Gilad Atzmon: Winners and Losers

Despite relentless underhand efforts by Israeli operators in the UK and their close allies within the Jewish ‘anti Zionist’ network to block a panel event discussing ‘Jewishness, Zionism and Israel’ , the debate went ahead as scheduled yesterday.

It was a tremendous success. Speaking to a full hall, Alan Hart, Karl Sabbagh, Sameh Habeeb and myself elaborated on the meaning of ‘Jewishness’ and the essence of Zionism.

But we also tried to understand once and for all; why is it that some of the Jews who claim to be the most sincere ‘supporters of Palestine’ -- are always amongst the first to stifle debate on such crucial issues?

Six years ago, I was shocked to learn about the destructive impact of elements within the UK Jewish ‘anti Zionist’ network: at the time they were intent on burying ‘Deir Yassin Remembered’ (DYR), probably the most significant Nakba memorial group in the history of the Palestinian Solidarity Movement. Unfortunately, they succeeded-by putting into action the most repulsive Zionist tactics, the Jewish ‘anti Zionists’ did eventually manage to bring down DYR.

But in doing so, they also inflicted some serious damage on themselves. They were exposed for what they are -- a bunch of crypto Zionists. They smeared and defamed other activists; they lied, and they mounted pressure on Palestinian officials. They exposed the ugliest possible form of Zionist politics. I did not like what I saw and published a satirical expose of their tactics which I titled “The Protocols of the Elders of London”. 

Needless to say that my criticism was not welcome amongst UK Jewish ‘progressive’ leaders.

Recently I went back and read my expose and what is immediately evident is that not one single person who is mentioned in the piece has managed to maintain any influence whatsoever within the solidarity movement. After the publication of “The Elders of London,” the majority of the (so called )activists mentioned simply faded away into total obscurity and anonymity, and others joined ‘Zionist-left’ cells.

They all evaporated. Except for one Tony Greenstein. The ‘anti Zionist’ Greenstein has became my dedicated cyber-stalker, and – amusingly enough -- seems to want to assume the role of my ‘nemesis’. Day and night he continues to harass academics and many others who disseminate my work. It is worth mentioning that he carries out his harassment, often in the name of Palestinian BDS movement,[1] no less no more.

But Greenstein has at least achieved one thing -- he has managed to alienate himself even from everyone in this this movement including his Jewish allies, who are also reluctant to publish any of his repetitive slander

Kosher-leaks

One of yesterday’s panelists told me that was hounded for three days by twelve different Jewish ‘anti Zionists’. He also told me that all my detractors repeated the same line : “Gilad is not good for Palestine”.

Yet consider that not one single Palestinian and not one single Gentile joined the Jewish campaign against me, once again we witness a crude manifestation of Jewish exceptionalism: some Jews in the ‘anti Zionist’ movement clearly feel they ‘know better’ what is good for the Palestinians.

But how is it that they ‘know better’?

Is it that they are slightly more clever than the rest of us? Or is that they are just chosen -- which sounds pretty Zionist to me.

However, some Jews within the UK Jewish anti Zionist network are becoming increasingly embarrassed by their comrade’s dirty tactics: they went as far as leaking to me and others some internal correspondence within the ‘Jewish activists’ lists. For instance, I came across an email sent by Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, a Jewish ethnic leader who was obviously foolish enough to brag openly about using BRICUP (British Committee for the Universities of Palestine) to mount pressure on other Panelists and Palestinians who were scheduled to speak with me. 

I believe that from a solidarity perspective Wimborne-Idrissi’s and Greenstein’s actions border on betrayal: BRICUP and BDS are solidarity political instruments that were created to support Palestinians. And the last thing Palestinians need is Jewish activists exploiting these unique instruments -- solely in order to fight their own internal Jewish wars. If Wimborne-Idrissi and Greenstein insist that I am an anti Semite then they would be better off joining the ADL because clearly that is where they belong.

But Wimborne-Idrissi’s and Greenstein’s conduct should not take us by surprise. Max Blumenthal reported recently that Jeremy Ben Ami (‘J Street’s’ leader) stated that the “discussion on BDS” should stay “within the Jewish community.”

Keeping ‘J Street’s’ model in mind then, Wimborne-Idrissi and Greenstein probably do not see themselves as traitors: they are simply ‘loyal to the Jews’.

The tactics that were used this week by Wimborne-Idrissi, Greenstein and others are Rabbinical to the bone: exclusion and excommunication are inherent to Jewish Rabbinical thinking. Spinoza and Uriel Da Costa famously brought on themselves these measures, simply for being dissident voices. 

However, with me, these tactics have failed completely: frustratingly enough for my detractors, I am neither an activist, nor a campaigner, and I am certainly not a politician. In fact, I am not a member of any club at all. I am an independent truth seeker. I am not afraid of being alone. In fact I prefer to be on my own and say what has to be said without inflicting damage on anyone.

Clearly this is a unique state of mind that our ‘kosher Trotskyites’ cannot handle. The more pressure they mount on me -- the more they prove my argument. The more they attempt to harass me -- the more they prove my clear theories regarding their own duplicity and affliation.

They are in a limbo. They are in a no-win situation.

Years ago, I might have been slightly concerned by people like Wimborne-Idrissi and Greenstein. But nowadays, I realise that these people have no power or influence whatsoever within the solidarity movement, because it is patently clear to everyone that they are solely concerned with internal tribal matters. And the reality is, by acting as a constant noise on the periphery of our discourse, they provide the rest of us with an invaluable glimpse into the Zionist mind.

I am obviously not the first person to be subject to Jewish ‘anti Zionist’s’ slander. By now all truth seekers in our movement are more than familiar with their strategies and are tired of, and wary of their tactics. Sameh Habeeb, the founder of Palestine Telegraph told us yesterday that he is used to being approached by ‘kosher anti Zionists’ who preach to him who about who he should print and who is to be shunned and excluded.

Despite these endless, relentless Jewish campaigns against me, I have not ‘just survived it all’, but instead, I have managed to win, time after time,

I believe the reason for that is simple: there may be nothing particularly ‘clever’ or ‘sophisticated’ about me. I guess that I am not that original either. Yet, I am saying loudly what so many of us feel so strongly in our bellies: The reality is that Israel defines itself as ‘the Jewish State’. The reality is that Israel drops bombs from planes emblazoned with Jewish symbols. Therefore, surely the first question to be asked, is what ‘Jewishness’ means. And clearly, amongst the first people to oppose such a discussion, are the Jewish ‘anti Zionists’ themselves. Hence we should also investigate what their ‘Jewishness’ stand for. And we are certainly entitled to locate them within the Zionist spectrum.

