Post on 28-Mar-2016
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Israel: Strategic Asset or Liability?
A Dwindling Moral Case What is the Israel Lobby? Guiding the Policy Process The Lobby in Action The Lobby Vs the Palestinians Iraq and Dreams of
transforming the Middle-East Iran in the Crosshairs The Lobby and the Second
Lebanon War Conclusion Critique Short Documentary
Gives a comprehensive account of what really is happening in the Middle-East
Opens the public discourse for debates on controversial issues
Explains the global political scenario and why and how a new world order is being orchestrated
“Partners against terror” : The New Rationale Denial of any connection between U.S. support for
Israel and the terrorist problem Confronting Rogue States Alliance of U.S. with many dictatorships Both Israel and U.S. have powerful nuclear forces of
their own Israel is the only country that spies on the United
States “Special Relationship” between U.S. and Israel no
longer defensible on strategic grounds
American backing justified by the claim that Israel is a fellow democracy
Israel explicitly founded as a Jewish State Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel by
the UN Arab Israelis are systematically marginalized Israel has a vibrant democratic order for its Jewish citizens David Ben-Gurion, a Zionist leader said in 1937:
“After the formation of a large army in the wake of the
establishment of the state, we will abolish partition and expand to the whole of Palestine.”
57%
63.7%
42% 40%
62%
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10
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2003 IsraelDemocracy
Institute
2004 HaifaUniversity's
Center
2005PalestinianCentre for
Israel Studies
2005 Center forCombating
Racism
2005 IsraelDemocracy
Institute
Israeli leaders & American apologists repeat that Israel adheres to “purity of arms”
Between 1949 and 1956, IDF killed between 2700 and 5000 Arabs
Escalation of violence in Gaza and Lebanon and Gaza in 2006
Jewish terrorists from the infamous Irgun, a militant Zionist group
Between 1944 and 1947, several Zionist Organizations used terrorist attacks to drive the British from Palestine
IDF targets civilian areas in Lebanon
Loose coalition of individuals and organizations
Do not engage in formal lobbying activities, but influence US Foreign Policy like interest groups
Zionist Organization of America
Malcolm Hoenlein Boundaries still remain
fuzzy
36% of Jewish Americans were either “not very” or “not at all” emotionally attached to Israel
Christian Zionists American Jews Organizations:
AIPAC ZOA IPF ADL Religious Action Centre of Reform Judaism Americans for a Safe Israel American Friends of Lukud Mercaz-USA Hadassah
Dispensationalism ; Biblical interpretation in the nineteenth-century England
The founding of the State of Israel in 1948 gave new light to this movement
According to CUFI founder Hagee: “We support Israel because all other nations were created by
an act of men, but Israel was created by an act of God”
Oppose a tw0-state solution Some Jewish-American organizations have
welcomed this alliance Lack the financial power and organizational
capacity
An important part of American intellectual and political life since the 1970s
Extol the virtues of American hegemony Advocacy groups:
American Enterprise Institute (AEI) Center for Security Policy (CSP) Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) Middle-East Forum (MEF) Project for New American Century (PNAC) Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP)
In “The Neoconservative Revolution : Jewish Intellectuals and the Shaping of Public Policy”, Murray Friedman describes neoconservativism as “American Jewish Conservatism”
AIPAC has an unchallenged hold on Congress
Senator Ernest Hollings noted as he was leaving office:
“You can’t have an Israeli policy other than what AIPAC gives you around here”
Ehud Olmert said : “Thank God we have AIPAC, the greatest supporter and friend
we have in the whole world.”
