jew') crying about prejudice is such a mockery of intelligence that it barely deserves quote.
The fact that the Jews now have their own 'country' after losing it two thousand years ago as a direct result of their racial arrogance is even a bigger insult to intelligence.
The Jews invented their 'God', then convinced themselves that they are the 'chosen' ones of that 'God'--then (this is a remarkable study in 'sales and promotion') were able to convince the christians who have supported them (even though reluctantly at times) with money, and 'armed' support recently is yet one more challenge to the intelligence.
But, they have just like the americans, over estimated their ability to maintain their lies. The jews/israelis have followed the age old line of thinking that allows 'bullies' and 'cowards' all through history to act in the same manner.
They have made the same mistake beginning in the twentieth century that they made two thousand years before; they have over estimated themselves; and are about to fall once more.
This time however, the rest of the world will have all the excuses they need to eliminate the jews (and the americans)for the rest of time: 'they were once allowed to rebuild a nation, then they abused it and they lost it, and they should never be allowed to exist as a nation again.
I think the "jews" were better off without a 'nation/state'---they at least will have a better chance at a future without one. Every time they have had one they have made themselves a menace and a threat ---mostly to the innocent ones wherever they go; and they still do.
The americans have lived up to their own 'potential'---that of a negative example to history. They are doomed to failure and even at this writing are on the verge of a collapse that will make the others of 'world history' seem small in comparison.
(for the 'purists out there' who may point out that I did not CAPITALIZE 'certain' words---(jews and americans)----it is because I am withholding those otherwise necessary rules of the 'written words'-----as my own form of 'disrespect')
My take is fairly simple and relates to the joke above, the same joke that started this tread.
The average U.S. jewish citizen, although above par when it comes to education, is still not that informed about the incredible predatory nature of zionism. (See reference in last paragraph).
As stated above where would they find such information? One has to go out of his way to unearth such knowledge in the MSM. Look what happened to Jimmy Carter wrote his jewish apartheid book. He has been all but blacklisted and had barely a moments notice during the Obama's inauguration.
The average person (and many of my jewish friends) still believe the myth that the arab nations and Palestinians will only rest when there is the complete annihilation of the jewish state ("Drive Israel into the sea"). They have no knowledge of the countless times the U.S. has used it's veto power (more then all the other security council members combined) to thwart the sanctions voted by the almost complete majority (save U.S. & Israel) of the U.N. members in condemning Israel in it's actions against the Palestinians.
So back to the joke. Every senator, and certainly presidential candidate is always trying to appear to be a "friend of Israel" and will do anything to avoid the curse of being branded and anti-Semite by the MSM and the resulting loss of campaign contributions and votes. Just to dangerous to go there for most candidates on the national stage. You may get by with alienating 95% of the blacks as they do not own, run, write for, work at, MSM outlets. They don't contribute heavily to campaign contributions and their voter turnout numbers are not that high..... but said case is not so with their jewish brothers.
What our congresspeople may fear from the right-wing zionist bloc is considerably more aggressive than simply having campaign funds or votes withdrawn, or bad press. Take the case of Representative Cynthia McKinney. Having roused the ire of AIPAC, her district, which had no significant pro-zionist sentiment, was targeted by flooding the district with extaordinary campaign funds during the primary, allowing a more pliable unknown to win, a fate that has been shared by many other legislators.
Tony Vodvarka
Tony Vodvarka writes:
I have read that there is a joke in Israel which has them refusing an offer to become the fifty-first state because then she would be reduced to having only two senators.
Indeed! Or, as I wryly put it among friends, Israel is the only nation with a TRIcameral legislature!!
The most interesting paradox of this article:
How, on the one hand a commentator in an Israeli daily can criticize the policies of his country in stronger terms than any writer in America dares to do. You think Karteina Van Den Heuval would let such a critique in The Nation, or Matt Rothschild would tolerate such in The Progressive? Neither would you see such in Mother Jones or In These Times either.
On the other hand the contradiction between how America deals with Israel and the rest of the world it seeks to dominate.
***************
It is almost funny how irritated so many in the United States get at Israeli intransigence and then blame Israel or the Jewish lobby or Christofascist fundamentalists for this situation.
My own estimation of this is that Americans rather than the Israelis are the culprits in this maddening mystery and rather than jumping all over religious or ethnic partisans in the thrall of Israeli agents of influence, we need to aim at the Pentagon and the US military-industrial complex to see both the cause and the where pressure needs to be applied to effect the solution.
