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Reports

Molly Ivins: Pro-Israel ‘Nutjobs’ on the Attack

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Posted on Apr 25, 2006

By Molly Ivins

AUSTIN, Texas—One of the consistent deformities in American policy debate has been challenged by a couple of professors, and the reaction proves their point so neatly it’s almost funny.

A working paper by John Mearsheimer, professor of political science at the University of Chicago, and Stephen Walt, professor of international affairs at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, called “The Israel Lobby” was printed in the London Review of Books earlier this month. And all hell broke loose in the more excitable reaches of journalism and academe.

For having the sheer effrontery to point out the painfully obvious—that there is an Israel lobby in the United States—Mearsheimer and Walt have been accused of being anti-Semitic, nutty and guilty of “kooky academic work.” Alan Dershowitz, who seems to be easily upset, went totally ballistic over the mild, academic, not to suggest pretty boring article by Mearsheimer and Walt, calling them “liars” and “bigots.”

Of course there is an Israeli lobby in America—its leading working group is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). It calls itself “America’s Pro-Israel Lobby,” and it attempts to influence U.S. legislation and policy.

Several national Jewish organizations lobby from time to time. Big deal—why is anyone pretending this non-news requires falling on the floor and howling? Because of this weird deformity of debate.

In the United States, we do not have full-throated, full-throttle debate about Israel. In Israel, they have it as a matter of course, but the truth is that the accusation of anti-Semitism is far too often raised in this country against anyone who criticizes the government of Israel.

Being pro-Israel is no defense, as I long ago learned to my cost. Now I’ve gotten used to it. Jews who criticize Israel are charmingly labeled “self-hating Jews.” As I have often pointed out, that must mean there are a lot of self-hating Israelis, because those folks raise hell over their own government’s policies all the time.

I don’t know that I’ve ever felt intimidated by the knee-jerk “you’re anti-Semitic” charge leveled at anyone who criticizes Israel, but I do know I have certainly heard it often enough to become tired of it.

And I wonder if that doesn’t produce the same result: giving up on the discussion.

It’s the sheer disproportion and the vehemence of the denunciations of those perceived as criticizing Israel that make the attacks so odious. Mearsheimer and Walt are both widely respected political scientists—comparing their writing to “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” is just silly.

Several critics have pointed out some flaws in the Mearsheimer-Walt paper, including a too-broad use of the term “Israel lobby”—those of us who are pro-Israel differ widely—and having perhaps overemphasized the clout of the Israel lobby by ignoring the energy lobby.

It seems to me the root of the difficulty has been Israel’s inability first to admit the Palestinians have been treated unfairly and, second, to figure out what to do about it. Now here goes a big fat generalization, but I think many Jews are so accustomed (by reality) to thinking of themselves as victims, it is especially difficult for them to admit they have victimized others.

But the Mearsheimer-Walt paper is not about the basic conflict, but rather its effect on American foreign policy, and it appears to me the authors’ arguments are unexceptional. Israel is the No. 1 recipient of American foreign aid, and it seems an easy case can be made that the United States has subjugated its own interests to those of Israel in the past.

Whether you agree or not, it is a discussion well worth having and one that should not be shut down before it can start by unfair accusations of “anti-Semitism.” In a very equal sense, none of this is academic. The Israel lobby was overwhelmingly in favor of starting the war with Iraq and is now among the leading hawks on Iran.

To the extent that our interests do differ from those of Israel, the matter needs to be discussed calmly and fairly. This is not about conspiracies or plots or fantasies or anti-Semitism—it’s about rational discussion of American interests. And, in my case, being pro-Israel. I’m looking forward to hearing from all you nutjobs again.

To find out more about Molly Ivins and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate’s Web page at www.creators.com.

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By Noah Counting, September 8, 2007 at 1:37 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Until OPEC is broken the U.S. will never be fair to all parties in the Middle East. Jews are just lucky because they have much influence in America, otherwise Isreal would have never come come into existence. Most countries act in their own self interest only. Isreal provides a means for America to apply moralistic touch-up paint for it’s polices. Armenians are not so lucky, the U.S. would sell them out just like the Kurds for an easier way to obtain oil.
There is hope though: OPEC will be broken by 2020 as strongly suggested by Ventnor, a leader of the Human Genome Project. Genetic engineering will finally a pound a wooden stake into the heart the Big Oil Lobby.  With the Cold War over and energy no longer a critical issue the U.S. will be a fair arbitrator and start acting as if “all men really are equal”. If having many of your people gassed and being an large ethnic minority qualifies you for a homeland than the Kurds have the same rights as Jews do. The Kurds will be sold out by the U.S. as part of their future policy even though they are the largest ethnic group in the World without a proper homeland.
The point is that Isreal does have a right to to exist, but many other ethnic groups also have a right and have suffered terribly. I resent the fact that they are shortchanged just as I resent the fact that my mother-in-law gave up on getting compensation for her husbands time as a slave laborer for the Nazis. I suppose he was lucky to live since he was non-Jewish. Anyway, I’m not a Christian fundamentalist nor a Jew so you don’t have to give a rat’s ass about my opinion. That is, for another decade.

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By Dr RJP, May 2, 2006 at 9:53 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Boy, the fallacies are flying hard and fast. Time to separate fact from fiction:

FACT: there has been a continuous Jewish presence in Israel for over 3,000 years.  They didn’t just arrive from Europe after WWII.

FACT: The overwhelming majority of Palestinians living in Israel today migrated to Israel in the 20th Century, and mostly AFTER Israel became a state.

FACT: Palestinians are no different than any other Arab—they have no distinct culture or history. There has never been a country called Palestine - it has always been Israel. The Romans renamed it Syria-Palestina after the second Jewish revolt in the 2nd Century.

FACT: ALL of the land in the Middle East was forcibly stolen from other cultures during a bloody, 1,400 year campaign of MUSLIM imperialism (which is still going on today throughout the world).

FACT: The British gave away 75% of the land meant to be a Jewish Homeland to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.  The British also gave away to Arabs the land that once belonged to India, namely Pakistan.

FACT: Palestinians and their fellow Arabs rejected every offer of peace given to them, including twice rejecting their own state, solely because they do not want any Jews in the Middle East.

FACT: Over 850,000 Jews were driven from their homes in other Arab countries and their property seized when Israel was attacked in 1948. Israel was able to absorb them. By contrast, Arab countries continue to refuse to accept any Palestinian refugees.

FACT: the “Palestinian refugee problem” is totally the fault of Arab countries who (1) mounted three unprovoked wars of extermination against israel, and (2) who use the refugees as political pawns to blame Israel.

FACT: Israel’s “army” was outnumbered 100 to 1 in the first war of extermination launched against it in 1948, and had no modern weapons as did the US and Russian supplied Arab countries.

FACT: The Palestinians have never done anything to make a real peace with Israel and never will, because they want Israel destroyed just as the Hamas government they elected does.

FACT: The Palestinian PR machine is without equal in transforming outright lies into believable truths. The 2000 intifadeh was planned months in advance of Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount (supposedly the trigger), the killing of 12-year old Mohammed Dura (poster boy for the intifadeh) was totally staged to make it look like Israel’s defense forces did it. They still call the IDF action in Jenin a “massacre where hundreds of innocent were killed” even though it has been proven that about 12 Palestinians were killed, and they were all terrorists resisting arrest. The list of so-called “atrocities” committed by Isrealis would stretch from NY to Paris.

