Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been Critical Of Israel?

We live in a quid pro quo political universe. There are few laws that can keep the very rich from buying up all our elected representatives. The trick is to buy both the Republicans and the Democrats, and that is what the very rich have been doing for decades.

Foreign countries have learned this lesson as well. The Israel Lobby was there for Harry Truman when he was running low on reelection cash. In turn, he pressured the UN to recognize the state of Israel, in spite of the fact that Palestine was already owned by someone else.

More recently, the Israel Lobby has emerged as the most sinister political pressure group in our nation’s capital. Biden was paid more than any other member of Congress during his long, quid pro quo career. Trump has done him one better, selling the move of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem for 20 million in cash. Sheldon Adelson, billionaire Zionist, paid for the bribe.

A brief look at opensecrets.org will find that even our local House Representative is awash in Israel Lobby money. Pat Ryan stood tall against any cease fire resolution, despite the fact that millions of children in Gaza were starving. The Israel Lobby gave him over two hundred thousand last year to look the other way. In fact, the Lobby paid Congress over $58 million during the last election cycle, more than any other political action committee.

But the US Empire is getting something more from its troubled relationship with apartheid Israel. The dominance of the Middle East has long been one of the Empire’s goals, and Israel is more than willing to be our military proxy. That way, American troops aren’t committing war crimes or dying in our perpetual wars for oil. The various international courts like the ICC and the ICJ blame Israel and not the Empire for the charnel house that Gaza has become. And the rest of the world strongly condemns Israel for crimes against humanity, while overlooking the country that is supplying the missiles and two thousand pound bombs.

Another benefit for the Empire is the right to use “antisemitism” to crush human rights groups in the United States. Controlling the free expression of ideas has long been a goal of the Empire, especially when college students and faculty speak out against US militarism and racism. Now, our Congress is busy passing laws that equate all criticism of Israel’s war crimes with antisemitism. You don’t like the destruction of the hospitals, universities, and public infrastructure in Gaza? Why, you must be an antisemite! Don’t think starvation should be used as a weapon of war? Why, you must hate all Jews!

How many students will be mistreated or expelled under this new McCarthyism? How many teachers will be terminated or denied tenure? How many reporters will be fired? The Empire is having a field day with its new weapon against the free expression of ideas. Even bringing up the fact that the International Court of Justice found Israel guilty of genocide could cost someone their job.

Some pro Israel institutions are more than willing to support the Empire’s assault on our First Amendment rights. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance has come out with a definition of antisemitism that includes several examples of criticizing Israel. Many local and state governing bodies have accepted this flawed definition, without thinking too much about it. But conflating antisemitism with criticism of Israel has dangerous consequences for freedom of speech throughout American society. Apartheid and genocide must always be resisted, despite what the Empire would have us believe.