The Israeli's are Pentagon errand boys and girls and have been since the country's inception. The far right fundamentalists and Jewish lobby are the too convenient patsies (think Lee Harvey Oswald, James Earl Ray, and Sirhan Sirhan) designed to distract attention away from the real culprits. You do our dirty work and we'll give you coverage and pay you well to boot.
Poet
This and drosera below are food for thought.
Israel is a patsy?
But, if so, America is a patsy.
Then who is playing with these patsies?
America, we are told, got rid of Al Capone. Did America? Or did America dance to a puppeteer; a Pentagon, a super Al Capone that drinks amongst other vile potions, crude oil? An Al Capone Big Brother group that tests and touts everything new on the block while morphing along with the times?
Actually it is all true, but who cares about who does it? We have to change it. The world is too big to fail and if a country as big as America,or a monster as big as international finance has to be fundamentally eradicated as we know it, so be it.
My hope is we can do it with good focus. Otherwise, in a time honoured tradition it will just be mayhem and Burnham wood will go again to Dunsinane.
Start by removing the politicians who support Israel. A good start. It may be messy but they are not too big to fail and America will be changed significantly.
It's late and probably too late to get a reply, but here goes: Why does Israel have power over the United States? Is it money? Just money? Money for campaign contributions?
I don't get it--most Jews in the US do not approve of Israel's actions--it's disregard for Palestinians in its frequent wars and its expansion of settlements. So if most Jews--some of them with a lot of money--disapprove, then why this kowtowing on the part of the US?
I simply do not understand this. Maybe someone can help me to understand.
I believe the forces behind the master-servant relationship between the US and Israel are much deeper and darker than anyone wants to imagine. Those forces are strong enough and determined enough to eliminate anyone or anything in their path including any government leader - Israeli, American and any other country you wish to include.
Barack Obama needs to give Israel the either/or treatment. Either Israel stops its butchery, pulls back its settlements, and works to make a lasting peace with the Palestinians; or they will get not one more dime from the US gov't., and the veto in the UN will go up in smoke. I don't know about you, but I am sickened by the knowledge that my tax dollars go to buy Israel more weapons to kill Palestinian kids with. The fact that they are allowed free rein to commit genocide is an abomination, and if Obama allows this to continue,then he must face the consequences.
I agree except that I believe Obama has already engaged in behavior which will incur negative consequences for his political career. The zionist bosses (Geithner and Summers) will have to get another front man to shill for Israel.
How many previews will this take?
Why does it take someone in Israel to tell the US president and our government this? Gee, can't we get our damn act together?
AD
Preview. Preview. Doesn't anybody ever do a review?
Why does it take someone in Israel to tell the US president and our government this? Gee, can't we get our damn act together?
AD
Because the policy serves US "geostrategic" (imperial) interests. It is way too convenient to see this as just the US kow towing to Israel. Look at the larger picture: the US occupies Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and has Egypt on a short leash; the US (and the sycophantic NATO members) is trying to occupy all of Afghanistan, they are looking at regime change in Iran. Now how can Israel be of use to the Empire?
Besides, any interest group can buy policy in the USA, Big Oil does, Big Pharma and Big Insurance do, the MIC does and this is part of the MIC.
Why does it take someone in Israel to tell the US president and our government this? Gee, can't we get our damn act together?
AD
One writer in Israel can make a point, but if the Likudniks and Zionists make a couple of phone calls, the AIPAC and other Israeli lobbyists will swarm Congress aqnd the media to try to neutralize any honest criticism of Israeli policies. Why is it that no one in main stream and even alternate news sources were allowed to print the article that appeared in Haaretz in June? "Mossad: Iran Will Have Nuclear Bomb by 2014" and "Israel Can't Make up it's Mind About Iranian Nuclear Timetable". This post will probably be sen-sored and not printed.
Theocratic nations are inherently unstable, because they always fear immigrants and the views of outsiders. Not only that, they will always discriminate against those members of their own societies who hold differing beliefs.
Basing the creation of a nation on an unverifiable transcendental ethos is guaranteed to create deep conflicts--without allowing a common language to address them--thus making the conflicts irresolvable. The underlying problem is that the faith of fundamentalists is typically too close to emotion to allow rational discourse.
Sadly, the state of Israel seems to manifest all of these disturbing tendencies.
Besides that, of course, there is Israel's value as a US base in the Mideast, well-positioned to thwart Arab attempts to establish pan-Arab unity. Religious fundamentalism works exceptionally well in accord with Israel's role as a Mideast blockbuster; it helps to sow ethnic/religious discord, and provides Israel with a built-in excuse as a religious victim for all of its transgressions.
