Dear
Israel,
What we agree on, the elemental, human, and divine right of the
Palestinians to justice and freedom, is far more important than
any disagreements in analysis. I am sure we also agree that the
salvation of the Jewish soul demands the ending of this
unspeakably brutal oppression, which the Palestinians have done
nothing to deserve. And on the need for anyone of conscience to
speak out against the earth- and heaven-defying hypocrisy of
apologists for the historical Likud/Labour axis that for nearly a
century now, under various names and under various pretexts, has
plotted and acted to dispossess the native population of
Palestine, without in any way furthering the goal of Jewish
security and survival--on the contrary.
I
am doubly flattered to be quoted by you, and in juxtaposition with
Noam Chomsky. Let me now clarify where we do disagree:
1.
You are a writer, an outstanding one. Surely you can recognize a
metaphor when you see it: the U.S. State Department official
referring to Israel as an "unsinkable aircraft carrier"
is wrapping a political and strategic truth in a literary image.
The U.S. has no need to land a single aeroplane on Israeli soil
for the metaphor to be valid. However, in the final analysis, if
in the Arab world the masses ever come close to threatening their
traitorous rulers, the metaphor will no doubt become physical
reality.
2.
As for Turkey, where exactly is the contradiction? The Turks are
historically quite practiced at oppressing the Arabs. Isn't there
already a tacit 3-way U.S./Turkey/Israel alliance?
3.
Israel does not owe it's existence to the U.S., however dependent
she is now on the American empire. It was the dominant empire of
the time, the British, who fostered the development of the Zionist
entity in Palestine. If in the end there was a falling out among
thieves, that doesn't change the two decades during which the
British actively encouraged immigration, the training and
organization of a Jewish army, the growth of Jewish political
institutions all the while keeping the Palestinians divided, weak,
subjected to arbitrary rule, and militarily suppressed. Do you
imagine there was a powerful Jewish Lobby in London? All the
Rothschild wealth was as nothing to the might and wealth of the
British dominion. As no less an authority on imperialism than
Winston Churchill stated in the early 1920's, "the creation
of a Jewish homeland in Palestine is in accord with the best
interests of the British Empire."
Why?
Because settler states imposed on and alienated from the native
population must, of necessity, act is imperial agents in order to
thrive and survive.
4.
It's true Palestine has no oil wells. But the Arab world does. And
what would happen to that precious supply of black gold if the
Arabs ever achieved genuine independence? So it's very useful for
the U.S. to have a tough cop on the beat, to keep the Arabs off
balance. The Israeli pitbull was loosened against the nationalist
Nasserist regime in Egypt, first by the French and the British--by
then doddering past their prime--and then by the U.S. And this
game succeeded most gratifyingly from the U.S. imperial
perspective: the nationalists who were wanting to move towards the
development of independent advanced industrial states have been
replaced by servile toadies like Sadat and Mubarak. Israel dealt a
fatal blow to hopes of Arab independence in the 20th century.
5.
Israel was not a liability during the Iraq war--only an asset the
U.S. had no need to make use of, given its stable of loyal Arab
lackeys who needed only that Israel stay out of the limelight.
Again, should these lackey regime be overthrown or threatened,
rest assured the Israeli pitbull would again be tearing at Arab
calves all throughout the Middle East. What other significance, do
you imagine, does the U.S.-sanctioned Israeli nuclear capacity
have?
6. There used to be a powerful China Lobby, dedicated to the
non-recognition of Beijing and the maintenance of the Nationalist
Chang-Kai shek fiction in Taiwan. It feted and fed congressmen and
senators, just as the present Israel Lobby does. Admittedly, it
lacked the population base and quite the wealth of it's Jewish
counterpart, but its fate ought to be an object lesson. Once the
U.S. moved to accommodate itself to Maoist China, the power of the
China Lobby evaporated. One may expect the same to happen to the
Israel Lobby if U.S. strategic interest in the Middle East should
undergo some sea-change (to me not foreseeable in the near future,
alas for the Palestinians).
7.
U.S. policy towards Israel would be exactly the same if there was
not a single Jew living in the U.S., although the propaganda task
facing it would be significantly greater. But what "Timor
lobby" was there that controlled U.S. attitudes towards East
Timor? Lobbies are useful disguises and surely the State
Department would rather have people believe in the power of the
Jewish Lobby than to have it's naked interests and cynicism
clearly exposed. But lobbies are neither necessary nor sufficient
for the making of imperial policy.
8.
None of what I say above contradicts or diminishes the importance
of countering the Israel Lobby, which you suggest. They play a
sinister role which, apart from what it contributes to Palestinian
suffering, confuses vast numbers of North American Jews and
subjugates them to interests quite opposed to their genuine needs.
9.
Like you, I reject the nonsense that criticism of Israel feeds
anti-Semitism. On the contrary. Jews opposing the brutal hegemony
Israel wields over the Palestinians can only give thinking people
less reason to be anti-Semitic. (Not that people so inclined need
"bad" Jews to believe the worst about Jews, since such
beliefs arise out of their own pathology, not in reaction to
anything real Jews--good or evil--do in the real world.) However:
10.
To imply that the Jewish Lobby initiates and maintains U.S. policy
would be fine, were it true. But it isn't. So it can only feed
Protocols-of-the-Elders-of-Zion type paranoia of people who don't
know any better. And, perhaps worse, it is also a red flag--if I
may borrow your metaphor--that diverts the bull from the real
enemy: the toreador with his stiletto. In this case, the U.S.
11.
Finally, I respect and honour the righteous anger that burns
through many of your writings. But I needn't tell you, we must
remain compassionate not only towards the victims, but also
towards the deluded and naives ones among those who support, if
unwittingly, the oppression we ourselves oppose. There is that in
your tone sometimes, I fear, will lessen or negate the impact of
the truths you so eloquently express. This Jewish Lobby theory of
yours, whatever partial truth it does contain, veers in a negative
direction.
I trust you will accept my lengthy rebuttal, or attempt at same,
for what it is: a sign of respect. I would ask you to share it
with your list. But I don't see you under obligation to do so.
Yours,
Gabor
--------------------------------------------------------------------
My name is Miriam. I am a NY Jewess, very sickened by what is
going on in Israel, and enraged by the blessings of my own
government (using my tax dollars to blast teenagers from apache
helicopters!) and the Jewish lobby here. I am only slightly
encouraged by what seems to be a faint lifting of the head by the
enfeebled left in Israel. A sit-in at Bronfman's office would be a
fine thing!
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Israel:
Great piece, as always!
Which gives me an idea: PMWatch is spinning off in the next few
weeks focused efforts on the NYTimes, WashPost, NPR, and a couple
of other media outlets. We've already spinned off http://www.cnnwatch.net
. Your piece has given me the idea of setting up a web site that
watches the activities of the ADL, AIPAC, Camera, HonsetReporting,
etc. -- i.e., the major pro-Israeli groups -- and organizes people
to neutralize their actions. Any ideas you may have on this would
be appreciated.
