It is becoming clearer every day that liberals in Congress, with a few exceptions, do not care a whole lot about Israel. (It's not news that they don't care a whit about the Palestinians.)
Think about it.
On other foreign policy issues they ask questions, try to discern whether a policy makes sense, and usually choose diplomacy over war. That has been true since the latter days of the Vietnam War (the Iraq war was the notable and tragic exception).
The last thing anyone expects congressional liberals to say is, "I trust the President's policy, no matter what it is. War works for me."
But, when it comes to the Middle East, the same liberals invariably salute, support, and rush to the House and Senate floors to express enthusiastic solidarity with the Israeli prime minister. (Check out these AIPAC letters, signed by 86 senators and, so far, 311 House members, endorsing without reservation Israel's blockade of Gaza and the attack on the flotilla.)
In our Congress, the Israeli prime minister is always right. That is, until he is defeated by the next prime minister -- who, in turn, inherits the mantle of infallibility.
Some people look at this phenomenon and say that these senators and representatives are more loyal to Israel than to the United States.
That analysis is wrong.
I worked on Capitol Hill for more than 15 years (House and Senate), and I can say with certainty that these seeming "Israel firsters" do not, with few exceptions, care all that much about Israel.
They do care about this country. And that is why they don't knowingly support destructive policies for America -- while insouciantly supporting them when it comes to Israel.
Take Sen. Chuck Schumer, for example. Watch him discuss domestic issues. Note how much he seems to have studied them (although he sometimes reaches the wrong conclusions). Notice how happily engaged he is when talking about them.
Then watch him talk about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Not only is he ignorant of the facts, the history, and the changes in the contours of the issue, he seems not to care at all. He is going through the motions.
Schumer does not care enough about Israel to expend any political (or real) capital on it. He'll just say what he thinks he has to say and quickly move on to issues he does care about, issues that he thinks relate directly to the lives of Americans.
He is far from alone.
Most of his Democratic colleagues in the Senate and House operate the same way for the same reason. They support bad Israeli policies, and sign those "Israel, right or wrong" letters only because that is the path of least resistance. I doubt there are 30 Democrats in both houses together who really think attacking the flotilla was right, but hundreds signed the letters anyway.
So why do they do it?
They do it because they don't care about the issue enough to risk the lobby's wrath. As with Republicans and the NRA, the lobby's wish is their command. (See this excellent analysis by Jim Lobe about how the process works on the Hill.)
In one sense, there is nothing wrong with this path of least resistance politics. Supporting the AIPAC/Netanyahu line is risk free. And it sure does bring in lots of campaign money, money that helps liberals win elections. That helps preserve the careers of some outspoken progressive voices (on other issues, anyway).
Of course that is an expedient, even cynical, way of thinking about this issue. (But, hey, we are talking about Congress.)
It also ignores two important factors.
The first is that US policy on Israel/Palestine directly affects US interests worldwide. That was obvious long before General David Petraeus said it.
The Israeli-Palestinian issue is the only issue on which Arabs and Muslims worldwide are united in opposition to US policies. Sunni or Shiite, Egyptian or Indonesian, public opinion in the Muslim world favors ending the occupation. And that means, as Petraeus suggested, that our position on this issue endangers Americans in the Middle East and, no doubt, elsewhere.
Moreover, the banner of "Palestine" is a recruiting poster for anti-American terrorism. We have been lucky so far, but everyone knows that the Palestinian issue can blow back here in America (which is why synagogues and other Jewish facilities here are guarded by the police on Jewish holidays and, in some localities, all the time).
Resolving this conflict fairly -- i.e., ending the occupation with an agreement that guarantees the sovereignty and security of Israel and Palestine -- is one of the most effective things the Obama administration can do for US security.
But the security of Israel should matter too.
I am not saying that American legislators must care about Israel (that is not in their job descriptions), but those who profess to care should not be supporting policies that, left unchecked, will bring about the end of Israel as a Jewish state.
But that is where the Israeli government's current policies are leading, with the help of its congressional enablers.
