Hello World: Obama Needs Your Help with Israel!

This weeks UN General Assembly certainly brought out the drama of the people still living in their day-to-day inability to face reality. From Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Benjamin Netanyahu, the world seems to be full of ranting on and on about the other.

Bibi Netanyahu, the reinstated Prime Minister of Israel, even brought documents that evidence the Holocaust, which of course is not only unnecessary, but also bowing to the ludicrous statement by the Iranian President that it never existed.

Unfortunately not one of these has taken the time to look at themselves.

Ahmadinejad can talk until he is blue in the face about being legitimately elected while refusing to acknowledge that he terrorized his own people to stay in power, but none of us are buying it. Nor are we acknowledging that his own democratic misjudgments were our fault.

Further no one believes Bibi's rant about Iran being the only government building nukes and persecuting people while his continues to hide their own weapons and occupy, displace and repress over 3.7 million Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza.

The dynamics are to say the least ironic.

While Israel pretends not to have the nuclear bomb, Iran says its not making one, while Israel continues to displace Palestinians, Iran continues to imprison opposition. And both have an over zealous religious right that is unduly influencing practicality.

The world powers are appropriately banding together to pressure Iran with crippling sanctions if it doesn't comply with international will and law. Obama has promoted a brilliant strategy of making this a global effort, the only way to coerce Iran to change.

Unfortunately, there is no international or American will to challenge Israel's bad behavior. Netanyahu for his part has been making it his only priority to shift all eyes toward Iran so everyone forgets about a Palestinian state.

Most Americans have no idea that pro-Israel lobbying groups launched a Capital Hill initiative on what they called and "Advocacy Day on Iran" promoting fear and pressuring American representatives to begin beating those war drums. As if the Untied States doesn't have enough American soldiers fighting in wars half way across the world already. Makes you wonder whose interests are running whose?

Obama should be applauded for the strides he is making in the international community in reference to Iran. Iran wants engagement; it now has it in the form of all member of the G5 telling it the world has had enough.

It is time, however, to tell Israel the same. To be fair, Israel must declare its nuclear arsenal; it must work with the US, its largest supporter (not to mention the US's largest recipient of aid), to finally bring peace to the Middle East. It is in Israel's interest and it is unquestionably in the US's as well.

The US Congress and its Administration must show the same backbone they are showing on Iran. If the Iranians don't like international or American policies, they are directly confronted, this time by the entire world. If the Israelis don't like them, we say "Oh well?" Something seems a bit unbalanced there.

The US should immediately cut off all military, economic and development aid. Especially after the way Netanyahu rebuked all efforts by the American President at the UN meeting he was trying to initiate. Shameful.

At one point in Netanyahu's speech to the UN General Assembly he questioned the legitimacy of giving Ahmadinejad the stage because he is a denier. The other did the same -- Ahmadinejad invoking the case of the Palestinian.

To our dismay, neither listened to the call of the United States President. A call to come together, to "begin a new chapter of international cooperation, one that recognizes the rights and responsibilities of all nations." Instead, they both chose to ignore their own responsibilities for the current situation, deny their own actions hang on to history and hate.

All parties, not just these two, must pledge, as Obama says, to " act boldly and collectively on behalf of justice and prosperity at home and abroad." The alternative is a future consumed by ongoing strife and propensity for never-ending war.

Follow Patricia DeGennaro on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Tricia's_Take

Comments

[Macready]

Thank you great article . . . Israel must be treated like Iran is being treated . . . or there will be no peace in the Middle East and no justice for the Palestinian people . . .as the late great Robin Cook once said Israel is the problem in the Middle East . . .

and yet most of our MSM and our Congress remain silent . .. and the British and the French . . . scream about more sanctions for Iran . . i doubt that will help the Iranian protesters . . . and it certainly won't help the Palestinians . . . there must be a world wide effort to stop israel

[BubbaC33]

Let's see if I can understand your posting. Israel fights a war of defense in 1967, legally acquires territory and refuses to give it back to Jordan. And that is the reason the world should act in the manner you suggest? Your idea is a little short on reason and even shorter on a factual basis.

