07 August 2012
By
Stuart Littlewood
Mitt
Romney is listed among People magazine's 50 "most
beautiful" of 2002. He was up there with Nicole
Kidman, Britney Spears and Julia Roberts. But how
pretty does he look in 2012?
This US
presidential hopeful from AIPAC's Republican wing came
here to England and put his foot in it by questioning
Britain‘s readiness to host the Olympics. We were
already on the case, thank-you Mr Romney. But please
remember that it's largely America's misbehaviour
around the world that puts such a colossal strain on
Olympic security and makes other nations' teams so
nervous.
His
remarks drew some sharp responses, and thus began a
series of "mis-steps" that characterized the
presidential candidate's misadventure into the wider
world and culminated in an unforgettable "kiss my ass"
invitation by one of his campaign aides. Mis-steps is
a curiously polite US word that seems to be gaining
currency here. It conjures up the erratic progress of
a stumblebum.
No
surprise that while in London he met with the
Quartet's zio-stooge Tony Blair to have his mind
further poisoned and confused.
Romney
then went to Israel to annoy the Palestinians by
stating the bleedin' obvious - that the Israeli
economy had outpaced the Palestinians' - and
suggesting that this phenomenon could be explained by
the superior "culture".
He came
to a fundraiser attended by the mega-rich at the King
David Hotel Jerusalem with, he said, "a sense of
profound humility". After all, he was expecting a nice
fat cheque for $1 million. Was he aware that this is
the same King David Hotel that was blown up by a
Jewish terror gang in 1946 when it served as the
British administration's headquarters, murdering 91?
That
infamous attack had Menachem Begin's fingerprints all
over it and was far worse than any subsequent bombing
in the Arab-Israel conflict - except Israel's 'Cast
Lead' blitzkrieg against Gaza in the winter of 2008/9.
Begin of course went on to become an Israeli prime
minister, having all the qualifications.
The
Israeli newspaper Haaretz observed that Romney's
speech "sounded as if it could have been written by
Netanyahu's bureau". He said: "As you come here and
you see the GDP per capita, for instance, in Israel
which is about $21,000, and compare that with the GDP
per capita just across the areas managed by the
Palestinian Authority, which is more like $10,000 per
capita, you notice such a dramatically stark
difference in economic vitality."
This
brilliant analysis is apparently based on a book
Romney had read called "The Wealth and Poverty of
Nations" in his search for reasons why two
neighbouring places have such disparate prosperity.
"Culture makes all the difference. Culture makes all
the difference," he said, this being his conclusion.
A few
weeks ago a World Bank report said that the
Palestinian economy's modest growth was not
sustainable because it was driven by aid – it was
artificial and therefore not strong enough to support
statehood. Before that, an Israeli government report
had said the Palestinian set-up was not economically
stable enough to support a state. And why would that
be? Because Israel is pulling every dirty trick
imaginable to impoverish and incapacitate the Occupied
Territories and keep them in subjugation.
Given
their freedom like other people the Palestinians of
course could stand on their own feet and would not
need Western taxpayer support.
Had
Romney spent as much time in Palestine as he did in
Israel he could have discovered the truth first-hand.
He'd have seen the bleedin' obvious - that the reason
the Palestinian economy is on it knees has nothing to
do with culture and everything to do with the illegal
and brutal military occupation, and the fact that
donor countries like the US, Britain and the EU have
been propping up and perpetuating the occupation for
decades. How can the Palestinians prosper when the
Israelis won't allow them to export or import or
otherwise do business freely with the outside world?
As for
Palestine's weakening agricultural sector what has
happened to their water? It's been stolen and the
Israelis are filling their swimming pools and washing
their cars with it and channeling it to their own
agricultural crops on confiscated Palestinian land,
while the Palestinian farmers' supply is down to a
trickle.
And are
Palestinians allowed to develop their own energy
resource - the Gaza offshore gas field? No. Israel is
trying to steal that too.
Romney
also ignores the endless checkpoints and other
restrictions that block freedom of movement and
commerce within the Occupied Territories. It's bleedin'
obvious the Palestinians can't grow their economy
until they shake off Israel's shackles. The dimmest
American politician, surely, can figure that out.
But it
suits the West's corrupted political class to let the
evil continue.
Romney
scheduled a very brief meeting with the Palestinian
Authority's unelected prime minister Salam Fayyad and
laced it with a second insult by not traveling to
Ramallah. Did he pop over to Gaza and shoot the breeze
with Haniyeh and Al-Zahar? Nah, such a reality-check
would have been too much for a sheltered Republican
softie.
Instead
he donned the obligatory kippah for the Zionist
cameras and hasbara scribes and prayed at the Western
Wall. He met Netanyahu, Israel's belligerent prime
minister. One of Romney's senior policy adviser
promised support for a unilateral military strike by
Israel, which has some 400 nuclear warheads, against
Iran which has none... notwithstanding that the
Israeli regime is considered by more and more people
to be clinically mad.
And to
underscore his ignorance he declared Jerusalem to be
the capital of Israel. Well, Israel would certainly
like Jerusalem to be its capital and for everyone in
the world to acknowledge it, but few do for very good
reason.
"All I
can say is that this man needs a lot of education,"
said Saeb Erekat, top Palestinian Authority
negotiator. "He doesn't know the region, he doesn't
know Israelis, he doesn't know Palestinians, and to
talk about the Palestinians as an inferior culture is
really a racist statement," At last, here's something
Erekat says that we can agree with.
Romney's
visit to Poland on the final leg of his visit to the
real world was hardly a public affairs triumph either,
according to the BBC. As Mark Mardell reported, "even
his press team finds it difficult to respond to the
most basic inquiries about what their candidate has
said". And Romney's press secretary spectacularly lost
his rag with reporters and refused to answer questions
after their visit to Warsaw's Tomb of the Unknown
Soldier. "Shove it" and "kiss my ass", he told
reporters.
Far
better if glamour-boy Romney had stayed home to
irritate the good people of Massachusetts. I thought
we Brits were hard up for political talent. But, dear
God, is this charmless individual the best
presidential material our American friends can offer a
world that cries out for integrity and courageous
leadership?
As I was
about to file this, an email from JVP (Jewish Voice
for Peace) arrived with the text of an open letter to
Romney, which they hope to deliver at the end of the
week. It says...
To
Governor Mitt Romney,
Your
statements in Jerusalem regarding the growth of the
Palestinian and Israeli economies were inaccurate and
misleading. Israel's Occupation of Palestinian land
makes it impossible for the Palestinian economy to
succeed, not "cultural differences." Your comments
were not a reflection of the values Jews, Americans,
and our allies hold dear. We call on you to apologize
to the Palestinian people for your willful lack of
understanding of the facts on the ground and the
racist assumptions behind them.
JVP also
point out that Romney managed to get his facts
completely wrong in claiming the Israeli GDP is twice
that of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, when it
is actually about ten times greater.
To sign
the letter please go
here.
Stuart Littlewood's book Radio Free Palestine can now
be read on the internet by visiting
www.radiofreepalestine.org.uk. Comments 💬 التعليقات |