Thanks,
Ahmed Bouzid
http://www.pmwatch.org
I think it is important to discuss the strategy
of action, and the letters of the friends of Palestine present a
step in this direction. Shamir
The
new article by Israel Shamir is misleading. He dismisses the
scientific notion that US Imperialist interests are the reason
behind its support to Israel. He does that for a very clear
reason; to further his thesis that the "Jewish lobby" is
behind the unleashing of this "pit bull". This logic is
unsubstantiated and very dangerous for the Palestinian liberation
movement. It absolves the US and its Western allies from their
responsibilities of all the war crimes it committed against the
Arab and Palestinian people through their unconditional support
for the Zionist project, which is a Western project and not a
Jewish project. It also absolve the Arab puppet regimes from their
betrayal of the Arab people in general by shifting the blame on
the "Jewish lobby" rather than their allies in
Washington and the other western capitals.
Hanna
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Hanna, I think you are reading too much into Shamir's
article. Furthermore, there is no such thing as a
"scientific" notion regarding politics. There are
different "theories" held in the minds of different
people. I personally agree with Shamir that the surest way to
weaken the Zionist Entity is to take to task American Jewish
Zionists.
Sami B. Mashney
-------------------------------------------------------------------
While American 'Imperialists" may have something to do with
our support for Israel, I have observed the situation long enough
to say that without the support for Israel from American Zionist
sympathizing Jews, this country wouldn't be so strong for them. So
I agree with Shamir.
Roger Alexander
-------------------------------------------------------------------
I am afraid that writers like Dr Mate have their hearts in the
right place, but are naive in so many ways. I wonder if Dr Mate
has read Israel Shahak's books, or those of Victor Ostrovsky, or
that of Seymour Hersh, among so many tell-all books. It is hard to
read his analysis and imagine that the Israeli lobby in the U.S.
is just an innocent pawn of U.S. machinations. I believe there is
definitely an element of "I'll pat your back if you pat
mine," but I think Dr Mate has the dog and his tail in
reverse. I was once overlooked in an AIPAC organized function, and
the president of AIPAC was conversing with some of his right-hand
fellows, and I suppose he didn't notice my little presence on a
chair nearby. The subject of discussion was the Marc Rich affair,
and what I overheard that day only confirms to me that the AIPAC
lobby is far from an innocent group of people led astray by U.S.
strategic interests. One only need look at the plotting and
planning going on in the House International Relations
Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia to know that these
pro-Israel Jewish congressmen didn't just happen to become members
of that subcommittee by sheer chance. They planted themselves
there on purpose, and they bark at any member of the U.S.
administration who dares not to follow their bidding. I have a
friend who works in the Federal Reserve, and he told me recently
that anyone who dares to utter a word against Israeli policies to
AIPAC members there, gets pounced upon by what he calls
"attack dogs."
Margaret
-------------------------------------------------------------------
I too admire Chomsky enormously, but the reasons he advances for
American support of Israel amount to no more than
boilerplate--both in the sense of a reflexive set reaction--as
well as self-defence and perhaps even self-deception. Political
economy and globalist geopolitics are very safe antagonists,
rather like weather; they are devoid of agency or remedy. As
defensive boilerplate Chomsky's analysis serves to define and
limit the terms of debate and inquiry and thus to disqualify
opposition and the clear identification of the interlocutors and
protagonists. Consciously or not, it's ultimate purpose is to
disarm what it views as anti-Semitism by means of a coherent, if
very abstract and counterintuitive, explanation. It is a
meteorological, rather than a political analysis. n his recent
book The New Dealers' War, Thomas Fleming describes how Roosevelt
dealt with Zionist lobbyists. FDR would glad hand them, listen
with great concern and sympathy as they made their case for
American support for Israel, and then describe to them in vivid
terms the jihad that would engulf the Arab world if Palestine were
partitioned. He would then blithely usher them out with his
assurance that they "wouldn't want that." As the Cold
War began the Zionist lobby found a more sympathetic ear in Truman
who accepted a bag of cash and media support for his re-election
campaign. James Forrestal and the State Department couldn't--for
the life of them (and quite literally in Forrestal's case)-- see
any American national interest served for American support of the
partition of Palestine. Forrestal's old Wall Street crony, Bernard
Baruch, tried to warn him off the issue to no avail and showed up
a short while later as a pallbearer at the funeral. Today there is
not one member of congress who will oppose Israel's settlement
policies in Palestine, much less call for the rule of
international law in guaranteeing the right of return. This is not
politics in a democratic republic; nor is it manufactured consent;
it is terror and tyranny. I see that the Protocols have put in
their obligatory appearance in the responses to your blasphemy in
uttering the name of g-d. It is interesting that the most
enthused, provocative, and applauded parody of these, Thomas
Friedman's The Lexus and the Olive Tree, which celebrates global
financial rapacity, cultural anomie, and universal deracination,
features the odious rooted sustenance of Palestinians in its
title. It is a very self-confident matador who can sarcastically
hold the muleta over his heart. Friedman knows the rules: the
blinders on the boilerplate may be opened from within but not from
without.
Dan
-------------------------------------------------------------------
What I most liked about your original San Fermin piece is that it
rejectsthe all-too-tempting conspiracy explanation and points to
the sheer irrationality of US policy, which I am sure both the
former and the present President Bush are actually aware of. This
is precisely why there is (as Gabor interestingly recognises in
the end, despite using conspiracy language throughout his reply)
huge scope for reaching out to those "victims of
naivety", using language such as "Israel's and America's
TRUE interest in a just peace..." It is extremely important
for everyone in the struggle to realise that indignation against
Israel is not inherently, and should not remain, a
"left-wing" view. This is why the "hypocrisy"
- as it is rightly called by Gabor - of official America is DOUBLY
frustrating for those of us who, by and large, see the US as an
historically progressive force for freedom (despite the blinkered
vulgarity and bullying that comes so natural to all superpowers).
I am a pro-globalisation libertarian constantly arguing against
what I see as Utopian or authoritarian left wingers on economic
and social issues, yet when it comes to Israel's outrageous
treatment of the Palestinians, these same people are normally the
ONLY ones I can agree with. Why on earth does it have to be so?
Erasmus
-------------------------------------------------------------------
I am one of the founding members of the Jewish Alliance against
the Occupation and Palestinians and Jews Unite of Montreal,
Canada. We have vigils every Friday outside the Israeli Consulate
downtown. The Bronfmans are from Montreal. They have a major
presence here. There is a cultural centre that puts on plays
called the Saydie Bronfman Centre. There is the Bronfman Building
of Commerce of McGill downtown on Sherbrooke. There is a small
building on Peel Street called Seagram's- the whiskey company at
the root of their fortune and conveniently close to the Israeli
consul. In the coming week there are meetings of the 2 above
mentioned groups.I could consider suggesting a demonstration
outside one of the visible Bronfman buildings. However, I have a
few hesitations! How public is the family's support for Israel?