FACT: The only “occupation” in the Holy Land is by Muslims occupying Jewish and Christian lands, and not the reverse.

FACT: Jerusalem has always been the capital of Israel, and it is not a Muslim holy site since (1) Mohammed taught his followers to pray towards Mecca and away from Jerusalem, and (2) there is only one cursory mention of Jerusalem in the Koran, and the city was never considered by the Koran to be anything special. Meanwhile, Jerusalem is cited over 300 times in the Old and New Testaments.

FACT: The USS Liberty was involved in espionage against Israel during a time of war: it had been gathering top-secret, Israeli intelligence information that revealed Israel’s defense plans and was passing it along to Arab oil-supplying nations at war with Israel—information that would have allowed these nations to overrun and massacre Israeli troops and citizens.

FACT: in a similar instance of helping Arabs at war with Israel, Jonathan Polland “stole” intelligence information that the US was deliberately withholding from Israel—information that Israel had repeatedly sought to obtain through the proper channels, but was denied.

FACT: If we had been getting oil from Israel instead of from those “friendly” countries like Saudia Arabia (where 18 of the 19 terrorists of 9/11 originated), our policies in the Middle East would be totally different today.  Instead, the US has continually sold out Israel so as to keep the oil flowing.

FACT: At a very minimum, Israel has as much right to the land between the Jordan River and the Medeterranian as any Arab does, yet the truth is that Israel has a much more valid claim to it.

FACT: Muslims beleive that if there was anytime in the past that they had occupied a piece of land—no matter how that land was obtained nor for how long—then that land is claimed to be theirs.

FACT: most of the land of Israel was a total wasteland before the Jewish movement in the 19th Century to restore it. If Arabs had really loved the land as much as they say they do now, then they would never have let it become a desert nor be so willing to leave it during the first signs of hostilities between Arabs and Jews.

The bigger question, though, is this:

Why should Israel give away the land that was originally theirs, from which they had been forced to leave, and for which they legally purchased back from those who stole it from them?

Since Muslims want to destroy New York City so badly, why not just give it to them instead?  Better yet, let’s just capitulate the whole country to them. That is essentially what people are asking Israel to do.

It is really sickening just how Americans have forgotten who are our friends, and who are our enemies, and how much we are willing to hide our heads in the sand in exchange for a continued supply of gasoiline.

If Israel did not exist, Iran would have absolutely no hesitation whatsoever to build nuclear weapons and pass them along to terrorists.

If Israel did not exist, Saddam’s nuclear reactor would have been chunking out A-bombs for use in the Gulf War, and we would have been powerless to stop his invasion of Kuwait.

If Israel did not exist, we would have no one to teach us how to survive a major terrorist attack, how to deal with it, how to retaliate, and how to prevent further occurrences.

If Israel did not exist, the advances made in medicine would be set back 20 years.

I do not know about others, but I rest a lot easier at night that Israel does indeed exist.

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By KY, May 2, 2006 at 2:15 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

By the way, a semite can be an Arab, Jewish, Assyrian or loosely any person of Middle Eastern origin.It is unbelivable that most people think that is hating only Jews that constitute anti-semitism. Hating any person whether Arab, Persian or Jewish is anti-semitism. This is not a privileged word for any particular group of race to use to intimidate any critic. Hating Arabs is also anti-semitism. AIPAC and its influence on U.S foreign policies in the Middle East must be brought to light for honest debate.  There is also the need to shed more light on the role of some apocalyptic evangelical christians and their warped theology about the Middle East.

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By joe sain, May 1, 2006 at 11:48 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

RE:  Comment #8107 by s.ahmadi on 4/27 at 5:50 pm
Let’s keep this timeline updated:
1965
206 pounds of weapons grade uranium disappear from the Nuclear
Materials and Equipment Corporation plant in Pennsylvania. Plant president
is Zalmon Shapiro, a former sales agent for the Israel Defense Ministry.
C.I.A. Director Richard Helms later charges that Israel stole the uranium.
1967
June: Israel bombs, napalms and torpedoes the USS LIBERTY (including strafing of liferafts), killing 34 Americans, wounding 171 others, and nearly sinking the lightly armed intelligence ship. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral
Thomas Moorer, charges that the attack “could not possibly have been a case
of mistaken identity.”

http://www.ussliberty.org

http://home.cfl.rr.com/gidusko/liberty/

June: Against U.S. wishes, Israel seizes and occupies Syria’s Golan
Heights.
1967
Zionists succeed in getting duel US+Israel citizenship.  (Formerly, you lost US citizenship for taking other citizenship or serving in non US armed forces or government.)
1968
June: Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir rejects U.S. Secretary of
State William Rogers’ Peace Plan that would have required Israel to
withdraw from the occupied territories; she calls upon Jews everywhere to
denounce the plan.
1978
March: Israel invades Lebanon, illegally using U.S. cluster bombs and
other U.S. weapons given to Israel for defensive purposes only.

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By M. Delphia Block, May 1, 2006 at 12:54 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Thank you for your wonderful article - PRO-ISRAEL ‘NUTJOBS’ ON THE ATTACK.

My (5 greats) grandfather who fought in the Revolutionary War for our cherished FIRST AMENDMENT rights would be proud of you.

That ole “anti semitic” charge is old, tired, overused and misused.  Anyone too fragile for our cherished First Amendment right--freedom of speech-- that my people and many courageous people who came to the Colonies in the 1600s fought, sacrificed and died for. should leave our country--bon voyage!

I recount the following to display America’s generosity to Israel:

Last year In the $82 billion supplemental bill to fund the war in Iraq, Congress prohibited the $200 million in aid to the Palestinians to go directly to the Palestinian Authority.  Out of the $200 million, $50 million was earmarked for Israel for border crossings, $5 million to audit how the money is spent and $2 million for Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem to pay for Palestinian health care.  Humiliating Palestinians is sport for Israel and many serving in Congress.  Extorting American tax dollars that should go to the Palestinians for Israel is shameful, reprehensible and un-America!

The fiscal 2006 Foreign Aid bill contains about $3 billion in military and economic assistance for Israel, traditionally the largest single recipient of American foreign aid. I believe Israel received another $2.2 billion to help finance Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s pull out of the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank.  The U.S. provided some $3 billion to compensate Israel for damage caused by Saddam Hussein’s missiles during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. 

In the 2003 $74.4 Billion 6-Month Supplemental Request, $28 billion was cut from Veterans’ benefits over the next 10 years and in the same Request gave $9 billion in economic and $1 billion dollars in military assistance to Israel.  Israel received a total of approximately $15 billion in 2003 while our veterans and our soldiers in Iraq were left vulnerable.

The poor country of Sri Lanka pledged $25,000 and Bangladesh pledged $1 million in aid for the victims of Katrina, while Israel begged for $2.2 billion to finance the pull out from the illegal occupation of the Gaza Strip which constitutes up to $1 million dollars per Israeli family as alleged by Pat Buchanan on the Don Imus show. Other reports say up to $250,000 per family.  Israel has no pride when it involves their addiction to American tax dollars!

