Israel and the Distortion of American Politics
Posted by Ethan Casey on June 5, 2010 · 34 Comments
SEATTLE, June 5 – “This is a moment,” my friend Todd Shea said over lunch here, two days after Israel attacked the flotilla trying to enter Gaza with relief supplies. “And if he blows this moment, he’s not going to get it back again.”
“I just hate it when he tries to be bipartisan,” said another friend.
“There’s times to be bipartisan,” said Todd, “and there’s times when right is right and wrong is wrong.”
President Obama’s credibility was already wounded before the Gaza incident, and his failure to condemn it personally and forcefully is only the latest in a string of disappointments for many of us who voted for him. But the killings in international waters, in the context of Israel’s longstanding centrality to the entire planet’s fate, bring all actions and evasions into sharp relief. And the moment’s urgency compels us to acknowledge that if we continue to look for leadership to the President of the United States, the failure will no longer be his but our own.
This isn’t about Obama. We get the leaders we deserve, and what we’re willing to tolerate is a measure of our character. And what we should no longer tolerate is politics as usual – especially given how influential Israel is on politics as usual in America.
I’ve never been to Israel, and I’ve long made a point of not writing about it. It’s too far from my own bailiwicks, and too close to the bone. (I did co-edit a collection of writings narrating events in the Middle East between September 2000 and mid-2002, in a range of voices including right-wing settlers, trainee suicide bombers, Jewish and Arab Americans, and Desmond Tutu, among many others.) But as the author of two books that emphasize the human dimension of a self-consciously Muslim country, I’ve come to see Israel as the elephant in the global living room that it is. And I’ve come to see that, as an American, I do have a dog in this fight.
The first reason any of us should care about Palestine is that we are human beings. “Her primary concern is that the 1.5 million people of Gaza get their humanitarian needs,” Jennifer Sheetz, the daughter of my friend Kathy Sheetz, told me on Thursday, when Kathy herself was still unreachable because the Israelis had confiscated her cell phone. Kathy is a registered nurse who lives in Richmond, California and was on the flotilla. “She feels that the situation has to change, and it’s in Israel’s best interests too,” said Jennifer.
Muslims have views on Israel that are both predictable and understandable. “The Jews are doing to the Palestinians what Hitler did to them,” a woman told me last year in Hyderabad, India. “I have no personal thing with Jews. I admire them, I know some of them. They made the desert bloom and this and that. But how did they do this to people? My aunt went to the Gaza Strip. She said every day people are being taken away, people are dying.”
Jews who choose to criticize Israel have a certain standing. That is what makes Peter Beinart’s extremely timely New York Review of Books article “The Failure of the American Jewish Establishment” so powerful. “In the American Jewish establishment today the language of liberal Zionism – with its idioms of human rights, equal citizenship, and territorial compromise – has been drained of meaning,” Beinart wrote, before the attack on the flotilla. “… Of course, Israel – like the United States – must sometimes take morally difficult actions in its own defense. But they are morally difficult only if you allow yourself some human connection to the other side. Otherwise, security justifies everything. The heads of AIPAC and the Presidents Conference should ask themselves what Israel’s leaders would have to do or say to make them scream ‘no.’ … If the line has not yet been crossed, where is the line?”
I’m grateful to Beinart for the use he’s making of his standing as an American Jew. I couldn’t have written the article he wrote. What I can write is an article that claims my own standing, as an American who is neither Jewish nor Muslim.
Being human should be enough, but I want to emphasize the specificity of what I’m claiming. I object, as an American, to the severe distortion that Israel’s behavior and presumption have inflicted for far too long on the politics of my country. And I decline to be bullied by the claim, whether implicit or overt, that Jewish suffering is somehow unique. If you want power, then you sacrifice the moral high ground; it’s not feasible to hold both. Taboos are inevitable in every society, but there are moments when we must allow or even force ourselves to see the truth. This is such a moment.