(Very. ISH) How much money to they contribute to Israel? Is the
family divided on the issue? (Not that we know. ISH) I appreciate
what you write and I appreciate what Gabor Mate a man of great
intelligence, whether writing about medical politics or Israel in
the Globe and Mail, whose son is member of the alliance, produce.
Perhaps, like on June 8, we can collectively , at least in North
America, organize demonstrations against the visible Jewish "
leaders" who most publicly identify and justify Israel's
shameful policy towards the Palestinians.
Robert
-------------------------------------------------------------------
I entirely agree with your analysis. I have lived through the
whole period since the beginning of British occupation until April
1948. Of course the British were the first perpetrators but in the
last period of the mandate the US used tremendous leverage on the
incapacitated British lion.
Shukri
--------------------------
Here
are three new important responses, or rather opinion pieces re our
Palestine Whodunit, the Jewish Power or the American Imperialism?
(nobody proposed the butler). They are penned by three wise, good
and fearless persons, the historian Susanne Scheidt of Milan; the
next US President, Bob Green of Vermont; and Anton Baumgarten, the
editor of www.Left.ru , Moscow.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
From Susanne:
I got to read the Fiesta of St. Fermin on my office-email-account,
on Friday, during working hours. At the end of the article, I was
surrounded by colleagues who are completely unacquainted with the
Palestinian cause, except for what they hear from me when I answer
their occasional questions.
Shamir’s
Fiesta of St. Fermin had put on a light in me and somehow it must
have shown on my face, because the colleagues had become curious.
I asked them what they thought about the idea of spending the
coming August holidays (Italy usually closes up during August for
summer holidays) organizing squatter tent camps in front of the
houses of .Mrs. Tullia Zevi, of Rabbi Toaff, of Mr. Gad Lerner and
Mrs. Fiamma Nierenstein and Mr. Alberto Negri, just to name the
outstanding Jewish zionists in Italy. I let my fantasy go on: the
camp must be right in the front entrance, with the family of the
house owner ordered to keep their windows shut for the sake of
security of the squatters, to never look out of the window and to
use the back entrance, during hours that the squatters would
communicate from day to day, for their daily chores. In case of
resistance from the landlords, the squatters would interrupt the
water supply and shut down electricity and gas. As I went on with
this proposal, the faces of my colleagues brightened up, life got
into their office-routine-stiffened muscles and a spark lit up in
their eyes.
It
was the spark of hope that galvanizes who has for too long a time
been put in a position to reinterpret his own impotence to change
things as a virtue. And to misinterpret obedience and submission
as maturity and discipline. The prospect of getting on one's feet
and into action, of creating "facts on the ground" to
demonstrate that the "facts on the ground" in Palestine
and elsewhere have been created just in this way and therefore are
completely reversible, is the prospect of re-appropriation of
one's own life, the prospect that lights up your life. And it's
the need of re-appropriation of one's own life - collectively -
against the state-prescribed non-life in the cage in which we are
redefined as a factor of the system's mechanism, that links the
destiny of every one of us, be he aware or not of the Palestinians
cause, to the destiny of the Palestinians. If Palestine falls, we
will remain locked up in our cages for many decades to come.
When
I got home and opened my e-mail, I was stunned to find out, that
on the Al-Awda-list the article of Shamir had mainly aroused an
academic discussion about the role of the Jewish American diaspora
versus the dynamics of USA-imperialism, as if Shamir was a
university-lecturer that had wanted to give an academic lesson. I
admit that I too have thought about this question a lot reading
analyses of Edward Said, Noam Chomsky and of European authors and
military analysts and I confess to have my own ideas which
elaborate both points of view in a historical analysis of military
history. But that wasn't the topic of Shamir's article !
I
propose we discuss this extremely important issue in the big
discussion tent that we'll put up in the center of the big
squatter camp that we will build in the frontyard of ........
Susanne, Italy
-------------------------------------------------------------------
From Bob
I read very carefully your piece, "Fiesta of St. Fermin",
and then read the criticism by your friend Gabor. In reading and
rereading both, I realize a great paradox: both of you sound
correct; it appears the Jewish Lobby is the true engine of Israeli
hegemony, and it also seems quite possible that the reverse is
true.
It
seems as though U.S. strategic interests are the real culprit. How
to solve this dilemma is a most important question for those of us
laboring in despair, rage and shock to oppose the violence of the
Israeli Brown Shirts against their gentle Palestinian neighbors.
If you are correct, we must wage a principled struggle against the
Jewish so-called leaders, especially here in the true Jewish
homeland, The United States of America, and expose them as the
deceivers and evildoers they truly are.
If
Gabor and others, Noam Chomsky included are correct, we would
simply be charging at another red cape instead of discerning the
true identity of the aggressor. And, the hour is late; the Second
Naqba is already underway; a culture, a way of life, a land, a
history, a People are being obliterated by a group whose slogan,
absurdly, is "Never Again."
Can
it be, dear friend, that you both are correct? Can it be, that, as
the interests of two crime families in a gangland movie sometimes
coincide, so do the interests of the Jewish Supremacists coincide
with those of the non-Jewish American Imperialists? I should
really say the "apparent" interests, because anyone with
even a modicum of the gift of discernment can easily predict the
ultimate destruction of both Israel and the United States as being
the logical and just outcome for the commission of such crimes
against humanity. Al-Hajj Malik Shabazz (Malcolm X) once remarked,
upon the occasion of the assassination of President Kennedy, that,
after all, "the chickens always come home to roost."
This is most true at the current moment. Israel, which has always
done its best to slay or otherwise neutralize its most vocal and
effective enemies, is now in a position where the enemies list is
too long, and is growing exponentially day by day.
The
U.S. of A., of course, has made itself the sworn enemy of almost
every individual on this planet who is a friend of the oppressed
and a lover of truth. Both of these entities are clearly doomed,
which, for me, as both a Jewish and an American person, is a sad
and frightening thing to realize. In some ways, my dedication to
the cause of Palestinian survival, self-determination, return and
liberty is part of a possibly futile try at preventing the
terrible fate which at this moment surely looms for the U.S.,
Israel, and for many Jews and Americans who may be innocent of
wrongdoing, but who nevertheless will be punished for the crimes
of their leaders.