"He decided to address Israelis by video, but a persuasive speech won't persuade anyone to end the occupation. He simply should have told the Israeli people the truth."
I'm curious, what truth would that be?
As for Israel, not to worry. It's sponsor is on the way down faster than a meteor. Once the hand outs and the blind support from the US is gone, they'll be following the same fate. With a bit of hope, they'll turn on each other and kill themselves.
There is too much truth in Mr Levy's courageous words for them to be ignored. A true patriot--I do not know if his nationality is American or Iraeli, or perhaps both, but he is certainly an honest spokesman for the truth. The Israeli's have displayed brutality in Gaza and have shown the weakness of the IDF during their most recent invasion of Lebanon. Today they have the US to carry water for them and they have nuclear weapons to intimidate their neighbors, but the truth is that one day, sooner or later those neighbors will also have the weapon; what then? There must be a total change in their attitude and their policies if they are to continue to exist. And those changes must start now.
We cannot, and should not, call Israel a democracy. It is a religious theocracy; the creed (and the policies that follow) of "The Chosen People" and "The Promised Land" denigrates all other people. And the arrogance and brutality shown the Palestinian people and the seizure of their lands flows from that religious certainty of some preposterous superiority.
There will be no peace in Israel until a secular democracy is brought into being. There is no place on this earth for a "Jewish Country" or a "Christian Country" or a "Moslem Country", etc. where religious orthodoxy rules. America's founders knew that when they mandated seperation of church and state. Our actions, applicable to Israel, should adhere to that proven truth.
To be honest. The u.s. is pretty much a christian country. Let's face it.
Schools celebrate christmas. Stores close. Etc. And also, George W. talked of the crusades we were embarking upon. I could go on and on.....
That being said. Israel is really not a religious state. In practice. Most are agnostic or atheis, really. Except for the psycho settlers. Who knows what they are.
This isn't about religion. People shouldn't buy into that canard. It is geopolitics. Religion is just a smokescreen.
The 'chosen people' is so old and out dated. More fundamentalist christians buy into that than jews, in fact.
I am not being argumentative at all here. I am just expressing what came to me when i read your very sincere post.
I do not quite agree, ready. I have found many otherwise non-religious Jews who still believe that they are entitled to the land where Israel now stands because of history and the disapora (which is really nothing more nor less than the scattering experienced by many peoples for many different reasons). The rights to the piece of land is of course a petulant claim, but convenient and profitable. The rest of the world supported it, including me decades ago, because of the Nazi's extermination program and because, in our ignorance, we did not know that it was not "a land without people"
And many things which should be civil matters such as marriage and divorce are explicity ruled by Jewish law and clergy. In Israel, by state edict, a Jew cannot marry a Christian nor a Moslem. In the US the influence of the Judeo-Christian tradition pervades the assumptions underlying our laws, but is not much acknowledged except when it comes to gay marriage or abortion. The Christian religion is assumed as the default when it comes to days off.
Here the separation of church and state is the official policy, thank God, although there is always a tug of war between that concept and the most powerful religious groups.
Joe
The Balfour Declaration of 1917 promised the establishment of a homeland for the Jewish people. To understand WWII one must understand WWI. Stop relying on Hollywood for your understanding of WWII.
What an arrogant statement. You misinterpret what I said and what I know.
Joe
There is no connection between the Jewish Nation of 2,000 years ago and the one now.
..partly because there was no Jewish nation 2000 years ago. There was a province the Romans called Judea, borders unsure and flexible. There was a David's kingdom 1000bce but that didn't last and consisted of a few city states with lots of sparse grazing land in between.
The region has been part of a series of empires: Hittite, Assyrian, Medean, Egyptian, Persian, Macedonian, Roman; then a series of other European hegemons, like Crusaders until the British in 1948. It's never been a "nation" the way we think of nations - France, Spain, Sweden, with clear borders and different language and traditions inside each.
That's part of the problem today - Israel is refusing to define itself and its identity, which allows it to be exceedingly slippery on domestic and international issues.
The US-Israel mutual admiration society is disgusting.
I understand that Israel is a de facto US base in the mid east---hardly a contribution to world peace or an appropriate us of the US taxpayer's money, especially when many households are working four full time jobs, still can't make ends meet, and their kids are finding role models in the gutter.
I want a minimum wage of $15.00 per hour.
