Since 1976, Israel has been the top recipient of free money from the United States government. In 2004, Israel received $2.16 billion from the U.S.; in 2009, 3.2 billion. These are your federal tax dollars at work...
Recently, U.S. President Obama announced a plan to increase that 3.2 billion figure and give an additional $200 million to Israel for a missile system development project. But the fact is: Israel has been obtaining weaponry and weapons technology at no cost from America for over sixty years.
I. America's pro-Israel lobby
America has the largest pro-Israel lobby outside of Israel itself. Since 1954, the pro-Israel lobby has been led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, known as AIPAC. On a regular basis, AIPAC meets with members of the U.S. Congress and hosts events where its views are explained to America's decision makers. The organization also gives support to politicians in Washington when they are "pro-Israel". Incidentally, some of the biggest names in politics have received AIPAC's support, including John McCain, John Kerry, the Clintons and the Bushes.
The following firms either support AIPAC, advocate pro-Zionist U.S. policy or provide finances to Israel: Starbucks, Coca-Cola (Fruitopia, Fanta, Sprite, Sunkist...), Revlon, McDonald's, Motorola, Dannon, Nokia, Estée Lauder, Intel, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, L'Oreal, Giorgio Armani, Vichy, Garnier, Siemens, Maybelline, Ralph Lauren, Nestle, Sara Lee (Hanes, Playtex, Champion, Leggs, Douwe Egberts, Bryan, DIM, Ambi Pur, Bali, Superior Coffee, Just My Size, Kiwi, Maison, Outer Banks, Wonderbra...), The Limited Inc. (Express stores, Structure, Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works...), Kimberly-Clark (Kleenex, Kotex, Huggies...), Apax Partners & Co Ltd, Delta Galil (Barbie, Victoria's Secret, GAP, Banana Republic, Structure, J-Crew, JC Penny, Pryca, Lindex, DIM, DKNY, Ralph Lauren, Playtex, Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss...), Estee Lauder (Aramis, Clinique, DKNY, Tommy Hilfiger...), Marks & Spencer, Timberland and Home Depot.
AOL Time Warner, Disney and News Corporation, as well as their subsidiaries in broadcast (Fox News, CNN, Sky, Star, Phoenix, Granada, CNBC) and print media (The Sun, The Times, The Telegraph, Herald Sun, Independent, Sunday Mail, New York Post and New York Times), are also part of the pro-Israel lobby. These media giants present events in the Middle East with a pro-Israel slant, to nobody's surprise. After all, News Corporation's owner, Rupert Murdoch, is a member of the Bilderberg Group, a major player in pro-Israel, neo-con planning. Murdoch is just as big of an Israel supporter as AOL Time Warner and Disney, both which are Jewish-owned companies.
II. The pro-Israeli lobby encourages war-mongering
In 2001, America's AIPAC-led, pro-Israel lobby was one of the loudest sources arguing that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The lobby also wanted us to believe that Iraq's leader, Saddam Hussein, had connections to Al Qaida (the organization said to be responsible for the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001). Of course, no WMDs were found in Iraq and no connection between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaida turned up. Nevertheless, the invasion of Iraq took place under these premises and, as a result, the Iraq of old, a vocal opponent of Israel and a potential threat to Israeli interests, disappeared.
Now the media and our politicians are focused on Iran; whereas Iraq held anti-Israeli sentiments and possessed chemical agents capable of reaching Israel, Iran's president has questioned Israel's right to exist and challenged the accepted version of the Holocaust. Iran also supports the Palestinians and Hezbollah, two groups which the Israelis are at odds with over land claims. But, most importantly, Iran is making progress towards obtaining nuclear power, and this has some of Israel's supporters very upset - even to the point where they have advocated bombing Iran to stop the building of a nuclear plant:
II. Israel's use of U.S.-given funds and weaponry
Incidentally, some of the military technology and weaponry that Israel has received from the U.S. was put into action during the Israeli army's operations in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon. The destruction that took place during these campaigns forced many civilians to flee. Many of the displaced are Muslims who have since fled to the US and Europe. Thus, their flight is contributing to the growing "clash of civilizations" in the US and Europe, where mass Muslim immigration is threatening to change the social landscape of both areas. In Europe, at least, Muslims are slated to become the majority population by the second half of the 21st century. The Muslim exodus from Gaza and the West Bank works in Israel's advantage, because Israel wants Gaza and the West Bank to itself.