That $2.2 billion could be used to rebuild homes for the victims of Katrina and Rita.  We need American tax dollars to help Americans.  Jerusalem Post journalist, Tom Rose asserted, on the Don Imus show, that the billions in economic assistance to Israel are used for welfare and are actually detrimental to Israel.

AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) sizes up the members of congress with the professional eye of a quarterback scanning the defensive secondary and immediately selects the appropriate game plan that makes the final score a forgone conclusion before the 1st quarter had ended.  In the fourth quarter in the lopsided mismatch, AIPAC kicks a field goal—the American Israel Education Foundation invests several thousand dollars to finance trips to Israel for members of Congress
where they are wined, dined and propagandized and the return on that investment is the extortion of billions of American tax dollars for Israel by many members of congress who play the sport with AIPAC.

Of course, we will never forget nor forgive Israel for the terrorist attack on the USS LIBERTY in 1967, killing 34 sailors and wounding l71.  (ASSAULT ON THE LIBERTY—by James M. Ennes, Jr.).  Meeting a survivor of the terrorist attack on the Liberty some time ago was a profound experience.  As he recounted that horrible event and the valor of Captain William L. McGonagle and the crew in saving the LIBERTY, he wiped tears from his eyes several times.  He said he could remember it as clearly as if it had happened “yesterday” and America must also remember!

It is reported that Israel’s new PM Olmert is planning a trip to Washington to secure financial support for the pullout from the West Bank at an estimated cost of $10 billion.

A Rabbi asserted on Fox News sometime ago that America had been kinder to Jews than any country.  Unfortunately that kindness has been exploited.

Molly, you are my SHERO!

M. Delphia Block

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By john m sandoval, April 30, 2006 at 2:31 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

In his 2003 state of the union speech George W Bush “Lied” when he said; Iraq had 25,000 liters of Anthrax, 38,000 liters of Botulinum Toxin, and 500 Tons of Sarin; also Mustard and VX nerve agents. (these quantaties were made up – no source was mentioned) Bush also “Lied” stating that Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Vice President Cheney “Lied” when he said; Iraq has a Nuclear Weapons program that is making progress. Secretary of State Colin Powell “Lied” when he said; Iraq had “Biological Weapons Laboratories” on rails and Chemical Weapons Bunkers.  (an absolute falsehood) Secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld lied when he stated that the Iraq War had nothing whatever to do with the “oil business.”
Ex deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz (now President of The World Bank) “Lied” when he consistently drove home the point, that Saddam Hussein had Nuclear Weapons of Mass Destruction. He was the prime architect, designer of this WMD excuse for the War in Iraq. Paul Wolfowitz, represents Israel, more than our United States.
Therefore, the Iraq invasion is baseless and unjustified, Iraq was not threatening America, and we should bring our troops home as soon as possible. (600 Million dollars per/day)
Fact is; The Washington Liers Club (Bush administration) launched this illegal War in order to increase the US National debt to the non govt. Federal Reserve Board – so they could collect “The Prime Rate Interest” for fictitious Fiat paper money loans to the US Treasury. (the Iraq War is costing 600 Million dollars per/day plus prime rate interest)
It is hard to imagine what the gross economic effects will be, as a result of this hellacious Taxpayer’s expense. America is now in risk of a future economic collapse. The attack on The World Trade Center was by Osama Bin Laden not Saddam Hussein. (Iraq is not Al Qaeda) Iraq is not Pakistan, Iraq is not Saudi Arabia – 16 of the terrorists of 9/11 were from Saudi Arabia. It is understood, that we are fighting a mysterious unaproachable enemy. The Federal Reserve Board is a private non government institution!
As per our constitution; no one can authorize or create US Currency, only the US Congress – this authority cannot be delegated. Therefore; The Federal Reserve Board function is unconstitutional.
Here is how it is done; When our government needs money – the congress asks the Federal Reserve Board – the “Fed” writes an “uncashable check” that authorizes the printing of “Fiat paper money” (there is no transfer of money or anything of value) . Then the money is printed (Federal Reserve Notes) to cover the check.
( Fiat paper money) (not backed by Silver or Gold)
US Taxpayers pay the “prime rate of interest” for the use of our own printed currency.
The Fed pays no taxes, anywhere, and they never invest any money of their own – they get the “prime rate interest” for nothing. Many states have moved to abolish The Federal Reserve Board on the basis that it is unconstitutional and many more will follow.
The move, does not progress because their Lobbyists (The American Israel political Action Committee) is busy stopping the move to abolish the Federal Reserve Board. End
John M Sandoval

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By john m sandoval, April 30, 2006 at 2:29 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Thank you Molly;
I agree thoroughly - with your point of view - I write about history, the bible, the Federal Reserve, and the Jewish coalition. But I am certainly not anti semitic.
I wrote #7982 and I have no inhibitions about some one saying I may be prejudist against any living person. I am very concerned about the conditions the present world is enduring - Therefore; I and we should all be concerned about preserving (our part) the United States of America.
John M Sandoval

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By Susan Stein, April 30, 2006 at 2:01 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

I thought I was a liberal Democrat who supports a
Palestinian state besides Israel, but according to Molly Ivins, “I’am a pro-Israel nut job”.

I suggest Molly Ivins reads the article by Benny Morris in TNR. I don’t think even Molly Ivins could call Benny Morris a pro-Israel nut job.”

M & W may disagree with others as to what is in America’s best interest. However, once you accuse your opponents of disloyalty and
putting the interests of another nation before America’s interests, you are guilty of McCarthyism. When those people are Jews you are using classic antisemitic stereotypes of dual loyalty and Jewish conspriacies t prove your point. That is unacceptable.

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By john m sandoval, April 30, 2006 at 1:50 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Thank you Molly;
I agree thoroughly - with your point of view - I write about history, the bible, and the Jewish coalition. But I am certainly not anti semitic.
I wrote #7982 and I have no inhibitions about some one saying I may be prejudist against any living person. I am very concerned about the conditions the present world is enduring - Therefore; I and we should all be concerned about preserving (our part) the United States of America.
John M Sandoval

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By Gandalf, April 29, 2006 at 7:33 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

I agree that we cannot reason rationally about the American perspective on anything where Israel has a point of view - because politicians seem to feel pressured into that point of view.

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By s.ahmadi, April 28, 2006 at 7:16 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

#Comment #7903 by Isaiah520 on 4/26 at 5:47 am

The richest, most powerful people in the world today are the Arab sheiks. The money they have put in the hands of their proxy murderers have created a lobby that Goebbels would envy. The so-called Jewish lobby is so ineffective that Israel is shrinking and disappearing before our eyes. Islam is the Nazism of our time and you have pathetically played right into their hands. Go buy a Koran now before they cut your worthless head off. Truly, you are a mental midget.
-----------------------------------------
Interesting post...You draw a comparison between the radical islamists and the nazis.  Well my mental giant do you know what the aim of the Nazis were?  Did not the Nazis want a GERMAN state?  Through war the Nazis wanted Lebensraum “living space” for the GERMAN people.  Does that sound familiar to you?  For example, Israel declares to be a JEWISH state.  Through war Israel has acquired land and has occupied a people for the JEWISH people.  Has the oppressed become the oppressor?  Becareful with historical comparisons my mental giant, because a strong case can be made that Israel’s politics are frightfully similiar to Nazis’.

