@@ The Israel Lobby's crushing of dissent in the land of 'Mighty Mouse Super Power' @@
Arash
April 1, 2006
Keeping It Quiet:
The Israel Lobby's Crushing of Dissent
By Charley Reese
The first weapon of choice for the Israeli lobby when someone with prestige publishes
a soundly researched paper or book critical of Israel or its powerful lobby is
silence. If it's a book, it rarely gets reviewed; its author doesn't get interviewed.
If it's a paper, there are no news stories in the big corporate press, no interviews
with the authors, no television appearances.
For the average American who depends on the press to tell him what's going on, it's
as if the criticism never existed. The second weapon is, of course, to launch vicious
personal attacks.
Both methods are being used against an astounding paper titled "The Israel Lobby and
U.S. Foreign Policy" [1].
It was written by two renowned academics, Dr. John J. Mearsheimer [2] of the
University of Chicago and Dr. Stephen M. Walt [3] of the John F. Kennedy School of
Government at Harvard University.
http://www.nationalvanguard.org/images/teaser/mearsheimer_and_walt.jpg
Photos: John Mearsheimer & Stephen Walt
So far as I've been able to determine with the help of Google, while the paper and
talk about it are all over the Internet, they are missing from the big corporate
press as of this writing. It was published in the London Review of Books (LRB), and
you can read it or download an edited version at
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/mear01_.html
There was one news story about it in the Christian Science Monitor [4] and an attack
on it by David Gergen in U.S. News & World Report [5]. David Gergen [6] is editor at
large of the magazine, which is owned by an ardent Zionist, Mortimer Zuckerman [7].
David Gergen is a professional spinmeister who has always served the people who have
the butter for his bread.
The essence of the paper, which is thoroughly footnoted, is that Israel's lobby has
so skewed American foreign policy in the Middle East that the U.S. places the
security of Israel ahead of security for the United States.
"This situation has no equal in American history", the authors state.
The Jewish Anti-Defamation [Defecation] League (ADL) was quoted in a Jewish
publication as saying that if the paper gained the attention of the mainstream media,
then a "more vigorous attack" would be launched.
So far, it has not, though in the Christian Science Monitor story one of the attack
dogs of the Israel lobby branded these two esteemed academics from prestigious
universities as "incompetents".
This paper isn't the first to criticize the Israeli lobby. There have been lots of
papers and books written by distinguished individuals, none of which you've probably
ever heard of. "They Dare to Speak Out: People and Institutions Confront Israel's
Lobby" [8], by former Representative Paul Findley [9], and "The Passionate
Attachment: America's Involvement With Israel, 1947 to the Present" [10], by George
W. Ball [11], one of America's most distinguished diplomats, are two that come to
mind. It was the late Senator William J. Fulbright who first called U.S. Congress
"Israeli-occupied territory". [12]
What the authors of the current paper hope to do is start a sensible public debate
about the Israeli Lobby and America's policy in the Middle East. Of course, avoiding
an honest debate is one of the primary objectives of the Lobby. That's why it uses
silence and, if that doesn't work, vicious personal attacks. It has certainly
buffaloed Congress and most of America's news media.
Another author given the silent treatment as well as vicious personal attacks is Dr.
Norman Finkelstein [13], a professor at DePaul University. He's written three
outstanding books you've probably not heard of: "The Holocaust Industry: Reflections
on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering" [14], "Image and Reality of the
Israel-Palestine Conflict" [15], and his latest, which got not a line of review,
"Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History" [16].
Finkelstein, by the way, is Jewish and the son of Holocaust survivors.
This is a most serious issue and deserves an honest public debate. Whether you agree
with any of the above authors and academics, you should read what they have to say
and not be deterred by cheap ad hominem attacks.
You've heard the same message from me, of course, but I'm only a country boy turned
journalist with no fancy degrees. If you're impressed with credentials, Finkelstein,
Findley, Walt, Mearsheimer and Ball have them up to their armpits.
* Charley Reese has been a journalist for 49 years. Reese served two years active
duty in the U.S. Army as a tank gunner.
http://www.antiwar.com/reese/?articleid=8791
Notes:
---------
[1] "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy"
http://ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/Research/wpaper.nsf/rwp/RWP06-011
http://ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/Research/wpaper.nsf/rwp/RWP06-011/$File/rwp_06_011_walt.pdf
[PDF -1.2MB]
The Israel Lobby
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/mear01_.html
The Lobby
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=8730
Israel Lobby Dictates U.S. Policy, Study Charges
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0323-09.htm
Jew Lobby is a source of serious concern for the U.S.' national security
http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/bcaf5d3774bc2851
Jews threaten U.S. university over "Walt-Mearsheimer Study"
http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/c868006e5c7e570c
Professor was turned down by American publishers: Freedom, what Freedom? Freedom of
Press!
http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/cc4e6bb9e39dd1ea
How dare you criticize Jew Lobby control over U.S.
http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/a36f9bb76b94e463
Jew lobby under attack?
