The Power of the Jewish Lobby in America

Not too long ago, Turkey asked to be a member of the European Union to enjoy the benefits of the European economy and also the benefits of open borders. While some European nations were for it, most of them were against it. The Europeans were worried because Turkey, while a democratic nation, held to its Islamic roots. The European Union could not take in its arms a nation that was did not separate between church and state.

This puzzled me at the time because I knew that while all European nations separated between church and state, they were Christian nations for now. You do not hear of a Jewish president in France or a Muslim one in Germany and the same goes for every democratic nation. But what puzzled me more is a country like Israel. While technically is not in Europe, Israel for example is a member of the European soccer federation and is celebrated to be the only democratic nation in the Middle East which I do not disagree with. But, I wonder if one-day Israel wanted to be a member of the E.U, will it be rejected? Why is that a country that is known to be the Promised Land for all the Jews can be given a pat on the back while a nation such as Turkey can not be given the same treatment?

Another strange phenomenon I found is the fact that many Jewish US citizens consider Israel to be the motherland and talk about going to Israel for a Mecca which to me is as ridiculous as African Americans wanting to go to Africa which a lot of them would not want to do anyways. Why do you confuse a religion with a nationality? I am Christian, and Jesus Christ came from Jerusalem which is Palestinian or Israeli, depends who you talk to. Does that mean that I should want to visit the "home land"? What do Jewish Americans know of Israel or even the history of that country? All they know is that they [Israelis] are fighting the crazy Arabs and that it is a great democracy and that is pretty much it. They do not know what Israel looks like or how did it become to be what is today.

It all started in 1922. The Middle East, at the time, was under the control of England although on paper it was under the Ottoman Empire. The foreign minister at that time, Arthur James Balfour, decided to establish a national home for the Jewish people inside of Palestine. The Arabs of the area of course opposed the decision but their movement was squashed by the British and a group of Jewish battalions. The declaration of Balfour as it is known however stated:

"His Majesty's Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country"

The question here of course is why England would help the Jewish people? The answer is Dr. Chaim Weizmann who later became the first president of Israel, was actually a chemist who was very adamant of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. He was able to develop a process that helped with explosives which at that time was very beneficial to the British during WWI. Thus, as a payment for his discovery and support, Weizmann was granted Israel.

Here was a country that was peacefully minding it's own business, Palestine, when one day, hundreds of miles away two men decided to split the country in half and create a war that has not stopped since then. Although the Balfour declaration stated that the non-Jewish communities should not be harmed, it was highly disregarded and Palestine lost more than 80% of its land, thousands of people fled and many other thousands died.

Were the Jewish people persecuted throughout history? Absolutely. Was the state of Israel under constant attack from its Arab neighbors? Absolutely. Are Palestinian "terrorists" or "freedom fighters" attack Israel all the time? Absolutely. I do not deny all of that however this does not validate the state of Israel or validate its use of power against any one. We hear everyday that Israel has the right to defend itself. Well Israel did not exist to begin with. Let us make this simpler. One day, you are sitting in your home which was owned by your parents and grandparents. However, one day, someone comes in and tells you we will divide your house into two and I will take the bigger part. You ask why and they tell you because we used to live here many years ago with your grandparents. You try to resist and nothing works. You go to court, you ask your neighbors for help but nothing works. Will you use violence then? Will you just leave your own house?

That is the state of Israel today: a very powerful small country in the Middle East that is not very well liked by its neighbors to say the least. If you look at South America you will see that most of them speak Spanish and are catholic. Now imaging you shove a country called India in there where they do not speak Spanish or are Catholics. That is Israel. They practice Judaism and they speak Hebrew where by everyone around it speak Arabic and practice Islam. To stay in tact in the midst of all that un-connectedness with the surrounding areas, Israel is backed heavily by the United States and England. It has one of the strongest militaries, impressive department of defense, one of the most known intelligence agencies (Mossad) and the only country allowed to have nuclear weapons in the area.

But let us not talk about the Israeli army, or the many international laws Israel violated or the hundreds of UN resolutions it defied or its repeated acts of military aggressions. Let us talk about why do we have American Jewish people trying to support Israel? Why do we have the need for such a strong Jewish lobby in the US? Why the Media has such strong Jewish presence? Can someone shed some light on that? Can someone explain that to me please?

Here are some interesting facts:

- The chief executive officers of the three major television networks and the four largest film studios are Jews, as are the owners of the nation's largest newspaper chain and the most influential single newspaper, the New York Times.

- Hollywood at the end of the twentieth century is still an industry with a pronounced ethnic tinge. Virtually all the senior executives at the major studios are Jews. Writers, producers, and to a lesser degree directors are disproportionately Jewish -- one recent study showed the figure as high as 59 percent among top-grossing films.

- Barely two percent of the nation's population is Jewish, close to half its billionaires are Jews.

Interesting Quotes:

- "The whole world is demanding that Israel withdraw [from occupied Palestinian territories]. I don't think the whole world ... can be wrong."

Kofi Annan, Former Secretary of the UN

- "The Israeli government is placed on a pedestal [in the US], and to criticize it is to be immediately dubbed anti-Semitic"

Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa

- "In a few key sectors of the media, notably among Hollywood studio executives, Jews are so numerically dominant that calling these businesses Jewish-controlled is little more than a statistical observation"

Jonathan J. Goldberg

- " I am very angry with some of the Jews, They know perfectly well what their responsibilities are ... Hollywood is run by Jews. It's owned by Jews, and they should have a greater sensitivity about the issue of people who are suffering.

Marlon Brando