Special to LewRockwell.com
“Tell me who you cannot criticize and I
will tell you who is your master”. Attributed to Voltaire.
Saying
anything negative about Israel has long been the third rail of US politics and
media. Israel is our nation’s most sacred cow. Any questioning of
its behavior brings furious charges of anti-Semitism and professional oblivion.
I keep in my bookcase a
cautionary book, ‘They Dared Speak Out’ written by US senators and
congressmen who all lost their positions after rebuking Israel for its
mistreatment of Palestinians or daring to suggest that Israel had far too much
influence in the US.
Journalists
learn this first commandment very early. Criticize, or even question,
Israel at your own peril. Until recently, we journalists were not even
allowed to write there was an ‘Israel lobby.’ It was widely considered
Washington’s most powerful lobby group but, until lately, mentioning its name
was seriously verboten.
Now,
young Democratic stars Tulsi Gabbard, Kamala Harris, Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez and a feisty congresswoman from Minnesota, Ilhan Omar, have
suddenly broken the taboo and said what dared not be said: there is too much
rightwing Israeli influence and there must be justice for Palestine.
Presidential
candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have come to the defense of Ilhan
Omar against the usual charges that she is anti-Semitic. So have black
groups and smaller liberal Jewish groups. The Democratic Party, that once
received half its financial support from Jewish sources, is badly split over
the Palestine crisis. Its old guard is retreating and does not know what
to do beyond issuing fiery denunciations of the heretical Miss Omar. The
Democrat Party split comes just at a time when it is trying to bring down
President Donald Trump.
Many
people seem unaware that Islam is now America’s third largest religion and may
soon surpass the number of Jews. In Canada, Muslims are already the
second religion.
Ilhan
is not anti-Semitic. I grew up in New York and New England where vicious
anti-Semitism abounded. I know real anti-Semitism when I see it.
But she is quite right in charging that vast amounts of pro-Israel money have
bought Congress and the media.
Sheldon Adelson, the
pro-Israel casino tycoon, has given well over $100 million to the Republican
Party and its leaders. This money comes from legal gambling, a sickness
that preys on addicts and the unfortunate.
In
the 1700’s, Dr. Samuel Johnson well defined lotteries and gambling as ‘a tax on
fools.’ Such is the source of Adelson’s billions and his influence over
the US political process. He is also the primary financier of Israel’s
prime minister, Benyamin Netanyahu, who now faces serious charges of
corruption.
Interestingly,
Britain faces a similar political storm. Its left-leaning Labour Party,
led by Jeremy Corbyn, has called for justice for the Palestinians and a viable
state for them. Britain’s pro-Israel groups and media have
launched furious counterattacks on Corbyn and his allies, barraging them
with false accusations of being anti-Semitic. This is utter
nonsense. To find real anti-Semitism in Britain you need look into the
recesses of the Conservative Party. I’ve seen its ugly face.
Israel’s brutal repression of
Palestinians has sparked bitter anti-Israel sentiments across Europe. Not
so much in America, where media leans far over to Israel’s side and evangelical
Christians have been bamboozled into believing that a Greater Israel is somehow
necessary for the Second Coming.
But
young Americans, and even more so Europeans, are increasingly hearing the call
of justice for Palestine. They want no truck with Israel’s right-wingers,
whom many leftist Israelis, including the late great writer, Uri
Avnery, brand ‘fascists.’
The
prescient and courageous Pat Buchanan said it years ago: the US Congress was
‘Israeli occupied territory.’ His political career was ruined.
So
was my mother’s career. She was one of the first American female journalists to
cover the Mideast in the early 1950’s. After extensively reporting the
unknown fact that there were nearly one million Palestinian refugees driven
from the new state of Israel, she was silenced by advertisers pulling ads from
the papers she wrote for and, finally, threats to throw acid in my face.
Her career was ruined.
So I
say to Miss Omar and the other brave ladies, full speed ahead. Damn the
torpedoes. Do what is good for the world and your country. Break the
hold of big money over our republic.
Eric S.
Margolis [send him
mail] is the author of War at the Top of the World and the new
book, American Raj: Liberation or Domination?: Resolving the
Conflict Between the West and the Muslim World. See his website.
Copyright © 2019 Eric Margolis
