Criminalizing criticism of Israel?

[mhgaffney]

The End of Free Speech?

Criminalizing Criticism of Israel

By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

On October 16, 2004, President George W. Bush signed the Israel Lobby’s bill, the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act. This legislation requires the US Department of State to monitor anti-semitism world wide.

To monitor anti-semitism, it has to be defined. What is the definition? Basically, as defined by the Israel Lobby and Abe Foxman, it boils down to any criticism of Israel or Jews.

Rahm Israel Emanuel hasn’t been mopping floors at the White House.
As soon as he gets the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 passed, it will become a crime for any American to tell the truth about Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and theft of their lands.

It will be a crime for Christians to acknowledge the New Testament’s account of Jews demanding the crucifixion of Jesus.

It will be a crime to report the extraordinary influence of the Israel Lobby on the White House and Congress, such as the AIPAC-written resolutions praising Israel for its war crimes against the Palestinians in Gaza that were endorsed by 100 per cent of the US Senate and 99 per cent of the House of Representatives, while the rest of the world condemned Israel for its barbarity.

It will be a crime to doubt the Holocaust.

It will become a crime to note the disproportionate representation of Jews in the media, finance, and foreign policy.

In other words, it means the end of free speech, free inquiry, and the First Amendment to the Constitution. Any facts or truths that cast aspersion upon Israel will simply be banned.

Given the hubris of the US government, which leads Washington to apply US law to every country and organization, what will happen to the International Red Cross, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, and the various human rights organizations that have demanded investigations of Israel’s military assault on Gaza’s civilian population? Will they all be arrested for the hate crime of “excessive” criticism of Israel?

This is a serious question.

A recent UN report, which is yet to be released in its entirety, blames Israel for the deaths and injuries that occurred within the United Nations premises in Gaza. The Israeli government has responded by charging that the UN report is “tendentious, patently biased,” which puts the UN report into the State Department’s category of excessive criticism and strong anti-Israel sentiment.

Israel is getting away with its blatant use of the American government to silence its critics despite the fact that the Israeli press and Israeli soldiers have exposed the Israeli atrocities in Gaza and the premeditated murder of women and children urged upon the Israeli invaders by rabbis. These acts are clearly war crimes.

It was the Israeli press that published the pictures of the Israeli soldiers’ T-shirts that indicate that the willful murder of women and children is now the culture of the Israeli army. The T-shirts are horrific expressions of barbarity. For example, one shows a pregnant Palestinian woman with a crosshairs over her stomach and the slogan, “One shot, two kills.” These T-shirts are an indication that Israel’s policy toward the Palestinians is one of extermination.

It has been true for years that the most potent criticism of Israel’s mistreatment of the Palestinians comes from the Israeli press and Israeli peace groups. For example, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz and Jeff Halper of ICAHD have shown a moral conscience that apparently does not exist in the Western democracies where Israel’s crimes are covered up and even praised.

Will the American hate crime bill be applied to Haaretz and Jeff Halper? Will American commentators who say nothing themselves but simply report what Haaretz and Halper have said be arrested for “spreading hatred of Israel, an anti-semitic act”?

Many Americans have been brainwashed by the propaganda that Palestinians are terrorists who threaten innocent Israel. These Americans will see the censorship as merely part of the necessary war on terror. They will accept the demonization of fellow citizens who report unpalatable facts about Israel and agree that such people should be punished for aiding and abetting terrorists.

A massive push is underway to criminalize criticism of Israel. American university professors have fallen victim to the well organized attempt to eliminate all criticism of Israel. Norman Finkelstein was denied tenure at a Catholic university because of the power of the Israel Lobby. Now the Israel Lobby is after University of California (at Santa Barbara,) professor Wiliam Robinson. Robinson’s crime: his course on global affairs included some reading assignments critical of Israel’s invasion of Gaza.

The Israel Lobby apparently succeeded in convincing the Obama Justice (sic) Department that it is anti-semitic to accuse two Jewish AIPAC officials, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, of spying. The Israel Lobby succeeded in getting their trial delayed for four years, and now Attorney General Eric Holder has dropped charges. Yet, Larry Franklin, the DOD official accused of giving secret material to Rosen and Weissman, is serving 12 years and 7 months in prison.