Exert significant leverage over the
executive branch
Candidates are especially eager to
appeal to AIPAC and other
organizations in the lobby
John Edwards, Mitt Romney, and
John McCain all made emphatic
pro-Israel speeches to the 2007
Herzliya conference
Howard Dean in 2004 made the
mistake of saying the U.S. should
take a more “even-handed role” in
the Arab-Israeli conflict
Dominate the public discourse
Little mention of Anti-Semitism during the Oslo Peace Process in the 1990s
Charges became widespread again in 2002
France is portrayed as the most anti-semitic state in Europe
89%
97% 87%
85%
Poll of French Citizens in 2002
Envisage living with aJew
Against making anti-semitic grafitti
Against attacks onFrench synagogues
French Catholics rejectedinfluence of Jews inbusiness and finance
Shape the Middle-East environment
Spreading democracy and toppling regimes against Israel
Disarming Hezbollah Israel’s most
vociferous supporters oppose withdrawal of American forces from Iraq
Critical moment for Israel and the lobby U.S. adopted Israel’s justifications for policy
preferences toward the Palestinians, Iran and rest of the region
Deception : Israel’s America’s foes Bush and Sharon saw the world in
essentially the same way Transformation of the Middle-East into a sea
of democracies
Bush gave a major speech in 2002 Road-Map the best solution to resolve the conflict But Bush reached a series of “understandings” with
Sharon and his lieutenants that allayed their fears about the Quartet’s peace plan
Unilaterism in, Road Map Out In early 2004, Thomas Friedman of the New York Times
said: “Mr. Sharon has the Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat under
house arrest in his office in Ramallah, and he’s had George Bush under house arrest in the Oval Office”
In March 2004, Israel assassinated Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin with American-made Hellfire missiles
Arafat dies and nothing changes Israel’s ability to defy the United States
Bombing of the Osirak reactor in 1981 Ha’aretz reported in 2001 that Iraq poses more of a
threat to Israel than Iran Efforts began in the Spring of 2002 Shimon Peres, former Israeli Prime Minister said: “Saddam Hussein is as dangerous as bin Laden” U.S. backed Saddam Hussein in the early 1980s to
help contain the threat from revolutionary Iran and it armed the Afghan Mujahideen following the Soviet Invasion in 1979
The driving force was a small band of neocons The war the neoconservatives wanted, the war the
neoconservatives marketed
Even Noam Chomsky subscribed to the idea, popularized in Fahrenheit 9/11
Saudi Arabia would have been the more attractive target than Iraq
Saudi Arabia supported the Bush administration to drive Iraq out of Kuwait but publicly opposed using American force against Iraq during the second Gulf war
Domino effect Remaking the Middle-East
Rogue State Problematic relationship between the U.S. and Syria
for nearly 50 years Why Syria? Not a serious military threat to the U.S. or to Israel Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad Syria has been trying to negotiate a peace
agreement with Israel since the early 1990s Relations changed for the worse when Sharon
replaced Barak Golan Heights Demonizing Syria and baiting the U.S. into ratcheting
up the pressure
U.S. had excellent relations with Iran from 1953 until 1979
During the 1980s, neither the U.S. nor Israel was threatened by Iran
Israel’s perception of the Iranian threat underwent a fundamental change in the early 1990s
Iranian leaders with their apocalyptic vision of history
Iran has offered to put up its nuclear program and engage in a modus vivendi with Israel
Confrontational approach of the lobby
Regime change in Iran Lobby struck up a close relationship with Reza
Pahlavi, son of the late Shah of Iran Bush administration had funded Iranian exile
groups Imposition of economic sanctions and military
strikes on Iran by the U.S. John Hagee said in a 2007 conference: “It is 1938, Iran is Germany, and Ahmadinejad is
the new Hitler. We must stop Iran’s nuclear threat and stand boldly with Israel.”
In 2006, Israel fought a thirty-four day war against Lebanon
The war solidified instead the informal alliance between Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran
Neoconservatives have been angling to smash Hezbollah since September 11
Democrats and Republics compete to show that their party, not the rival one, is Israel’s best friend
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Civilians Buildings
Hezbollah
Israel
Israelis were determined to eliminate the thousands of missiles and rockets that could strike northern Israel
Olmert government decided to ground troops in Lebanon and defeat Hezbollah within a few weeks time
Israel’s strategy to punish Lebanon was also to backfire
The political postion in Lebanon and the “Islamic” world was improved by war
Reinforced anti-Americanism in the Arab and Islamic world
U.S. played a key role in pushing Syria out of Lebanon in 2005
The wedge between Iran and Syria Many neocons called for Israel or the United
States to attack Syria and Iran in the midst of the conflict
Support from regimes in region like Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia
44%
31%
35%
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Very concerned Somewhat concerned Hurt the situation forU.S. in Iraq
USA Today
Identifying U.S. interests in the Middle-East Outlining a strategy to protect those
interests Developing new relationship with Israel Ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
through a two-state solution Transforming the lobby into a constructive
force
Democracy is an oxymoron
The Holocaust Lie Case of Pakistan No mention of the
freemasons and the Rothschilds
Oversimplifies the situation at hand