George was to stupid to understand this Obama, but you have heard of Louis XVI. You are also aware that while you are on the golf course people working full time are eating in soup kitchens.
I want single payer health care. Boy did you fuck us over on that one. And for what? You have kids. What if one of them developed heart problems because her easily treated asthma deprived her of oxygen while in the emergency waiting room?
The greatest country in the world, you know, the one with the world's best health care system, the land of opportunity----sucks.
What is the cost of tearing down the house where a Palestinian family has lived for three generations?
Re: settlements "freeze"
Please see my November 1st, 2009 3:44 am comment at the "Peace Is With Enemies" article elsewhere on this site.
http://www.commondreams.org/further/2009/10/31
· Yr Obd't Servant
All the 'un-settlements' of the occupying power are illegal under international law.
There must be a complete removal and restoration of land, water etc. for any sort of peace.
PLEASE, I NEED INFORMATION
Could someone more in the know than I am site for me the instances where Obama has pleaded and begged Israel to end it's brutality against Palestinians. Thank you.
I know of no such plead from mr. O........
Thank you, Mr. Levy - a candle in the darkness.
Unfortunately, though, Hillary's spots are too deeply ingrained to change.
What's the big deal here? Since in the USA, Democracy(TM) is merely an obscenely expensive PR stunt, interest groups with lots of money can buy the policy.
Govt. by and for the People? Gimme a break already.
With that said, it aint just Jews who are Zionists; just look at all the pro-Irsael Christian racist neo-fascists out there who support Israeli crimes. (A side-note: rabidly anti-Muslim, anti-Pakistan, Indian Nationalists support Israel as well)
In the larger picture this is only half the story: the other half is that Israel conveniently serves US imperial interests in the region. I don't see how anyone can say otherwise. Not the interests of the people of course, but the interests of the Empire.
Please explain how US imperial interests (defined by the ruling Oligarchy) are not served by Israel?
Important point
Sometimes in devaluing our compassion we make odious comments about one or other groups to satisfy our inherent weakness in thought or abusive upbringing. The last comment on this site suffers from this brain freeze and disturbed reflection.
Israel, as Levy, asserts, is still bullying and murdering Palestinians due to our giving exception to Israel's nationalistic tendencies which mirrors our own. Obviously history has proven that our one-sided view of the situation is, at the very least counter productive. A new and original mind-set must evolve. One that distrusts statist domination of victimized others and powerful subterfuges or statecraft for pecuniary profit and control.
New thinking and action by the U.S. has to put an end to the hatred and ignorance which has fostered sixty years of ethnic cleansing and occupation.
Traditional, morally based, Jewish beliefs of equanimity and commonality, deeply embedded in the enlightened diasporic Jewish culture can be a guidepost to this new thinking.
Change, and dialog, with strong decisions can be implemented if the will towards treating Palestinians and Israelis humanely is part of our quest for a true peace.
The jews are like undisciplined brats with the USA as codependent parents. The parents can't say no to the children because they have guilt about the children's past trauma. Forget trying to placate the brats with atomic toys and a huge allowance, just call in the "Supper Nanny" and gasp when she speaks the forbidden word,,,,,,, NO. No more allowance. No more expensive toys and the silent treatment when the guilt card is played. The USA and others must now do the choosing for the chosen ones. Oh dear, that should incite an explosive tantrum or two.
Not all Jews are what you say they are. The Jews themselves are not the problem. The problem is the zionist leadership in Israel that is giving them a bad name. Cut off military aid to Israel and Israel will be tame.
True, jennifer, not all jews are the same. However, anyone who subscribes either openly or silently in their hearts and minds that they are special, are an obstacle to unity. There are many on this site and elsewhere who deny their own complicity in the lack of unity in their own culture and with other peoples of the world. This cannot be avoided if one sees their own personality as primarily separate from others. Where is the dominance of a unified internal realization of unity with others ? Unity with others is almost always secondary in ones identity. this secondary aspect of unity is purposeful and based on convenience. In other words getting along with others is fine so long as it doesn't interfere with ones individual specialness. One of the main tenets of jewish thinking is to be special and specialness always carries exclusion as it's ally. The idea that it's the leaders of the world that shoulder all of the blame and the rest of us are the innocent enlightened group is ludicrous. Cutting off military aid to israel is a good first step but this will not remove the cruelty from their hearts.