The flotilla attack left Israel more isolated than at any time in its history. And Israelis know it. The other day, in Knesset, Netanyahu spoke in near hysterical terms about Israel's terrible position (blaming everything on Israel haters and anti-Semites, of course). He is clearly scared... for his political future. Other than the United States government (which did so under pressure), no other government supported the attack that left nine Turks dead.
Even worse, the attack produced a rupture in Israeli-Turkish relations. Turkey has been Israel's ally since the Jewish state was created. But the Gaza invasion, the blockade, and then the attack on the flotilla seriously damaged Israeli-Turkish relations. A full diplomatic break, which may be coming, would be disastrous for Israel.
Imagine losing a strategic relationship with Turkey in favor of a blockade that Netanyahu now admits is unnecessary to Israel's security!
But these are the policies that Israel's supposed friends in Congress say they support.
Bottom line: They aren't friends. They are doing what AIPAC and the House and Senate Democratic campaign committees (run by Chuck Schumer and Chris Van Hollen) tell them they must do to do as they head into November. It's about the donors. If we had public financing of campaigns those AIPAC letters signed by hundreds would instead be signed by a few dozen.
I should mention that the Republicans are no better (they are no worse either). But they are hawks, neocons and Christian fundamentalists (whose "support" for Israel is all about bringing on the Rapture). For them, supporting Netanyahu's policies is not primarily about kissing up to a lobby and raising money, it is who they are.
It's the congressional Democrats (with some wonderful and rare exceptions) who are the hypocrites.
AIPAC calls them "stalwart friends" of Israel and honors them for their "courage." Well, they are "stalwart friends" of AIPAC. That's for sure.
But Israel, not so much.
In fact the people who should honor them are the "one-state" activists. After all, the policies these guys support will inevitably lead to one state, for Israelis and Palestinians together. That is not necessarily a terrible idea if it ends the suffering and allows both people to live together in peace and with security. But it would end Israel as a Jewish state, a state it took 1,900 years to re-create.
Is that what these members of Congress want?
Nah. I doubt they have given it much of a thought -- much like the security of Israel itself.
Follow MJ Rosenberg on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mjmediamatters
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/nov/02/israel.eu
The moment our media is more free, like Europe's media, things will change, if not sooner. The internet is working. The Left has departed its dear pro-Israel leaders.
http://www.wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1112&Itemid=212
True that Hamas launched an upsurge in rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza once it declared an end to a truce with Israel on 19 December 2008 and by 15 January 2009, since the beginning of the IDF operation in Gaza (Dec 27, 2008), four Israelis had been killed and 285 wounded by rocket fire. 771 rockets and mortars had been fired at Israel.
Also true that Operation Cast Lead; a full-scale attack on Gaza killed 13 Israelis and 1,400 Palestinians. Over 5,000 Palestinians were injured, 400,000 were left without running water, 4,000 homes were destroyed, rendering tens of thousands who are still homeless because of Israel's targeted attacks upon them, their schools, hospitals, streets, water wells, sewage system, farms, police stations and UN buildings.
The 22 days of Israel's attack on the people of Gaza was also enabled by US-supplied weapons and we the people of the US who pay taxes provide over $3 billion annually to Israel although Israel has consistently misused U.S. weapons in violation of America's Arms Export Control and Foreign Assistance Acts...
http://wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1523&Itemid=227
Small correction : 8 Turks and 1 American (Dogan, who was not a Turkish national).
- Um, no, it's a closure designed to humiliate and control the civilian population, and it's illegal. Since when is the "Quartet" a reference on international and maritime law? lol.
"It was NOT about bringing aid to the Gaza Palestinians."
- This is partly true, it was also to heighten media awareness, since most people in the West don't even know what a Palestinian is, nor where Gaza is, for that matter. Everybody knows that the Israeli authorities do NOT deliver all the aid to Gaza that they are given. Even the Red Cross and the UN know this - you apparently know better, though.
"Lebanon, of course, could easily transport any aid to Gaza overland."
- Again, it is clear that not all the aid is actually reaching Gazans.
"When Israel handed over Gaza to the Palestinians it retained sovereignty of territorial waters."