http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/1a4fddd512b83592
Profs document hijacking of U.S. foreign policy
http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/cc03fa093c3cefb2
[2] John J. Mearsheimer
http://political-science.uchicago.edu/faculty/mearsheimer.html
A Conversation with distinguished professor John Mearsheimer
http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people2/Mearsheimer/mearsheimer-con0.html
"In the cold war you could argue that American unilateralism had no cost; but as
we're finding out with regard to Iraq, Iran and North Korea, we need the Europeans
and we need institutions like the UN. The fact is that the United States can't run
the world by itself, and the problem is, we've done a lot of damage in our relations
with allies, and people are not terribly enthusiastic about helping us now" -- John
Mearsheimer, New York Times, September 10, 2003.
http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/d6f599992d4ca180
[3] Stephen M. Walt
http://ksgfaculty.harvard.edu/Stephen_Walt
A Conversation with distinguished professor Stephen Walt
http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people5/Walt/walt-con0.html
[4] Jew furious over 'Walt-Mearsheimer Study'
http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/7a9ff10ec88ba047
[5] An Unfair Attack
http://www.davidgergen.com/index.php?page=home&item=699
[6] David Richmond Gergen, Special Advisor to the U.S. Presidents: Nixon, Reagan,
Bush, Clinton
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/ww/gergen.html
http://www.davidgergen.com/index.php?page=contact
http://www.nndb.com/people/401/000024329/
[7] Mortimer Benjamin Zuckerman (http://www.nndb.com/people/629/000024557/) is
chairman and editor-in-chief of "U.S. News & World Report" and publisher of the "New
York Daily News". He is also founder of "Boston Properties, Inc". He serves as
chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
(http://www.zoa.org). He is a newly-elected member of the board of trustees of the
Jewish-run Aspen Institute.
Media Matters files on "U.S. News & World Report"
http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/outlets/usne"wsampworldreport
Board of Trustees - Zionist Aspen Institute
http://www.aspeninstitute.org/site/c.huLWJeMRKpH/b.612063/k.AE55/Board_of_Trustees.htm
Grand Strategy For the Middle East - Zionist Aspen Institute
http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/bec2fec22e9ebf7a
Mosters who brought Khomeini to power - Zionist Aspen Institute
http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/9e492bcc683fd891
The Zionist Zone: The Israel Lobby and American Power
http://www.wrmea.com/archives/may2002/0205026.html
Jew owners of media conglomerates
http://zionismexplained.org/media/media.html
[8] "They Dare to Speak Out: People and Institutions Confront Israel's Lobby"
http://www.radioislam.org/islam/english/terror/findley1.htm
http://www.radioislam.org/islam/english/terror/findley2.htm
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/Findley_They_Dare_to_Speak_Out_ch_5.htm
http://www.ussliberty.org/findleybook.htm
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/155652482X/
"Deliberate Deceptions: Facing the Facts About the U.S.-Israeli Relationship"
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0937165093/
Washington's fateful cover-up of Israel's attack on the USS Liberty
http://www.wrmea.com/archives/August_2005/0508016.html
http://www.fpp.co.uk/BoD/origins/USSLiberty1.html
[9] Paul Findley
http://www.cnionline.org/about/
Veteran congressman Paul Findley exposes Israel’s Lobby
http://www.nationalvanguard.org/printer.php?id=3873
Liberating America From Israel
http://www.countercurrents.org/pa-findley230704.htm
Former Congressmen Assess U.S. Foreign Policy
http://www.wrmea.com/archives/April_2004/0404020.html
United States Must Address Control of its Middle East Policies by Israeli Lobby
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0326-22.htm
[10] "The Passionate Attachment: America's Involvement With Israel, 1947 to the
Present"
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393029336/
[11] George Wildman Ball (1909-1994) was the U.S. Undersecretary of State in the
administrations of John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. During the Jimmy Carter
Administration, George Ball helped draft American policy proposals in the Persian
Gulf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Ball
What Really Happed to the Shah of Iran
http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/d84aeb1deb87ea96
[12] Senator James William Fulbright (1905-1995)
http://exchanges.state.gov/education/fulbright/fulbbio.htm
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=F000401
http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/Featured_Bio_Fulbright.htm
Zionist power structure in America
http://theunjustmedia.com/Jewish%20Zionists/Zionist%20Power%20Structure%20in%20America.htm
Zionist don't influence U.S. policy, they dominate it
http://www.the7thfire.com/9-11/Pastore_Investigation_of_%209-11/chapter_7--Zionist_power_structure_in_America.htm
Fulbright's warning: memorandum of July 1961
http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2002/2906fulbright.html
The Pentagon Propaganda Machine
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Pentagon_military/Pentagon_Propaganda_JWF.html
[13] Norman Finkelstein
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/content.php?pg=5
[14] "The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering"
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/content.php?pg=3
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/185984488X/
[15] "Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict"
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/content.php?pg=4
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1859844421/
[16] "Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History"
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/content.php?pg=11
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0520245989/
Bush's America: God, greed and gushers
http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/e50133609f08fac9
Like a roomful of Energizer bunnies, the jew-cons just keep going and going and
going, marching toward conflict with Iran, the next target on the Jew hit list
http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/7d5115d0f7e9b0f1