So,
where do we put the piles of dirt? Where do we confront the ethnic
cleansers? My answer is "Anywhere we find them." I will
not discriminate: if I see a government office, I will think it
fair game for a protest, providing it is an office which houses
the guilty. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney’s office is therefore
immune to my ire, as is the office or home of the illustrious
Jewish Professor Noam Chomsky. Foxman's office, well, let's just
say that there is an awful lot of extra manure and many excellent
bulldozers in my home state of Vermont, aching for creative use.
There are U.S. government offices which need to be picketed, and
corporations whose commerce with Israel spills the blood of
innocent Palestinian children. These corporations should be
identified and shut down. There are other computer chip
manufacturers to replace the disgraced Intel Corporation which
supports the Israeli Fascist Enterprise with a new $4 billion
dollar order from its Israeli suppliers. There are better ice
creams than Vermont's own Ben & Jerry's, ice cream companies
that do not do business in Israel. We must boycott, blockade,
protest, write, yell, educate, and in short, bring to a halt the
activities of all of the buttressing organizations which make
possible the Zionist Colony in Palestine, be they governmental,
Jewish Organizational, business, or otherwise. The critical
question of identifying the central or most crucial engine of the
Israeli crimes against humanity is one which needs much more study
and debate, but, in the meantime, we need to pile high the shit at
ALL of the proper doorsteps.
Bob, Vermont
-------------------------------------------------------------------
From Anton
"Up to a point" I find myself in agreement with Gabor
who assigns the "commanding heights" to US imperialism
rather than the Zionist lobby or/and the state of Israel in the
modern history of the Middle East. Not that I find his examples
particularly convincing. On the contrary. For example, his crucial
point four begs this question: Why in the world did American
imperialism (minus American Zionism) choose to antagonize and
radicalize the Arab world and put at terrible risk its own
strategic security (oil) for the sake of the Israeli state, and
that at the height of the Cold War?!
Nor
Gabor's method of reasoning impresses me as suitable for
understanding historical phenomena. As Marc Bloch observed from
the height of his life-long preoccupation with the methodology of
historical science, "what-would-have-been" type of
questions does not belong in it ("U.S. policy towards Israel
would be exactly the same if there was not a single Jew living in
the U.S).
Moreover,
the very way of positing the problem (i.e., "who is first to
blame") seems to me slightly sophistic as any search for
causa prima, as if the US "Zionist lobby" can be
abstracted from US imperialism and analyzed in isolation, or other
way around. Perhaps it would be more productive to approach things
historically and investigate step by step how and under what
conditions the alliance between Israel and US has been formed and
evolved. Such a story will no doubt include the formation and
evolution of organized Zionism in US. In its turn, this substory
will branch out, at least in the hands of a materialist historian,
to the history of Jewish capitalist class in this country, and
more generally to the fortunes of American Jewish population, from
humble beginnings to the present position of wealth, power and
influence. What were the turning points of this development? When
and how Jewish bourgeoisie gained entrance into the largely
anti-Semitic Establishment and, especially, into its holy of
holies, the big finance capital, the Wall Street? What role if any
did the "civil rights movement" of the 60s, with the NYT
as its mouthpiece, have in promoting not only the rights of black
people but of Jewish bankers as well ("the cunning of
history")? But the mother of all questions will be the
relation of all of the above to the Cold War, i.e. the absolute
imperative of defending the capitalist system against communism.
Now if we make this imperative the basis of our explanatory method
then the seemingly self-hurting doings of US imperialism in the
Middle East may appear rather logical and fully consistent with
its long-term interests, even if they were risky and dangerous in
the near term. And isn't it the essence of liberalism to take care
of the former? To support my point, I will evoke Gabor's argument
about the failure of the anti-Communist "Chinese lobby"
to block the US deal with China. Can we explain this failure on
the basis of internal dynamics of US politics or even
US/Taiwan/China relations? I do not think so. The missing
essential term here was the Soviet Union. The parochial interests
of a specific (ethnic) group of bourgeoisie were sacrificed for
the common good of the capitalist class.
This
brings me to the question of what is the historical place of
Jewish bourgeoisie in this universal class and how this ethnic
section came to occupy this place. I can't answer this question,
only concerted and multidisciplinary historical research can. I
only want to suggest that the Cold War holds the key this
question. Capitalist mobilization against communism allowed Jewish
bourgeoisie to negotiate for itself a position of unprecedented
power in this class. And Israel has been used as a lever to
achieve and preserve this power. For the obvious weakness of
Jewish bourgeoisie vis-a-vis other national bourgeoisies before
1948 was that it did not have its ethnic state to protect its
interests (and often their very lives) on the international arena.
The Cold War against the Soviet Union, with its 5 or so million
Jews among other factors, tremendously increased the importance of
the Jewish state--"the unsinkable aircraft carrier" but
not against the Arabs as Stalin realized all too well-- and gave
Jewish capitalists, particularly in the US as the leader of this
anti-Communist crusade, the opportunity to advance their standing
within the US and international ruling class.
I
guess what I want to say is that this whole question of
"Jewish lobby" and the "Jewish state" of
Israel should be explored from a different perspective if we want
to put this question on its feet. From this perspective, it is
sooner Israel who might be called a lobbyist state for the US and
international Jewish bourgeoisie rather than the other way around,
in the same way as the American state is the "lobbyist"
for the US capitalist class as such. It goes without saying that a
common Palestinian state will never be able to replace the
"Jewish state" as the lobbyist for Jewish bourgeoisie.
This is why it will never come about unless the power of this
bourgeoisie is undermined, which is to say, unless the capitalist
class as a whole is seriously weakened. (here is your logical
fault, dear Anton. How do you go from ‘this’ to the
‘whole’? ISH) While the petty-bourgeois Right, notably,
libertarians, begin to appropriate anti-Zionism in order to weaken
the regime of the finance capital ruinous for their social base -
after all the "progressive" function of US imperialism
in respect to communism has been fulfilled! - these efforts are
likely to be doomed. It's simply too late.
The
Cold War was also a war for the souls and very bodies of the
Jewish people. This war was won by capitalism in the Soviet Union
and internationally with the help of Jewish bourgeoisie and their
tools: the state of Israel and Zionism. Considering the prominent
role played by Jewish activists in socialist and labor movements
around the world this was a great service that Jewish capitalists
did to their class. One Jewish communist from Argentine wrote
recently about the devastating impact of Zionism on the Left in
that country and across the Latin America. Bronfmans may be
indifferent to the trappings of Judaism and tradition. Capital is
blind to race, ethnicity, religion or gender. But capital knows
how to exploit them to its advantage and protection.
As
to Gabor's warnings - and as I understand they have been recently
coming from other people - I hope you both disregard these warning
and take them very seriously.
It
is often the case in this century that progressive and reactionary
positions on specific issues appear similar or even identical.
