03 February 2011

By Gilad Atzmon

In his latest Newsweek article Stephen Kinzer wonders who America is betting on to counter the popular rising forces in the Middle East : "The same friends it has been betting on for decades" he answers. "Mubarak's pharaonic regime in Egypt, Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority, the Saudi monarchy, and increasingly radical politicians in Israel. It is no wonder that Iran's power is rising as the American-imposed order begins to crumble," he concludes.

Kinzer explains America's stance succinctly and accurately : "The U.S. keeps Mubarak in power - it gave his regime $1.5 billion in aid last year -mainly because he supports America's pro-Israel policies, especially by helping Israel maintain its stranglehold on Gaza. It supports Abbas for the same reason; Abbas is seen as willing to compromise with Israel and is, therefore, a desirable negotiating partner….. American support for Mubarak and Abbas continues, although neither man is in power with any figment of legality; Mubarak brazenly stage-manages elections, and Abbas has ruled by decree since his term of office expired in 2009."

In the light of Kinzer's statement, the following questions surely need answering -- Why does America support those regimes, whose leaders' dictates, ideologies and methods of ruling are totally and openly incongruous with America's alleged value system? And If America is genuinely concerned with the so-called ‘rise of Islam', why then, did it eradicate Saddam Hussein's distinctly secular regime? And if America is, as it claims, enthusiastic about encouraging 'non radicalised' secular Arabs, why is it constantly seeking conflict with Bashir Asad, leader of another secular stronghold? And If America does indeed champion democracy, why does it support the Saudi regime, Mubarak and Abbas? Why does it not seek friendship with the democratically elected Hamas?

In short American policy seems to be a total mess -- unless one is willing to openly admit that there is a clear coherent thread running through American foreign policy : it simply serves Israel's interests.

For decades American foreign policy has been dictated by Zionist forces within their administration. For decades, America has been exhausting its resources to chase the enemies of the Jewish state. It even sends its young boys and girls to fight and die in Zionist wars. The second Iraq War was obviously such a war. It is becoming clear that America's decision makers have sacrificed the interests of the American people.

We learned yesterday that the Jewish Lobby in America shamelessly slammed Republican Senator and Tea Party representative Rand Paul for suggesting that the "United States should halt all foreign aid including its financial aid to Israel". Even the alleged ‘peace seeking' J Street was quick to attack the patriotic senator. And clearly they didn't mince their words : "Senator Paul's proposal would undermine the decades-long bipartisan consensus on U.S. support for Israel. Any erosion of support should concern Israel's friends on both sides of the political aisle, and we call in particular on leaders and donors in Senator Paul's party to repudiate his comments and ensure that American leadership around the world is not threatened by this irresponsible proposal," the statement issued by J Street read.

National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) President and CEO David Harris repeated the same line of thought saying that "Paul's suggestion is negligent, shortsighted, and just plain wrong….Senator Paul's statement is yet another illustration of how the Republican Party continues to grow increasingly out of touch with the values of the vast majority of the American Jewish community."

But NJDC's spokesman David Harris must have failed to grasp that the patriotic senator Paul is actually concerned with the interest of America, rather than the tribally orientated ‘values of the vast majority of the American Jews', because Senator Rand Paul obviously points at a clear conflict between American interests and the foreign interests promoted by the Jewish lobby.

In his Newsweek article, Kinzer astutely points out that America needs "new approaches and new partners. Listening more closely to Turkey, the closest U.S. ally in the Muslim Middle East, would be a good start. A wise second step would be a reversal of policy toward Iran, from confrontation to a genuine search for compromise."

But, It is clear beyond doubt here that America will not be able to integrate Kinzer's very reasonable suggestions into its foreign policy unless it first liberates itself from the grip of the Jewish Lobby. And It has been proven that it is not easy for our greed-driven politicians to emancipate themselves voluntarily from the Lobby. As we read above, the ‘liberal' J Street group have called upon donors to cut off the very life supply of Senator Rand Paul. And The Jewish Lobby in America would do the same to every American politician who dared to break the links.

However, in the wake of the current financial turmoil, I am convinced that more and more Americans are beginning to identify the root cause at the bottom of their flawed foreign policy. By the time this happens, America may well be liberated.