It is evident that the tide has changed : these issues are now being explored by more and more people, and also, by more and more liberal Jews. I am in the USA at the moment, touring fundraising for different Palestinian causes. I am meeting many people, and I am delighted to say that I am scheduled to meet with some prominent Jewish progressive leaders and a Rabbi. Some of these people are now interested to rethink the meaning of Jewish identity in the light of the criticism I have been offering for a decade.

 Needless to say that in our talk yesterday in London, there were also Jews and Israelis present. They came to listen, learn, and think out of the box rather than to preach, harass, intimidate or protest.

Peace may prevail after all.

---

[1] In 2005, Palestinian civil society issued a call for a campaign of boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it complies with international law and Palestinian rights.

Why Palestinian Unity is the Only Option that Works for Palestinians

May 2, 2011 posted by Veterans Today

No amount of Israeli deception, nor of  US congressional blindness, will change the fact that the Arab Spring has revealed a future to the Arab people in which bondage is no longer tolerated.

—By James M. Wall

 You would not know it from reading/viewing the American media, which parrots whatever Israel’s leaders say, but Bibi Netanyahu is secretly delighted that Fatah and Hamas have reached a unity agreement.
The official line, of course, is that the Israeli prime minister is outraged that the Palestinian Fatah leadership has actually embraced the Hamas leadership. The leaders of the two parties are shown here, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh (left) and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Ha’aretz reported from Jerusalem that, upon hearing of the unity agreement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid down his marker: “the Palestinian Authority must choose whether it is interested in peace with Israel or reconciliation with Hamas.”

This is an empty option, one that Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) knows is empty.
The London Guardian explains what lies behind Fatah’s willingness to finally work for unity with Hamas:

There are three chief reasons why, after four years of bitter and violent conflict between the rivals, Fatah acceded to all of Hamas’s political conditions to form a national unity government.
The first was the publication of the Palestine papers, the secret record of the last fruitless round of talks with Israel. The extent to which Palestinian negotiators were prepared to bend over backwards to accommodate Israel surprised even hardened cynics.
The Palestinian Authority found itself haemorrhaging what little authority it had left. The second was the loss to the Palestinian president, Abu Mazen, of his closest allies in Hosni Mubarak and his henchman Omar Suleiman. While they were still around, Gaza’s back door was locked. But the third reason had little to do with either of the above:
Abu Mazen’s faith in Barack Obama finally snapped. For a man who dedicated his career to the creation of a Palestinian state through negotiation, the turning point came when the US vetoed a UN resolution condemning Israel’s settlement-building. In doing so, the US vetoed its own policy.
To make the point, the resolution was drafted out of the actual words Hillary Clinton used to condemn construction. Fatah’s frustration with all this has now taken political form.

Long-time Bibi Watcher James Zogby knows why it was time for Fatah to give up on both Bibi and Barack. Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, wrote in Huffington Post:

What is, of course, galling. is the assumption implicit in [Netanhyahu's] framing of the matter, namely, that peace with his government is a real possibility that the Palestinians have now rejected. In reality, the Netanyahu government has shown no interest in moving toward peace — unless on terms they dictate and the Palestinians accept.
While feigning disappointment at this Palestinian move, Netanyahu must privately be delighted. The pressure he was feeling to deliver some “concessions” to the Palestinians in his upcoming speech to the U.S. Congress has now been relieved.

This unity between Fatah and Hamas is inevitable. The problem for the US Congress and Israel is that they cannot face reality.  These two soul mates in repression continue to pretend the future belongs to them. They keep making the same mistakes. For example:

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) has invited Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to deliver a speech before a joint session of Congress while he is in Washington May 22-24, to address the AIPAC policy conference.

The AIPAC Policy Conference, scheduled for May 22-24 in Washington, is, according to the AIPAC web page, “the pro-Israel community’s preeminent annual gathering”.

MJ Rosenberg, Senior Foreign Policy Fellow, Media Matters Action Network, writes in Huffington Post:

The Israeli response to news that Palestinian factions had achieved a unity agreement was predictably irritating. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu derided the agreement in stark terms, saying that the Palestinians had a choice of either “Peace with Israel or peace with Hamas”.

The narrative that Israel is pushing is that Fatah’s embrace of Hamas will eliminate any chance for peace.  It is a false narrative. Rosenberg explains why the union of Fatah and Hamas is the only option available to the Palestinians.

Certainly, the Palestinians cannot look to the Netanyahu government to endorse any plan that is not totally dictated by Israel. Rosenberg puts it this way: “Israel has shown no interest in moving toward peace — unless on terms they dictate and the Palestinians accept.”

Rosenberg predicts that the US Congress will fall quickly into the Bibi narrative: Condemn the Palestinians and withhold aid until they stop all this “unity” foolishness.

The problem with this old scenario, which has worked to keep the Palestinians in bondage since 1948, is that things have changed since the outbreak of the Arab Spring. Change in the Middle East is coming, slowly in some areas, more quickly in others. Some change will be violent; other changes will be relatively peaceful.
When Egypt ousted a brutal dictator, Israel lost a “reliable” neighbor to the south, a neighbor who played a major role in oppressing its fellow Arabs in Palestine. The Egyptian-Gaza border will now be opened, according to an Al Jazeera report.

Egypt’s foreign minister said in an interview with Al-Jazeera on Thursday [April 28] that preparations were underway to open the Rafah border crossing with Gaza on a permanent basis.

A unified Fatah-Hamas Palestinian government is no guarantee that Israel will retreat behind the 1967 border, tear down that obscene wall, and give up its military control of the Palestinian people. Such a radical reversal of the current reality will take time. But one thing is certain: The Arab Spring has unleashed a demand for freedom and self-government that has been dormant for far too long.

This demand for freedom extends from Ramallah to Rafah, from Cairo to Jerusalem. No AIPAC Policy Conference and no cheers for Bibi in the US Congress can hold back this demand for freedom.
Philip Weiss, who co-edits, along with Adam Horowitz, the indispensable Mondoweiss web site, sounded like a Protestant evangelist with this Word on how slow his fellow Jewish journalists have been to grasp the reality of Israel’s role as an inspiration for the Arab Spring:

My theme today is denial, specifically as it involves the Arab revolutions: the failure of American media figures and Jewish leaders to recognize the huge spiritual-political effect of the Arab spring and the inevitability of that spirit coming to bear on the dire human-rights situation in Palestine.
As Issandr El Amrani said the other night at the 92d Street Y, this revolution has the promise of the French revolution, and to seek to diminish it or to caricature it (the Muslim Brotherhood is going to take over Jordan, Yossi Klein Halevi warned at the American Jewish Committee today) is a terrible mistake.
And this denial is most profound inside American liberal Jewish life, in the failure of liberals to understand, Of course Palestinians will also want their spring. And they must have it.
I will give you two instances of this denial. The first was Terry Gross interviewing Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker on Fresh Air the other day, all about the Arab revolutions and Egypt and Obama’s foreign policy. And you will see from the transcript that Israel was mentioned only once, and tangentially.
The conceit of this nearly-hour-long exchange was the idea, Well these Arab countries are finally going to try to be democratic, harrumph, and Obama must lend his hand.
With no awareness at all that (a), American support for Israel has militated against Arab democracy and the idea of Arab self-determination forever, and (b), that the thirst for democracy in the Middle East portends revolutionary change in one of the most repressive societies in the world, the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

If that is not preaching, then, gentle reader, you don’t know preaching.
Finally, Tariq Ali, editor of the New Left Review, and a frequent contributor to the London Guardian, traces the recent history that led up to the Arab Spring, the upheaval that inspired such evangelistic zeal from Weiss.
His language is less evangelistic, and more poetic, uplifting and insightful:

The patchwork political landscape of the Arab world – the client monarchies, degenerated nationalist dictatorships and the imperial petrol stations known as the Gulf states – was the outcome of an intensive experience of Anglo-French colonialism.
This was followed, after the second world war, by a complex process of imperial transition to the United States. The result was a radical anti colonial Arab nationalism and Zionist expansionism within the wider framework of the cold war.
When the cold war ended, Washington took charge of the region, initially through local potentates then through military bases and direct occupation. Democracy never entered the frame, enabling the Israelis to boast that they alone were an oasis of light in the heart of Arab darkness.

Darkness in this context, however, is a relative term.  The Arab people who have walked in darkness in the colonial period, have begun to see the light. No amount of Israeli deception, nor of  US congressional blindness, will change the fact that the Arab Spring has revealed a future to the Arab people in which bondage is no longer tolerated.

The picture above is from the web site www.focusonIsrael.org.
Source: Wall Writings

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR: JAMES WALL is currently a Contributing Editor of The Christian Century magazine, based in Chicago, Illinois.  From 1972 through 1999, he was editor and publisher of the Christian Century magazine.  He has made more than 20 trips to that region as a journalist, during which he covered such events as Anwar Sadat’s 1977 trip to Jerusalem, and the 2006 Palestinian legislative election. He has interviewed, and written about, journalists, religious leaders, political leaders and private citizens in the region.  Jim served for two years on active duty in the US Air Force, and three additional years in the USAF (inactive) reserve. Jim launched his new personal blog Wallwritings, on April 24, 2008. He can be reached at:  jameswall8@gmail.com

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Gilad Atzmon: What Are They Afraid of?

UK Zionist network, together with half a dozen Sayanim* within the Jewish Palestinian solidarity network, seem to be strongly united this week.

Acting as a joint effort, they are trying to stifle freedom of speech: they seem to be horrified by the idea that a panel of intellectuals, journalists and an artist plan to explore the intriguing bond between Israel, Zionism and ‘Jewishness’, and thus far they have harassed panelists, threatened an academic institute and have spread lies, smears and defamation.

And yet in doing so they have unwittingly provided us with a tremendous glimpse into a contemporary Jewish secular tribal operation.

And what is at the root of their hysteria? For some peculiar reason, both Zionists and UK Jewish so-called ‘anti Zionists’, insist that discussing ‘Jewishness’ is a taboo which should never be explored, certainly not in public, and definitely never outside of the ghetto.

But isn’t it all just more than a little suspicious? After all, please consider that the Jewish ‘anti Zionists’ operate politically under a Jewish banner; they also clearly carry their Jewish identity with pride; and, like the ‘Jews only state’, they also run a ‘Jews only club’ -- yet they want to try to stop us from questioning what this club actually stands for. They want to take it further and even try to stop us from discussing and grasping what the Jewishness of Israel is all about.

Why are they so concerned about others questioning their ideology, an identity which they themselves are clearly and openly so proud of?

Is it that we are not allowed to question ideologies and political precepts? Should we, then, also have stopped Max Weber from looking into the role of Protestantism in the context of the rise of capitalism? And if Israel proudly defines itself as the Jewish State, then are we not entitled to also wonder what its Jewishness actually means?

And shouldn’t we also be entitled to refer the exact same questions to the UK Jewish ‘anti Zionists’?
It seems clear to me that we do have that right to know.

A few years ago I invented a spoof character. His name was Artie Fishel. Artie was a satirical, fictional Jewish American musician, a rabid Zionist, convinced that jazz was Jewish. He believed that jazz music also had nothing to do with America or Africa. He wanted it back, and thus founded ‘Artie Fishel & The Promised Band’.

Artie Fishel was obviously a parody of the Zionist enterprise: if we can take Palestine from the Arabs, then surely we can take jazz from the Americans.

To listen to Artie click here

The Jewish ‘anti Zionists’ here in the UK were the first to oppose the project. The first night on the road, we played in Nottingham. As the gig finished, a 'Jewish progressive' promoter (who was and still is a friend of mine) approached us. She stood there with tears in her eyes : “Everything you say is so true; but why do you have to share it with the Goyim,” she said, in a broken voice.

She wasn’t amused by the satirical Artie.

We realised that we must have touched a sensitive nerve.

Lipstick-Artie Fishel and the Promised Band by Gilad Atzmon

Jewish humour is based on self mockery; yet it is very clear to Jews where the boundaries of mockery are. Jewish comedians know where to stop. To a certain extent Jewish humour is a very sophisticated form of ‘discourse management.' It is there to define the template of self-reflection. In some regards, it openly admits to a certain level of Jewish cultural essentialism; but it insists that such a phenomena is nothing but charming.

Sadly enough though, I myself do not really find the Jewish State a ‘charming concept’: I cannot see what is so charming about a society that collectively supports carpet bombardment of civilians**.

I also fail to see what is so charming about relentless Jewish lobbying. And when I look at the reality of Jewish political dissidence here in the UK; and when I read about Jewish campaigners harassing a fellow Palestinian academic or solidarity activists ( in the ‘name of Palestine’ no less ) it really begins to make me feel sick.

I often ask myself : what is it that they are so afraid of ? Why are they so desperate to stop us from looking into the meaning of their flag?

I can think of two possible answers:

1. It could be that they may not even know themselves what their ‘Jewishness’ stands for -- but they are certainly clever enough to grasp that they had better not find out: they clearly realise that the concept may turn out to be a 'Pandora box'. Such an answer is consistent with Judaic teaching, for in Judaism, observance is primary; comprehension is secondary. In other words, Judaism demands blind acceptance.

2. It could also be that they know very well what ‘Jewishness’ means, yet they know how sinister it may look for the outsider. Hence they use different tactics, just to stop the rest of us from looking into it. If that is the case, such an answer might mean that their apparent attempt to stifle a debate may be inherent to their conception of ‘Jewishness’.