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By justice, April 28, 2006 at 5:29 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Why is Uncle Sam so steadfast in support of the Jewish settler-state Israel?  Because it’s in the interest of the powers that be to do so, since by backing Israel, our government inflames the Arab/Islamic world and, then, “Golly gee, a terrorist attack. That’ll scare the heck out of folks.  What a break for me!  They’ll do anything I say which makes for total law and order.”

Plus there’s an added bonus for backing Israel.  Things go wrong and there’s always an out.  What’s that?  It’s the “Blame the Jew” escape clause, “Why those slippery cosmopolitans duped and conned us into supporting their racist state.  Let it be duly recorded that we hereby switch allegiances, Palestine for the Palestinian people.”
Could they get away with this diversionary tactic?  Would it sell?  Why wouldn’t it?  When it comes to scape-goating, anti-Semitism has a long and infamous track record.  And, lo and behold, the powers that be then will get off scott-free.  What irony, too.  Zionism, a late 19th century movement calling for the oppressed Jewish masses in the teeming ghettos of eastern Europe to immigrate to Palestine (the infamous “land without a people for a people without a land” swap, ends up a century later putting the safety and well-being of all Jews at risk, Jewish-Americans in particular.  A Zionist’s retort most likely would be something like, “You Jews in America must immigrate to israel as fast as they can.  Can’t you see it’s the only place that’ll welcome you?” That’s what they’re telling French Jews anyway, in the hope of receiving a bonanza of Jewish immigrants in the wake of that country’s racial and ethnic problems.  So what’s the answer?  Justice for the Palestinian people which will bring peace to the Holy Land and goodwill to all who live there, that’s what.  And right now, because if we wait for the powers that be to do it, it’ll be too late and there’s no telling what’ll happen if the forementioned scapegoating gets
out of control because its precedents definitely are not encouraging in that regard.

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By justice, April 28, 2006 at 5:28 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Why is Uncle Sam so steadfast in support of the Jewish settler-state Israel?  Because it’s in the interest of the powers that be to do so, since by backing Israel, our government inflames the Arab/Islamic world and, then, “Golly gee, a terrorist attack. That’ll scare the heck out of folks.  What a break for me!  They’ll do anything I say which makes for total law and order.”
Plus there’s an added bonus for backing Israel.  Things go horribly wrong and there’s always an out.  What’s that?  It’s the “Blame the Jew” escape clause, “Why those slippery cosmopolitans duped and conned us into supporting their racist state.  Let it be duly recorded that we hereby switch allegiances, Palestine for the Palestinian people.”
Could they get away with this diversionary tactic?  Would it sell?  Why wouldn’t it?  When it comes to scape-goating, anti-Semitism has a long and infamous track record.  And, lo and behold, the powers that be then will get off scott-free.  What irony, too.  Zionism, a late 19th century movement calling for the oppressed Jewish masses in the teeming ghettos of eastern Europe to immigrate to Palestine (the infamous “land without a people for a people without a land” slogan), ends up a century later putting all Jews at risk, Jewish-Americans in particular.  A Zionist’s response to such a situation most likely would be something like, “Jews in America should immigrate to Israel as fast as they can.  Can’t they see it’s the only place that’ll welcome them?” That’s what they’re telling French Jews anyway, in the hope of receiving a bonanza of Jewish immigrants in the wake of that country’s racial and ethnic troubles.  So what’s the answer?  Justice for the Palestinian people which will bring peace to the Holy Land and goodwill to all who live there, that’s what.  And right away because if we wait much longer, it’ll be too late and there’s no telling what’ll happen if the powers that be wait until the last moment to switch sides, because once the forementioned scapegoating gets underway, who knows what’ll happen?

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By john m sandoval, April 28, 2006 at 2:47 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

( Ecclesiastes chapter 7 verse 12 says; The excellence of knowledge is; that it gives more life, to those that have it!

INTRODUCTION TO THE “JEWISH PROTOCOLS”

The documents most frequently mentioned by those who are interested in the theory of Jewish World Power rather than in the actual operation of that power in the world today, are those 24 documents known as “The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion.”

The Protocols have attracted much attention in Europe, having been the center of an important storm of opinion in England, but discussion of them in the United States has been limited.
( This information has been banned! And is apt, to disappear, into thin air )

Who it was that first entitled these documents with the name of the “Elders of Zion” is not known. It would be possible without serious mutilation of the documents to remove all hint of Jewish authorship, and yet retain all the main points of the most comprehensive program for world subjugation that has ever come to public knowledge.

Yet to eliminate all hint of Jewish authorship would be to bring out a number of contradictions which do not exist in the Protocols in their present form. The purpose of the plan revealed in the Protocols is to undermine all authority in order that a new authority in the form of an autocracy may be set up. Such a plan would not emanate from a ruling class which already possessed authority, although it might emanate from anarchists. But anarchists do not avow autocracy as the ultimate condition they seek. The authors might be conceived as a company of “French Subversives” such as existed at the time of the French Revolution and had the infamous Duc d’ Orleans as their leader, but this would involve a contradiction between the fact that those Subversives have passed away, and the fact that the program announced in these Protocols is being steadily carried out, not only in France, but throughout Europe, and very noticeably in the United States.

In their present form which bears evidence of being their original form, there is no contradiction. The allegation of Jewish authorship seems essential to the consistency of the plan.

If these documents were the forgeries which Jewish apologists claim them to be, the forgers would probably have taken pains to make Jewish authorship so clear that their anti-Semitic purpose could easily have been detected. But only twice is the term “Jew” used in them. After one has read further than the average reader usually cares to go into such matters, one comes upon the plans for the establishment of the World Autocrat, and only then is it made clear of what lineage he is to be.

But all through the documents there is left no doubt as to the people against whom the plan is aimed. It is not aimed against aristocracy as such. It is not aimed against capital as such. Very definite provisions are made for the enlistment of aristocracy, capital and government for the execution of the plan. It is aimed against the people of the world who are called “Gentiles.” It is the frequent mention of “Gentiles” that really decides the purpose of the documents. Most of the destructive type of “liberal” plans aim at the enlistment of the people as helpers; this plan aims at the degeneration of the people in order that they may be reduced to confusion of mind and thus manipulated. Popular movements of a “liberal” kind are to be encouraged, all the disruptive philosophies in religion, economics, politics and domestic life are to be sown and watered, for the purpose of so disintegrating social solidarity and a definite plan, herein set forth, may be put through without notice, and the people then molded to it when the fallacy of these philosophies is shown.

The formula of speech is not, “We Jews will do this,” but “The Gentiles will be made to think and do these things.” With the exception of a few instances in the closing Protocols, the only distinctive racial term used is “Gentiles.”
contribution by Jonathan
----------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------

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By candide, April 28, 2006 at 1:57 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Jews who believe that evangelicals are pro-Israel are the stupidest of the stupid.  Evangelicals are only interested in a Second Coming of their Fraudulent Saviour who will condemn non-believing Jews to hell for eternity.  But, there is no fool like a Jew who wants to believe Christians are in love with him.

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By Sidney, April 28, 2006 at 7:35 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

“Show me your friends and I will tell you who you are”. Reading the majority of postings here, I now know who you are. Read Robert Brownings “The Lost Leader”.

