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Ground Zero
by Scott McConnell
Antiwar.com
October 5, 2000
The Bushes and the Palestinians:
Act 2
One
taboo prevalent in the first weeks after September 11 is already
listing badly:
it is becoming less mandatory to pretend that the attack has
"absolutely
nothing to do" with the American tie to Israel. Writing
in the Wall Street Journal shortly after the attack, Norman
Podhoretz
insisted
on the lack of any meaningful connection, and several subsequent commentators,
including, initially, President Bush himself, asserted he terror was completely
unrelated to any American policies in the Mid East. Generally it was attributed
to Islamic dislike of American freedoms, success, to "who we are."
No
doubt the motives � both of the terrorists, and those who support them � are
mixed, and Islam's sad identity crisis in its encounter with the West has
some weight. But denial that the Israeli-Palestinian stalemate generates enormous
ill will towards the United States in the Arab world, or that the Israeli
occupation, backed by American arms, gives the bin Ladens of the region effective
recruiting points and propaganda themes, seems more and more difficult.
Now
this linkage has apparently been acknowledged at the highest levels. Last
Tuesday's
New York Times frontpage revealed a bombshell: the administration
let it be known that prior to September 11, it had planned to endorse formally
the idea of a Palestinian state. Secretary of State Powell was going to outline
an American conception of a final Israeli-Palestinian settlement in a speech
before the General Assembly, President Bush planned to meet with Yasser Arafat.
Questioned last week, President in essence affirmed this, saying "The
idea of a Palestinian state has always been part of a vision."
The
leak and Bush's comment are part of the effort to build alliances in the Arab
world prior to taking out bin Laden; they
also serve as a counter to the "go-to-war � against-the-whole � Arab-world"
rhetoric emanating from the neoconservative magazines and editorial pages.
But once the words are out, they can't easily be retracted.
On
the merits of course, the Palestinian state idea is unimpeachable, required
for any resolution of the conflict that purports to conform with justice.
That has been clear from the outset, though many barriers had to be overcome.
The Palestinians needed to accept as fact Israel's permanent existence in
the region and its right to secure and recognized borders; that acquiescence
to half a loaf was not really obtained until after the Gulf War. The Israelis
had to give up the idea of a "Greater Israel" established on the
captured lands of he West Bank and Gaza. The maximalists on the Israeli side
have more than matched the Palestinians in stubbornness, both in Israel itself,
where both political parties have expanded the illegal settlements, and among
the Jewish state's hard line American supporters. The latter, neoconservative
hawks for the most part, play prominent roles both inside the Bush administration
and in right wing journalism.
For
those reasons, no one should underestimate the risk in the political leap
President Bush took in saying "Yes there should be a Palestinian state"
� or the intensity of the battle that now lies before him. Bush will soon
find himself fighting a two front war, first to rally American and world opinion
to support strikes against the Taliban, and secondly against a domestic lobby
which will fight tooth and nail against American diplomatic pressure on Israel
to make concessions.
The
American Israel Public Affairs Committee � by acclamation Capitol Hill's most
potent lobby � was
quick to denounce the White House, issuing a statement claiming "Those
who are urging the President to meet with PLO Chairman Arafat. . . are undermining
America's war against terrorism." (The "those who are urging"
phrasing diplomatically tries to avoid direct criticism of Bush, but more direct
attacks will certainly come.) The Forward, the well-informed
Jewish weekly, described the reaction of Jewish leaders to the Times report as
"furious." Robert Satloff, of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a
pro-Israel think tank, lambasted
the Bush suggestion, saying the successful American Mid East diplomacy
has always stressed that "process" was more important than "preferred outcomes."
Interestingly,
Satloff put forward as an example for the current President to follow George
Herbert Walker Bush (Bush I) who, he claims, put together a coalition with
Arabs to reverse Saddam Hussein's takeover of Kuwait without making any promises
about the Palestinian question. "That was the right approach then, and
is still the right approach" Satloff concludes.
The
example is noteworthy because of what Satloff doesn't mention: George Bush
senior's presidency was gravely wounded in its post-Desert Storm face-off
with the Israeli lobby over the Palestinian issue.
As
the dust settled in the summer of 1991 after the victory over Iraq, Bush I
began to press for diplomatic progress on the Israel-Palestinian front. But
Israel wanted American loan guarantees to settle a large new influx of Soviet
Jews on the West Bank, and Congress was inclined to give it, no strings attached.
