The ‘mainstream media’ – that curious collection of elite-run, profit-maximising business interests sometimes known as ‘the free press’ – performs a similar perceptual trick. In reviewing comparable crimes by the West and its official enemies, it is able to flick between perceiving virtue in ‘our’ criminality where only wickedness is found in ‘theirs’. Indeed, though ‘our’ crimes may be as bad, as cynical, or worse, ‘their’ crimes are consistently perceived as being far uglier.
The Economist has found itself at the centre of another of those “anti-semitic cartoon” rows. The cartoon has upset the Israel lobby because it shows, well, that the Israel lobby has a lot of influence in Congress. The article it illustrated refers to President Obama’s attempts to reach a deal with Iran, a diplomatic process being subverted by AIPAC’s efforts to persuade Congress to intensify sanctions.
The Israelis know only too well the essential nature of the US relationship. They know that Uncle Sam needs them as an imperative for the operation of American economic hegemony in the oil-rich Middle East. That is why the Israelis know that they can at times bite the American hands that feeds – because this American hand will keep on feeding out of its own imperialist necessity.
And there he is, teaching at the Harvard Law School, and advocating torture, crimes against humanity, war crimes against the Palestinians. As you know, he said, `Well, we should just be obliterating their villages. You know, if they do this, there’s a terror bombing here, we [should] destroy one of their villages.’
And of course, Dershowitz also advocates torture here, in America. The guy’s shameless.
As preliminary Iran Nuke deal is finalized and set to go into effect next Monday, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is pushing for Congress to pass new sanctions against Iran which would violate and likely nullify the historic agreement
The question provoked in my mind by Cameron’s tribute to Sharon was this. Did he praise Sharon’s “pursuit of peace” because he is ignorant of Sharon’s record, described by Blumenthal as a “bloody career that spanned decades, destroyed entire cities and presided over the killing of countless civilians”; or was it because like most if not all Western leaders Cameron feels the need from time to time to kiss Zionism’s backside?
The United Nations General Assembly condemned the 1982 Massacre at Sabra and Shatilla as “genocide.” So what the world is witnessing now are innumerable government leaders, politicians, pundits, professors, intellectuals, media figures and the State of Israel pay formal tribute to a genocidaire–one who has committed genocide. Obviously, in their opinion the slogan “Never again!” does not apply to protect the Palestinians.
Sharon made a name for himself in 1953 by leading a massacre of Palestinian civilians in Jordan and in 1982, he was Israel’s Defense Minister and led the invasion of Lebanon, during which Israeli soldiers allowed Christian militias to enter two Palestinian refugee camps, Sabra and Shatilla, and massacre hundreds of civilians, including many women and children. Some reports put the death toll at 2,000-3,000.
The story was simple, two American congressional representatives were allowed to read the Congressional 9/11 Investigation Report, this time including the areas President Bush had ordered removed. Both congressmen clearly state that the redacted pages of the report place full responsibility for the planning and execution of 9/11 on one or more foreign intelligence agencies, not “terrorists.”
For 2014 though, plenty of signs point to a tectonic shift in the geopolitical map of Eurasia, with Iran finally emerging as the real superpower in Southwest Asia over the designs of both Israel and the House of Saud. Now that’s (geopolitical) entertainment. Happy New Year.
“The Wall has ears; conversation for Palestine” a monthly radio show on Radio Panik in Brussels, interviews Israeli historian Ilan Pappe during his recent visit to Brussels.
Recorded 22nd October 2013
Produced by Jeanne Mortreux, Florent Barat and Frank Barat for “The wall has ears”
Gilad Atzmon, talks about a policy of concealment; a mine field of what we can say and think and the terminology we must use. Recorded at the Seek Speak Spread Truth conference in London Nov 2013