The absurdity is extraordinary. The two Israeli agents are not guilty of receiving secrets, but the American official is guilty of giving secrets to them! If there is no spy in the story, how was Franklin convicted of giving secrets to a spy?

Criminalizing criticism of Israel destroys any hope of America having an independent foreign policy in the Middle East that serves American rather than Israeli interests. It eliminates any prospect of Americans escaping from their enculturation with Israeli propaganda.

To keep American minds captive, the Lobby is working to ban as anti-semitic any truth or disagreeable fact that pertains to Israel. It is permissible to criticize every other country in the world, but it is anti-semitic to criticize Israel, and anti-semitism will soon be a universal hate-crime in the Western world.

Most of Europe has already criminalized doubting the Holocaust. It is a crime even to confirm that it happened but to conclude that less than 6 million Jews were murdered.

Why is the Holocaust a subject that is off limits to examination? How could a case buttressed by hard facts possibly be endangered by kooks and anti-semitics? Surely the case doesn’t need to be protected by thought control.

Imprisoning people for doubts is the antithesis of modernity.

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He is coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions.He can be reached at: PaulCraigRoberts@yahoo.com

[watermock]

[watermock]

Not sure your point.

[gyldenlove]

Most of Europe has already criminalized doubting the Holocaust. It is a crime even to confirm that it happened but to conclude that less than 6 million Jews were murdered.

Why is the Holocaust a subject that is off limits to examination? How could a case buttressed by hard facts possibly be endangered by kooks and anti-semitics? Surely the case doesn’t need to be protected by thought control.

That is flat out not true.

I am not sure where this guys get his prejudices, but I suggest he leaves them the hell there because they don't fly.

I believe the only country that has laws against denying holocaust is that favourite American lap-dog Israel. Germany has laws against nazism, but even those laws are only targeting violent acts and distribution of material encouraging violent acts.



It is unfortunate that a lot of Israel backers are succeeding in equating criticism of Israel with anti-semitism. It is unfortunately the only defense many of them have to legitimate claims and critique.

[Hotrod]

I smell a book in the making

[Dukes]

Originally Posted by Dortoh

I smell a book in the making

That would be enough to put you in a coma

[W*GS]

We can always count on gaffney to bring the Nazi point of view to any discussion.

[Rigs11]

Originally Posted by W*GS

We can always count on gaffney to bring the Nazi point of view to any discussion.

Actually that would be you. You are always the first one to use the "you're a nazi" copout when ever someone around here dares question israel.tell me oh libertarian, since you are always preaching about how the government should stay out of our business, doesn' this bother you? or are you ok with it since it benefits israel?Oh and do us all a favor and spare us of your 12 year old insults.

[W*GS]

And, of course, our favorite little Hitler-Jugend chimes in, to defend der Führer gaffney...

Haven't you two little Nazis figured out that we're wise to your schtick?

[Rigs11]

Grow a pair and answer the question nancy

[W*GS]

Quit blaming "Zionists" (aka Jews) for all the world's ills, ya ****ing Nazi scum.

[cutthemdown]

It says the article was written by Paul Craig Roberts? Is that the same Roberts who was Reagens treasury sec? He was considered the father of supply side economics.

He is often critical of both dems and repubs, but mist recently his thing has been Neocons right? He was the one who predicted nuclear war with Russia over the South Ossetia stuff in Georgia, right?

Is this the same man?

[W*GS]

Yep, it's the same lunatic PCR.

The favorite of political whackjobs (like gaffney) everywhere in the blogosphere.

[barryr]

Is it a crime to criticize Obama yet?

[mhgaffney]

I don't agree with all of this op ed.

It's by no means clear from Scripture that the Jews were responsible for the death of Jesus. It's more likely the Romans were guilty.

Nonetheless, Roberts is correct about AIPAC and the attack on free speech. Today the Zionists have control over the US Congress and a large measure of undue influence over US foreign policy in the Mideast.

Israel is now pushing for a new war against Iran - a war that would be disastrous for the US and the world. But the Zionists simply don't care.

Scholars at US universities who speak out against this state of affairs -- have been subject to smear campaigns and worse.