This illusion disappears, of course, once we go beyond their
rhetoric to respective social projects. Demonstrations against the
Nato bombings of Serbia brought together leftists and the extreme
right. The critique of capitalism by socialists and fascists may
have certain similarities as they reflect the common source of
oppression in relation to workers and petty bourgeois
respectively. Moreover, this common oppressor can make them unite
for its "critique in arms." The so-called
"red-brown" coalition in Russia is the most recent
example of this phenomenon.
The obvious problem with these warnings about anti-Semitism is
that they prevent us from rational investigation of its material
causes thereby leaving intact its irrational assumptions and
disarming those who realize that the struggle against
anti-Semitism is an integral part of struggle against their
respective nationalisms. In Russia today this struggle is vital
because ideological anti-Semitism forms the heart of Russian
nationalism, both in its left and right varieties, with the name
"Trotsky" serving to ally them. This anti-Semitism is
based on the compelling evidence of the powerful positions held by
Jewish capitalists and their ideological representatives within
the comprador class. And to divert the struggle against
"Jews" into one against capitalism takes much more than
even most brilliant essays. We need a materialist analysis
explaining the prominent position and the role of Jewish
bourgeoisie in modern capitalism and imperialism.
This
is the first sense in which Gabor's warning should be taken
seriously: journalism is not enough; it must be based on
scientific inquiry and a materialist theory of history to escape
the danger of being appropriated by reactionary forces.
Now
for the harder part.
Gabor writes: “To imply that the Jewish Lobby initiates and
maintains U.S. policy would be fine, were it true. But it isn't.
So it can only feed Protocols-of-the-Elders-of-Zion type paranoia
of people who don't know any better. And, perhaps worse, it is
also a red flag - if I may borrow your metaphor - that diverts the
bull from matador”.
What
Gabor is actually saying is that to prove this will NOT be fine.
Moreover, that it will be very dangerous even to explore the
relations between American Jewish bourgeoisie and the US policy,
i.e. the place of this bourgeoisie in the ruling class of this
country and in the system of world capitalism in general. And as I
said, there is some truth to his claim that "implying"
something of the sort can be exploited by the anti-Semitic Right.
The problem is that Gabor does not ask you to PROVE what you only
"IMPLY"; that by wavering the "red flag" of
anti-Semitism he attempts to PREVENT you from trying to prove what
you imply. I have no reason to believe that in doing so Gabor
meant to protect the "Jewish Lobby" or Jewish
bourgeoisie for that. Rather, I think he is genuinely anxious
about the possibility of anti-Semitic exploitation of your
writings. But shouldn't he be even more anxious about the
possibility of you proving your point? Would it be indeed
"fine" if instead of the fake Protocols, anti-Semites
will have a body of research providing the evidence of how Jewish
capital has shaped the US policy and how the US anti-Communism has
"emancipated" Jewish bourgeoisie and empowered the
"Jewish state" on the backs of the Palestinians? How
about that possibility? I am afraid that the evidence of this sort
will blow up your whole project designed to appeal to the
sensibilities of liberals. That is the red cloth they all hate to
see - from Said to the looniest libertarian. And the bull does not
miss the matador all the time.
Anton
Baumgarten , Moscow
The
discussion of the Fiesta, or, more properly, on the extent of
Jewish influence on the US politics, does not want to run out of
steam. Until the website is completed, I’ll try and sustain the
discussion by the means of this listserv. I run the responses
without email addresses and full names on order to encourage a
free unrestricted discussion, but whoever wishes to have his name
and email address provided, it will be done. ISH
-------------------------------------------------------------------
From Ahmed Amr, Editor, NileMedia.com
Israel Shamir Strikes a Chord
America supports Israel because American Jews are a fabulously
rich, powerful and arrogant ethnic group that has come to accept
Zionist racism as part of the core of its value system.
Israel
Shamir's insightful analysis of the power of Jewish Lobby in the
United States seems to be hitting a real nerve with the Jewish
community. The response to his most recent article, 'The Fiesta of
St Fermin', is astounding and very thought provoking. There still
appears to be a great reluctance among individual American Jews of
the liberal and leftist persuasion to recognize that their
community does more than just wield influence in the United
States. The largest contributors to both the Democratic and
Republican party are American Jews. It takes very thick blinders
to fail to understand that the Jewish Lobby, acting in the
interests of a foreign fascist state, has seen fit to participate
fully in the corrupting of America's elected officials.
The Israeli Lobby is by no means the only culprit in the buying
and selling of America's governors. But they are the most powerful
single force in this process. Indeed it makes absolute sense to
leverage Jewish contributions by buying Congressmen and Senators.
A dime of political contributions ends up being a dollar in the
pocket of the IDF and the settler movement. The question is
whether the lobby corrupts Congress or a corrupt Congress bows to
any powerful lobby that shows them the money. Given the way that
America finances its political campaigns, it is probably a little
bit of this and a little bit of that. But they don't call Israel's
partisans 'The Lobby' without good reason. Add to their enormous
financial contributions the fact that the media industry is a
virtual monopoly of powerful American Jewish families and there is
no mystery as to why America allows Israel to get away with
murder.
Where
exactly do politicians spend their campaign money? The media
barons laugh all the way to the bank every presidential campaign
season. So 'The Lobby' gives a little money to our politicians and
turns around and takes it all back in advertising revenue. Pity
the politician who stands up to their coersion techniques. They
not only choke his campaign lifeline, but also can trounce his ads
with 'free' articles by pro-Israeli pundits who will denigrate any
American who stands up to their dogma of Jewish exceptionalism.
The case of George Bush the elder is instructive. He came out of
the Gulf war with a 90% positive approval rating and was then
demolished by the media barons and other activists in the Jewish
lobby. There was a point where he was considered invincible, until
he challenged the vicious war criminal assassin Yitzhak Shamir on
illegal Jewish settlements. Now, that is a chapter of modern
American history that was written by Sulzberger of the New York
Times and the men who financed Bill Clinton's campaign.
Ethnic
politics are part of the game in America. But their are few
American ethnic constituencies that rally around foreign despots
and war criminals. Filipino Americans did not support the Marcos
dictatorship. The Haitian American community did not lobby
Congress to support either Papa Doc or Baby Doc. Arab-Americans
never applauded or acted as apologists for military dictators like
Sadam. Dutch Americans did not conspire with the Boers of South
Africa. German-Americans and Italian-Americans, among our largest
ethnic minorities, valiantly fought in two World Wars against
their kinsmen. Without their heroic sacrifices, Europe might still
be under Nazi rule. Many Japanese-Americans died defending the
United States against the axis powers. The Jewish Lobby, on the
other hand, serves Israel's interests, even to the point of
maligning their fellow Americans of Arab heritage.