You make a great point on the need for unity and not making certain groups "special". I'll admit that I still have a long ways to go on foreign policy and especially on understanding everything about Jews. I have come across plenty of Jews and quite a few on this site who openly detest persecuting Palestinians and want to share with them rather than staying in exclusive mode. Your last sentence is true with regards to relieving them of their exclusive specialness feeling. I think that what happened was that after surviving the Holocaust, some were completely horrified and had developed that "never again shall this happen" anger which dangerously turned into cruelty and exclusiveness. Sioux Rose and chessgames56 discussed this on the "vengeance" part.
To remove the cruelty from their hearts will definitely go a long ways towards reforming the Israeli government. It is difficult to see how this will be accomplished but I think I might know a similar idea to what I went through when I recovered from being sexually assaulted earlier this year. I had that "never again" anger in me too and it took a while to recover from the trauma.
To tame a person out of that "never again" anger will require a lot of work and dedication from not only the self but from those who help. I do not know what the European nations for example are doing to stop the madness but from what I hear, the efforts are futile at best. I think it's called cultural trauma but I do not know what can cure it. I hope someone or some people can find the answer.
Right on
I suspect that there is a deep Antisemitism underlying US, UK, and EU support of Israeli militarism, expansion, war crimes and other illegalities. A nation of 5 million Jews, in a neighborhood of 150 million Muslims, needs enduring peace and good relations with all of its neighbors and with all of its own residents. When we encourage Israeli aggression, when we set the standard that violence and brutality determines right, we are not doing Jewish Israelis a favor. We are setting them up for a catastrophe. Not this week, for sure, but the long term prognosis for a small nation addicted to violence and oppression is not good. Gideon Levy is a true Israeli patriot to ask that we stop doing this.
There is a deep antisemitism in Christendom. As a jewish anti-zionist, i must say this has been the historical case.
The fundamentalist christians who are more zionist than most jews, really, are very anti jewish. They are just pro zionism. Everyone knows this. They are neo fascists.
It sounds like you feel that israeli jews are being 'set up' in a sense. For self destruction. However. It is their own choice. I don't even know where the u.s. begins and israel ends, to be honest. A client state? For sure. At the very least.
What happens when the u.s. doesn't need israel any more? Sometimes i think they must have some kind of hold on the u.s. that is not evident to us. I don't know. Maybe it is like J Edgar Hoover having all that info on everyone?
One thing for sure. If all the mega churches and right wing christian leaders were to change their tune, it would be a major upheaval.
There is some very deep , as Sioux Rose puts it, 'karma', going on here. We will create what we fear the most, in order to learn more about the nature of what we fear. Which includes fear itself. This is the natural order of things.
Using the holocaust as an excuse is very out dated. And facetious and downright disgusting and disrespectful.
One thing for certain, though. Israel serves a purpose or the u.s. wouldn't be backing it. I am not one who believes the u.s. is afraid of israel. We could just stop giving them money. Period.
"We could just stop giving them money. Period"
Oh really.How many duel Israeli/US citizens are members of the current and past administrations?
"There is some very deep , as Sioux Rose puts it, 'karma', going on here. We will create what we fear the most, in order to learn more about the nature of what we fear. Which includes fear itself. This is the natural order of things."
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What you describe is not karma but a self-fulfilling prophecy, something that Israel is the perfect example of. They have become that which they abhor and they will end sucumbing to that which they fear, and all of it, will be self-inflicted by their paranoia and delusions of grandeur and supremacy. They can hardly blame anybody for that. They have become their own worst enemy.
Sioux Rose
SERIOUS Citizen: You put into words what I've been feeling for some time. It's a very dark irony, too: that so many Jews understand what prejudice feels like, and yet instead of forging policies that would shine a humanitarian light on their own undertakings, they opted for taking on the ways of their former trespassers. For all the weapons, if the US goes down (and I think the US will soon have enormous troubles of its own, the sum total of all the trends we're already commenting on in this forum), Israel will find itself alone in a rough neighborhood, once again, rendered the status of victim. In this case, policies of aggression would have helped to have "brought it on." (I do not wish this fate or outcome, but the law of karma holds neither individual, nor nation-state accountability-free.)
I was thinking of an analogy between the melting Arctic Glaciers and the U.S. dollar. Both are now held up on or by thin ice. Our leaders are lawless, there is NO accountability on the part of elected or corporate trespassers, and this entire climate is one utterly conducive to witch hunts. Finger pointing alone is nearly sufficient to cause the ruination of lives. When one is not bound to understand or know the "evidence" against them, the entire state begins to work on the premise of rumor and suspicion. Glenn Greenwald's article today on the continued spying on citizens is grounds for seeking asylum elsewhere. America is on shaky ground, and while much of the world has taken notice, Israel seems to think its muscular big brother will always be standing by.