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By Gordon Housworth, April 28, 2006 at 6:53 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

“Having grasped the third rail of evangelical Christianity and its affect on US domestic policy, one might as well put the free hand on evangelical support of the state of Israel and its affects on both US domestic and international policy.”
With this introduction, an ongoing series of security articles proceeded to review AIPAC, the marriage of convenience between American Jews and the State of Israel with Evangelicals, and expanded back for perspective to the anti-Semitic work of the “Radio Priest” Father Coughlin.
All were generated by Mearsheimer and Walt’s “The Israel Lobby,” as I felt that I needed these grounding steps before directly addressing their article, the cost of conflict of US Middle East policy, and Lewis’ “The New Anti-Semitism.” That will come shortly but for readers wishing one former defense analyst’s views, I submit the following:

A note on sources to the forthcoming “No Nation Left Behind” program, Part 4
http://spaces.icgpartners.com/index2.asp?NGuid=9B9D770 ECCF741C696B505A5A2EEC484

“No Nation Left Behind” program, Part 4, AIPAC 1
http://spaces.icgpartners.com/apps/discuss.asp?guid=43 0F69C2482C4B4BBC87E71506063113

“No Nation Left Behind” program, Part 5, AIPAC 2
http://spaces.icgpartners.com/apps/discuss.asp?guid=D7 BE6CB409004567ABDCD9D58881118F

“No Nation Left Behind” program, Part 6, AIPAC 3
http://spaces.icgpartners.com/apps/discuss.asp?guid=56 25F7D3F81240F38B8401F27A68EF20

Jewish American and Israeli perspectives on AIPAC and its marriage of convenience with Evangelicals
http://spaces.icgpartners.com/apps/discuss.asp?guid=C2 282018895249CD9B9EA5D48E0D1BA1

Confluence of anti-Semitic, pro-Fascist sentiments of the “Radio Priest” and Nazi-tolerant sentiments of US business
http://spaces.icgpartners.com/apps/discuss.asp?guid=FC 545A75D8814D7C9041D86A8AC687C1

If readers of all persuasions are discomfited by this series, I may just have succeeded.

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By William Fargo, April 27, 2006 at 7:20 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Like the FBI has nothing better to do in “the war on terror” than hassle the dead.  I love this country!!

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By s.ahmadi, April 27, 2006 at 4:50 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Response to Comment #8023 by John Locke on 4/26 at 6:55
----------------
You either are ignorant or you are willfully blind to history.  Here is the true origin of the Palestinian Israeli conflict. 

1882
Baron Edmond de Rothschild of Paris begins financial backing of Jewish colonisation in Palestine. Beginning of the first wave of Zionist mass immigration to Palestine.
July: Ottoman government adopts policy: allows Jewish pilgrims and business-people to visit Palestine but not to settle.
1891
The first Palestinian protest against Zionist aims.
1896
Publication of “Der Judenstaat” by Austrian Zionist leader Theodor Herzl, advocating creation of Jewish state in Argentina or Palestine. Ottoman Sultan Abd-al Hamid II rejects Herzl’s proposal that Palestine be granted to the Jews: “I cannot give away any part of it (the Empire) ... I will not agree to vivisection.”
1904
Publication of “Le Reveil de la Nation Arabe”, by Najib Azoury, warning of Zionist political aims in Palestine
1914
Nov. 5:Chaim Weizmann writes “… as a British dependency we could have in 20 to 30 years a million Jews out there - perhaps more, they would ... form a very effective guard for the Suez Canal.”
1917
Aug.: Sir Edwin Montagu, the only Jewish member of the British Cabinet, writes in a secret memorandum: “Zionism has always seemed to me a mischievous political creed...it seems to be inconceivable… that Mr. Balfour should be authorised to say that Palestine was to be reconstituted as the national home for the Jewish people...I assume that it means that Mohammedans and Christians are to make way for the Jews, and that the Jews should be put in all positions of preference.”
Nov. 2: British Foreign Sec. Arthur James Balfour sends letter (the Balfour Declaration) to Baron de Rothschild pledging British support for establishment of Jewish national home in Palestine.
Dec. 9: Surrender of Ottoman forces in Jerusalem to Allied forces under General Sir Edmund Allenby.
1930
Oct. 21: The MacDonald government published the Passfield White Paper, which stated: Jewish immigration and land purchases should stop.
1935
Oct.: Irgun Zvai Leumi (National Military Organisation) founded by dissident members of Haganah; Jabotinsky named Commander-in-Chief.
1937
July 7: Publication of Royal (Peel) Commission’s Report recommending partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states.
1939
May: The “MacDonald White Paper” disclaims any intention to create a Jewish state, and places restrictions on Jewish immigration and land purchase and envisages an independent state in Palestine within 10 years.
Sept. 3: Outbreak of World War II.
1940
Nov. 25: British refuse illegal immigrant ship, the Patria, permission to dock in Palestine. Zionists sink the ship and 250 Jews drown.
1942
Jan.: Dr. Chaim Weizmann writes in “Foreign Affairs”, urging the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine after the war.
May: Zionist Biltmore Conference, held at Biltmore Hotel in New York, formulates new policy of creating “Jewish Commonwealth” in Palestine and organising Jewish army.
1944
Nov. 6: Stern Gang assassinates Lord Walter Moyne, British resident Min. of State in Cairo.
1946
July 22: Irgun and Stern Gang Zionist groups blow up King David Hotel, Jerusalem.
July 24: British issue special White Paper on Terrorism in Palestine accusing Jewish Agency of being involved in acts of terrorism with Irgun and Stern Gangs.
1947
Feb. 18: British Foreign Sec. Ernest Bevin announces British submission of Palestine problem to UN.
April 4: The Arab Ba’ath Socialist Party founded in Damascus.
May 15: UN Special Session ends with the appointment of an 11-member Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP), the 11th commission of inquiry appointed since 1919.
Sept. 8: Publication of UNSCOP report: the majority of members recommended partition, and a minority a federal solution.
Sept. 29: Arab Higher Committee for Palestine announces rejection of UN partition plan.
Oct. 2: Jewish Agency announces acceptance of UN partition plan.
Oct. 11: US endorses UN partition plan.
Oct. 13: Soviet Union endorses UN partition plan.
Nov. 29: UN Partition Res. 181 includes the recommendations that Jaffa be part of the proposed Palestinian state and that Jerusalem and Bethlehem be a corpus separatum under a special international regime administered by the Trusteeship Council on behalf of UN.
1948
April 8: Abd al-Qadir Husseini killed in counter-attack at Qastel, western suburb of Jerusalem, without any military reason or provocation of any kind.
April 9: Irgun and Stern Gangs lead by Menahem Begin and Yitzhaq Shamir massacre 245 Palestinians in the village of Deir Yassin, western suburb of Jerusalem.
April 11: Haganah destroy village of Kalonia near Qastel and occupy Deir Yassin.
April 30: All Palestinian quarters in West Jerusalem occupied by Haganah and Palestinians were driven out.
May 2: The Jewish Agency completes mobilisation of Jewish manpower.
May 13: UN appoints Count Folke Bernadotte as mediator to resolve conflict in Palestine.
May 14: State of Israel proclaimed in Tel-Aviv at 4:00 p.m.
May 15: British Mandate ends.
- The Arab States dispatch around 25,000 of their armed forces to Palestine.
- The Haganah, made up of 60,000 to 70,000 trained members become the backbone of the Israeli Army.
May 15-17: USA and USSR recognise Israel.
June 28: Bernadotte’s first peace plan: Jerusalem to be Arab.
July 5: Ben-Gurion, replying to Moshe Sharett, with regard to allowing the return of Arabs to Jaffa: “The Prime Minister opposes the return of Arab residents to their localities so long as the fighting continues and the enemy is at our gates. The PM is of the opinion that only the cabinet as a whole can decide to alter this policy.”
July 7: Mount Scopus area in Jerusalem divided into 3 sectors: a Jewish sector (incl. the Hadassah Hospital and Hebrew University, which were completely isolated from Israel); an Arab sector (the village of Issawiya); and a third sector incl. the Arab Augusta Victoria Hospital.
Sept. 1: Palestinian National Conference in Gaza. Formation of All-Palestine Government.
Sept. 17: UN Mediator Count Folke Bernadotte assassinated in Jerusalem.
Sept.: Ben-Gurion notifies Moshe Sharett that he was told by the commander of the central front that it would be necessary to destroy portions of 14 Arab villages lying east of Lod [Saffariyya, Haditha, Innaba, Daniel, Jimzu, Kafr Onno, Yahudiyya, Barfiliyya, Birya, Qubab, Beit Nabala, Deir Sherif, Tira, Qula], “because of the shortage of manpower to hold the area and to fortify it in depth it is urgently necessary to create defence bases ....”
Oct. 1: All-Palestine Government announces Palestinian independence.
Oct. 15: The recognition of the All-Palestine Government by Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.
Dec. 1: Jericho conference composed of notables and mayors indicates the West Bank’s approval of unity with Jordan.
Dec. 11: UN Gen. Assembly Res. 194 (III): the right of Palestinian refugees to return.
Dec. 20: Sheikh Hussam Addin Jarallah appointed Mufti of Jerusalem (replacing Haj Amin Husseini); Amin Abdul-Hadi appointed head of the Supreme Muslim Council in Jerusalem.
1949
May 12: Lausanne Protocol, signed by Israeli and Arab delegates.
May 29: Pres. Truman sends Israel a note blaming it and protesting against its failure to make concessions at the Lausanne conference on the refugee and boundary issues.
June 31: US grants de jure recognition of the unification of the two banks of Jordan.
Nov. 14: All restrictions on movement from west to east of the river Jordan lifted.
Dec. 13: The west part of the City of Jerusalem declared the capital of Israel.
Dec. 19: UN Gen. Assembly Res. 303: Internationalisation of Jerusalem.
1950
March 14: Absentee Property Law; whereby any person who on 29 Nov. 1947 was a citizen or resident of the Arab States or who was a Palestinian citizen who had left his/her place of residence even if to take refuge within Palestine, is classified as an “absentee”. Absentee property is vested in the custodian of absentee property who then “sells” it to the Development Authority authorised by the Knesset. The theft of the property of a million Arabs seized by Israel in
1948 is thus authorized.
July: “Law of Return” passed by Knesset whereby any Jew, from anywhere in the world, is entitled to full Israeli citizenship..

