Praise for anti-Zionism
By
Yahya Chaudhry |
IDS
POSTED AT
10:39 PM ON Oct. 27, 2008
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EDITOR'S NOTE:
We have received many comments regarding Tuesday’s column “Praise for anti-Zionism,” including several accusations of racism and bigotry.
The column, which intended to advance the debate on U.S.-Israeli policy, was taken by some to be inflammatory and hurtful.
Our columnist’s goal was not to promote or to accept anti-Semitism in any way, and we published it to encourage debate.
The IDS stands against all racism, which we regret some felt we displayed. Likewise, we oppose the racism that was directed against our columnist and various other ethnic groups in response to the column in letters, online comments and phone calls.
We apologize that anyone felt offended or attacked.
The goal of the opinion section is to create a dialogue and we are always happy to open the doors to you, our readers. We hope that you will submit all your letters and requests for guest columns to letters@idsnews.com.
Thank you for everyone’s constructive feedback.
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What if the United States elects an anti-Zionist president?
That’s exactly what Rev. Jesse Jackson suggested when he said Barack Obama would rid the United States of “Zionist” control if elected.
In response to these falsities, Obama spokesperson Wendy Morigi said, “Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. is not an advisor to the Obama campaign and is therefore in no position to interpret or share Barack Obama’s views on Israel and foreign policy.” She went on to stress Obama’s loyalty to Israel. Obama quickly threw Jackson under the bus, just like he did to his pastor of more than 20 years, Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
What makes everyone afraid to be anti-Zionist? The Israeli lobby.
Obama probably looks to Nobel Peace Prize-winner President Jimmy Carter as an example of what not to do. When Jimmy Carter released his book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,” the Israeli lobby unfairly attacked him using their “finely honed techniques of defamation, slander and intimidation.”
Since then, intellectual pedants like Alan Dershowitz vociferously attacked Carter as “shallow and superficial.” Remember, this is the man who defended Eliot Spitzer’s involvement in prostitution. Even more embarrassing than being attacked by the crazed Dershowitz, the Democratic Party sidelined Carter at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
There’s no confirmed proof that Democrats shunned Carter because of his criticism of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but speculation abounds. Carter can be written off thanks to the Israeli lobby.
But what if a future president is anti-Zionist? Would that be so wrong? Not at all.
Israel wastes American tax dollars and support. Between 1949 and Nov. 1, 1997, Israel cost U.S. taxpayers a total of $134,791,507,200, according to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. That is a total benefit of $14,630 per Israeli!
In short, the U.S. fiscally supported Israel’s oppressive and corrupt policies of occupation and colonization. Even former speaker of the Israeli Knesset, Avraham Burg, said, “The Israeli nation today rests on a scaffolding of corruption and on foundations of oppression and injustice.”
As if to confirm this statement, the current Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, will step down because of corruption charges. One cannot deny Israel’s violent conquest of the Palestinian territories, reticent of South African apartheid.
Israeli leaders say Israel has no soul and “to define the State of Israel as a Jewish state is the key to its end. A Jewish state is explosive. It’s dynamite.”
Why should America support a corrupt and pernicious country, especially after its own leaders deride its founding principals? It should not.
America desperately needs an anti-Zionist president. An anti-Zionist president would save America’s moral soul and taxpayer dollars. Anyway, if Jews really are God’s chosen people, then the Jewish state of Israel does not need American support. Israel has a monopoly on God. Who would go against Him?
Unfortunately, neither Obama nor McCain has the chutzpah to be anti-Zionist. But even if America has an anti-Zionist president, the Israeli lobby will always have a representative in Sen. Joseph Lieberman, who seems to represent Tel Aviv more than Connecticut.
Editor’s Note: “to define the State of Israel as a Jewish state is the key to its end. A Jewish state is explosive. It’s dynamite.” can be attributed to former speaker of the Israeli Knesset, Avraham Burg, who is mentioned earlier in the column. Burg, when speaking on what he thought were the mistakes of Zionism, also said “Israeliness has only body; it doesn’t have soul.”