Fiesta Responses
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
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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!
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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