[jollyelle]

Thank you for writing this. It's good to see someone with common sense access the leaders who are making their countries look foolish. It's too bad Americans usually pounce on only one of the two.

[altohone]

Nice post.

Equating 37 deaths with the repression of 3.7 million didn't come off sounding good, but I know you didn't mean it like that.

I'd add that our own elections in both 2000 and 2004 were questionable, but not used as a basis for punishment by the world.

Other than that, I fully support your call.

[BubbaC33]

It is somewhat problematic to try to compare the US elections to elections in Gaza. There is no comparison at all, the US system may be falwed but certainly not to the extent of the election that gave the world Hamas.

[jwcmass]

Just bear in mind it was a man APPOINTED President by the Supreme Court who INSISTED on elections in Gaza.

[Rog49Thomas]

You mean to say there's hypocrisy in foreign politics.

I'm shocked, shocked I say.

Anyone out there remember when the ruler of Iran was our boy and Dr. Kissinger was quite relaxed about the then Iranian nuclear program and the possibility of an Iranian bomb.

[who38]

Dr. Kissinger was quite relaxed about many things.

[mommamia526]

Now, I think it would be interesting to discuss 1) poverty, and 2) morality issues and how those play today in international politics, international terrorism, or even such issues as brought up by Queen Rania elsewhere on the Huffington Post. The socalled underdeveloped world and the developped world do today share these issues of 1) poverty and 2) morality. To what extent are socalled third world countries responsible for 1) poverty and 2) morality issues and from whence do these originate? Is it the responsibility of taxpayers, let us say in the U.S., to continue supporting those who use those donations of our hard earned taxes to shoot off guns into the air, against one another, and to neglect basic developments in their own backyards, yes, as simple as one person's backyard, improving the soil, buying seed rather than bullets, sowing and reaping, rather than destroying and murdering? Infant death rates, and death during delivery of women, were a fact in the West and were improved by those western societies themselves. Why can the ME, Africa and the East not also do that? Whose responsibility is it? What is needed? Obviously healthcare delivery issues, personnel, facilities­,education are problems to be tackled. By whom? What about such a simple but basic necessity as water? Should populations build sewage treatment plants? Move away from arrid areas to where water is abundant? Who should build delivery systems for water, desalinization projects, sewage treatment plants, and who should maintian he systems?

[jwcmass]

The difference between the West solving these issues and the developing world tackling them is that (with the exception of Ireland) no nation in the West was colonized by European nations who simply saw them as a means to import raw materials and wealth. Most of the nations of the developing world were far worse off when the imperialists were done with them than before.

Any understanding of the problems of the developing world (or cultures other than the West) MUST begin with an understanding of what imperialism (whether by colonization, or economic exploitation -- setting up friendly native governments -- friendly to the West, that is-- not to their own people) did to these cultures and nations.

[Sis3563]

Cheers, Ms. DeGennaro. People are labeled anti-semitic for having these same views and if Israeli supporters keep crying antisemitism, we should just wear the title with pride and keep on voicing our views. The situation has gotten to this point because people remain quiet. I refuse to keep quiet any longer, reputation be dammed!

[who38]

Agreed. It is like crying "Fire" or "Wolf". Eventually, no one pays attention.

[BubbaC33]

The people who complain the most about the term anti-Semitic are the ones to whom it generally applies most often.

[Lutfi]

I think that Netanyahu and Ahmadinejad are really brother lost on this earth and they will say and do anything to get back to there planet ,and the mean time they will leave missinformation, scary talks and lots of Bull Sh** and we need to flush them out against there mission, does any of you pro- Israel remember the Iraq- Iran war in the 80's , the US supported Iraq,and Iran was supported by Israel and thanks to the US tax payer we paid for both. , i would not doubt that some of there sleeper cells or agents still plays a major roll in current Iran government , Mossad trained and supported Savak for years.

[who38]

Sounds like they are in need of a little Scientology.