Rail against capitalism and globalism all you want. Most Americans
accept it as a fact of life. This is not just economics; but a
fiercely competitive national character that champions
individualism. Yet, the average American also loves freedom, his
freedom and the freedom of others. It is not that they are
oblivious to Israeli aggression, or for that matter American
aggression, but rather that the action in Washington is not a part
of the fabric of our daily lives. We let these politicians pick
our pockets and make our wars because they never seem to improve
with the passage of time. American politicians are considered the
lowest form of American life. Being in the political world is just
not considered an honest profession, not among decent folk. The
corridors of power in Washington attract men, who would surely ply
their trade in the oldest profession in the world. So, we stay
away from the polls on voting day in the same way we avoid the bad
side of town.
Most
Americans are also fully aware that American Jews are big time on
the political scene and that they dictate every detail of
America's foreign policy in the Middle East. There are rational
reasons why we have eleven Jewish Senators and no African-American
Senators. It is not because American Jews make better senators
than African-Americans, but because Jews can afford a Senate
campaign. And, yes, it does help that they are of European
descent. There are also rational reasons why Arab-Americans have
been politically quarantined. Ask Hillary Clinton, our first
bigot, why it so valuable for politicians to align themselves with
the 'Yiddish Power' crowd. Watch these American-Jewish pundits, on
the left and on the right, market one of the most extremely
repressive governments in the world. And they do it all with such
an easy smile and without a hint of any embarrassment. That takes
raw 'KKK' bone-deep bigotry. America supports Israel because
American Jews are a fabulously rich, powerful and arrogant ethnic
group that has come to accept Zionist racism as part of the core
of its value system. Repressing Palestinians, killing their kids
and stealing their lands is something most American Jews are not
only content to keep silent about, but will vocally support. That
is fact. There is no doubt that there is a healthy minority in
this community that feels a little discomfort about being so
closely affiliated with a country that has a penchant for electing
notorious war criminals to the highest office in the land. But
this group of American-Jewish dissidents is virtually invisible.
Indeed, there is more vocal and visible dissent among Israeli
Jewish intellectuals.
I will leave it to American Jews to figure out why their community
so easily follows a leadership whose ranks swell with shallow and
wicked bigots. That is their problem. Our problem is how to
confront them. To expect the Palestinians to have to wait for
American Jews to redefine its core values is to ask them to
abandon hope. The history books are clear on this count. American
Jewish leaders, including intellectuals, follow the script written
in Tel Aviv. (Ahmad, our leaders in Tel Aviv can’t write! ISH)
And their community willingly goes along. They are every bit as
chauvinist as Israelis, maybe more so, because they tend to be
more ignorant of the facts on the ground. I always advise the rare
American Jew who wants to bring a little justice into the lives of
the Palestinians to publicly denounce folks like 'Punch'
Sulzberger (NYT), Foxman (ADL), William Safire, Dennis Ross,
Martin Indyk and Thomas Friedman. These men are the muscle that
allows this racist Lobby to push its weight around. But the most
important thing is to address the arrogant and callous misuse of
Jewish power in America. We certainly don't need to waste any more
time discussing whether the 'Jewish Lobby' is fact or fiction.
What the Palestinians need are Americans who will help them
neutralize the belligerence of the 'Jewish Lobby'. Let us start by
being intellectually honest about how the Israel Firsters are
fully complicit in the corruption of elected American public
servants.
As
to those who want to buy into the 'American Imperialism' school of
thought. As Israel Shamir points out, Turkey and Egypt are more
logical candidates for the job of strategic partner in gouging out
Arab eyes for cheap oil. Besides, half the Arab Middle East is
already one large contiguous American military base. There is a
big difference between the American Imperial project to assure
access to natural resources and Israel's racist colonial
enterprise to eradicate the native population of the land. The
average Saudi hardly feels the presence of the American military.
But the Israeli military boot is daily mixed into the recipe of
repression that confronts Palestinians when they stick their heads
out of their front door. No American settlers are heading for the
suburbs of Baghdad. True enough, the American government has no
problem wasting Arab lives. But, that too, is often in service to
the Lobby, which spares no effort to create a permanent enmity
between Arabs and Americans. One only need scan the diaries of
former presidents, to realize that they support racist Israeli
policies reluctantly, not out of conviction, not because it is in
the national interest, but because it helps finance campaigns. The
path to political power in America is too often through the doors
of the Israeli Lobby. American presidents think nothing of playing
the role of door mats for Israeli war criminals, like Sharon. In
Washington, it has become an rite of passage into the corridors of
power to turn on as many green lights as Israel needs to torment
the Palestinians.
From: L. E. Ernst, Virginia, USA
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The fundamentalist, based on his comparatively casual appreciation
of the same Scriptures, and ignorant of the rabbi's condescension,
considers the rabbi to be an exemplar of a chosen race
Greetings
to all commentators on this issue.....
By digesting the untrammeled knowledge and candor in these
first-person accounts of men and women of good will, one attains
more proximity to truth than in all the tabloids and monographs
being written. This is light without heat, legitimate criticism
without lamentable class hatred.
Special
thanks to Israel Shamir for making the forum possible.
And
kudos to Tawfiq, Galilee - Hawaii, to John Paul Leonard, and to
the anonymous Lebanese gentleman for their very lucid discourse.
De profundis! These are the sentiments which the masses never
hear.... the minds proscribed by organizational religion and
academe.... the voices crying in the proverbial wilderness.
I
add my mite to the considerable erudition which has gone before:
When
one enumerates the ontological factors which aid and abet the
plunder and on-going military humiliation of Palestinians..... the
realities which contribute to the continuing sanction (nay,
support!) of Israeli war crimes, and to the ad infinitum, tragi-comic
performances of presidential and other political clowns in the
modern version of the emperor's clothes saga ("the peace
process"), one must not ignore or discount the ubiquity and
the influence (albeit waning in other important ways) of America's
men of the cloth.....
In the orthodox rabbi, and his fundamentalist Christian fellow
traveler, one is confronted with a pernicious paradox:
The
rabbi - drawing from a pedantic understanding of the Hebrew
Scriptures, largely derived from the traditions of his
predecessors (and irrespective of his views on political Zionism)
- considers all non-Jews - whom he regards as goyim - to be
something less than human stature, and his fundamentalist peer to
be beneath the status of a righteous goy: a minim, certainly, an
idolator, perhaps. The fundamentalist, based on his comparatively
casual appreciation of the same Scriptures, and ignorant of the
rabbi's condescension, considers the rabbi to be an exemplar of a
chosen race: a sage..... and himself to be merely 'a gentile (goy)
saved by grace', as opposed to the divinely-favored,
Torah-observant Jew, whom - he presumes - is (eventually) to be
'saved' by race: a presumption which reveals itself in the
fundamentalist's antinomian lifestyle and the appellation by which
he terms the foundational underpinnings of his belief system:
"Judaeo-Christian" . Without pondering the incongruities
of these racial/religious beliefs in terms of their mutual
epistemology, and without assessing this rather one-sided
ecumenism and interfaith, the point I wish to make is this:
Despite
mutually exclusive views on the Messiah of Israel, soteriology,
other matters of revelation, and their own intrinsic worth, the
rabbi and the fundamentalist are in essential harmony on what they
deem to be the 'revealed' status of today's Jewish and non-Jewish
peoples, i.e., Jews are presuppositionally regarded as special and
holy, without reference to their personal righteousness (or lack
of it); non-Jews, by the same criteria, are regarded as relatively
inferior: something less than 'chosen', something less than a Jew
(in the case of Palestinians, something far less).