Yet, considering the crimes that are committed by the Jewish state, and considering the measures that are taken by some elements within the Jewish ‘anti Zionist’ network, the time is clearly overdue for us to look into the true meaning of Jewish ideology -- what does it stand for; what does it preach; what does it promise, and essentially, what does it insist to take away from us (namely, freedom of speech and expression)?

But here is the good news : it is apparent that many Jews, and even Jewish spiritual leaders are now breaking away from the Jewish ‘left’ in order to find a meaningful path into true universal empathy as equal and ordinary human beings. I know that is the case, because they ask to meet me. I know, because they talk to me. I know, because they ask questions, rather than repeating ready-made answers.

And most of all I know because I myself left the ghetto many years ago and I see them trying to do the same.

Panel Event: Zionism, Jewishness and Israel

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=160038250722935

Time: Tuesday, May 3 · 6:30pm - 8:30pm

Location: University Of Westminster - Cavendish Campus

A panel discussion examining Israeli Criminality in the wake of the Goldstone Retract.

Alan Hart, Gilad Atzmon and others

* Sayanim- Diaspora Jews subservient to Israeli interests. Ex-Mossad agent Victor Ostrovsky describes how Sayanim function in “By Way Of Deception”. ‘They are usually reached through relatives in Israel… They perform many different roles. A car Sayan, for example, running a rental car agency, could help the Mossad rent a car without having to complete the usual documentation. An apartment Sayan would find accommodation without raising suspicions, a bank Sayan could fund someone in the middle of the night if needs be, a doctor Sayan would treat a bullet wound without reporting it to the police.’

** At the time of Operation Cast Lead (2008-9), Israeli polls showed that 94 per cent of Israel's Jewish population backed the war and IDF tactics.

THE ACCUSATION OF ANTI-SEMITISM HAS LONG PASSED ITS SELL-BY DATE: ANTHONY LAWSON

Anthony Lawson

01. May, 2011 

Interview by: Kourosh Ziabari

Without any redundant exaggeration, Anthony Lawson is an inimitable, conscientious and unique man. What he does can be described as professional and committed video-journalism. Lawson is a retired international-prize-winning commercials director, cameraman, ad agency creative director and voice over. He calls himself as a “stickler for accuracy” and his record demonstrates the rightfulness of this description. His articles and videos on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, 9/11 attacks and U.S. foreign policy have appeared on a number of media outlets and news websites including Sabbah Report, Veterans Today, Salem News, Intifada Palestine, Media With Conscience, Rense.com and Ramllah Online.

“Suppressing free and open discussion on any subject is as bad as telling lies, and knowingly suppressing the truth is the biggest lie of all, because it is based, not on a mistake or a genuine error, but on a deliberate intention to deceive,” writes Anthony Lawson in one of his articles.

YouTube has recently removed two of Mr. Lawson’s most impressive video files about Holocaust and 9/11 attacks under the pretext that these video files have violated the copyright law; however, even a seven-year-old child can effortlessly recognize that the sensitive truths which Anthony Lawson has touched upon in his videos caused their removal from the pro-Zionist website.

What follows is the complete text of my in-depth interview with Anthony Lawson in which we discussed a variety of issues including the concealed realities of 9/11, the Zionist influence over the U.S. administration and the freedom of mass media in the West.


Kourosh Ziabari: in one of your articles, you have written that “the NTSB has confirmed that-apparently for the first time from its inception, in 1967, since when it has investigated more than 124,000 other aviation accidents-it took no part in investigating any of the air crashes which occurred on September 11, 2001.” Do you mean that the National Transportation Safety Board refused to investigate the 9/11 air crashes? Was it ordered by a superior authority to do so? What does the fact that NTSB didn’t investigate the 9/11 air crashes imply? You have mentioned that FBI similarly refused to release any information about any debris recovered from the crash sites under the Freedom of Information Act. Do you want to imply that the U.S. administrative organizations such as FBI and NTSB have been complicit in the 9/11 attacks?


Anthony Lawson: That is correct. The NTSB did not take part in the painstaking procedure of examining what was left of the four aircraft to determine that they were indeed the same aircraft which were allegedly hijacked that morning. Two of the allegedly hijacked aircraft: American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 were claimed, by the Bush administration, to have been the planes which impacted the North Tower and South Tower, respectively, each flown by Arabs who, it later transpired, had never flown a wide-bodied commercial jet before. Aircraft debris, including parts of an undercarriage and fuselage of the North Tower plane were certainly photographed, and the still-smoking core of what must have been the right engine of the South Tower plane can be seen, in several videos, arcing its way down towards Murray and Church streets, were it was videoed and photographed. Later, an identifiable photograph of this same engine core was released, by a former FEMA official photographer, as it was about to be buried in a landfill on Staten Island. This was an important section of a murder weapon, as were the aircraft parts found in or near the North Tower; the debris from the alleged crash site of United Flight 93 and that of American Airlines 77 which allegedly crashed into the Pentagon.

As to the second part of the question, I very much doubt that the NTSB would have been in a position to refuse to investigate the crashes. I should say that were dissuaded from doing so. The FBI, backed up by the Justice Department has refused to release any details about the aircraft parts or the serial numbers of the Black Boxes that may or may not have been found at the crash sites, although the contents of one of them—the Cockpit Voice Recorder from alleged United 93—formed the basis of several documentaries and an Academy-Award-winning movie, yet the transcript of the recording did not carry the serial number of the device on which it was, allegedly, recorded.

I try not to imply things that I have no proof about, because I think that it is up to the reader or viewer to make up their own mind about such things, but I will state, categorically, that the FBI must have been involved in the subsequent cover-up of important information about 9/11, and it is disappointing, but somewhat understandable, considering the power that the perpetrators must possess, that someone from the NTSB has not come forward with the reasons why these plane crashes, out of so many thousands, were not investigated by a government agency with such an outstanding success record.

(See my video: 9/11:  The Unidentified Murder Weapons) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT28hCyXsLs

KZ: In your articles, you have alluded to the fact that the U.S. mainstream media evaded and downplayed the truth about 9/11 and tried to cover up the reality behind it. Meanwhile, they laid the groundwork for the military expedition of the United States and its cronies to two independent, sovereign states. Why do the mainstream media in the United States, which you may admit that are mostly run by well-off Zionists, refused to investigate and analyse the 9/11 attacks objectively and impartially? Does it indicate that the U.S. media, contrary to the accepted wisdom of the public opinion, are not absolutely free to publish whatever they want?

