Israel Bites The Hand That Feeds It

In several previous posts, I stated that since its creation in 1948, the Israeli government has been following an expansionist policy and has been committing ethnic cleansing to implement its Zionist ideology. “Eretz Israel”, greater Israel. Israeli aggressive policy has been in violation of U.N. resolutions, the Geneva Convention Treaty of 1949 and the International Court of Justice. Even Israeli human rights organization B.T. Selam has criticized Israeli expansion policy. It stated that, “The Israeli authorities have demolished more than 400 Palestinian-owned homes in East Jerusalem since 2004.” (The BBC News, Nov. 22, 2009).

U.N. officials have been warning Israel that such demolitions violate international law. Furthermore, since Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, more than 300 Jewish settlements were built illegally on Palestinian land where approximately 500,000 Jewish settlers were living.

Condemnation from high-ranking international officials and organizations in many parts of the world is nothing but international acts of hypocrisy. Israeli politicians have gotten used to verbal condemnation since no penalty has been imposed on Israel for its violations of international law and its aggression against the Palestinians since 1948.

The U.S. government has used its veto power at the Security Council more than any other members to shield Israel from resolutions submitted by other members to put an end to Israeli violation of international law.

Israel has abused the U.S. trust and support given to them since 1948. American foreign economic and military aid have been consistent. More than $150 billion of American taxpayer money has been given to Israel with no questions asked. Some of that money was used to build Jewish settlements in the occupied land. Furthermore, Israel was provided with the best military armaments that even the closest allies of the U.S. did not get. The armament was used against Palestinians. This made Israel the fifth strongest military power in the world. However, when the U.S. asked Israel to cooperate in the start of the peace process, President Obama’s request was ignored. When Vice President Biden went to Israel to get their cooperation and start the peace process, the Israeli government announced the construction of 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem. This was a slap in the face of the vice president. As usual, Israel bit the hand that feeds it.

Despite all of Israel’s defiance, the Obama administration continued to say publicly that the U.S.-Israeli bonds are “unbreakable” and that the U.S. and Israel have “a common interest”. In reality, Israel has broken that bond frequently and has put its interest ahead of U.S. interest.

As usual, American politicians surrender to Israeli demands. This is attributed to the influence of the powerful Israeli lobby “AIPAC” and Jewish Zionist organizations in the United States. As Patrick M. Buchanan puts it, “The mighty superpower is a poodle of Israel”.

Aaron Miller, a former state department official, noted that the current American administration does not know what to do with Israel. Does it punish? Or pander? (BBC News, March 22, 2010).

The proper question that needs to be asked is, “Should Israeli interest supercede American national interest?” The obvious answer is, “No”. Recently, General David Petraeus said in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee that a perception of American favoritism for Israel was creating anti-American sentiment. He further stated publicly that his job in Iraq and Afghanistan was not being helped and that American lives were being endangered by the widespread bitterness engendered by the unresolved Arab-Israeli conflict. (BBC News, March 22, 2010).

Over the years, Americans have failed to put an end to Israeli abuse of the U.S. Israel has put its interests ahead of the U.S. on a consistent basis. Israel only pays lip service to other common bonds and interests between the U.S. and Israel. Secretary of Defense B. Gates stated publicly that the construction of Jewish settlements on Palestinian land endangers American National interests in the region.

Pat J. Buchanan, in his article “The Poodle Gets Kicked” (Outlook Web Access Light, March 18, 2010) noted numerous incidents which violate the trust between the U.S. and Israel. He stated that Israel keeps its own interests foremost in mind, and when these dictate actions inimical to U.S. interests, Israel acts unilaterally. Here are some examples:

1) David Ben-Gurion did not seek Dwight Eisenhower’s permission to attack Egypt in collusion with the French and British in 1956, enraging Ike.
2) Israel did not consult JFK on whether it could steal enriched uranium from the NUMEC plant in Pennsylvania for its atom bomb program.
3) Israel did not consult us on whether it could attack the American U.S.S. Liberty in the Six Day War which lead to the killing of 34 crewmen and wounded another 112.
4) Israel did not inform the U.S. that Jonathan Pollard was looting our security secrets and transferring our weapons technology to China, but they went ahead and did it, knowing the Americans would swallow hard and take it.
5) Ehud Olmert did not consult President-elect Obama on whether to launch a war on Gaza and kill 1,400 Palestinians.
6) B. Netanyahu did not consult us before Mossad took down the Hamas man ( al mabHooH) in Dubai.

As a result of the mass media, frequent references to Israeli insult of the Obama administration, AIPAC called on the president to handle his differences with the Israelis privately in a manner “befitting strategic allies”. AIPAC’s intention is to cover up insult of the Obama administration. The influence of AIPAC on American foreign policy was noted by ex-Senator Fritz Holling, who stated that, “The role of the American Israeli public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the most important pro-Israel lobby group in Washington, is determining U.S. policy in the Middle East. You can’t have an Israeli policy other than what AIPAC gives you around here.” Furthermore, he noted that, “No president takes office – I do not care whether it is a Republican or a Democrat – that all of a sudden AIPAC will tell him exactly what the policy is and senators and members of congress out to sign the letters.” (Charleston Daily Post Courier, May 6, 2004).

Recently, Israeli aggression has been challenged by the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, by passing a resolution condemning Israeli expansion policy. The council demanded that Israel end its occupation of the West Bank and stop its ethnic cleansing and military suppression of Palestinians. 31 members out of 47 voted in support of the resolution. The U.S. and members of the European union voted against it. As usual, this was expected. (aljazeera.net, March 25, 2010).

Before the departure of the Israeli prime minister from the U.S. to Israel, Mr. Netanyahu declared publicly that, “Construction in Jerusalem will continue. It is the capital of Israel and not a settlement.” He continued to say that Jerusalem was built by the Jewish people three thousand years ago, and that they will continue to build the capital.

The trouble with Mr. Netanyahu is that he is lying and misleading the public in terms of his historical accounts, either intentionally or as a result of ignorance or perhaps both. Jerusalem was established by the Caanonites before the Semitic Bedouin tribes (Arabs and Jews) migrated to the West from the Arabian Peninsula around the second millennium B.C. Also, many ethnic indigenous groups lived in Palestine before and after the Semitic group’s arrival in that part of the world. ( For more detailed regarding Jerusalem see Professor Juan Cole’s 'Informed Comment': "Top Ten Reasons East Jerusalem does not belong to Jewish-Israelis" 3/23/2010)

The point I am trying to get across to the readers is that the people who have lived in Palestine during the past 5,000 years were a mixture of many ethnic and racial groups who interacted socially and biologically. Palestine should be a secular bi-national state where Israelis and Palestinians can live.