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By Mitchell Silverstein, April 27, 2006 at 11:18 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Wow, great article. And some great comments too.

But Israel is not the biggest recipient of US aid.  Not anymore, at least.  That would be IRAQ.  In the past few years, we’ve spent maybe 3 times as much on Iraq than we ever gave to Israel. 

Also, M&W;’s paper argues that the Israel lobby has caused the US to act against its own interests, not that the US and Israel do not share common interests.  Everyone who is arguing the latter is wrong.  A negotiated peace resulting in a Palestinian state is in EVERYBODY’s interest.  That’s what US policy should push for, above all else.

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By Al Kahn, April 27, 2006 at 10:02 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Any lobbying in our country by foreign interests, governments, corporations and by association of persons, should be completely banned.  The only exception would be lobbying by US Citizens and living persons who are active on any voter-register.  This is because the root cause of our problems is the political mess at every level of Government be it at village, town, city, county, state or federal level.  At every level, it seems our policies and goals are subjected to unwanted intervention by foreigners / foreign countries and PACS meddling in our internal affairs.  The sad part is that every one in Congress / State / County level is led by these PACS ignoring our interests instead those dictated by lobbyists and foreign governments with money and media behind them to influence / shape public opinion.  The war in IRAQ is a classic example primed by Pro-Israel lobbyists and Neocons bent upon a military confrontation.  Their methods and ways of operations here of sneaking into our affairs and to speak on our behalf as if our interests and theirs as foreign country are the same is the biggest blunder.  This has led us to feel very in-secure and unprotected due ill conceived foreign policy of our Government.  It looks that while President Bush and those around him will have life long security guaranteed by their jobs even after retirement, we will face the music for years to come.  Therefore, we must change course and ban those foreigners and countries from operating here in any form or shape.

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By Sidney, April 27, 2006 at 7:50 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

I am just another pro-Israel nut-job. Although I often agree with Molly on domestic matters, I think that she is the “nut-job” when it comes to foreign affairs. The insistence that Israel is cruel to Palestinians in the attempt to defend themselves from terror is sheer hypocrisy. What other country in the world allows people who are dedicated to the destruction of the country to be members of parliament?

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By sahmadi, April 27, 2006 at 4:10 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

What I have a hard time understanding is what Israel provides for us as an “ally”?  Does Israel heed our wishes?  NO.  I cite the classic withdrawal now..soon...or nevermind episode as an example at how Israel humiliates us.  We have asked Israel to stop building settlements.  Has that happened..NO.  We have warned Israel not to sell our weapons technology to other countries, but of course Israel went ahead and sold our weapons to China.  I mean what has Israel done for us to warrant our billions and billions of our tax dollars.  WE EVEN PAID for Israel’s unilateral “withdrawal” from Gaza at tune of 2.2 BILLION DOLLARS for the relocation of the illegal Israeli settlers.

I don’t have any problems with supporting Israel, but I have a hard time understanding how a country that we support unconditionally always seems to show ingratitude.  They have spied on us *traitor Pollard who passed our secrets to the soviets in exchange for Jewish immigrants*, and they seem to think we will continue subsidizing their economy. 

I am amazed when lawmakers speak of budget cuts that a relook at our foreign aid isn’t discussed.  I mean we need to trim the fat.  Israel will have our support, but if Israel decides to continue occupying the Palestinians...fine...we SHOULDN’T BE PAYING FOR IT. I am not going to argue that we need an even hand approach towards Israel...because it is never going to happen in my lifetime.  I just pray that our country will stay strong...because if our country collapses, there will be scapegoats and history tells us that scapegoats are often and unfairly the Jews.

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By APS, April 26, 2006 at 8:31 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

In the 1960 John F. Kennedy was made to stand before a conclave of Southern Protestant ministers and explain that as a Catholic he would not be “bowing to the Dictator in Rome”.  You see, back then it was common, unexceptional KKK knowledge that Catholics were prone to be disloyal since they were working to advance the foreign Papal agenda.

