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Why Palestine?

The majority of Americans have no vested interest in the Middle East conflict, and thus do not notice one way or the other that our mainstream news coverage, or that our foreign and domestic policy is almost totally biased in favor of Israel.

Pro-Israeli pundits are overrepresented in the media, in online forums and elsewhere giving the impression that their view is the prevailing view in society, when it is not the case. They give the same standard arguments for the Palestinian problem such that it has become predictable; I see them day after day in the news and in cyberspace. The reason that they are seemingly out in droves across the internet, an uncensored frontier of free news, is that they have a vested interest in seeing to it that their point of view is put forth and that it is the ONLY point of view that Americans need to hear. Since the majority of Americans have never even heard the Palestinian point of view, and since they have no real ties to the Middle East, it is very easy to pull the wool over their eyes. This is especially true given that most Americans are not inclined to seek out other sources for news such as those from abroad - ie, the Independent, Guardian, BBC -which give a very different version of the events in the Middle East conflict. And the pro-Israeli view must prevail in America, for without the enormous amount of aid American taxpayers shell out to Israel each year, and the use of the US's Security Council veto at the United Nations to shield Israel's violations of international and humanitarian law, Israel would not only have to rethink its policies, she would also likely face sanctions. Thus, it is imperative to pro-Israeli groups that public opinion in America be kept in line with their views.

The proof is in the pudding.

How many Americans even know about the attack on the USS Liberty? Why isn't this being taught in our schools? Americans HAVE heard of the attack on the USS Cole. Why the blackout on what happened to the Liberty? This is but one example of the many things that are either downplayed or outright omitted in our news, our schools and our politics.

Mission

I present you with another side of the story. It's up to you to decide whether or not you want to believe it. But make no mistake about it, we have a very heavy hand in the Middle East conflict (via our billions of taxpayer aid that we give to Israel), and you have the right to hear all sides of the story. Since you are only being given one aspect of this conflict in our mainstream press, here is the other side.

Standard arguments employed by pro-Israelis about the plight of the Palestinians:

'There never was a Palestine'

'There's no such thing as the Palestinians'

'It's the fault of other Arab nations that there are Palestinian refugees'

'What about the Jews that were evicted from Arab nations'

'To the victor go the spoils, the land was 'won' in battle'

The accusations of 'Jew hater' and 'anti-Semite' are often leveled at those that dare to criticize Israeli actions.

To suggest that pro-Israel lobbies have a measure of control or influence over the American government is the furtherance of 'anti-Semitic canards'

'It's Arafat's fault for stealing their money'

'The Palestinians already have a state, Jordan'

If Palestinian Arabs are inherently bloodthirsty and criminal, given to terrorism as they are portrayed by pro-Israelis, then where were the likes of Hamas, the PLO, etc a century ago? Two centuries ago? What events led up to the creation of these groups and others like them? Are they coincidental? Why is it that Jews and Arab Muslims and Christians lived in peace in Palestine prior to the advent of Zionism?

And why should the Palestinians pay for the crimes of WWII that they did not commit?

The Israeli lobby - new report

March 17, 2006 -Two college professors, one from Harvard and one from the University of Chicago, put in the time and effort to create a report about the Israeli lobby in America which is something that I have wanted to do for quite some time. But theirs is everything I could've hoped for and more. It is well-documented, well-written, and it explains just about everything (oddly, there's nothing about the USS Liberty in it) that I have tried to explain in my poorly organized website here.

Iraq, Palestine, Neoconservatives - how all of it ties together can be found in this report entitled "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy". A condensed version can be found here at the London Review of Books.

And the full PDF file of this study can be found here on the Harvard servers.

This is something that every American citizen should read. And this is no conspiracy theory. If you only knew how much I wish that it was all just one big conspiracy theory.

The Israeli lobby counts on your ignorance

These are the people who wield the most influence over our government's foreign policy in the Middle East. And it's because YOU, ME and the rest of the American public have refused to stand up and be counted. The Israeli lobby has filled this void because they know that you are not paying attention. They also know that you, being good complacent American sheep, are not likely to go rooting around for the answers to this entire ME puzzle. This lobby counts on your ignorance. AND IT HAS COST US DEARLY, and it likely WILL AGAIN. Now, nobody's expecting you to don a kaffiyeh and sing allah's praises, or join hands in a rendition of Kumbaya. But for chrissakes people, 'SNAP OUT OF IT!' (Olympia Dukakis to Cher, 'Moonstruck'). This next (neocon) war (Iran), may be the deadliest and costliest yet. What do you suppose George Washington would do if he were alive today? Would he not raise his voice, would he not STAND UP FOR JUSTICE?