Incidentally, the extra military muscle given to Israel has made Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip easier to enforce. Of course, this enforcement is in defiance of a recent agreement in which Israel promised to withdraw its troops from the region. Israel also has military forces in the West Bank. This is a region with several, newly-built Israeli settlements, which were also established against regulations. Ultimately, it comes down to this: with power, you can make the rules for other nations and play by your own. And that is exactly what Israel has done.
In 1982, Israel attacked Lebanon to neutralize the militants there who were associated with the Palestinian Liberation Organization. The invasion was widely condemned, but the U.S. did nothing in response to the act except to temporarily suspend the sale of jet fighters to Israel. In hindsight, considering the size and strength of the pro-Israel lobby in America, the reaction (or lack of a reaction) was predictable. More importantly, the events of 1982 led to the rise of Hezbollah, the very organization mentioned earlier in this article, which was formed to expell Israeli troops from Lebanon. It is no wonder that Hezbollah is considered a "terrorist organization" by both the U.S. and Israel, although only two other countries in the world share this opinion. In any case, the U.S. simply sat back and watched as the Israeli military conducted a helicopter strike in southern Lebanon and assassinated the then-leader of Hezbollah, his wife, son, and four others in 1992.
In 2006, after a border skirmish between Hezbollah and the Israeli army, Israel invaded Lebanon again and launched major air strikes on several Lebanese cities. Thousands of civilians died in the attacks; others were forced to flee the country as refugees, more or less helping Israel secure its place in the Middle East at the expense of the Muslim population. Once again, Israel's response was not challenged by the U.S. and no sanctions against Israel followed. In fact, the only sanctions put into place that year by the U.S. were those put on the besieged Palestinians shortly after they voted for their own resistance organization, Hamas, to represent the interests of their people.
III. The "proxy war" unfolding
Today, Saudi Arabia supports Hamas, while Iran supports Hezbollah. Additionally, Iran is thought to have armed the anti-Western Islamists who are fighting in Iraq; some even claim that Iran provided military training for them. At the same time, Muslims from around the world have helped fund Hamas or Hezbollah. Some financial contributors are refugees in the West who still feel connected to their homelands in Palestine or Lebanon, respectively. All in all, this demonstrates how both sides, the Jews and their Muslim enemies, are fighting a proxy war; while the Muslim world secretly arms the Palestinians, Hamas or Hezbollah with weapons or money to purchase weapons, Jews from all over the world who support Zionism lend their support to the Israeli cause. Likewise, patriotic, democracy-loving Americans are told by their pro-Israeli government and media to support the Israelis and distrust those who reject Israel. And why? Because the Israeli war thrives on popular support and donated money. Don't be a pawn: understand the dynamics of the Middle Eastern crisis and the repercussions of America's pro-Israel lobbyism before supporting war profiteering or casting judgement on the crisis.
Recently, U.S. President Obama announced a plan to increase that 3.2 billion figure and give an additional $200 million to Israel for a missile system development project. But the fact is: Israel has been obtaining weaponry and weapons technology at no cost from America for over sixty years.
I. America's pro-Israel lobby
AOL Time Warner, Disney and News Corporation, as well as their subsidiaries in broadcast (Fox News, CNN, Sky, Star, Phoenix, Granada, CNBC) and print media (The Sun, The Times, The Telegraph, Herald Sun, Independent, Sunday Mail, New York Post and New York Times), are also part of the pro-Israel lobby. These media giants present events in the Middle East with a pro-Israel slant, to nobody's surprise. After all, News Corporation's owner, Rupert Murdoch, is a member of the Bilderberg Group, a major player in pro-Israel, neo-con planning. Murdoch is just as big of an Israel supporter as AOL Time Warner and Disney, both which are Jewish-owned companies.
II. The pro-Israeli lobby encourages war-mongering
In 2001, America's AIPAC-led, pro-Israel lobby was one of the loudest sources arguing that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The lobby also wanted us to believe that Iraq's leader, Saddam Hussein, had connections to Al Qaida (the organization said to be responsible for the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001). Of course, no WMDs were found in Iraq and no connection between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaida turned up. Nevertheless, the invasion of Iraq took place under these premises and, as a result, the Iraq of old, a vocal opponent of Israel and a potential threat to Israeli interests, disappeared.