Now, of course, 46 years later, we all recognize that episode as nothing more than gutter level, anti-Catholic bigotry.  And we likewise recognize those accusations as nothing more than bigotry.

Odd then, that a double standard applies when it comes to making near identical accusations against Jews (or any supporter of Israel).

Odder still that so-called “Progressives” should jump on the bandwagon of that double standard.

I had no idea that “progress” meant going back 46 years in time.

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By Dan Noel, April 26, 2006 at 8:08 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Nice article!

Back in 2003, I did not take sides for or against the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and I vividly remember eliciting blank stares from many pacifists as I would tell them to forget about the French government and instead lobby the Israeli Prime Minister as the only individual who could veto the war. At long last, I know I am not alone.

Another interesting, and actually beneficial, impact of the Israeli lobby’s grip on U.S. politics is that perhaps for the first time in history, a powerful Christian fundamentalist movement, namely our religious right, has twisted its dogmas to tolerate Jews. By contrast, most European extreme right movements harbor the traditional combination of Christian fundamentalism and anti-semitism.

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By APS, April 26, 2006 at 8:01 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Comment #7969 by Bonaires on 4/26 at 11:10 am

Yep, name calling is a bad thing, and those that resort to it reveal either the weakness in their argument or their fear generally.

Always true. On the other hand, #7826 has a VERY valid point.

---------------------------------------

Thank you #7969...There’s a well known saying of Jesus’; “Judge not others lest you yourself be judged”.

Apparently, Mearsheimer & Walt forgot that one. 

They could have simply presented a paper arguing for a different course in Middle East Policy.  But that wasn’t good enough.  Instead, from their lofty perch, they felt the need to judge the motives of millions of Americans they’ve never met - to slander them as somehow unpatriotic, “dual loyalists”, or un-American, merely for taking a different view as to the Middle East.

And so, after engaging in such a vicious smear campaign against others, they can hardly complain when their own motives come under analytical scrutiny.  And yet of course, that’s what they and their supporters do...endlessly.

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By John Locke, April 26, 2006 at 5:55 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20060424_molly_ ivins_pro_israel/#7931

DISCLAIMER: I do not support the current Israeli government, nor their policies.

That said, I suggest that you reread your encyclopedia.

The modern conflict began on November 29. 1947, when the UN voted overwhelmingly in favor of Resolution 181 - to partition Britain’s Palestine Mandate into two states, one for the Jews and one for the Arabs.  The Jews accepted this resolution, but outraged Arabs denounced it and rejected any idea of a two-state solution.  The day after the vote, groups of “fedayeen” all across Palestine began organized campaigns of murder and rape to intimidate the Jews into fleeing before they could establish their state.

They were backed by the Arab League, which promised them that, if the Jews accepted their state, the entire Arab world would invade the new country and slaughter all the Jews.  Then the Palestinian Arabs would have it all. The Palestinians made a tragic mistake then, selecting blood and violence and turning their backs on peace and co-existence in their own state. 

Six months later, within hours of the declaration of the State of Israel, five Arab armies invaded the country.  They called on all Palestinian Arabs to leave the nation as a sign that they were not accepting the Israeli offer of citizenship.  Approximately half of Israel’s Arab population fled to refugee camps set up just outside its borders to watch the slaughter and await the chance to return to an Arab Palestine.

Even in America, there was the almost certain expectation that the Arabs would make short work of the Jews, but, against all odds, the Jews were able to defeat the Arabs - but not before Trans-Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt the Gaza Strip, and Syria the Goal Heights.

For 19 years, Arab nations held all of what we now call the “occupied territories.” Few seem to ask the question, “Why didn’t they make a Palestinian state when the Arabs held the land?”

During this time, in 1964, the fedayeen groups joined together to create the Palestine Liberation Organization, which includes in its charter a call for the total destruction of Israel.  This was three years BEFORE Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza. 

In 1967, the Arabs were again massing on the borders of Israel and making bellicose threats of imminent annihilation.  At Egypts insistance, the UN pulled all its peacekeepers out.  Israel didn’t wait for the attack, but made a pre-emptive strike, pushing back the Arab armies and capturing the territory they were using to stage their invasion - the “occupied territories” as well as the Sinai Peninsula.

This is the only time in its history that Israel expanded its borders - and it did it only when defending itself from an open and explicit threat to invade it.

Subsequently, Israel and Egypt signed a peace agreement and Israel returned the Sinai, the largest piece of occupied territory, giving up the Sinai’s oil resources in the bargain.  This does not seem like the action of a land-grabbing country.

In 1973, Israel was again attacked without provocation by the Arabs, and again won, though this time they refrained from a pre-emptive strike and paid a far greater price in casualties.

The Palestinian Arabs and their supporters have used the Israeli occupation, the settlements, and now the wall to justify their ongoing terrorism, but the terrorism campaign predates the wall.  It predates the settlements.  It predates the occupation.  It even predates the founding of Israel.

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By lawrence morgan, April 26, 2006 at 5:20 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

To comment #7877 with all the supposed facts and figures on the so called approval rating of Isreal.  Sure you can use all the ZIONIST facts you want because these same zionists control all the media, newspapers, movies, book publishing houses too. Very convienient for facts when you serve the american sheeple junk zionist facts.

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By fazzaz31, April 26, 2006 at 5:09 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

In response to #7926:

“Molly needs to get her facts straight. Or, better yet, try using some facts for a change. First of all , the Arab world and the Palestinians themselves are totally and fully responsible for the “highly exaggerated suffering” of Palestinians. That is a cold, hard fact.”

An interesting statement, but not quite in accord with history; sometimes “cold, hard facts” can be twisted, like statistics, to be offered as ‘proof’ of any old thing you care to argue.

In regard to bin Laden’s fatwa on America, he includes the Jews by reason of their occupation of Jerusalem:

“Third, if the Americans’ aims behind these wars are religious and economic, the aim is also to serve the Jews’ petty state and divert attention from its occupation of Jerusalem and murder of Muslims there. “ - 1998 statement called the “Declaration on Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders,” produced by Osama bin Laden and several other militant leaders who styled themselves the World Islamic Front.
Source: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_5_1 19/ai_84054091/print

Bin Laden’s first reason is, of course, the presence of American forces on the Saudi peninsula, and the second, the invasion (Desert Storm) of Iraq.

[As bin Laden is not a qualified cleric under Shi’ia law, he is not technically qualified (or righteously allowed) to call for a fatwa, but seeing as he’s a nutjob, what can you do?]

Closely read, 7926’s comment can be understood to place blame for 9/11 on the Palestinians living in Jerusalem.

Of course, we’re not talking about anyone using logic here: this is an emotional issue, and nobody is about to let facts stand in the way.

Now who’s “responsible”?

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By Bob Hudson, April 26, 2006 at 4:40 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

It was inherently unfair to ‘give’ Palestine to the Jewish people in 1948.  The leader of Iran, no matter how crazy he may be was right in saying that it was Europe that abused/killed the Jewish people at least in Germany.  It will never be ‘right’ to take a foreign land and give it away.