The White House did not want new Israeli settlements built on the Palestinian
territory � believing, as had every American administration before and since,
that Israeli settlements were a barrier to a durable peace. The settlements
deprived the future Palestinian state of contiguous territory while expanding
the Israeli domestic constituency with a passionate vested interest (their homes)
against any "land for peace" arrangement. Seeking a compromise
with Congress, the White House pushed for a four-month moratorium on the loan
guarantees, but the Israeli lobby asked for the funds to be released right
away.
In
a press conference that would become notorious, President Bush complained
about the size and intensity of the lobby's activities. "I heard today
there were something like a thousand lobbyists on the Hill working the other
side of the question. We've got one lonely guy [himself] down here doing it." The
remark draw a clear line between the President and AIPAC, generating a
firestorm of anger within organized American Jewry. High ranking figures in
major Jewish organizations accused the president of a "disgusting display
of, if not anti-Semitism, at least something close to it." Thousands
of letters to the editor poured into American newspapers, attacking Bush in
similar terms.
On
the day of his press conference, (September 12, 1991) Bush, the organizer
of the Desert Storm victory, held a 70 percent approval rating in the opinion
polls. Within two months, his political stock had nose-dived. His close friend
Richard Thornburgh, a former attorney general, soon lost a comfortable lead
in an off year race for an open Pennsylvania Senate seat, after money suddenly
began pouring in to his Democratic opponents' campaign. Thornburgh's defeat
that November was taken as a harbinger President Bush's own re-election
vulnerability.
This
account of Bush I's fall (drawn largely from J.J. Goldberg's Jewish
Power: Inside the Jewish Establishment) does not attribute Bush's
political collapse entirely to fallout from taking on "the lobby".
The economy was weak, and did not begin to emerge from recession until late
2002. But it does illustrate the potential dangers � even for a Republican
not greatly dependent on Jewish financial or voter support � of a political
showdown with Israel's backers over the Israel-Palestinian peace process.
It
is virtually inconceivable that Bush fils has failed to speak extensively
with his father about those fateful days of a mere decade ago, well before
uttering his own simple words about Palestinian statehood. Assuming that the
President hasn't stepped into this hornets nest without reflection, he has
demonstrated, impressively, that he at least is ready to "take risks
for peace."
Please
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&&&&&&&&
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-
/books/0201327988/reviews/ref=ase_antiwarbookstore/107-6164741-
9402944
Jewish Power : Inside the American Jewish Establishment
by J. J. Goldberg
List Price: $15.00
Our Price: $12.00
You Save: $3.00 (20%)
Used Price: $8.88
Availability: This title usually ships within 2-3 days.
Paperback - (October 1997)
448 pages
>From Kirkus Reviews
This eye-opening examination of the myths and realities of Jewish
influence in America is bound to raise hackles in the Jewish
community. Some will accuse Goldberg, a contributing editor to the
magazine Jerusalem Report and longtime reporter on Jewish affairs, of
washing dirty laundry in public by airing internal Jewish power
struggles. Others will say the mere title of his book will feed
stereotypes of Jewish control over various American institutions. All
will exemplify some of the very phenomena Goldberg is writing about,
in particular, the persistence of American Jewish insecurity in the
face of communal influence out of proportion to Jews' numbers in the
population. In his excellent reporting and analysis, and his refusal
to accept simplistic bromides, Goldberg reveals the complexities and
contradictions of Jewish power in America, which, he argues, is less
than many non-Jews fear but greater than many Jews (particularly the
unaffiliated) know. Goldberg explodes many of the myths surrounding
the Jewish role in the media, in politics, in lobbying for Israel.
But perhaps most controversial is his contention that, starting in
the late 1960s, the leadership of the organized Jewish community was
hijacked by conservatives--a mix of right-wing Orthodox,
neoconservative, and radical Zionist individuals--who did not
represent the majority of Jews, who remain overwhelmingly liberal and
Democratic. This was concomitant with a shift in power to elite
leadership groups like the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish
Organizations and away from groups closer to the grassroots. Goldberg
also details the behind-the- scenes machinations and battles over the
Jewish community's relationship with Israel, exemplified by Yitzhak
Shamir's success in mobilizing Jewish leadership for Likud's hard-
line positions during Israel's so-called ``unity'' government in the
late 1980s. The first honest look at Jewish power in America and at
the structure of the organized Jewish community. Anyone with an
interest in Jewish affairs will find it unsettling and indispensable.
-- Copyright �1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --
This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this
title.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed
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In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material
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The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking
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"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe
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not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. Do not
believe in anything merely on the authority of Teachers, elders or wise men.
Believe only after careful observation and analysis, when you find that it
agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all.
Then accept it and live up to it."
The Buddha on Belief, from the Kalama Sutta
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A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled
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German Writer (1759-1805)
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It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that
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--- Ernest Hemingway
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