Now the media and our politicians are focused on Iran; whereas Iraq held anti-Israeli sentiments and possessed chemical agents capable of reaching Israel, Iran's president has questioned Israel's right to exist and challenged the accepted version of the Holocaust. Iran also supports the Palestinians and Hezbollah, two groups which the Israelis are at odds with over land claims. But, most importantly, Iran is making progress towards obtaining nuclear power, and this has some of Israel's supporters very upset - even to the point where they have advocated bombing Iran to stop the building of a nuclear plant:
"Israel has only mere days to launch an attack on Iran’s Bushehr nuclear reactor if Russia makes good on its plan to deliver fuel there this weekend [...]By contrast, the Israelis have hundreds of nuclear warheads at their disposal. It is even possible that Israel's first bombs were made with highly enriched uranium that was stolen in the mid-1960s from a US Navy nuclear fuel plant operated by the Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation. Furthermore, the Israelis have threatened to strike Iran (Iran, notably, has never threatened to initiate a conflict with Israel. If Iran had, this surely would have become part of the pro-Israel lobby's argument as to why war with Iran is "necessary"). Nevertheless, America continues to fund Israel's weapon arsenal.
[...] once Russia has loaded the fuel into the reactor -- slated for Saturday – Israel would no longer be willing to strike for fear of triggering widespread radiation in an attack.
Israel took out Iraq’s Osiraq reactor during a stealth mission in 1981. It is also believed to have conducted a similar strike on an alleged Syria nuclear site in 2007."
(from "Israel has days to strike Bushehr," The Jerusalem Post - 8/17/2010):
II. Israel's use of U.S.-given funds and weaponry
Incidentally, some of the military technology and weaponry that Israel has received from the U.S. was put into action during the Israeli army's operations in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon. The destruction that took place during these campaigns forced many civilians to flee. Many of the displaced are Muslims who have since fled to the US and Europe. Thus, their flight is contributing to the growing "clash of civilizations" in the US and Europe, where mass Muslim immigration is threatening to change the social landscape of both areas. In Europe, at least, Muslims are slated to become the majority population by the second half of the 21st century. The Muslim exodus from Gaza and the West Bank works in Israel's advantage, because Israel wants Gaza and the West Bank to itself.
Incidentally, the extra military muscle given to Israel has made Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip easier to enforce. Of course, this enforcement is in defiance of a recent agreement in which Israel promised to withdraw its troops from the region. Israel also has military forces in the West Bank. This is a region with several, newly-built Israeli settlements, which were also established against regulations. Ultimately, it comes down to this: with power, you can make the rules for other nations and play by your own. And that is exactly what Israel has done.
In 1982, Israel attacked Lebanon to neutralize the militants there who were associated with the Palestinian Liberation Organization. The invasion was widely condemned, but the U.S. did nothing in response to the act except to temporarily suspend the sale of jet fighters to Israel. In hindsight, considering the size and strength of the pro-Israel lobby in America, the reaction (or lack of a reaction) was predictable. More importantly, the events of 1982 led to the rise of Hezbollah, the very organization mentioned earlier in this article, which was formed to expell Israeli troops from Lebanon. It is no wonder that Hezbollah is considered a "terrorist organization" by both the U.S. and Israel, although only two other countries in the world share this opinion. In any case, the U.S. simply sat back and watched as the Israeli military conducted a helicopter strike in southern Lebanon and assassinated the then-leader of Hezbollah, his wife, son, and four others in 1992.
In 2006, after a border skirmish between Hezbollah and the Israeli army, Israel invaded Lebanon again and launched major air strikes on several Lebanese cities. Thousands of civilians died in the attacks; others were forced to flee the country as refugees, more or less helping Israel secure its place in the Middle East at the expense of the Muslim population. Once again, Israel's response was not challenged by the U.S. and no sanctions against Israel followed. In fact, the only sanctions put into place that year by the U.S. were those put on the besieged Palestinians shortly after they voted for their own resistance organization, Hamas, to represent the interests of their people.
III. The "proxy war" unfolding
Today, Saudi Arabia supports Hamas, while Iran supports Hezbollah. Additionally, Iran is thought to have armed the anti-Western Islamists who are fighting in Iraq; some even claim that Iran provided military training for them. At the same time, Muslims from around the world have helped fund Hamas or Hezbollah. Some financial contributors are refugees in the West who still feel connected to their homelands in Palestine or Lebanon, respectively. All in all, this demonstrates how both sides, the Jews and their Muslim enemies, are fighting a proxy war; while the Muslim world secretly arms the Palestinians, Hamas or Hezbollah with weapons or money to purchase weapons, Jews from all over the world who support Zionism lend their support to the Israeli cause. Likewise, patriotic, democracy-loving Americans are told by their pro-Israeli government and media to support the Israelis and distrust those who reject Israel. And why? Because the Israeli war thrives on popular support and donated money. Don't be a pawn: understand the dynamics of the Middle Eastern crisis and the repercussions of America's pro-Israel lobbyism before supporting war profiteering or casting judgement on the crisis.