AL: It is no secret that today’s mainstream media and the major Hollywood production companies are owned or controlled by Jews, many of them Zionists, and that many if not most are almost certainly biased towards the well-being of the Jewish state of Israel. Of course there will be loud cries of “foul”, if one relates these factors to the obvious areas which should have been reported or looked into by the mainstream media, but were not. There are so many areas of obvious discrepancy, relating to the ongoing coverage of 9/11, two prime examples being the non-identification of the murder weapons, as explained above, and the fact that the strange collapse of WTC 7 was glossed over by the media and not even mentioned in the Commission’s report. This brought to light the virtual disappearance of what used to be called investigative journalism, while calls from independent researchers and public-opinion polls for a more thorough investigation of the obvious anomalies in the 9/11 Commission’s report have fallen on stony ground, because the mainstream media, quite clearly, will the not address these issues with any seriousness.
Once again, I can’t really give you a clear answer to the last part of question two, because I have no evidence that there is outside pressure on the media, but I’m inclined to think that, given AIPAC’s power and who owns the media, very little pressure would be required to prevent reports which may be detrimental to Israel from surfacing in the press or on T.V.

KZ: on several occasions, you criticized the U.S. Congress for its overabundant loyalty and commitment to the Apartheid Regime of Israel. You have stated that “a majority of the curren membership of the United States congress are, in fact, traitors to their own nation, because they have indicated, time and time again, a desire to put the protection of the Apartheid State of Israel ahead of considerations for the safety and security of the realm to which they have been pledged their allegiance: The United States of America.” Is there any certain mechanism within the political structure of the United States which promotes pro-Israel politicians to Congress, Senate and other sensitive governmental positions? In an exclusive interview with me, the American political scientist Prof. Naseer Aruri expressed an interesting statement. He said that no politician with an anti-Zionist mindset could ever dream of living in the White House. Do you agree? Why is it so?

AL: I totally agree with Professor Aruri. I cannot see anyone being voted in as Dog Catcher, if that is an elective position in any of the United States, were they are not prepared to show that they support Israel, 100%.  The way that so many members of the House and Senate have signed letters which actually pledge their allegiance to Israel—even in the face of conflicting policies being stated by their own president—is evidence of their treason. Sure, some people will argue about the exact conditions which must apply for such pledges to amount to treason, but the U.S. is still engaged in two wars, if you count the war on terror, and the Libyan conflict could easily escalate into another war, whether declared or not, and Israel will be looking to further its own best interests in the region, which will almost certainly not coincide with America’s best interests—by which I mean the best interests of American citizens, not their administrators—and the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty, in 1967, that killed 34 American servicemen, should be warning enough that Israel is not to be trusted, when it feels threatened by anyone. So what would these pledges of allegiance or solidarity towards Israel mean, if a similar incident took place?

KZ: Putting aside its militaristic and imperialistic face, United States is deemed by many nations of the world as a superpower which can benefit them in terms of economy and diplomacy. The United States maintains strong relations with so many countries in the world. Canada, China, Mexico, Japan and Germany are the top 5 trade partners of the United States. However, among the countries with which the U.S. maintains strong diplomatic, economic and cultural relations, Israel occupies a special berth. The United States has regularly vetoed any UNSC resolution critical of Israel, justified Israel’s war crimes and crimes against humanity, helped Israel extend its umbrella of occupation over the Palestinian nation and prevented the international community from investigating Israel’s illegal nuclear program. What has created such a strong and unbreakable linkage between Tel Aviv and Washington? What causes the United States to present itself as the unconditional supporter and patron of the Israeli regime?

Anthony: As I have indicated in my video, Friends of Israel — Enemies Inside the Gates, there seem to be two basic reasons for the strong and unbreakable linkage between Tel Aviv and Washington: arcane beliefs and money. If a person is a Zionist, and believes that Israel really was promised to the Jews, in perpetuity, by their God, several thousand years ago, whether they are Jews or Zionists Christians, that would be reason enough to support Israel, come Hell or high water. But, I suspect the stronger reason is more likely to be money and power, which are pretty much the same thing or, at least, interchangeable.  Referring back to Professor Aruri’s statement, I would broaden it to: “No politician with an anti-Zionist mindset could ever dream of living in the White House or of sitting in the House of Representatives or the Senate for any significant length of time.” The reason being that they could never buck the big bucks that AIPAC would put up to defeat them at the next election. And the magic of it all is that it doesn’t cost Israel a shekel, because the U.S. pays Israel $3.1 billion plus in aid, every year, so it can afford to back candidates from both parties. As long as they pledge to keep that “aid” money rolling towards Tel Aviv, it can be rolled right back into their own campaign funds at election time. This is a mind-boggling feed-back system that would have had the Founding Fathers foaming at their mouths, had they considered that such a thing might be a possibility. Democracy didn’t even exist in Ancient Greece, which was a slave state, and it certainly doesn’t exist in the United States, although so many U.S. presidents claim that it is an exportable commodity, if only at the point of an M16 carbine I guess the short answer is: Tel Aviv controls the U.S., not Washington.

KZ: The critics of Israeli regime are always conveniently vilified as anti-Semitist and those who question the veracity of Holocaust accounts are offhandedly called neo-Nazis. Whoever dares criticize Israel for its crimes against humanity and brutal repression of the Palestinian nation is disrespectfully dismissed by the mainstream media. What has given the Israeli regime and the Zionist lobby around the world such an immense and enormous power to suffocate all of the critics and opponents by introducing them as the enemies of Judaism?



AL: Money and dedication to a cause is what enables the perpetuation of these absurd and unwarranted insults. If something is repeated often enough, in the media, it is believed by those who lack the power to think for themselves. And it is the Zionist-owned media that can afford to repeat them, over and over.  With regard to people who are unable to think for themselves, unfortunately, I think early religious teachings must take some of the blame for the underdevelopment of young minds, in the area of free thinking, because being encouraged to blindly believe in something that cannot be seen, heard or touched must affect the ability or willingness of a young person to question other things about their lives and relationships with others. Which means that their minds are wide open to other suggestions which may appear quite reasonable, but which are not, if they only gave them some thought. Whatever the cause of this lack of awareness in so many people, most people who are able to think for themselves must realise that the accusation of anti-Semitism has long passed its sell-by date, if it ever had a legitimate one.  In fact it is a total misnomer, it doesn’t mean anti-Jewish, because the word Semitic refers to a group of languages, not a belief system.  I counter this with my own word combination:   Anti-NastyPeopleism.  This is quite an okay emotion to have, and if one of those nasty people happens to be a Jew or a Zionist, that is not my problem it is theirs.