- This is called a blockade. According to the laws of war, they must declare war on someone - who have they declared war on?
"It is time for the Palestinians to come down to earth, make Peace with Israel and come to the negotiating table. Palestinians need jobs, they should be allowed to vote their own destiny, and they need leadership."
- You are reading from a script, and you are a fool, sorry for being so blunt.
http://www.redress.cc/palestine/rforer20100621
You can't 'retain' something you don't have a legal claim to. You can take something by force, but that doesn't mean you have any legitimate claim of ownership.
"The hope in the Prime Minister's Bureau is that the Republicans will foment a small miracle in the midterm elections this November, after which President Obama will lose his appetite for another public clash with Israel. Even now, Obama has plenty of problems, the latest of which is his dismissal of the commander of the NATO forces in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal.
Until it becomes clear which way the wind is blowing, Netanyahu will probably not make a decision: He only does so when a pistol is pointed at his forehead, which is the way he likes it - as he showed again this week when he was forced to ease the Gaza blockade in the wake of the botched flotilla raid. "
Jeff also informed me that while Prime Minister, "Tony Blair said 70% of all the conflicts in the world can be traced back to the Israeli Palestinian conflict. This conflict impacts the global community and especially everyone in the USA. This whole issue is based on Human Rights and it is a global issue requiring global intervention.
"Israel denies there is an occupation, so everything is reduced to terrorism. It is our job to insist upon the human rights issue, for occupied people have International Law on their side..."
http://wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1673&Itemid=231
We the people are suppose to be the government and an engaged citizenry can enlighten and lead leaders whose first love is maintaining their own power.
This little one is doing what I can: sending the 88 Congressional reps with You Tube Channels and Obama my YT messages, such as:
Love, Truth and Jihad, There's Nothing Christian about Zionism, Vanunu's Message to Hillary Clinton re: The Wall, God's Side and The 9th of Av: Number 9, Number 9, Number 9, etc:
http://www.youtube.com/user/eileenfleming
Israel will NEVER DRAFT ONE that creates human rights. I guess you don't get the game. Human rights = constitution which = one state.
After the Jewish Holocaust, I believe that most Americans supported the creation of a Jewish state, and for decades after we just check the "Yes on Israel" box, because that's what we had always done. For years, our media reported the conflicts in the middle east from Israel's point of view and no one questioned it. Israelis = good, Palestinians = evil. Since we were all so complacent, so were our politicians. I'll bet 90% of the American people weren't even aware that Israel had an ongoing blockage against Gaza for over 3 year. I believe Americans are slowly changing. The support for Israel is no longer absolute, it's eroding daily as more people become aware of what Israel has done to their Arab neighbors. Through the internet, we're able to hear what the other side has to say and see what has been done to them. Yes, the majority of Americans still complacently support Israel, but if Israel continues down this same path, more Americans will wake up to the face that Israel is not the good guy.
THAT DAY changed everything and my first of 7 trips to Israel Palestine in 2005, irrevocably changed my life, because I knew I had to take a side.
"There comes a time comes when silence is betrayal...History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.
"We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for victims...We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
"Cowardice asks the question: is it safe? Expediency asks the question: is it politic? Vanity asks the question: is it popular?
"But conscience asks the question: is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular- but one must take it simply because it is right."-Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
Eileen Fleming, Author of "Keep Hope Alive" and "Memoirs of a Nice Irish American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory"
Producer "30 Minutes with Vanunu" and "13 Minutes with Vanunu"
Founder of WeAreWideAwake.org
A couple of days later, it was determined that one of Israeli had accidently shot and killed the girl, that the Palestinians had nothing to do with her death. This second story was not on the front page. The last sentence of this article was something to the effect that after determining the Palestinians had not shot the girl, the Israel army discontinued the destruction of the Palestinians settlement.
I had to read this last line twice, I thought I had incorrectly read it, because I couldn't believe that Israel would destroy a whole community over the death of one person. I also couldn't believe that the LA Times would just reprint the AP story without comment. There was no followup story, no outrage. The death of one Israeli made international headlines, but there wasn't a peep over Israel destroying the homes of hundreds of innocent people.