[Kirby]

And, Lufti, you must also know that Mossad is operative on "the Hill" in Washington. That Israel's agency in Washington is AIPAC which coordinates pressure and pay-off moves to all gentile politicians to do its bidding on the Hill

[BubbaC33]

If AIPAC was as all powerful as you seem to believe a number of US foreign policy decisions would ahve been quite different. Saudi Arabia would not have been given AIWACs for example. Other weapons systems would not have been provided to Islamic nations. Egypt would not enjoy such a cozy relationship with the US. The fact of the matter is the idea that Israel, through AIPAC, controls the US government is the sort of stuff usually found in The Turner Diaries.

[Horst]

The 22 nations of the Arab League have a combined GDP roughly equal to that of Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg...the mighty Benelux. This is not the fault of Israel, the Unites States or the European Union, rather the result of corruption and unsustainable population growth....Egypt being the perfect example.

[akfarah]

And any move towards reforms in the said countries are stiffled by U.S arms and intelligence because we need those dictators we put in place and owe us a lot. have you heard many argue that democaracy, freemarket in the Arab world is bad for us. Refroms in palestine,algeria, morroco and EGYPT to name a few (elections and otherwise) are frustrated by the west and that is not lost to many arabs mind you. Read history, stop your one channel, one page, cheap view. The Arab world nations created to serve western intrests have over 60 percentage of its pop under 30 years of age and is a time bobmb waiting to explode. Lets Stop supporting dictators and Apatheid israel

[pgmark]

Hello World -
We need less people with agendas and more people who want to help in the hard work of compromise.
Fingers can be pointed in all directions - but a hand of help and hope for the future is far more important.

[Melody Moezzi - Huffpost Blogger]

Brilliant analysis. The hypocrisy is nauseating, and I fear many don't realize that with Iran, the worst thing that could happen is military intervention of any kind. It will only hurt the Iranian people, and they are by far the greatest asset the world has in creating a free and democratic Iran.

Likewise, many also fail to realize that with hundreds of nukes and with the US (with thousands of nukes) backing them, Iran isn't at all a genuine nuclear threat with MAYBE a handful. Not to mention that the US is the only country in the world to have ever dropped an atom bomb on civilians, and it has more nuclear weapons than every other country in the world, with the possible exception of Russia. Thank you for bringing some of this all too often overlooked hypocrisy to light Ms. DeGennaro!

[pgmark]

Analysis - yes Brilliant - no!

But considering your roots, I get why you feel this way.

[BubbaC33]

No one can say with any level of certainty that Israel has nuclear weapons. Vanunu did not provide anything other than his own account of an Israeli nuclear program, but has never offered proof positive Israel has nukes. And keep in mind he is a convicted traitor who gave his word and then broke it. So the idea that Israel has a nuclear capability is conjecture and nothing more.
The US is the only nation to drop a nuclear weapon in a war, actually dropping tow on Japan in order to bring about an end to WW II. The fact is an invasion of Japan would have cost the US at elkast a million more casualties and taken at least a year, probably more, to be completed. An invasion would have devastated the entire nation of Japan and cost many more lives than the two bombs did in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. No one with any real knowledge of the cost of prolonging the war would criticize the US decision to drop the bombs and end the war.
The danger of an Iran with nuclear weapons is not just a danger to Israel, but to the entire region. If Iran develops a workable, deliverable nuclear weapon it will use it to threaten the other oil producing nations. An Iran with nukes will be able to do what Saddam Hussein hoped to do, dictate oil policies to every nation in the region.

[Hedonist]

If Iran gets an arsenal they will start a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. Egypt, the Saudis etc. will develop a program as a deterrence to Iran.

[Sentientbeing09]

Oh Bubbles.

If Vanunu is a traitor, he cannot simultaneously be lying.

Hes either a liar or a traitor.

Not both. Take your pick.

[DC]

Huh? "No one can say with any level of certainty that Israel has nuclear weapons."

Except Israel itself -- and Israel has already admired to stockpiling nuclear weapons.