KZ: Two of your impressive video files namely “Holocaust, Hate Speech & Were the Germans so Stupid?” and No-Fly Zone over Gaza were flagrantly removed by the YouTube in clear violation of the freedom of speech and democracy. By disabling the truth-seeking internet users to watch your insightful videos, YouTube demonstrated that it can be hardly trusted as a reliable and truthful source of information. Please explain for me and my readers about the contents of your video files and let us know about your idea regarding their removal from YouTube. Do you agree with the belief that the Western world is not that beacon of freedom and cradle of liberty which its statesmen claim?

AL: An operation like YouTube is wide open to abuse from people who have no regard for freedom of speech and expression.  Ever since the first video you mention was taken down, because of a false copyright-infringement claim, which was not looked into by the YouTube “Team”—even when I pointed out that the claimant had given an incorrect telephone number and the material it was claimed I was infringing is not even available on the Internet—I’ve given up trying to fight them, because that is what such people want me to do:  waste my energy fighting a corporation which doesn’t care a damn about anyone or anything, except making money.  It is a world sickness: never mind the quality of our operation, feel the money it makes. These days, I never use the word “believe” in relation to my thoughts, because it has the wrong connotation. People believe things that, quite obviously, may not have any basis in fact, so I prefer the word “think”.  So the answer is that I don’t think that the Western world is a beacon of freedom or cradle of liberty.  Most of its elements are as corrupt and as rotten to the core as any of the regimes which have already fallen or which are teetering, in the Arab world, right now.
Here’s a question for you, rhetorical I guess:  Have you ever seen anything as gross as the royal wedding and the coverage given to it by the media? How much did all that cost to prop up the idea that monarchy still has something to offer in this day and age? The world didn’t stop when Israel invaded Gaza, but it stopped, as far as the BBC and CNN were concerned, when a couple of young people of no particular noteworthiness got married  I cannot look at any of those pictures or listen to the inane commentaries without thinking of the massive degradation of decency that went into the planning of that appalling display of wealth, or the mental illness that makes certain people think that the frock worn by so-and-so has any meaning at all, in the wider picture of human decency and compassion for the suffering of others.  It was a disgrace.

KZ: According to the Article 19 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights which was highlighted in your video, everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression and there should be no exception to this rule. However, those who benefit from aggrandizing the story of Holocaust and exaggerating its extent are at odds with this inalienable freedom. Why has the Holocaust become a forbidden zone which nobody can enter? What’s your personal viewpoint regarding the accounts which have been given about Holocaust? Did the Nazi Germany under the leadership of Adolf Hitler exterminate 6 million Jews is gassing chambers?

AL: It would be hard to answer in a single paragraph what I took a 30 minute video to examine. During WW II, atrocities of monumental proportions were committed by both sides. The thousand-bomber raids launched on the civilian population of Germany and the droppings of two atomic bombs on civilians in Japan are prime examples. There is no doubt in my mind that English and American politicians and military staff sat and cold-bloodedly planned those atrocities. They would have been classed as war criminals had Germany won the war. On the other hand, it seems that there is no solid evidence that Germany put in train a plan to systematically murder Jews using gas chambers. I have no doubt that some Germans were as cruel as some of those bombing-raid planners, and that a lot of unnecessary deaths resulted from that cruel streak, which seems to show itself in so many humans, but I do not think that the facts support the planned systematic-extermination scenario that the ever-growing number of Holocaust museums claim was perpetrated by the Germans. And I would add that the more I hear and see of the attempts to gag open discussion on this uniquely banned historical subject, the more I am convinced that some things are being covered up and others invented in order to perpetuate some of the Holocaust stories that would not stand up to a thorough and impartial examination.

KZ: Let’s take a glance at the developments taking place in the Middle East region. Almost all of the nations in the Persian Gulf region which are experiencing revolutions or semi-revolutions, from Egypt and Tunisia to Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Saudi Arabia, have been the staunch allies of Washington. One feature is common between all of these countries and that is their repressiveness and black human rights record. Why does the United States support and uphold brutal regimes such as Bahrain, Libya and Yemen who relentlessly massacre their own people and refuse to be held accountable before the international community?


AL: I don’t claim to have anything more than a distant bystander’s knowledge of these issues, so all I can do is put two and two together from observing the diplomatic Merry-Go-Round between the various countries you mention, over the last few years. Clearly, the United States has no interest in these countries becoming democracies, or in the wellbeing of their citizens; the arming of Saudi Arabia demonstrating its blatant show of support for one of the most elitist regimes in the world. Bearing in mind the control exercised by Zionists in the U.S., I think it is almost a certainty that each potential flash-point is looked at, not from America’s point-of-view, but from Israel’s. The change of regime in Egypt, which has a common border and a long-standing peace pact with Israel, is going to be one of the most telling areas to watch, in view of the Egyptian people’s stated concerns about Gaza and the Palestinians. These recent uprisings and demonstrations of discontent must have sent tsunami-sized shock waves through whatever diplomatic damage-control systems the Washington-Tel Aviv axis had in place, so it would be a brave or foolhardy observer who would try to guess what is likely to happen, except to say that whatever does happen it is unlikely to be very pretty to watch on our TV screens or read about on the Internet.

KZ: United States and its European allies have long accused Iran of pursuing a military nuclear program. They have lethally pressured Iran to give up its nuclear program and imposed hard-hitting sanctions against the country which have paralyzed the daily life of people here. At the same time and while almost everybody knows that Israel possesses up to 200 nuclear warheads, nobody dares question Israel on its nuclear program. How should one come to terms with this exercise of double standards?
AL: I have tried to address this issue in several of my videos, the most pertinent being:
Iran and the International Bureau of Double Standards http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czDi0Koct94&feature=email
and
Double Vendetta — The Insanity of the Iran Confrontation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhp3kJv1H9I
The huge barrier to any common-sense approach to this problem is Zionist-controlled America’s and Britain’s unforgiving attitude, and, perhaps, even suppressed guilt for their imposition of the Shah on a nation struggling to achieve a working form of democracy, in 1953, while their most valuable natural resource was being plundered by foreign oil companies, and I can do no better in answering your question, than to copy some excerpts from the script of this video:

“Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, MI6 assisted [the CIA] in the coup to protect the interests of the Anglo Iranian Oil Company—now the newly-infamous British Petroleum.  Under a disgracefully unbalanced agreement, the shareholders received 58% of the profits; the British collected 30%, in taxes, while Iran received a measly 12%.  So the motive for overthrowing Dr. Mossadegh and Iran’s constitutionally-elected government was pure greed….”
” Perhaps to the surprise only of the tunnel-visioned British and American administrations, the Iranians decided, in 1979, that they’d had enough of the Shah and his vicious National Intelligence and Security Organization — SAVAK….”
“There followed the United States Embassy hostage crisis, destined to forever colour U.S./ Iranian relations.  The Iranian regime was demanding the return of the recently-deposed Shah, to face trial, but he was allowed into the United States for medical treatment, and it was feared that this could mean that a CIA plot was being hatched to reinstate him.  Approximately 90 people were taken hostage and 52 remained in captivity until the end of the crisis, four hundred and forty-four days later….”
“This incident still reverberates, within the collective American administrative psyche, as an insult.  An insult yet to be expunged.  Leaving what can be accurately described as: A vendetta against any Iranian regime which fails to do what it is told to do, by America.
“
Thank you for asking me to take part in your interesting series of interviews; it has been a challenge, but also a great pleasure to share my thoughts with you.