It's an orchestrated campaign to silence critics. For example, Norman Finklestein, a brilliant Jewish scholar, became a target -- and why? Because he committed the unpardonable crime of speaking the truth about Israel's treatment of the Palestinians.

The Zionists can count on Israel's fifth column -- idiots like W*gs -- to do their work here of attacking critics and trying to smear them with the antiSemitism label.

W*gs and those who think like him have put the interests of Israel above those of the US.

Long ago George Washington warned this nation about the danger of entangling alliances. The special relationship with Israel is the mother of all entanglements.

It is clear that Israel's new PM "Bibi" Netanyahu has no intention of making peace with the Palestinians. Every day the conflict goes on -- we are being dragged toward catastrophe.

[W*GS]

Figures.

gaffney thinks that anyone who disagrees with his blame-the-Jews-for-everything stance is always and forever on Israel's side.

The dead giveaway for gaffney? Claiming that the Congress is controlled by the Jews. Only anti-Semitic pricks make stupid comments like that.

[barryr]

Jews control Congress? That's the stupid crap the Islamists have been peddling for years. mhgoof must visit al quaeda type websites daily for his talking points.

[gyldenlove]

Originally Posted by barryr

Jews control Congress? That's the stupid crap the Islamists have been peddling for years. mhgoof must visit al quaeda type websites daily for his talking points.

Now I am confused, can we decide who we are blaming once and for all? is it the French, Jews, Muslims, Bankers, or big corn? they can't all control congress.

[W*GS]

Originally Posted by gyldenlove

Now I am confused, can we decide who we are blaming once and for all? is it the French, Jews, Muslims, Bankers, or big corn? they can't all control congress.

You forgot Big Oil, Big Pharma, Multinational Corporations, the Freemasons, George Soros, and Vito Corleone.

[gyldenlove]

Originally Posted by W*GS

You forgot Big Oil, Big Pharma, Multinational Corporations, the Freemasons, George Soros, and Vito Corleone.

Well thanks a lot, that just makes it even more complicated. Where does Blofeld stand on all this?

[W*GS]

Who cares about Blofeld?

What about Dr. Evil?!?

[mhgaffney]

In the last quarter century Congress has passed dozens of resolutions supporting Israel right or wrong. Usually the vote in the Senate is 100-0 or 99-1. In the House the voting is always just as lopsided.

Often these votes come even as Israel is in the midst of violent attacks against the Palestinians. We saw this happen last December-January.

So how does this happen? The answer is that few Americans have any interest in the issue -- and so do not follow these votes. But it's a different story with the Israel lobby, which works 24 X 7 keeping tabs on Congress on any issue affecting Israel. They have the capacity to generate tens of thousands of phone calls to pressure any member of Congress who defies them. Anyone on Capitol Hill who dares to question Israel on any issue faces the unwelcome prospect of being smeared as anti semitic. This is why Congressmen and Senators are so reluctant to speak out.

Former members of Congress have described the climate of fear on the issue of Israel. Check out the book by former Congressman Paul Findley -- and the many articles by former Senator Abourezk.

The Israel lobby (APIAC) seeks to control the US on arange of issues involving foreign policy in the Mideast. They could care less about price supports for US farmers or US immigration policy vis a vis Mexico.

The clowns on this board can't seem to grok on the obvious.

The BIG lie of Zionism is that Jews comprise an ethnic group. This is their justificatioin for an exclusive Jewish state.

But this is a lie. Judaism is a religion -- not an ethnic group. The vast majority of Jews living in Israel are the progeny of converts - and have zero genetic connection with the original Jews of the ancient wortld.

Indeed, by contrast, many of the Muslim and Christian Palestinians are the direct descendants of the original Jews of Palestine. This was the opinion of Israel's founding father and first PM David ben Gurion -- and this view recently has been substantiated by Israeli scholars.

A best selling book about this published in Israel last year challenges the very premise of Zionism -- and soon a translation will appear in the US.

It is certain to be controversial -- stay tuned...

MHG

[gyldenlove]

Originally Posted by W*GS

Who cares about Blofeld?

What about Dr. Evil?!?

God damnit, quit making this even more complicated already. I was quite happy with hating Bankers, Jews, Muslims, the French and Big Corn, now I have a lot more to worry about.