There is a Christian belief, believe it or not, to return the Jews to the ‘Holy land’, which pre-dates both the establishment of the Zionist movement and the establishment of Israel. Lobbying by these groups, to influence the US Government in ways similar to Zionist ideology, dates back to at least the 19th century. In 1844, Christian restorationist George Bush, a professor of Hebrew at New York University and distant relative of the US political Bush family, published a book entitled The Valley of Vision; or, The Dry Bones of Israel Revived. In it he denounced “the thralldom and oppression which has so long ground them (the Jews) to the dust,” and called for “elevating” the Jews “to a rank of honorable repute among the nations of the earth” by restoring the Jews to the land of Israel where the bulk would be converted to Christianity. This, according to Bush, would benefit not only the Jews, but all of mankind, forming a “link of communication” between humanity and God.
In 1914, the involvement of Louis Brandeis and his brand of American Zionism made Jewish Zionism a force on the American political scene for the first time. Under his leadership it had increased ten-fold to about 200,000 strong. As chair of the American Provisional Executive Committee of General Zionist Affairs, Brandeis raised millions of dollars, at that time a huge amount of money, to relieve Jews suffering in war-torn Europe, and from that time became the financial center for the world Zionist movement. The British Balfour Declaration of 1917 additionally advanced the Zionist movement and gave it official legitimacy. The US Congress passed the first joint resolution stating its support for a homeland in Palestine for the Jewish people on September 21, 1922. The same day, the Mandate of Palestine was approved by the Council of the League of Nations.
It would seem, Palestinians, in some eyes, held absolutely no right to ownership of their own land, instead having it removed from their ownership whether they agreed with it or not. Which is where we find ourselves today. Many wonder why countries such as the UK and America are so ardent in their support for Israel, why they are pained to criticise Israel and why the word ‘antisemitic’ is a word now used to describe someone who disagrees with Israel, rather than its intended use to describe someone who dislikes Jews. Israel has such power that it can change the very meaning of a word through its influence in sovereign nations.
In fact, the pressure was so great from Jewish and Israeli lobbies around the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine (note, at the time land was called Palestine) and the Israeli Declaration of Independence, that in 1948 President Truman was noted as saying – “The facts were that not only were there pressure movements around the United Nations unlike anything that had been seen there before, but that the White House, too, was subjected to a constant barrage. I do not think I ever had as much pressure and propaganda aimed at the White House as I had in this instance. The persistence of a few of the extreme Zionist leaders – actuated by political motives and engaging in political threats – disturbed and annoyed me.”
That pressure has never subsided. AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, is without doubt the principal and most powerful reason why President Joe Biden refuses to outright condemn Israel’s disproportionate use of force against what has predominantly been, innocent Palestinians. AIPAC has been called the most powerful lobbying group in the United States, with many claiming it holds at least some sway over who actually becomes President of the United States. Those running for President, who do not show support for Israel will find themselves on the business end of a multi-million dollar propaganda machine which will vilify, shame and turn them into an antisemite, even if they aren’t, which will make the mere sound of their name so toxic that many won’t touch them with a ten foot barge pole. Simply put, AIPAC has American politics and politicians wrapped around its proverbial little finger and has had for generations.
It has so much power and support in American political circles, that it can realistically label itself a bipartisan American organisation, which is very rare. Usually Democrats support a cause or Republicans support a cause, rarely both. It is an ‘Israeli’ lobby, openly lobbying the US Government on its foreign policy regarding Israel and the Middle East, something which has caused absolute outrage at times when it comes to events such as America’s stepping back from the Iran Nuclear Deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Contrary to what some may think, Iran was actually complying with what was expected of them under the deal, in fact, they were actually going above and beyond what the deal detailed, and this is confirmed in monitoring and verification rounds in Iran by IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) nuclear inspectors. However, President Trump took counsel from one Benjamin Netanyahu, with the situation becoming so heated at one stage, that Mr. Netanyahu openly called for America to make a first strike against Iran, with secret documents detailing American generals actually having to talk Trump down from hitting that big red button. In the days prior to this, there were many US media outlets detailing the fact that personalities from AIPAC were witnessed entering the Whitehouse, no doubt to put pressure on Trump to make that first strike on Iran. Thankfully that didn’t happen.
Israel, a state with 90 nuclear warheads with the fissile material to make up to 200, a fact which, to this day it denies. In fact Israel denies it has any nuclear weapons at all. Some of those 90 active nuclear weapons are based on submersible platforms. Israel is armed to the teeth with American and British hardware and weapons and is obliterating a tiny enclave which even the Isle of Man is 1.59 times bigger than. Israel is using overwhelming military force against the population of Gaza whose ‘defender’s’ largest, most destructive weapon is home-made unguided rockets which regularly fall short of the Iron perimeter. One of Israel’s threats against Iran and indeed Syria is that those countries are arming Hamas, which is obviously blatant lies. Iran has one of the most technologically advanced militaries in the Middle East. It buys much of its armaments from Russia which has raised the stakes in recent years regarding technology and weaponry. So if Iran is arming Hamas…why are they still using home-made, unguided rockets which are all but ineffective at the best of times? Additionally, there is almost a constant blockade of Gaza by Israel by land, sea and air ensuring that unless Israel permits entry into Gaza, nothing gets in.
An integral part of Israel’s defence is, not ironically, lies and misinformation. Ensuring that Hamas and the Palestinians are always seen as the aggressor rather than the victim allows Israel to roll out the ‘poor me’ attitude at every turn. They bombed the Gaza Media Building, claiming Hamas had been using the building as a base to organise attacks against Israel, something which, to date they have not shown any evidence of and which media outlets are demanding evidence of. Many viewed this attack in its true light as a threat to the media that they should toe the Israeli line and denounce Hamas and the Palestinians, as their reporting was showing Israel and their war in a damning light due to the extensive civilian casualties and deaths of innocent men, women and children.
We will most definitely, at some point arrive at a place where the world will be forced to challenge Israel on their aggression in the region and to acknowledge that Palestinians have a right to exist and actually have a right to the land known as Palestine before it was wiped off maps of the region which is what the Nakba Day commemorates. It commemorates the 700,000 Palestinians who were expelled by Israel – or who fled in fear during Israel’s ‘founding’ in 1948. The commemoration had special resonance this year, since it was Israel’s impending expulsion of six Palestinian families from the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah that helped trigger the violent struggle currently engulfing Gaza. For many Palestinians, that imminent expulsion was evidence that the Nakba has still not come to an end.
America and the UK and indeed the EU must stand up to Israel and demand it cease its history of aggression toward 2 million Palestinians which it keeps imprisoned in and which it inflicts daily war crimes upon. Until the two sides sit down and talk there will be no peace and until the entire world ignores the pressure lobbies to bring about actual meaningful peace in the Israel-Gaza issue, there will be no lasting peace. No time like the present.
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