______________________

Kourosh Ziabari is an Iranian freelance journalist and media correspondent. His articles and interviews have appeared on a number of media outlets and news websites including Tehran Times, Press TV, Global Research and Foreign Policy Journal.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Egypt-Gaza border opening scares Israel

Posted on May 2, 2011 by rehmat1

The military junta ruling Egypt since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, has announced to open the Rafah border-crossing with Gaza permanently within a few days. The Wall Street Jounal has called Egyptian decision a violation of an agreement reached in 2005 between the US, Israel, Egypt and the EU.

Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces General Sami Anan warned Israel against interfering with Egypt’s plan, saying it was not a matter of Israel’s concern, Army Radio reported on Saturday.

Behind the Israeli propaganda lies to scare the hell out of its western puppet regimes about the so-called ‘Jew-hating Islamists’ replacing the former Israel-friendly regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Morocco, Libya, etc. – in fact the new regimes with the exception of some cosmetic changes, have turned to be more oppressive than the ones they replaced.

Egyptian military junta, so far has not fulfilled even a single public demands;
1) cancelling Egypt-Israel peace-treaty,
2) opening borders with Gaza and recognizing Hamas as the only elected government and
3) lifting ban on the popular Islamic political party Muslim Brotherhood. Furthermore, Egypt has not opened diplomatc relation with the regional power, Iran.

Several American lawmakers, both Republican and Democrat, have threatened to stop US funding to PA if the Fatah-Hamas unity government is established in Gaza and the West Bank. They have also recommended that Obama administration stop $1.5 billion annual aid to Egypt if it cancels its peace agreement with Israel.
On May 1, Professor Franklin Lamb wrote a timely article from Beirut entitled Panic in the Houses of Congress and AIPAC?.

“On April 13, 2011, more than a dozen Israel “First, last and always” US congressional leaders from both houses of Congress held an urgent conference call organized by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

What AIPAC operatives reportedly told the conferees was that Netanyahu is once again furious with President Barack Obama and outraged by what he sees as a vacillating US Government attitude towards Israeli needs. They were told that the Israeli PM sees real political danger for Israel in the shifting US public opinion in favor of the young sophisticated attractive Arab and Muslims increasingly seen on satellite channels from the region who remind the American public of their own ideals.

Netanyahu, the conferees were told, wants Congress to flex its muscle with the White House and deliver a strong message to President Obama that his political future is tied to Israel’s. Hence, the current “America needs Israel more than ever stupid!“ campaign is wafting from the Israel lobby across the talk radio airwaves.

Congressman Eric Cantor lamented that “Israel is badly losing the US College campuses”, despite heavy financial investments the past few years to curb American students growing support for Gaza, Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, all dreaded symbols of the growing opposition to the 19th Century Zionist colonial enterprise. “Support for Palestine is skyrocketing,” he claimed. “Until Palestine is freed from Zionist occupation no Arab or Muslim is truly free of Western hegemony,” according to one assistant editor of Harvard University’s student newspaper, the Crimson….”

Benji Netanyahu during his addresses late this month at AIPAC conference and joint meeting of the US Congress is expected to include;
1) Bashing of the Islamic Republic for its support for Hamas and Hizbullah and country’s civilian nuclear program,
2) Warning against the dangers to “the peace process” of any PA-Hamas unity government,
3) Warnings about the threats to Israel from Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood – scraping peace-treaty and abandoning subsidary on gas supply to Israel,
4) the usual hasbara lie: “Israel has no peace partner to negotiate with and
5) Ben-Obama is too hard on Israel.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Panic from the Houses of Congress and Aipac?

April 30, 2011 posted by Franklin Lamb - Exclusive

Netanyahu, the conferees were told, wants Congress to flex its muscle with the White House and deliver a strong message to President Obama that his political future is tied to Israel’s.

BY FRANKLIN LAMB

On April 13, 2011, more than a dozen Israel “First, last and always” US congressional leaders from both houses of Congress held an urgent conference call organized by the pro-Israel Lobby, American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac).  Their purpose was to discuss how best to promote Israel during next month’s US visit by Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu and more importantly how to confront the rapidly changing Middle East political landscape. One consensus was that no one saw it coming and that is was dangerous for Israel.

Among those participating were former Jewish Chairman of powerful committees including Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who headed the Banking Committee; Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), ex-chairman of the Commerce and Energy committee; Howard Berman (D-Calif.) ex-chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee; and Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), ex-chairwoman of the foreign operations subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee as well as Eric Cantor, House Majority leader, the highest rankling Jewish member of Congress in history.

What AIPAC operatives reportedly told the conferees was that Netanyahu is once again furious with President Obama and outraged by what he sees as a vacillating US Government attitude towards Israeli needs. They were told that the Israeli PM sees real political danger for Israel in the shifting US public opinion in favor of the young sophisticated attractive Arab and Muslims increasingly seen on satellite channels from the region who remind the American public of their own ideals.

Abe Foxman Caricature

Netanyahu, the conferees were told, wants Congress to flex its muscle with the White House and deliver a strong message to President Obama that his political future is tied to Israel’s. Hence the current “America needs Israel more than ever stupid!” campaign wafting from the Israel Lobby across the talk radio airwaves.

In addition, as more Israeli officials are indicted for various domestic crimes, and some harbor fears of arrest for international ones, 68% of the American Jewish community, according to one by poll commissioned last month by Forward, believe the US Israel Lobby is increasingly fossilized with the likes of ADL (Anti-Defamation League) director Abe Foxman’s vindictive infighting among several of the largest Jewish lobby organizations which continue to lose  memberships, especially among the young.

Congressman Eric Cantor lamented that “Israel is badly losing the US College campuses”, despite heavy financial investments the past few years to curb American students growing support for Gaza, Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, all dreaded symbols of the growing opposition to the 19^th Century Zionist colonial enterprise. Support for Palestine is skyrocketing he claimed. “Until Palestine is freed from Zionist occupation no Arab or Muslim is truly free of Western hegemony,” according to one assistant editor of Harvard University’s student newspaper, the Crimson.