"Israel developed its nuclear programme in the 1950s. It was originally claimed that the Dimona reactor would provide the cheap nuclear energy required to make water desalination a viable project. But its real purpose was to enable the development of nuclear weapons.

Shimon Peres, who was Labour Prime Minister at the time of the Vanunu trial and is a member of the present government, is credited with organising the development of Israel's nuclear arsenal when he was an aide to former Labour Premier David Ben-Gurion."

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/feb2000/isra-f12.shtml

And with fanatics in the Knesset.....

[RedDogBear]

Any serious expert on nuclear proliferation, regardless of their political orientation, knows that Israel has nukes. They haven't admitted it but its an open secret:

http://www.democracynow.org/2007/12/7/the_seventh_decade_jonathan_schell_on

[jwcmass]

Bubba,

A good argument can be made as to whether or not the dropping of the a-bombs in Hiroshima or Nagasaki was necessary to end the war without an invasion of Japan.

The night before the dropping of the Hiroshima bomb, another fleet of bombers had destroyed the storage tanks of Japan's last reserves of fuel.

Kinda hard to fight a war without any fuel.

And even if one bomb was "necessary" the second was almost certainly not.

A case can be made that the Us dropped the bombs (particularly the second one) because of reasons that had more to do with the USSR than Japan.

The Soviets had just declared war on Japan, and the US wanted a quick end to the war so Japan would be occupied by the US alone, and not with zones of operation as in Germany.

[Hedonist]

The deterrence argument only applies if counties act in their own best interest. The Islamic Republic of Iran has shown repeatedly for the past three decades that is not the case. A single bomb is all that is necessary to destroy Israel. It could not recover if Tel Aviv was incinerated. Iran could lose 20 million in a counter-strike but would still have 50 million people left. The Mullahs would welcome this scenario as it would usher in their coveted apocalyptic age whereby the hidden Imam would reappear and the final jihad would ensue.

[Hedonist]

countries, NOT counties. oops

[Sentientbeing09]

Are you seriously claiming 20 million Iranians would embrace mass suicide just to turn Palestine into a nuclear wasteland?

What use would radioactive land be to the Palestinians?

[Horst]

Many people chalk up the mess that is Iran's political leadership to a people getting what they deserve. Iran is running afoul not just of the West but of the Sunni Arabs in their neighborhood. Perpetuating a corrupt theocracy just doesn't make sense in the 21st century.

[who38]

You are correct but it appears that corrupt theocracies are the wave of the future.

[alexa07]

Yes, the hypocrisy is nauseating, but at the same time Israel unwisely contributes to its own downfall by following the same old patterns of dependence upon spineless American leaders as well as the compliant US mainstream media in order to maintain the status quo. Not all things remain the same forever. All the while the BDS movement grows stronger all around the world. Yesterday I had a very long talk with a manager of a very large retail outfit in my hometown. You'd be surprised at how interested he was in hearing my views. It's a people's movement that isn't dependent upon our foolish leaders in Congress or the Obama adm or in our emasculated media.

[Gracie fr]

We have been waiting expectantly for something to happen that might change the 40 odd year pattern of Israeli push and shove over the Palestinian issue. Sadly, American immobility on taking decisive action with a real aim to settle the dispute over territory have never been more obvious even though the UN Protocols are clear on the subject. Israel always seems to find a way around the obstacles of a legal dimension. In view of these constant additions to endless hurdles thrown up by the Israeli State, many who would see justice done have given up and retreated to the shadows. But encouraging signs are coming from the grassroots “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” movement, a movement that has been joined by thousands who have had enough of Israeli intransigence. Finally “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for”.

[Thabit]

As long as America is Israel's big brother and protector , of course there will be no peace in the middle east . Israel has nothing to lose by its current course . Only when the same standards and penaltys are applyed to Israel and Iran will either have any will or reason to modify their behavior

[KIVPossum]

Yes. Don't know why people can't see that Israel intends to follow the course they're on as long as American takes care of them.