ETHAN CASEY is the author of Alive and Well in Pakistan: A Human Journey in a Dangerous Time (2004) and Overtaken By Events: A Pakistan Road Trip (2010) and co-editor, with Paul Hilder, of Peace Fire: Fragments from the Israel-Palestine Story (2002). Web: www.ethancasey.com or www.facebook.com/ethancaseyfans Email: ethan@ethancasey.com
Ethan, I feel sorry that you’re friend can’t reach her daughter, however I can not believe that someone as smart as you has been duped by the propaganda spewed by the so called “peace activists.” Peace activists don’t walk around with $10,000 cash in their pockets. Peace activists don’t prepare to die as martyrs before something happens. They wanted what happened to have occurred.
I always told people how impressed I was with your book Peace Fire because this was the first book I had ever read which did not take sides but seemed to look at the issues honestly. I guess I was wrong.
Michele, whats more surprising is the propaganda the Israelis have won you over with. They have a pretty solid PR machine at work 24/7, but somewhere down the road, it failed and now independent journalists are working their magic.
I hope one day you realize that people like Ethan were always right. His work always will be right. He doesnt have ill will or deceit in his DNA.
I hope you find truth soon. Amen.
Thank you Ethan. Unless ethical Americans like you take a stand against the increasingly disturbing racist violence of the Israeli state and Israel’s disproportionate influence on American politics, nothing will change. It is clear that Israel has decided that eliminating the Palestinians is the only way to silence them. It is a tragic irony, to say the least, to see the Israeli state opting for a ‘Final Solution’. Michelle, I suggest you read, among others, Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela, on Israel’s apartheid state. Unless you think they’ve also been duped by the vast propaganda machine being run by Palestinian solidarity activists, in which case nothing will clearly convince you. None so blind as those who will not see…
Ethan: Do you object, as an American, to how Palestine and most Muslim countries treat gays? Do you object, as an American, to how Haiti and most Caribbean countries treat gays? Do you object, as an American, to how most of the continent of Africa (save SA) and Asia treat gays?
Political leaders are inherently about gaining and maintaining power. As you said President Obama’s credibility was already wounded before the Gaza incident but in reality it was wounded on his own inauguration day by allowing Rick Warren to give the invocation. That was a harbinger of things to come.
I respect you and your work immensely but until all writers and journalists who write and speak about human rights always include ALL the disenfranchised groups there will never be a chance of peace
Thanks Ethan. To me the issue of Israel reminds me of the story of the “Emperor with no clothes.” Unless people of conscience such as yourself have the courage to speak the truth, nothing will change. And you are right – it is no longer a time to look to leaders outside of ourselves for the impetus for change. Each one has to look within and do whatever is in our power to change the world around us – much in line with Steven Covey’s Power of Influence / Power of Concern theory. Drops make the ocean and one person CAN change the world. And we need to do this for the sake of human family. Many prayers for the suffering people of Palestine and for all those suffering around the world. Amen. Peace.
Marc, the answer to all your questions is yes. I object, as a human being, to any oppression or disenfranchisement of any group or individual.
In addition to that, the specific point I wanted to make in this article was that I object, specifically as an American, to the way America’s politics is distorted by Israel. That’s a point worth making.
Many thanks for your thoughtful comment.
Ethan
That flotilla was filled with terrorists and terrorist enablers. Every country has the right to defend itself. People like those on that flotilla and supporters of those people are, whether they believe they are or not, are supporting the murder of innocents. It sickens me the level of hatred towards Israelis and Jewish people and the tolerance of that hatred by liberals.
“Muslims have views on Israel that are both predictable and understandable.” That is so disgusting. It is understandable that Palestinians/Muslims support and celebrate the murder of innocents? That level of moral-equivalency is deplorable. How many rockets a day are shot toward Israel each day? Seeking to kill anyone they can, be it a soldier, a mother or a baby?
I am sorry, but being human is not enough. We don’t treat evil people the same we would innocents, and we shouldn’t. We execute them, and protect the innocents.
One more thing, the invidious insinuations about those dang Jews controlling everything. How predictable and deplorable. Whats next will you quote stuff from the Elders of Zion? Write a fluff piece on Bin Laden? Write some PR stuff for the Iranian government?
Thom, you’re extrapolating into my article things that I absolutely didn’t say or imply. If there’s going to be a conversation, it needs to be in good faith, not preemptively rejecting one side’s right to say anything. I never made any invidious insinuations about anything – I said what I had to say, forthrightly and explicitly. Surely we can agree that the people dying in Gaza include not only terrorists, but also innocent women and children?
