You Can Say Anything about Anyone in the U.S., Except…
By: Haider Umar/Arab America Contributing Writer
So let’s dissect the Israeli-U.S. relationship, and why it’s so taboo to talk smack about Israeli domestic policy.
In the past decade, the U.S. has allotted Israel with billions of dollars in aid. Three billion dollars a year in funding is a pretty sweet deal for one of the world’s wealthiest per capita nations.
Additionally, the U.S. on countless occasions has stepped in to get Israel out of messy situations, such as the conflict with Iran. So, it’s pretty easy to see that in this one-sided relationship, Israel seems to be thriving immensely. Well, why wouldn’t they? Israel has a Robust and growing economy, U.S. Military backing against those Pesky Arab nations and most Importantly, the Pro-Israel Lobbyist groups.
After NRA, the most potent political lobbying comes at the hands of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). AIPAC’s relentless efforts to keep Israeli sympathies high in the U.S. and power to lobby Pro-Israel foreign policy successfully has risen exponentially.
The Plot Thickens:
Not only has Israel in recent years emerged as a critical alley in the Middle East but it has shown up U.S. authority at times without so much as a grunt from U.S. officials. During the Obama presidency, Republicans invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to come onto the Senate floor and blatantly bash the Obama admirations foreign policy agenda towards Iran. Netanyahu also undermined the U.S. president in his speech, an act that generally would enrage any American. The Israeli officials public ridiculing of U.S. presidential authority portrays a daunting realization of Israeli influence on U.S. politics to the public.
“If we pursue justice and peace, we are going to have to say that Netanyahu is not right all of the time.”- Bernie Sanders
In 2018, President Trump made history by recognizing Israel’s Sovereignty over Jerusalem. An act that effectively angered the entire Arab world and many other countries.
Why? You ask, well it’s quite simple, for a millennia Muslims, Jews, and Christians have all recognized Jerusalem as a holy place, and for years, these people had tried to live in harmony, up until third-party intervention (U.S. /EU) and blatant Israeli favoritism led to 50% of the former nation’s (Arabs) population without a home.
In 1947, a decimated Jewish population found a home in Israel after talks of a divided Arab and Jewish state fell through.
The world stood against the injustice that was brought upon Jewish people during WWII; but it almost comical to see that when the state of Israel itself is partaking in heinous Apartheid towards Palestinians, no one, not even the champion of Justice, the United States, bats an eye.
The U.S. is the world’s leading power in media and social media. In today’s U.S. culture, not even the president is safe from public scrutiny, but somehow Israel is?
So let’s get a little real here, the United States is one of Israel’s greatest allies, which in turn means our media shy’s away from Reporting, posting or even blogging about the injustices faced by Palestinians under Israeli occupation. News about brutality committed by the Israelis’ will never make headlines because networks fear being labeled as Anti-Semites, for speaking up against Israel.
Fun fact; Religions such as Judaism and Islam both find their cultural roots in Semitic languages. Ipso facto being anti-Arab Equals Being Anti-Semitic
And Yes, it is common knowledge that the Phrase “Anti-Semitic,” typically means hostility to or prejudice against Jews, but that’s all about context. History and culture cannot be erased, but words and phrases can be owned. Disdain towards Anti-Semitism was created to protect Jewish Heritage against discrimination; the U.S. media played a significant role in doing so by antagonizing anyone that stood against America’s Jewish alleys.
Israel’s growing influence over American Foreign policy is alarming, its blatant disregard of U.S. Presidential authority and discrimination against Palestinians show the true magnitude of its puppeteering abilities.
Israel is no longer just another U.S. alley but rather the mastermind that’s pulling strings behind closed doors.