Many thanks to our good citizen, and Shamir Group moderator, Ken Freeland, Most (if not all) of us probably know that Robert Parry is one of our most skilled and highly respected American journalists. Most of us likely also know that he won a Pulitzer Prize for breaking the Iran-Contra story in the 1980s. Like all our best journalists, however, and like most of our GENUINE journalists, he has been forced out of the mainstream media because of his irritating (to them) habit of always wanting to find and report the objective truth. He now publishes ‘Consortium News’, one of our best and most reliable independent media outlets. Mr. Parry’s comments here are, as usual, incisive, but I am writing in response to encourage us that we shouldn’t be overly disappointed in this short-term outcome from Senator Sanders’ exchange with arch neo-Conservative Clinton, (whom I shudder to realize is likely to be our next president). Even though it did not have a large effect on the NY primary, the moment in the debate, (as well as other things Senator Sanders has said), was still a watershed event. To be fully aware of it as such, however, we must realize that it happened in the context of larger events that are going on behind the scenes, out of the attention of many of us, but very much in the impassioned attention of Jewish Americans. They key battleground in America right now concerning Israel, and its monstrous treatment of the millions of people it is holding captive under its brutal regime of martial law, the key battleground against Zionism, is taking place among and between Jewish Americans. I am a regular reader of the NY City based publication, ‘The Forward’, (formerly ‘The Jewish Daily Forward’). ‘The Forward’, which has a reputation as a ‘liberal’ publication, has a wide and diverse readership among Jewish Americans, and even among Jews in Israel itself. ‘The Forward’ has published many stories documenting this battle for the hearts and minds of Jewish Americans, and documenting the fact that this is a battle that the forces of Zionism are steadily losing. Many articles from Americans Jews, and addressed to and between other Americans Jews, have also appeared in many publications noting the steadily inexorable decline of support for Israel among America’s Jewish people. Make no mistake, these powerful Zionist forces are putting up a fierce fight, but even their fight itself is so blatantly morally depraved that it is primarily serving to even further alienate more American Jews. The offensive being mounted by arch-Zionist groups like AIPAC and ADL, against the BDS movement, and against American college and university groups like Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), is seeking to make it ILLEGAL to criticize Israel, at ALL. The device being used is an attempt to have ALL criticism of Israel defined as anti-Semitism, i.e.: as illegal hate speech. This is a serious and effective offensive. The tactics being used primarily consist of bringing various forms of financial pressure to bear. College and University administrations, for example, are being threatened with losing the large donations that come from powerful Jews, unless they issue outright bans on groups like SJP, and bans against promoting BDS on campus, under the pretext that these groups’ activities comprise anti-Semitism, and therefore are illegal hate speech. These same kinds of financial pressures are being brought to bear on politicians as well, on both the state and the national level. Pols are being ‘urged’, under threat of losing the financial donations on which they depend to keep their jobs, to pass laws making it ILLEGAL to criticize Israel at ALL, by defining, in law, such criticism as anti-Semitism, as illegal hate speech. Pressure is also being brought to bear in the comments sections of newspapers and other online media, to censor comments critical of Israel. This pressure also consists of financial threats, of withholding advertising revenue. Israel itself has a sizable organized force of propaganda operatives who routinely send barrages of comments to these comments sections of American publications. These Hasbara (propaganda) Brigades, as they are known, consist of American college students, as well as Israeli college students who are proficient in English and/or other languages. American students do this as volunteers, but Israeli students receive scholarships for their work, so they are, in effect, professional propaganda operatives. (It has been reported that Netanyahu himself maintains an elite Hasbara brigade, comprised of several hundred students, that he monitors and guides from his own office). I do most of my own writing in these comments sections, following from my own theory that this is the most effective place to apply my writing energy, because this is where I can confront the minds of people who disagree with me, (rather than by seeking to publish articles to be read admiringly by ‘the choir’). I can tell you from my own personal experience that it seems to be getting much more likely that one’s comments concerning Israel will be censored, even if they are calm, entirely civil, eminently reasoned, and only report what is true. The Zionist offensive against freedom of speech on this front seems very apparent to me. The Hasbara brigades, of course, can say whatever they want, even repeating the most outlandish and blatant lies, (as they constantly and shamelessly do), and even slinging ad hominem insults without restraint, calling people who disagree with them names, (like children on the playground), but they are not censored. What we must keep in mind, despite our disappointments, (such as that which Mr. Parry points out, and despite the effectiveness of Zionist forces in trying to quash free speech itself), is that the truth has its own power, and all Bibi’s horses, and all of his men, simply cannot keep the truth from eventually becoming known. The more these heavy handed attempts by Israel, and its Zionist American supporters, to suppress actual freedom of speech in America are simply perceived, as they are more widely with each day that passes, the more horrified Jewish Americans are becoming by what they are witnessing, and the more seriously, and more widely, they are re-considering their own commitment to the entire Zionist project. Many may have already seen the article by Phillip Weiss, published January 2016 on the Mondoweiss site. ( http://mondoweiss.net/2016/01/little-jewboy-moment-highlights-coming-divorce-between-us-jews-and-israel/ ), entitled ‘The Coming Divorce Between US Jews and Israel’. In the article Mr. Weiss writes: “American Jews, even mainstream ones indoctrinated to love Israel, are breaking more and more publicly with the Jewish state. The