Ethan – thank you for standing up for true Human and American values. I fear for you though and I hope and pray that you are able to withstand the onslaught that will begin in earnest to malign you, now that you have recognized the elephant in the room.
One of the commentators has been half honest in admitting that you were impressive until you started taking sides – of course, she would still be very impressed if you had taken the other side.
I admire your focus and wish you the very best as I also believe that the US has to get honest about this issue for its own best interest. Regards.
Ethan, I totally agree with your point.
I have for years deplored the fact that the US is the main sponsor of Israel with billiions anually in money and weapons, that the US ignores the fascism of Israel’s relation to the Palestinian people whose land they grabbed and whom they now wish to eliminate.
But making up our minds on our own does nothing so far as our foreign policy goes. What do we do about the fact that the Israel lobby has bought and paid for our policy decisions? What can we do about the fact that a weak president, who has revealed himself as a person of little character, continually buys into the status quo ante to save his own political ass? What do we do about a country of people who have been (IMO deliberately) reduced to increased joblessness and poverty, who are angry but have no idea what to do about it except join the teabaggers?
Is there any political analysis that can provide strategies to deal with how this country continues to oppress and humiliate others, and ourselves, in the process of promoting globalism?
Thank you Ethan!
We NEED to speak out for the poor and the oppressed…
Thank you Ethan, for speaking up for the oppressed. Your Pakistan trip has certainly made you more aware of the larger issues around the globe. More Americans should reach out to the world around, literally speaking. Countries round the world have condemned the Israeli attack on the Flotilla. How long will America remain silent? How long do they think they can seal their lips? They know in their hearts the silence will alienate them from the world. America has to speak up some day.
Ethan
So good to hear from you. Justice will prevail because people like you who can write so well and are decent human beings are not willing remain silent anymore.
Get ready to be called anti-semitic or what not !!
Quaid
Thank you Ethan for speaking out. It’s so much needed in this time of confusion and hatred. I wish there was something which could be done for people who are prisoners in their own land.
I was reading the list of things which are allowed into Gaza and it shocked me………in this day and age..so sad.
Please continue writing and speaking. God bless you.
Bravo Ethan, for speaking the truth.
You have to visit Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories to really fathom the extent of US media distortion.
The US media shapes the average American’s world-view and has for decades, misled the American public, making them buy into the US government’s unequivocal support of Israel as something synonymous with America’s ‘self interest’. Increasingly, we are discovering the painful truth that it is not. Wonder if you caught the interesting NY Times piece below ‘Washington Asks-What to do about Israel’
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/weekinreview/06cooper.html
If I had read this piece before my March 2010 trip to Israel/Palestine, I may have thought this was ‘balanced reporting’. However, I now analyze even the so called ‘liberal’ or ‘balanced’ pieces with a modicum of caution. The ‘illusion of balance’ is even more dangerous than outright propaganda, because it pretends to be what it is not. For example in this entire, wonderfully written piece not once is there a mention of the word ‘Occupation’.
While recognizing the right of the State of Israel to exist, if we purport to believe in, support and uphold international law and the Geneva Conventions, then we must recognize that Israel has been illegally occupying Palestinian land for 43 plus years.
In the words of Jerry Haber, orthodox Jewish professor of philosophy:
‘Even if the Palestinian people had, without any provocation, declared an offensive war on Israel, they STILL would have the same right to self-determination as the Israelis had. The question was never one of who started the war, but what people had the right to a state. And it was internationally recognized (though, as Rashid Khalidi points out in the Iron Cage, not recognized enough) that the Palestinians had a right to a state. And who gets to decide who is the aggressor and who is immoral – the victor? Who declared the Palestinians the aggressors? Israel?’
So let’s talk about the elephant in America’s living room. It is not Israel, it is Israel’s ILLEGAL and oppressive occupation of the Palestinian people.
Anybody who thinks America’s unquestioned support of Israel has nothing to do with ‘global extremism’ (and yes it is global extremism and not just ‘Islamic’ extremism), is encouraged to read Lawrence Wright’s Pulitzer prize winning book ‘The Looming Tower- Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11′.