While
both subscribe to the superior/inferior race presupposition, not
all orthodox rabbis are political Zionists. However, all Judaeo-Christian
fundamentalist ministers are Zionists, and some, rabidly so. The
basis for their 'Christian Zionism' is a flawed eschatological
premise superimposed on the aforementioned racial presuppositions
and tempered by a linguistic and historical ignorance unheard of
in clerical Christianity but a century ago. Never mind.
Fundamentalism's Zionistic zeal may be misplaced, but it is real.
And it is militant.
From
this untenable albeit cherished theological posture, literally all
depredations by Jews (the chosen race) are accomplished by divine
warrant..... while the slightest offences against Jews ('the apple
of His eye') are singularly blasphemous insults to the Supreme
Being, Himself. In this schizophrenic radicalism, Ariel Sharon is
a modern David, and the Zionist state of Israel a fulfillment of
prophecy; state murder of innocent people is divine retribution;
oppression and pillage of 'inferiors' is to be not only expected,
but accepted; the theft of Arab lands is but a glorious
fulfillment of the prophets; the cause of the Israelis is Biblical
......... a divine mandate. The Israeli government's calculated,
cold-blooded practice of wholesale carnage, destruction and mayhem
is something to be vaunted in prime time sermons, telecasted to
the masses. By the same token and by the same means, Palestinian
resistance to Israeli tyranny is to be decried as infamous..... as
resistance to God. The sole issue which competes with the
dastardly Arabs for their pious oratory is the holocaust against
the Jews by the demonic Nazis..... which, walking by their lights,
they do not perceive to be but predecessor to the holocaust
against the Palestinians by the demonic Israelis, the former being
done in violation of God's Law, the latter in compliance with it,
or so they say.
And
here, as viewed by all other men of good will, both the naive
fundamentalist and his modern tutor, the orthodox rabbi, [whose
racial beliefs, if not his politics, provide the impetus for these
deadly aberrations] may be seen as the mortal (if unwitting)
enemies of civilization..... and the real power brokers and
sustainers of the ungodly status quo.
Profound is their influence on public opinion and the great masses
of well-intentioned, otherwise good-willed Christian and Jewish
people, who, were they but properly instructed, would make a
prompt, righteous, and determining difference in the tribulations
now being endured by stoic Palestinians in the Middle East.
Woe
to these vain rabbis, these proud shepherds, these influential
pastors of the sheep, these blind leaders of the blind !
May their hearts be turned toward their children and may their
children's hearts be turned toward their Father, before the entire
world is smitten with this 'superman' curse!
L. E. Ernst
-------------------------------------------------------------------
From Dr Gabor Mate
Zionist leadership and the U.S: partnership between two groups of
gangsters
We all need to keep in mind that what we agree on if far more
important than our disagreement.
For
those of us who don't believe that the Israel Lobby controls U.S.
policy it's hardly a matter of therefore absolving Zionism or the
"Diaspora" Jewish leadership of responsibility for what
Israel does. The oppression of the Palestinians is very much a
Jewish act, carried out by a supposedly Jewish state with the
active support of official North American Jewish organizations and
leaders, and religious institutions. From the point of view of
U.S. interests it would even be better if the opression of the
Palestinians were not so harsh--the State Department doesn't need
those settlements or the deprivation of Palestinian water rights,
etc., they just need a militarily and economically dependent
Israel to be used against the Arabs as needed, as a weapon of last
resort, as the ultimate threat against Arab independence. Israeli
intransigence complicates the U.S. task of keeping their Arab
lackeys in the fold. However, in the final analysis, the U.S. will
countenance almost anything Israel does--the oppression of
Palestinians is a "sacrifice" the U.S. is quite willing
to make, in order to keep its Israeli pitbull satisfied and loyal.
Again,
it's not a matter of believing that the Zionist leadership are
simply unwitting and innocent tools in the hands of the U.S. It's
a very much a question of partnership between two groups of
gangsters, if you will--one group the senior party, without whose
support the other would have no room to maneuver, the other the
junior one whose services the senior very much benefits from. They
may even have divergent interests up to a point--but the basic
goal, the robbing and subjection of their common victims,
necessitates their cooperation. It's not a relationship based on
blood ties or loyalty, but a powerful strategic-tactical alliance.
It will not last forever: and when it's over, the junior partner
will find itself in deep trouble. In the meanwhile, the junior
partner is given a fair bit of tactical freedom, so long as its
activities do not fundamentally undermine the strategic goals of
the senior.
Gabor
-------------------------------------------------------------------
From Sami, Toronto
I can see the defeat of the Zionism closer than anybody could
imagine. It’s really a great debate Mr. Shamir, but the
worst thing about it, the reality that, the more you write and
your respectful debaters, especially intellectual Jews, about the
crimes and atrocities of Zionism inside Palestine or across the
Western countries (civilized world), the more killing and blood
sheds are committed by the state of Zionism. (Wallah, Sami, I
doubt our writing is that atrocious! ISH) And this will take me to
the final days of American Yankees in Vietnam. The most ugly face
and the worst crimes committed by the Yankees against the
struggling Vietnamese were in the last months before admitting
defeat and accepting surrender to the will of the fighting people.
I can see the defeat of the Zionism closer than anybody could
imagine, I can see it from your writing, American Jews and
European Jews writings against the inhuman barbaric acts of
Zionism, I can see it from the lies and the intense propaganda,
which is coming from the Civilized West. I can see it from they
once were, human beings who are bloodthirsty and couldn’t see
but themselves, they will end up hitting the walls that they once
created to protect themselves from other human beings. This is the
reality, but would the military cartel in the USA accept the
defeat twice. Will the fear of shedding the holy blood of kids in
Palestine as in Vietnam defeat the mighty F-16 and the Apache,
will the Imperialist American accept that defeat for the second
time, by the kids’ blood. I can hear them saying NEVER AGAIN.
The struggle is long and bloody. One more reason, It’s not the
Zionist, who is hard to defeat in Palestine. It’s the Arabic
Dictatorships, who rules their people in the name of fighting
Israel, who give their oil for free to the Imperialist USA, in the
name of protecting the holy sites of Islam. So Mr. Shamir let me
add one more thing for the debate, the Arab military dictators,
they have more than hundred reasons, to keep Palestine in the same
place as the mighty Uncle Sam wishes and his friend Edgar
Bronfman.
