GUEST BLOG: Martin & Lois Griffiths – American sycophancy towards Israel
HOW NAUSEATING ..THIS SYCOPHANCY..THIS CRAWLING!!
American presidential hopefuls often give the impression that they are running for the Presidency of Israel.
In November Hillary Clinton wrote an opinion piece promising to strengthen relations with Israel and with Netanyahu.
Not to be outdone, in January Donald Trump said he supports moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and that he would be “very good” to Israel.
So, in February, Bill Clinton speaking in Florida on behalf of Hillary announced that, ” If elected, Hillary Clinton would make it one of her top priorities to strengthen the U.S.-Israel alliance.” Glenn Greenwald wonders if “it is even physically possible to “strengthen the U.S.-Israel alliance” beyond what it already entails: billions of dollars in American taxpayer money transferred every year, sophisticated weapons fed to Israel as it bombs its defenceless neighbours, blindly loyal diplomatic support and protection for everything it does.”
We might like to shrug all that off as American politics where we know super big money and the Israel lobby are so influential. Surely things are different in Europe.
If only..
The Austrian Parliament planned to hold an event in March “In Grandmother’s Words: The Fate of Women in the Second World War.” One Jewish woman was invited to speak, German-born American peace activist Hedy Epstein. Hedy, aged 91 , was invited as a witness of the Holocaust to talk about her experiences. As a teenager, she was able to escape Germany in 1939 on a Kindertransport.
Pro-Israel groups hate Hedy for her pro-Palestinian activism. Hedy Epstein became a supporter of Palestinian rights after the Sabra and Shatila massacres. She calls for a democratic secular state . She supports the economic and cultural boycott (BDS) of Israel. So much pressure was put on the Austrian Parliament that the event was cancelled, just two day after invitations were sent out.
There are other stories that should be told. But I’ve chosen this one because of my admiration for this wonderful woman. She has been a political activist most of her adult life. Recently she was arrest in Missouri protesting in solidarity with the African-American community of Ferguson after the murder of Michael Brown .
Hedy reminds us that there are decent people around, unafraid to stand for justice. Shame on the Austrian Parliament for backing down.
As for American politics, what can one say? Greg Palast coined the phrase, “The best democracy money can buy!”
Martin & Lois Griffiths suggest the reason almost all US presidential candidates support ‘strengthening’ the alliance between the US and Israel is because of the Israel lobby and also because US democracy has been bought by big money. This is an incomplete analysis. It leaves gaps that racist conspiracy theories can and will fill.
(In making this criticism, I am not in any way suggesting that Martin or Lois Griffiths support these theories, or intend to open space for them. I know them both to be fine and principled anti-racists.)
Why is big money a factor in US support for Israel? How is it linked to the Israel lobby? An increasingly popular, but inherently racist and incorrect answer is that a cabal of ‘Jewish bankers’, sometimes simply labelled ‘Zionists’, control the US economy and demand support for Israel against the national interest of the US itself.
For example, in the last week alone I’ve seen socialists sharing memes from the Facebook page Stop AIPAC, (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a US lobby group), only to find that as well as apparently pro-Palestinian, and anti-corporate memes, the page has cartoons of a grinning hooked nosed Jew rubbing his hands with glee as he plots world domination. Also circulating was a post from a local blogger who combines opposition to the TPPA with “911 Truth” conspiracies and insists that they can’t be anti-Semetic, because the Israeli Zionists aren’t really Jews or ‘real Semites’.
The apparent spread of these various racist conspiracy theories amongst supporters of Palestinian liberation in Aotearoa needs to recognised and stopped, for obvious reasons:
* Most supporters of Palestinian liberation are motivated by our opposition to racism in all its forms.
* Any association between anti-Jewish racism and supporters of the Palestinian cause will harm our movement by playing in to the hands of those who say any criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic racism.
* The theory that Zionism is part of a global conspiracy by Jews (or false Jews) is simply incorrect and won’t help liberate Palestine.
To close down the conspiracy theories, we need a better understanding of why almost all US politicians, senior government officials and business people support Israel. And that is because Israel plays a key role in US domination of the Middle East.
The US pays for that service, to the tune of US$3 billion a year, but as the pay master it remains the dominant side in the relationship.
Today, as US power in that vital region is declining following disastrous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the growing independence of Turkey and Saudi Arabia, the Arab Spring rebellions, the successes of ISIS and the interventions of Iran and Russia, it’s not at all surprising that the the US ruling class continue to support their most reliable ally.