It really is an eye opener to go to Israel/Palestine. And yes, you must go to BOTH sides of the Wall. For a first-hand look at life in Israel and occupied Palestine, read my recent travel blog:
olivetreejourney.wordpress.com
http://www.ifamericansknew.org
This site, devoted to exposing media bias relating to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, derives its stats from ‘B’Tselem’, an Israeli human rights organization.
Thank you Ethan for the article. It is about time the US stops supporting Israel with blinders on. We should not support anyone or any country in any and all of its actions, especially with a track record like that of Israel. I hope the latest attack by Israel on the Flotilla bring all of us Americans to thinking that even a Jewish state, which the US supports unilaterally, can be and is wrong in some of its actions – and has been for quite some time.
The time is now for Israel to be stop being seen as victims – rather as the oppressor.
Who knew this would be controversial? Just kidding Ethan, because I know you must have had some idea what you were in for. Perhaps I’m being presumptive, but I’m guessing you might also agree that, in general, people are not truly objective (journalists included), and this is especially true when an issue is as hot as this one. If the purpose of this is indeed an honest conversation, the first step is to not pretend to objectivity. All we can do is make an attempt to see others’ points of view.
I’m a person of Jewish heritage who believes that Israel is mostly in the wrong here. Israel’s response to the rocket attacks has been grossly disproportionate, and largely an excuse to justify expansionism. That doesn’t mean that the rocket attacks should be forgotten or justified.
I also believe that the pro-Israel lobby has had undue influence in US policy. However, I’ve also been a direct witness, for most of my working life, to the still widespread view that there is a vast Jewish conspiracy that runs the whole world. This conspiracy theory predates the modern state of Israel, much less any of the current conflicts.
I further believe that many American Jews would be much more vocal in their criticism of Israel if there were greater willingness in the Islamic world to recognize that the state of Israel is a fait accompli and has a right to exist. This recognition should only be tied to Israel becoming a true democracy when and if the rest of the governments in the Middle East become true democracies.
An honest attempt to see both sides does not mean that people can’t take partisan stands, but it is a requirement if there is to be genuine discourse and any hope of peaceful resolution.
Loren, your comment is exactly the sort of thoughtful response I might have hoped for when I wrote my piece. Thank you so much for it. I hope it helps us continue an intelligent conversation on this important subject. Ethan
This is the true character of those “peace activists” in those flotillas. Peter Beinart made a suggestion in his latest article:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-06-04/opponents-of-the-gaza-blockade-should-also-oppose-hamas-on-gilad-shalit/
“When the next ship determined to puncture Israel’s blockade comes steaming toward the Gaza Strip, Israel should let it through on one condition: Its crew must bring food and supplies not only to the suffering people of Gaza, but to Israeli Staff Sergeant Gilad Shalit, who Hamas is holding captive. The activists should deliver the aid with a public demand: Release Shalit immediately, without conditions. . . .
It would put the anti-blockade activists to the test. Their empathy for the people of Gaza is commendable. . . . What is less clear, however, is the activists’ empathy for the people of Israel.”
The family of the hostage being held by Hamas did approach these people about bringing supplies to Gilad Shalit (the hostage), as reported byJonathan Tobin and surprise! They rejected it:
“Before the flotilla that Israel intercepted was launched in Turkey, the family of Gilad Shalit begged the organizers to take a package of letters and food to the Israeli being held in Gaza. In return, they promised to lend their voices to a call for lifting the blockade. Accepting this offer would have cost “Free Gaza” nothing and would only have given them good publicity and probably would have caused the Israeli government to seriously consider letting them through the blockade. But, in a decision that Beinart and other critics of Israel seemed to ignore, they refused the Shalit family.
Why? It’s not that hard to figure out even if your grasp of the Middle East is as dim as that of Peter Beinart.
First, they don’t care about Gilad Shalit. Like his Hamas kidnappers, the “Free Gaza” group is composed of anti-Zionists–people who don’t think there ought to be a Jewish state and that Jewish soldiers who defend it are, by definition, criminals who deserve what they get from Hamas. Most think the same about Israeli civilians who live under the threat of rocket fire and terrorist attack from Hamas.
Second, they are not humanitarians. They are Israel-haters.”
Many thanks for that, Thom. I agree with the suggestion that the Free Gaza ships should include supplies for Gilad Shalit and call for his release. Ethan
Ethan: I am humbled and thankful for one more American voice speaking out for humanity, way out from the mainstream media-speak. Your voice is cool, yet passionate for one-humanity. May God give you the strength, and protect you, as you continue your good work. You are among the first drops of rain, but that will steadily and surely change to a blessed downpour, if humankind is to see peace.
The state of Israel has a limited time to exist. It is unjust, racist and oppressive to anyone not serving their interests.
Desperate actions like these only speed up the stopwatch and will certainly increase the veracity of the inevitable backlash. Hate or no hate, at least be real and admit the gargantuan mistake of placing Israel in the heart of the Islamic world. The inevitable Islamic revival will certainly remove this source of suffering from mankind. Let’s hope that its focus will be the eradication of the state and not its people. Hold on to your dual citizenships…
I believe the African Americans said it best: No justice, no peace.
Sympathy for Gaza people, Hamas included, sets people apart and portrays them as impartial and humane. But what about the terrible things Muslims are doing to Christians in Pakistan and other countries? What about Al -Qaida and the Taliban and other terrorists who kill innocent people just to fulfill their wish to get a seat in heaven? Please look at both sides of the picture and don’t be an American who loves Muslims. Isn’t the root cause of the problem the whole world facing Islamic fundamentalism? Come on Ethan recognise these facts also and don’t blame tiny Israel whom every Muslim nation wants to kill to occupy their land. Shamim Rae
Shamim Rae: I certainly do deplore the terrible things Muslims do to Christians – and Ahmedis and others – in Pakistan. I also deplore when terrorists kill innocent people, anywhere, from any motives. I’m on record as deploring all these things. They’re not the subject of the article I wrote, though. I wrote the article that I did write, because a particular deplorable incident happened, instigated by Israel. I have written, and will write, articles about those other subjects on other occasions. Ethan
Ethan, people like Michele Rosenberg are the cogs of the Israeli PR Hasbara wheels. The reaction, therefore, is on expected lines. They have no idea of what happens in west Asia as they feed on Hasbara propaganda. I cover west Asia extensively: “Terrorists on Flotilla”, gimmi a break!
However, being a friend of yours Ethan, I am worried about you. In no time, you will be branded an anti-Semite. Just wait. These people will not let you live. And if I know the subject and know these people, the accusation will come from American Zionists. You might actually find quite a few supporters among Israeli Jews. Many of them are willing to see reason, but the American and European Zionists act “More loyal than the king”.
Having said that, I must congratulate you to speak boldly. These people have finished the career of hundreds of academicians and journalists who do not toe their line. I am sure you would have contemplated all these and yet decided to speak the truth. Hats off.
Ethan, I know people are overblown and passionate on this subject and they expose their blindnesses, prejudices or hatreds while speaking up. But please keep up the line of communication. I applaud you because I feel you are against these negative corrosive mentalities. We are ALL the elephant in the room. Those who deny that can’t really understand how deep these issues and emotions go as they are so caught up in eye for an eye as bottom line. Sometimes we have to start at zero to rebuild or put ourselves out there to erase deep boundaries. Sometimes it kills us, other times it’s the first step.
@ Loren, your comment: “if there were greater willingness in the Islamic world to recognize that the state of Israel is a fait accompli and has a right to exist” – You are quite right. After 60 odd years, it is about time Muslims states recognise this fact and together forge a mutually beneficial way forward with the state of Israel. I am a person of Muslim descent and I believe that peaceful co-existence is required in todays world. We are living in dangerous and confusing times so we must come together with even greater zeal. Otherwise we can guarantee our mutual destruction. It is for that reason that the muslim world must take off the bandage covering their eyes and look to the future. As an addendum how would you justify Premier Nathanyahoo’s speech at the UN last week? I found this half-truths deplorable.
Dear Ethan, I have read many articles written by you, and I am thoroughly impressed. Thank you for exposing the truth.