Sami, Toronto
-------------------------------------------------------------------
From Genie Trone, Washington DC
It is only us, chickens…
I had finally gotten totally disillusioned this week and had begun
to feel like the poor bull in Feria de St. Fermin...charging after
lots of distracting red flags being waved in front of my nose only
to be then jabbed by picadors til I'm wounded and exhausted by it
all......I had even begun thinking of running off "to save
the whales" as Shamir suggests the weak-hearted and not so
intrepid do...Quick! before a matador appears..... but I don't
know where all the whales are...there seems to be only chickens
around. And these chickens I would rather roast as they are not
worth saving in most cases....
Genie
-------------------------------------------------------------------
From Jeffrey Blankfort:
The notion that the Israel lobby is a myth that is the myth…
I am disappointed to note that Elias Davidsson, for whom I have
the greatest respect does not see "that the debate initiated
by Shamir is of great relevance." In fact, it is the first
time, in my knowledge, that outside, of Israel, the subject is
being discussed at all. At Sonoma State University there is a
group that each year publishes a list of the 10 most censored
stories, under the title, Project Censored. The discussion of the
role and power of the Israel Lobby is taboo beyond even that list.
In a special issue of the Middle East Labor Bulletin, I ran a
number of articles from the Hebrew Press, translated by the
wonderful, and unfortunately recently departed, Israel Shahak,
including the ones below. What intrigued me at the time and still
does as I reread them is the notion that Israel uses the myth of
the Israel lobby to intimidate politicians and get its way.
Washington does not bow to myths, but to money, and in this
instance, it is the notion that the Israel lobby is a myth that is
the myth. There are any number of members of Congress and lesser
politicians around the country who discovered that their ignorance
of its very real existence proved to be a career-ending mistake
and I have enough personal anecdotes just from the San Francisco
area alone to prove my point.
As to the conspiracy part, each month, according to the Jerusalem
Report, the heads of the three major Jewish organizations, the ADL,
the American Jewish Congress, and the American Jewish Committee,
sit down and plan their pro-Israel strategy for the coming month.
And then we have AIPAC and several hundred Jewish federations that
send politicians, at every level, on all expenses paid trips to
Israel all the time. It is convenient to lay all this activity at
the feet or on the head of evil Capitalism or Western imperialism
(which already has enough bedecking it), but capitalism is not the
bogeyman here, but a racist ideology which has been embraced by
Jews of every political persuasion, including communist.
What I sincerely wish is that people who question the power of the
lobby would take the time to do the research and not rely on their
latent fears to dismiss it.
Jeff Blankfort
-------------------------------------------------------------------
From Dolores Shatz to Susanne Schedt
this programming is concretized with the idea that the Jew is
experiencing all of this because of his/her superiority. I
think that your response sets up a pretty good case for my comment
that "it is not the 'diasporic Jews' but the corrupt American
and Canadian self-proclaimed Jewish 'leaders' that need to be
brought to task here."
I
have been observing Jews being programmed by Zionist Jews to be
defensive and fearful of the "growing menace of anti-semitism",
which is now "surfacing" and being exhibited by the
"goyim" as a particularly irrational brand of
"anti-semitism". And that this can only be due to the
"jealousy" of non-Jews because of the Jews'
"special status", whether this superiority be
"innate" or "ordained by God".
In
every way, they are conditioned that the threat of "anti-semitism"
is an ever-present danger, an eternal peril for the Jew, who must
maintain a constant vigilance lest it raise its ugly head and
again, lead to their annihilation (thus the phrase, "Never
again"). Psychologically, this creates a kind of perpetual
state of 'post-traumatic stress disorder', keeping them in a sort
of constant state of panic.
This
programming allows the Zionist agenda to proceed unencumbered,
constantly and consistently being shielded by the Jews' frightful
and defensive charges of "anti-semitism" whenever
Zionist actions are being brought into question or when faced with
bearing the consequences of their deeds.
Non-Jews
react to either the atrocities of the Zionists or to the
defensiveness of the Jews, and the cycle repeats ad infinitum.
Anyway,
the antidote is to 1) let the Jews to be aware of this programming
and how it is protecting an element with criminal intentions and
how they are being used for their disgraceful purposes, and 2)
take these Zionist manipulators to task for a) creating this
psychosis in their "fellow" Jews, and b) their
destructive methods and crimes against humanity in the pursuit of
aggregating power and influence.
As
for 1) (above), it seems that this is what you were referring to
in proposing to Jews in Al-Awda to track the "Gleichschaltung"
of European Jewry, the "getting in line to work in one
prescribed direction". From being in the US all of my life, I
can tell you that it is a world-wide effort!
Because
this programming is concretized with the idea that the Jew is
experiencing all of this because of his/her superiority, it makes
it particularly difficult to convince a people otherwise. They
have another psychological stake in preserving it.
I
think it is important for humanity to realize the manipulations we
are being put through (all of us in various ways) in order for us
to find a different path, to forge a different reality, and to
live in a way in which we empower ourselves. I think it's
important to understand where the invisible strings are, so we
know where to cut ourselves free, and learn to live from our own
power and not at the whim and will of manipulators.
I
also meant to talk about the role of international bankers in the
whole scheme of things. It is a very important method of
manipulation that I think is being overlooked. How could everybody
forget that it's money that "makes the world go round!".
In
solidarity,
Dolores Schatz
-------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Hani Shukrallah
In today's US, one does not need to be Jewish to be a Zionist, as
Edward Said has so clearly illustrated in his series of articles
on Zionism in America. It is not that the "Zionist
lobby" has become all-powerful in America, but that Zionism,
in ideology and practice, has become the most accurate expression
of America's imperial self-image and needs in a post-Cold War,
globalised and globalising world. No other ideology and practice
seems to both embody and epitomise the arrogance of power, the
arbitrary and unchecked dispensing of violence, the unequivocally
racist contempt for the oppressed and the heartless denial of
their most fundamental rights, that appear more and more to be
essential requisites of US-led capitalist globalisation -- at so
little cost, and so successfully.
Hani
------------------------------------------------------------------
From Adib Kawar:
Whether it is Jewish power, that is the Zionist lobbies in the
U.S., or American Imperialism, which controls the situation over
the Palestinian question, in our opinion it is both. Zionism wants
to monopolize power not only in the Middle East, but on the
international arena, which does not contradict with American
Imperialism. The U.S. Administration wrongly believes that its
interests lies with the Zionist state, which acts as a long arm to
tame the Arabs who should be more importent to the U. S.
A. S. K.
----------------------------------------