Netanyahu government is proving to be embarrassing to American Jews; they do not want to be associated with rightwing apartheid policies. The Netanyahu documentary on PBS was very mild, but a shot across the bow. The divorce that we have long predicted on this site is now on the horizon; and in years to come this separation will yield an even bigger reward: mainstream American Jews will declare themselves anti-Zionist”. Here is an article from The Forward, which says much the same thing: http://forward.com/opinion/326188/widening-rift-between-american-jews-and-israel-on-painful-display-at-saban/ From that article: “ “It’s like Americans trying to warn Israelis that a train is coming while they’re still on the tracks,” he [American-Israeli journalist Jeffrey Goldberg] said. It reminded me of a similar expression of exasperation made famous under different circumstances by former Israeli politician Haim Ramon, who told his Labor party: “Like a whale that has lost its sense of direction, you surge to the beach, seeking your own death. And I, with my feeble powers, am pushing you back into the water, but you resist, but you resist.” “ And this: “The [Jewish] American audience’s collective angst, built up over years since Barack Obama came into office but exponentially enhanced in the Iran deal confrontation with Benjamin Netanyahu, seemed to find expression in the extraordinary speech given by Secretary of State John Kerry. His warnings about the dangerous one-state reality that awaits an Israel that rebuffs a two state solution struck a deep chord in the audience, both in tone and in content. It was a powerful speech that nonetheless radiated powerlessness, not only Kerry’s but his listeners’ as well. It stood in stark contrast to the one delivered the next day by Saban-favorite Hillary Clinton, in campaign mode, who extolled Israeli-U.S. ties and kept her dire warnings of Israel’s fate to a bare minimum.” (If any are interested, they can find comments of mine in the comments section to this article. This is an excellent publication where a writer can directly confront some of the most “mad dog rabid” Zionists that anyone could imagine. Warning: many of the people commenting are doing so from Israel itself, and many of these people are dingbat nutball crazy. They are worse than the most virulent religious zealots in their pathological zealotry. They are actually monstrously PROUD of their naked and shocking racism. It is a very difficult environment in which to operate, but if a writer will pick and choose his ground effectively, in the midst of the minefield, one can have a considerable effect. If anyone here should tread there, just be aware that it is not for the faint of heart). The point I’m trying to make is that the most important battle against Zionism in America is taking place out of sight of most people. It is taking place between Jewish Americans. Zionist Israel, despite all its efforts to quash freedom of speech, is steadily losing ground. The more that the Zionists make attempts to crush actual freedom of speech in the US, the more horrified that more Jewish Americans are becoming over this entire Zionist project. It was reported almost two tears ago that 30% of Jewish Americans under 30, almost a third, considered Israel’s horrifically monstrous bombardment of the defenseless civilian population of Gaza to be a crime. As that knell resonated across the land, that Jewish American youth are abandoning Israel, the inevitable fate of Zionism itself pealed ominously. Since then, as Israel has elevated its most virulent extremist elements to prominence, including monstrous characters like Ayalet Shaked, who openly and publicly promoted the mass killing of Palestinian mothers “before they can birth more little snakes”, (and then was promoted to be Minister of Justice), more and more Jewish Americans are realizing that in the support they have given to Israel, they never signed on to be a part of this degree of monstrous pathological craziness. How close are we to a crucial tipping point? I don’t know, and I’m not sure that anyone possibly could. But it is actually possible that we are much closer than anyone realizes. As many in this esteemed Shamir group likely know, the way these things often go is that painfully slow progress is made, over a very long time, until near the end things accelerate exponentially, and events unfold with ‘shocking’ speed. In the late 1980s, how many believed that the demise of the USSR was as near as it was? If Jewish Americans reach the tipping point, if some event, some horrific deed by the monstrous extremists in Israel, makes them retreat en masse in shock and horror, the entire ‘house of cards’ that the Zionists have built in America could very suddenly come tumbling down. America’s support for the Zionist project could come to an end as sudden and unexpected as the crashing down of the walls of the USSR. The ever more ponderously arrogant Netanyahu seems to be growing more desperately extremist as his girth expands. He is looking more like the bloody butcher of Sabra and Shatila, Sharon, every day. And he is sounding much more like Pompey the Great, long gone into his soft and corpulent years, who boasted, as the lean and battle-hardened general sat in his saddle with the Rubicon in front of him, “All I need do is stomp my foot, and soldiers from all of Italy will come to my command!”. In much the same vein, Bibi brags: “Israel will always live by the sword”. Oh REALLY? And what if Daddy America takes away Bibi’s sword? If Jewish Americans throw up their hands and declare their divorce from this monstrously brutal nation, does anyone think that unconditional US support for Israel will continue? Do 6 million Jews in Israel think they can stand alone against the entire world? We all know that Caesar, after long pondering his fate, after envisioning all the momentous events his actions would cause, spurred his horse across that stream, and Pompey, like all the Roman power elite, immediately took off running headlong from Rome. The whole lot of them. They ran away. Cicero, always ready with a wry barb, (as he gathered everything he could carry to join the headlong flight), chided Pompey (with the obvious), “It’s time to stomp your foot, O Pompey the Great”. The days of the ascendance of Zionism have already passed. The fate of this ill-conceived project has crossed its zenith. It now struggles desperately, and with ever more difficulty, to slow its fall. More and more Jewish Americans simply cannot countenance the behavior of this racist fascist nation of Israel, and its evil deeds. And as each one leaves, one more block of stone falls from the ramparts of Zionism. |
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