A Clear View

There has and continues to be much obfuscation, denial and justification regarding Israel and the middle east. It continues to be the case that any criticism or Israel is viciously attacked as anti-semitism and increasingly, our own extreme right-wing is desperately trying to link Islamic resistance to western aggression with fascism in a ludicrous attempt to re-create "the good war." Senater Russ Feingold, has taken a principled stand objecting to the hypocrisy of this Cheny/Bush propaganda.

Some American Jews are speaking out and Steve Rosenthal does so quite eloquently and with a great deal of knowledge cutting to the truth and setting the record straight. Not only does Rosenthal cut through the oft repeated lies and mythology concerning Israel in the US media but he goes further in setting the record straight regarding the zionist state's relation to it's handlers in Washington. In ending the article he pre-emptively counters the charges of anti-semitism, takes the stand more American Jews need to take and makes a much needed call for sanity and a rational approach to intenational affairs -- from the article:

"Why has the U.S. supported Israeli occupation and repression of Palestinians and aggression against neighboring states? Some have argued that the "Israeli Lobby" has hijacked U.S. policy in the Middle East, but this explanation is false, scapegoats Jews, exonerates U.S. leaders and their imperialistic goals in the Middle East, and overlooks the fact that U.S. policies in the Middle East are scarcely different from U.S. policies throughout the rest of the world. Moreover, the great majority of ardent Zionist supporters in the U.S. are not Jews but right wing Christian fundamentalists, whose religious beliefs are manipulated to gain their support for U.S./Israeli aggression. The Israeli tail does not wag the U.S. dog. Israel carries out tasks that serve the economic, political, and military interests of U.S. corporate and political elites. Israel helps shore up anti-democratic rulers in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan who suppress their own people while collaborating with the U.S. Israel provides weapons and training to pariah regimes that the U.S. wants to support, allowing the U.S. to pretend to object to those outlaw governments. Israel’s attack on Hezbollah is just the latest act of aggression that the U.S. out-sourced to willing and eager Israeli leaders.

I stand with Amira Haas and Uri Avnery and thousands of other Israeli Jews who spoke out and marched in Israel against the invasion of Lebanon. I stand with Jews in New York, San Francisco, and other cities who publicly demonstrated against the invasion. I stand with more than 1,000 U.S. Jews who have signed a petition that includes the following insights: "There is no Jewish safety in allowing the history of Jewish persecution to be leveraged in support of U.S. political and economic interests as these entail amassing funding for Israel’s military industry. Finally, there is no Jewish safety, nor Jewish claims to justice, reason, or equity, beyond Jewish commitment to the unconditional safety and liberation of the peoples of Palestine, Lebanon and the other Arab and Muslim countries currently under assault by Israel, the U.S. and its allies." Jewish Solidarity."

At this point in history, Israeli Jews and Americans Jews—and all Israelis and all Americans—have something new in common. We both have governments that launched aggressive wars on false pretexts and wasted the lives of thousands of people. We both must speak out or be dragged by our governments into even bigger and more deadly wars, which do not make us more secure and safe. We both must recognize that terrorists will be defeated not by deploying greater terror ourselves, but by embracing policies and values that enable people of all nationalities and religions to live together in equality."