"Soon after I had published the pamphlet "Common Sense" [on Feb. 14, 1776] in America, I saw the exceeding probability that a revolution in the system of government would be followed by a revolution in the system of religion... The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion."-Tom Paine
"Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all...and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave...a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils."-George Washington's Farewell Address - 1796
Check out The Israeli Lobby video on Youtube where Richard Pearle talks about the Congressional seat and the support of Israel. One without the other is near impossible.
http://wearewideawake.org/
You touched up on a hot topic deeply embedded in our beliefs as Americans, the separation of Church and State. Ironically enough, this is the core of the problem in today's Israel as the Torah, just like any other holy book is subject to interpretation and is often used as an effective tool by radicals to induce differentiation and despise. Mike makes the good point that only under a "two state" solution can Israel remain a Jewish state - as a "one state" solution would necessitate equality for all faiths and therefore the separation of Church and State, if Israel is to remain a democracy.
Should and when you decide to run for the House of Representatives, be asured that you do have my vote. God bless you and you are fanned.
Their blind support to anything, and I repeat ANYTHING, Israel does, does not stop to amaze me.
At times they sound like the official Israeli government spokesperson; same talking points, same sentences, same propaganda.
It is obvious they know very little of what they talking about, this author sheds some light on their motivation and the mechanics behind.
Thank you Mr. Rosenberg for this eye popping, great article.
Me too. Israel is an increasable country.
I asked that priest to consider the fact that blind allegiance to the Israeli government has allowed our 'best friend' in the world to become a very big bully.
I reminded that priest that God is always on the side of the oppressed and if we truly love our friends, we hold them accountable for their bad behavior, and that what ever we do-or do NOT do unto the 'least among us' we do it or NOT unto God!
I alerted that priest that the Israeli government is using uninformed, misinformed Christians like him to become apologists in support of their agenda of illegal occupation and illegal settlements in the West Bank, occupied east Jerusalem, Golan, and Gaza, on literal biblical misinterpretations taken out of context.
I admonished that priest to consider how blind allegiance to every act of Israel as being orchestrated by God and therefore is to be condoned, supported, and even praised, is heresy!
I angered that priest when I said that whenever religion and politics get in bed together, we the people for justice and peace always get screwed!
After three email exchanges, I never heard from that priest again; but I learned that he had moved to Jerusalem and was now working at Yad Vashem.
http://wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1766&Itemid=234
You know why?
Because the vast majority of Americans support Israel
The House and the Senate merely reflect the will of their constituents.
Americans will at some point realize that Israel is a billion dollar tapeworm causing grievous damage to their image in the eyes of a majority of the rest of the world.
Support for Israel in U.S. at 63%, Near Record High
http://www.gallup.com/poll/126155/support-israel-near-record-high.aspx
AIPAC does not even make it to the top 100 in dollar amount contributions.
http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php?order=A
The American people support Israel, American politicians simply reflect that, no matter how much you try to dig to find other reasons. They don't need to be that educated about the issues, they need to be educated about what their constituency wants.
People who served this country remember as I do the unprovoked assault in international waters of the AMERICAN ship by Israel, and their machine gunning of our sailors as they tried to escape into life rafts.
Speak for yourself. You obviously have no need for education on these issues, you have the hasbara script, a firm grasp of Israelis talking points, and no need to think for yourself.
Remember the Liberty- I say that as an American who has served my country.
To middle ages
Bibi was in Canada before he rushed home to handle the flotilla fiasco.
Politicians can't be expected to read beyond propaganda any more than the rest of us even though they are the "Professionals" backed up by research staffs. That's why popular protest is so important. Getting in the way of the day-to-day, making a nuisance and choosing to annoy at every opportunity, is the best way to drag the issue onto the domestic agenda -- the only one that counts. North Americans who are pro-Palestinian may be more effective at home than abroad.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/14/uc-irvine-suspends-muslim_n_611435.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/14/uc-irvine-suspends-muslim_n_611435.html