[BubbaC33]

People don't see it because it isn't true. Israel has a right to exist within defensible borders. Given the amount of land Israel covers it is a very small slice of the region and one no one can claim belongs to any other entity. The call for a Palestinian homeland did not start until after Israel took the land during the defensive war in 1967.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

"The US should immediately cut off all military, economic and development aid."

Absolutely right.

That should apply both to both actions in the Middle-East as well as here.

In connection with that, the Obama Administration should take action to stop foreign governments and their agents from influencing our Senators and Representatives.

[BubbaC33]

It is always amusing to read of the influence Israel and its lobby on the US government. According to the some folks on this site Israel controls the US government. This is a silly and demonstably false idea.
If Israel controlled the US government Saudi Arabia would not have been given AIWACs plane and other sensitive weapons systems. If Israel controlled US policy Egypt would get far less in aid each year, Jordan would also see a reduction in US aid and Fatah would stop getting any US aid at all. The US would cease a number of economic projects with Islamic nations. There would be a number of other changes in US foreign policy if Israel did in fact control the US.
But the simple fact of the matter is Israel does not control the US or Egypt or the UN. And those who attempt to make this argument fail to understand the nonsensical nature of their statements.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

Somehow you've concluded that a post which does not identify Israel as a foreign government that is influencing our Senators and Representatives actually refers to Israel.

I wonder why.

[DC]

Well after the deal to Saudi, Israel squealed and got even more weapons!

Meanwhile, the US arms everyone.

[who38]

You forget that the Israeli economy is dependent on the manufacture of arms. Israel, like the US., needs the constant fear of war in order to maintain its economic structure.

Are you saying that Sharon was wrong when he said that Israel controlled the US government?

[RedDogBear]

"Unfortunately, there is no international or American will to challenge Israel's bad behavior." Are you serious? The UN has tried to pass resolution after resolution condemning Israel's bad behavior and has tried to take action to enforce resolutions on the books against Israel. Time and again it is the US that has used its veto and other administrative measures to block the UN. The US gives Israel massive amounts of funding for its military. If we really had the will, all we would have to do is to withdraw some of that funding, or even make a serious threat to do so and we could have Israel jumping through hoops.

[mommamia526]

What are you drinking? Or, have you NOT listened to the discussions and reports? ISRAEL did not build a new nuclear plant which it did not disclose; it is IRAN!! Israel is not today firing off long range missiles into the air, yes, TODAY; it is IRAN! Israel has not declared that it is going to wipe Iran off the map. Are YOU serious? It is not about Israel, really now, it is about INTERNATIONAL TERORISM AND INTERNATIONAL TERRORISTS GETTING THEIR HANDS ON BOTH NUCLEAR ARMAMENT AND DELIVERY SYSTEMS to attack.What has been threatened by members of Hezbullah is that they are having improved delivery systems and soon will have nukes too. What also has been discussed is mini nuclear devices being strapped unto suicide bombers. Have you also missed the last week's news of terrorists, foreign and homegrown right here in the U.S.? Oh, well, get some sleep.

[who38]

Israel fired off their long range missiles last week. Pay attention.

[RedDogBear]

"ISRAEL did not build a new nuclear plant which it did not disclosel"
No, Israel ALREADY HAS hundreds of nuclear war heads. They haven't formally admitted it but its an open secret that any expert on nuclear proliferation acknowledges. As for this nuclear plant, in fact by the rules of the IAEA they were under no obligation to disclose it. Former UN weapons inspector does an excellent job of cutting through the latest hype and spin:

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/29/fmr_un_weapons_inspector_scott_ritter

The idea that Hezbullah will get nuclear weapons is absurd. First of all even Iran doesn't have nuclear weapons and there has never been any evidence they are trying to develop them. This latest announcement of the secret facility was one more feeble attempt to make that case but see the link above, Ritter (who is an ex marine and republican) does his usual thorough job of debunking it. Stop trying to scare the american public, we've been fooled into a pointless Iraq war at the behest of the Neocons and AIPAC lobby, we won't fall for it again.