Admitting that the Mossad did not foresee even the Tunisian or Egyptian uprisings some Aipac  staffers, of whom there are more than 100, admit to not knowing how to react to the topics they were presented with for discussion, some of which included:

• The Egyptian public emphatic insistence that the 1978 Camp David Accords be scrapped and that the Rafah crossing be opened.  The latter has just been announced and the former is expected to be achieved before the end of the year. 
• The change of regimes and the dramatic rise in publicly expressed anti-Israel sentiment and insistence that Israel close its embassy and Egypt withdraw its recognition of the Zionist state. 
• The apparent rapprochement between Fatah and Hamas which has been increasingly demanded by the Palestinians under occupation and in the Diaspora. 
• The fact that the new regime in Cairo is seeking to upgrade its ties with Gaza’s Hamas rulers as well as Iran. 
• With respect to possible PA-Hamas rapprochement, U.S. National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor is trying to reassure Israel before Netanyahu’s visit by announcing this week that “The United States supports Palestinian reconciliation on terms which promote the cause of peace, but to play a constructive role in achieving peace, any Palestinian government must renounce violence, abide by past agreements, and recognize Israel’s right to exist.”

AIPAC, frequently knocks heads with the Israeli embassy in Washington for control of visiting Israeli PM’s and important governments schedules will control what Netanyahu says and does.  AIPAC Executive Director Howard Kohr recently told a group of visiting Jewish student activists from California that “sometimes there is confusion in this town over just where the Israeli Embassy is located but let me assure you it’s no more than 300 yards from the Capitol Dome on North Capitol Street, NW.”

AIPAC, not the Israeli Embassy will write the final draft of Netanyahu’s speeches including the themes he will emphasize.  According to a Congressional  source with AIPAC connections, Netanyahu’s visit will focus on the following:

• Bashing Iran to please the White House. However, this mantra will have to compete with   the democratic revolutions that are sweeping the Arab world and which are terrifying not just Netanyahu, but also AIPAC and their hirelings in congress.

• Warning against the dangers to “the peace process” of any PA-Hamas unity government.

• Warnings about the threats to Israel from Egypt and popular calls for scrapping of the  1978 Camp David Accords, ending the Egyptian subsidy and supply of 40% of Israel’s natural gas, calls for closing the Israeli Embassy, the dangers of permanently opening the Rafah border crossing “that will allow Hamas to in the words of, an Israeli official speaking on condition of anonymity to the Washington Post that Gaza’s Hamas rulers had already built up a “dangerous military machine” in northern Sinai which could be further strengthened by opening the border.

• The tried and tested bromide that “Israel has no peace partner to negotiate with will be used but this too has lost its bite given that the Palestine Papers has shown that the PA for five years habitually caved into Israel demands and are widely viewed as collaborators with Israel in preserving the status quo– so what more could be expected from them? The truth is that Mahmoud Abbas and Salem Fayyad are Netanyahu, Leiberman’s and Barak’s favorite “peace partners.”

• Netanyahu will hint at and AIPAC will drill in the idea that the Obama administration has been too hard on Israel.

While Netanyahu announced this week that “I will have the opportunity to air the main parts of Israel’s diplomatic and defense policies during my visit in the United States”,informed sources report that his main goal and timing of his visit is to undermind a rumored initiative that President Obama’s team has been working on.

Netanyahu, according to AIPAC, also plans to attack the UN’s plan to admit Palestine  and its offices are preparing a media blitz in an attempt to undermine the U.N. recognition of  Palestine  by arguing that such a General Assembly action would not in reality mean Palestinian sovereignty over the West Bank and East Jerusalem  because of the fact that Israel currently controls those territories. Aipac is arguing that such United Nations recognition of Palestine would only reiterate the principle, previously articulated by the U.N which denies the legitimacy of Israel’s claim to territories acquired by force in the war of June 1967.

In reality, and as AIPAC well knows, UN recognition of Palestine would have a devastating effect on Israel’s legitimacy and would fuel an international campaign to force every colonist out of the West Bank. Given the feelings of virtually all people in the Middle East and North Africa toward Israel this could dramatically undermine the apartheid state. Aipac and Israel’s agents in Congress also ignore the fact that the U.N. is the only the international body that admitted Israel as a member state in May 1949, although the resolution noted a connection between Israel’s recognition and the implementation of resolution 181 of November 1947, which called for partition of what had been British Mandate Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states.

The reason that intense angst and even fear stalks the Houses of Congress and Aipac is that Netanyahu will remind his hosts in the coming days that Israel has always called “home” is that some US officials are starting to express treasonous thoughts long kept to themselves.

One seemingly shocking statement was made to a visiting Oregon delegation during a recent visit to Congressional offices by a Member of Congress never known for being publicly critical of Israel.  As reported via email:  “He said recent events suggest that while ( the revolts spreading across the Middle East) are not the immediate  end of the State of Israel, he believes they are harbingers and signal the  ‘beginning of the end of the State of Israel as we have known it. And that will be good for America and humanity.”

“What seems to  have particularly upset him was his own  mentioning to the group was a recent report about a conference of Rabbis in Israel who are demanding the expulsion of non-Jews, especially Palestinians, from occupied Palestine in order to maintain the “ethnical and religious purity of the peoples of Israel.

He quoted Dov Lior, the rabbi of Kiryat Araba, an illegal settlement near Hebron, who according to media reports told a conference organized to discuss how to get non-Jews in mandatory Palestine to leave the country for the sake of Jewish immigrants who had no roots in Palestine: “Today there is a lot of land in Saudi Arabia and in Libya, too. There is a lot of land in other places. Send them there.” As scholar Khalid Amayreh reminds us, it was Lior, who in 1994 praised arch-terrorist Baruch Goldstein for massacring 29 Arab worshipers at the Ibrahimi Mosque in downtown Hebron, said peace in the Holy Land was out of question because the Arabs wouldn’t allow Jews to usurp the land.

Meanwhile, a large coalition  of pro peace and pro-Palestinian organizations, under the umbrella of http://www.moveoveraipac.org/ is preparing a new and different American reception for the Israeli Prime Minister.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Franklin Lamb , a former Assistant Counsel of the US House Judiciary Committee at the US Congress and Professor of International Law at Northwestern College of Law in Oregon, earned his Law Degree at Boston University and his LLM, M.Phil, and PhD degrees at the London School of Economics. Lamb is Director, Americans Concerned for Middle East Peace, Beirut-Washington DC, Board Member of The Sabra Shatila Foundation, and a volunteer with the Palestine Civil Rights Campaign, Lebanon. He is the author of The Price We Pay: A Quarter-Century of Israel’s Use of American Weapons Against Civilians in Lebanon

Read Full Bio

More posts by the Author »

 River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian