Israel's Apologists

Of all the frustrating aspects of American foreign policy - and there are many - the most frustrating may be our unconditional support of the state of Israel. Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress almost unanimously offered their support for Israel's ultra-aggressive and illegal incursion into Lebanon - an act that would be immediately condemned if undertaken by any other nation in that region. The inability of so many American politicians, and Americans at large for that matter, to take an even handed approach to Israel is truly perplexing, even considering AIPAC's enormous influence. But this doesn't explain the blind eye even supposed liberals have turned toward Israel's latest foibles.

While listening to a progressive radio show a couple of days ago, an Israeli/American caller likened Israel to a person "on their back, with a knife to their throat", and that because of this she must take drastic measures simply to survive. The openly liberal host offered no disagreement. But if I were her, I would have asked that caller to explain why she believes that Israel, which is far and away the most powerful in the Middle East, can possibly be "on their back, with a knife to their throat"? If anything it is the Lebanese civilian population who have the knife to their throat as Israel bombards them with US supplied weaponry. I would have also pointed out that the Israeli's were the first to attack civilians in this most recent conflict, contrary to the widely held belief that it started with Hezbollah rocket attacks on Haifa-which are also wrong by the way. In fact, Israel started it's bombing after three of its soldiers were killed and TWO captured after a raid on an Israeli army border post by Hezbollah in order to set-up a prisoner exchange with Israel. Subsequently, Israel sent a tank over the border to pursue and it ran over a land mine killing four more soldiers. But rather than immediately opening diplomatic talks to quell the violence, Israel decided to launch a bombing campaign against Lebanese civilians who had nothing to do with the raid, an act that violates international law and human decency. That's right-Israel chose escalation over diplomacy and our immoral presidential administration has given its stamp of approval, along with our knee-jerk support for Israel Congress. It is beyond me how any rational American can think that killing over 400 Lebanese, bombing bridges, power plants and water purification plants is an appropriate response, yet this is the case across the political spectrum.

But let's get back to whether or not Israel is "on their back with a knife to their throat". It is hard to believe that Israel is in such desperate straights as its military stands as the most formidable of all in the Middle East. They are armed with hundreds of nuclear weapons and are graced with heaps of US military aid. In fact, since 2001 3 billion dollars per year in military aid has been paid to Israel by the US. Of those billions of dollars, 70% has gone towards buying American weaponry from war profiteers such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Raytheon, and overall, the US provides 20% of Israel's total military budget. Despite this formidable US supplied arsenal, we are supposed to believe that Hamas, Hezbollah and other groups-who have militias not even in the same ballpark as Israel's military behemoth-are a threat to Israel's existence. I don't think so.

The truth is that Israel uses their military might not simply to deter attacks from its neighbors, but rather to exert its will upon its neighbors and to maintain its illegal grip on the West Bank and Gaza-all of which is sanctioned by the US. In my opinion, Israel serves as America's proxy military force in the Middle East and a donor to the military industrial complex, which explains why our government, both Democrat and Republican, are so eager to support Israel even when they are clearly in the wrong. In fact, the US is often the only proponent of Israel in its various UN Security Council admonitions, which is only one example of a long string of similar vetoes by the US.

When will the American government realize that allowing Israel to bomb its way to peace is not realistic? I'm afraid that this will never happen due to the fact that some permanent myths have been implanted into the American psyche. Chief among these being that the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is beyond diplomacy. You hear it often-"how can Israel to negotiate with terrorists" or "Israel has no partner for peace" - Balderdash!!! The majority of Palestinians would gladly live in peace beside Israel if Israel were to make a valid offer. Thus far they have only gotten aggression, and "peace" offers which include non-starters concerning the "right to return", Bantustan apartheid-type enclaves and Israel maintaining control of Palestinian airspace and water. What Palestinian leader would accept such an offer, especially when Israel is entitled to NONE of the occupied territories under international law.

But if someday, just someday, Israel were to offer a viable peace proposal that truly ensured Palestinian sovereignty and dignity, the extremists who wish to destroy Israel will be marginalized in favor of peace-for peace is what the vast majority of human beings in that region desire.