Change happens.
Any group that defines themselves within narrow confines and which seeks an 'exclusionary' status apart from the world as a whole invites attack as well as isolation. They must in one way or another fight and justify their 'right to exist' in that apart-ness or division. Everyone in the world does this to a greater or lesser extent. Jews cling to their Jewish label with a vengeance, and they use the holocaust as a shield against criticism. To be persecuted, then, becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. They do unto others what was once done to them, and make many enemies that wish to do it [to them] again. "See?" they say, "we must kill and oppress others so that they will not kill and oppress us!" Israel increases and perpetuates the very evil it professes to abhor, and thus only increases the hate and prejudice it fights to eliminate. Additionally, the more they suppress criticism of their own wrongdoing, the more they strengthen the ill feelings toward them. No one wants to speak out, out of fear of being called antisemitic. Ironically, they are sowing the seeds to own destruction. As you mention, Rose, aid from the US may soon be sharply curtailed. I do not think this will bode well for the Israeli nation.
Sioux Rose
CHESSGAME: Some of your post I agree with. Not all. "Jews cling to their label with a vengeance," is painting with a MIGHTY broad stroke. Many of the leading thinkers on the left are Jews, and these persons do not support Israel's policies of aggression. It is true than a state with "exclusionary" status would thrust an "us versus them" orientation upon its citizenry. One ought remember that the Holocaust was hardly the only historical phase that targeted Jews for extinction. The Inquisition comes to mind; and some in the forum no doubt can recount other specific events & phases. Being attacked over and over again could cause a people to seek a "safe" homeland. That does not mean I agree with the powers that granted such status to Israel in its current domain, but just as America is itself, the product of stolen land, one cannot go back and rectify the past by erasing what took place. The teachings of tolerance, fair play among nations (and within trade deals), a growing universal awareness of the fundamental sacrament of personhood would be educational tools that would lessen the cause for and chances of violence recurring in the future. A more enlightened humanity would make use of such approaches, but instead, we're wrestling with the dark rites of "Mars rules."
As the Book of Job relates in the Bible, fear can bring about the very thing least desired, and Israel is courting that fate. That hardly means that all Jews go along with it, nor do all Christians support the trends in America towards an authoritarian Christian theocracy.
"He who lives by the sword dies by the sword" is no respecter of national identities, ethnic orientations, or religious affiliations. It is THE karmic law.
I wish to compliment posters in this thread. The thinking here shows a capacity for nuance, which is sorely lacking in 95% of America's discourse.
We should keep in mind that it's our own backward religious beliefs that are the foundation for this errant political policy. Where are the supporters of athiesism on this site? Visit the following site to broaden your horizons. http://www.godisimaginary.com/
Don't expect anything but more of the same from Clinton. In fact, she has called and raised Obama's bluff about the settlements, now saying that a freeze is not a precondition for peace talks. Netanyahu, overjoyed, has told the Palestinians to "get a grip" and come to the peace table, using their insistence on a freeze to opportunistically lay the blame for failed peace talks on their shoulders. And then there's the prestigious US House, which is set to pass a resolution condemning the Goldstone report--to their everlasting shame and disgrace.
The myth of a two-state solution must be exposed. The world cannot afford to have "Jewish" states or "Muslim" states or "Christian" states. Religious states are inherently anti-democratic. Furthermore, Israel is hiding behind the "Jewish" state in order to brand its critics as anti-semites whenever they criticize that state's policies. If Israel were simply a sectarian state, any criticism of it would be simply that--criticism of a state. Just as we criticize China, India, or Russia, we should also be able to criticize Israel without the anti-semitism smoke screen. Israel gets a lot of mileage out of its Jewish statehood, and then uses it to perpetuate war crimes around the world. A one-state solution, with all religions equally respected and all ethnicities having equal rights, will be the only hope for peace and justice in the Middle East.
Yes!! Israel/Palestine must be one nation and a sectarian state. All citizens must have the same rights and responsibilities.
The title of this piece in in error. It is not so much a matter of the United States sucking up to Isreal, it is that ISRAEL IS SUCKING US DRY. We must end all military funding to that apartheid state.
I have read that there is a joke in Israel which has them refusing an offer to become the fifty-first state because then she would be reduced to having only two senators.
Tony Vodvarka
True. In Israel, the joke is on US.
Too true.
It's FUNNY because it's TRUE!
· Yr Obd't Servant