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By Saul, April 26, 2006 at 2:48 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Ed Maxwell

Prager uses the blessing bit to justify his hetting in bed with Christians who really back Israel because they believe that is where Jesus will return (ain’t going to happen)and that time good Jews (I guess that is fools like Prager) will convert to Christianity and those that don’t will meet a horrid fate.
Prager is like the guy who knows the price of everthing and the value of nothing.
He also gives Jews credit for ending slavery. He forget that Leviticus 25:444-46 says that it is okay for one person to own another and also to leave that slave as an inheritance to their children , like any other chattel.
He probably is too ignorant to know how many of his Christian friends who are Creationists use the story of Noah & his son Ham to explain both blacks and why they should be slaves. In the story , Noah curses Ham for uncovering him and said he and his children shall SERVE their brethen. If you check you will see Ham’s offspring are the black nations.
Prager shows that if you sound like you know what you are talking about you can fool a lot of people.

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By Saul, April 26, 2006 at 2:37 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

David James Vickery
You are correct in the way Jews feel; however perhaps if you lost most of your family and if you knew about the inquistion and the fact that Jews before Hitler in Germany were treated better then in Polans & Russian and the history of anti semitism, you might feel differently.
On the other hand it is also easy to see that Palestinians were made to pay for the guilt of the world. But that was due to the religious wrong that bought into the idea of the area being the land promised by God.
Then again I understand Americans who have screwed Indians and others want people to forget the crimes

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By Denis Harahan, April 26, 2006 at 2:19 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Has anyone looked at the obvious...that being a Jew reflects a religion, and being an Israeli reflects a nationality? I know more than a few Israelis understand this.

Being pro or anti Israel has NOTHING to do with any religious bias.

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By arthurdecco, April 26, 2006 at 2:18 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Wonderful article, Mollie. I hope you have your rubber suit zipped up tight to ward off the spittle. lol

Re DrRJP’s post #7926:

I realize there’s no known cure for insanity but could you at least try better to control your symptoms? Write yourself a prescription for Thorazine fer crissakes - you’re a doctor!

The following excerpt from your post is especially illuminating:

“In Molly’s case, that agenda is clear when she opines, “Israel is the No. 1 recipient of American foreign aid (NOT TRUE), and it seems an easy case can be made that the United States has subjugated its own interests to those of Israel in the past.” (comments in caps are mine).

As a single country, and in terms of gross dollars, Israel does receive the largest amount of aid...”

(Whaaaaaaaaa?)

You managed to contradict yourself in the very next paragraph! hehe

Tell me, what kind of a mind can operate like that and NOT self-destruct?

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By drp, April 26, 2006 at 2:14 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

An illustration of how absurd things can get:  The well-respected Wiesenthal Center once put the Von Mises institute on their list of antisemitic organizations.

Apparently, this was primarily because of their namesake Lugwig Von Mise’s rather Teutonic name and secondarily his support for libertarianism and free market economics.

People may reasonably differ on his professional views.  However, in reality, Lugwig von Mises was not only Jewish, but was a early and double refugee from the Nazi’s-- First from Austria to Switzerland after the Anchluss and then from Switzerland to the US after WW2 started.  His wife recounts the story here:

“Our Escape From Europe”
by Margit von Mises

http://www.mises.org/story/2094

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By lawlessone, April 26, 2006 at 1:31 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

“THE INVISIBLE 500 POUND CANARY”
Or, Why We Must Be More Even Handed in the Middle East

I realize it must be a difficult or dangerous question since no politician in any party has been willing to even mention the subject.  BUT, why isn’t this country even considering an open and adult discussion about whether Israel should be asked to obey UN resolutions?

It seems kind of hypocritical since our leadership justified launching a peremptory invasion of Iraq on the grounds that it wasn’t obeying UN resolutions.  For decades, Israel has been holding conquered land outside the original borders that were granted it by UN vote.  It freely admits displacing locals and moving permanent new settlements inside another country despite UN repeated demands they be returned.  We didn’t let a Muslim country do that. 

Whatever is thought of the comparative violations of Iraq and Israel, whatever is Israel’s improved security position, however much we admire underdog Israel’s success against high odds, however much Israel is a useful base of operations, and even with the horrific memory of holocaust suffering, shouldn’t we be consistent regarding such military occupations?  Even if it was in self defense?  Shouldn’t we be debating it?

Unfortunately, evidence strongly suggests our failure to address such issues is what’s driving much of the animosity toward us in the Muslim and non-Muslim world alike.  The fact that Basque, Chechynian, South American, Irish, etc. terrorists are not attacking us speaks for itself. 

Although we’ve much to gain by Israel’s independence and need to honor our defense treaties, as all treaties should be.  At the same time, it seems like Israel’s goal of unilaterally expanding boundaries may be dragging us into unwanted, unneeded quagmires.  Besides, how can we expect the UN to be an effective peacekeeper if we won’t respect it ourselves?

Surely, we ought to at least consider asking Israel to either obey UN resolutions or look elsewhere in the future for largess if it refuses.  If it wants to keep the land forcibly taken, okay.  However, perhaps it should do it without our tacit approval and funds.

Of course, not everyone agrees the UN resolutions imposed on Israel should be obeyed.  And, I recognize that anyone who even thinks about being even handed in the Middle East is instantly branded as having religious prejudices.  Nevertheless, it is a fair question for our democracy to consider.  After all, the stakes are almost astronomically high.  Literally trillions of dollars, tens of thousands of lives, and our own nation’s way of life, not to mention the bill of rights which defines our society are all at risk from the consequences.

If Israel’s independent actions did not adversely affect us, it might be none of our business except general concern about everyone acting nice toward each other.  Quite obviously though, that isn’t the case here.  Therefore, aren’t there any politicians, pundits or press brave enough or that care sufficiently about unintended disastrous side effects on Americans and American interests to at least open an inquiry?  Perhaps we’ll decide to continue as is, but shouldn’t we be talking about it?

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By Jacob Amir, April 26, 2006 at 1:27 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Big M (#7958 by Big M) writes:"The fact is, most of today’s Jews are descended from people whose roots are in Eastern Europe, and who never set foot in Palestine!”
That is totally wrong. Most of today’s Jews are descendents from those who were exiled or left the area they call Eretz Israel (The Land of Israel) later called Palestine.They were able to preserve their historical memory over all of those centuries and kept a strong emotional connection to their place of origin. It is a known fact that conversion into Judaism was extremely rare during all that time.
In the last decade genetic studies have clearly shown that different world Jewish communities from Yemen to Germany, from Russia to Iraq, from Tunisia to Poland, are much closer to each other and to Syrians, Kurds and Palestinians, than they are to their non-Jewish neighbors. This means that they originated in the Middle East and NOT in Eastern Europe. This information is available in any medical library.
One can sympathize with Big M and other like him. After all, no other people in recorded history was able to survive over 1900 years without a territorial base and then succeed to reestablish its independence in its place of origin. This irrefutable historic fact nake Big M and co very uncomfortable, but that is how life is.

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By MarchDancer, April 26, 2006 at 1:15 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

RE: Jesus@#7908 - I very highly recommend your post and the link to the homepage in honor of the victims, the survivors and the survivors left behind by the victims of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty. I studied, and study history, and I have never, never heard of this horror; yet, I was twelve years old when it occurred. I do remember the Six Day War! Those two facts sure say something about how well this story was pushed to the background and how quickly that happened, don’t they? I will do what I can in many small ways to get this account out and to help with the push for a true U.S. investigat