PALESTINE, ISRAEL AND AMERICA: THE STRATEGIC VOID
20. Jun, 2011
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“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle”
— Sun Tzu (The Art of War, Special Edition)
Dr. Alan Sabrosky / Intifada Palestine
Let us admit it to ourselves, once and for all. The battle of Palestine for the Palestinians has been lost. The odds against them and their scattered network of supporters have been great. The last possible chance to at least stave off defeat was stillborn last year, when the Goldstone Report on Gaza was endorsed by the UN Human Rights Commission and the UN General Assembly, and then — simply stopped. Only if some country or countries had fought to bring UNGA 377A (the Uniting for Peace Resolution) before the General Assembly then to force a vote censuring Israel and, if necessary, the US and activating the punitive aspects of that resolution, did the Palestinians have some hope.
That didn’t happen, and while it may take a while yet for the remnants of the Goldstone Report and its aftermath to wither away, all that is finished. Goldstone’s recent rejection of his own report in an attempt to reconcile himself with his Zionist community affirms that reality. All that remains is the terms Israel will give the conquered people there – terms that may well simply be a second Nakba (catastrophe) resulting in their ethnic cleansing from their ancestral homeland.
Underscoring this dismal situation is abundant evidence of the continued expansion of Zionist influence and control in so many areas. The growth in settlements and numbers of settlers in East Jerusalem and the West Bank continues. Gaza remains embattled and all but isolated, even with the opening of its border crossing with Egypt. Israeli military power continues to grow, thanks to the American military and financial support. Israeli leverage in key democracies, especially Canada, Great Britain and Australia, continues to expand, as does Zionist influence in the mainstream media (MSM). And the Zionist capture of the US Government is for all intents and purposes complete. The Obama White House now speaks as Israel dictates, and not a person of consequence remains in the US Congress who will stand up and speak out against it. Anyone doubting this has only to reflect on the humiliating (to me) image of US Senators and Representatives unanimously giving Binyamin Netanyahu 29 standing ovations at his recent appearance before the Congress. Even former President Carter, once an “Elder” condemning Israeli apartheid in the Occupied Territories, made a public written obeisance and apology in print for having given offense to Israel, all in support of the political ambitions of a young relative.
The Ongoing Struggle
I can imagine that many in the anti-Zionist movement around the world will refuse to acknowledge this state of affairs. After all, it could be said, what about the growth of the alternative media? What about the BDS (Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions) campaign? What about the reconciliation of Fatah and Hamas, and the move in the UN to recognize Palestine as an independent state? And Gaza, what about the ships and truck convoys going to Gaza, and the efforts in many countries to increase awareness of the plight of the people there?
Each of these positions has some transitory merit, but no significant strategic effect on the outcome. So much of the discussion in the alternative media consists of the same relative handful of people on different websites and from different organizations talking to and about one another. But it rarely is covered in the mainstream media, and it is literally unknown to at least 99% of the voting public in industrial democracies, and even fewer in other countries, and is therefore at best incidental to the outcome of the struggle.
The BDS campaign is theoretically more significant, and in fact I do support it (as I participate in discussions in the alternative media), if only because it sometimes causes Israel and its supporters some public embarrassment and some little hardship. And it did have an effect on apartheid in South Africa. But Israel is a different matter entirely. Its leverage in Europe and the US ensures that neither the European Union (EU) nor the US will impose embargoes and sanctions on Israel, and without them, nothing of consequence is likely to happen. But say it did, and in some convoluted way, the BDS campaign managed to force Israel to the economic wall without the EU and the US. Reflecting on Israel’s effective control of the US Government and the US media, does anyone seriously doubt that at least the US Congress – with the concurrence of pundits, evangelical pastors and the President himself – would vote Israel whatever bailout monies it needed, for as long as it needed them, to maintain itself, no matter what other countries did?
As for Palestinian factions and the proposed recognition of Palestine as an independent state, it is hard to take any of it seriously, even without President Obama’s avowed determination to veto that independence in the UN Security Council – something anticipated, and a reason it is supposed to proceed in the General Assembly afterward. Now, I understand the emotional need for Palestinians to be recognized by the UN as an independent state, but in its current situation, “independent” is the last term I would apply to it in practice. It all comes down to one point. If there is to be a Palestinian state, Israel demands that it be defenseless and demilitarized, and the US now concurs. But no independent state can be defenseless, and no Palestinian state in the aftermath of “Operation Cast Lead” can accept being demilitarized. Call Palestine an independent country and give it UN membership or not, but without US support it will mean less than one of the old South African Bantustans except to a handful of Palestinian leaders – the political equivalent of putting a lion’s head on a donkey and calling it a lion, which still leaves it as lunch if it happens to run across a real lion.
But it is Gaza, or rather the focus on Gaza since its blockade by Israel and especially since its savaging by Israel in 2008-2009, that holds pride of place in the anti-Zionist movement’s attention and actions. The plight of the Palestinians in general is real and deplorable. The plight of those in Gaza is heartbreaking, and the sense without that it is critical to do something to relieve their suffering is understandable, with truck convoys of assorted size making runs there with mixed success, and both individual boats and a flotilla, followed now by a second flotilla in at least two parts, attempting the approach by sea.
None of it matters. I expect the Israelis will intercept this flotilla in international waters as they did the first one, and that the chaotic mismanagement of the flotilla coupled with the unbelievable failure of its leadership to enlist the support of any major government or any part of the mainstream media, means that interception will succeed, protected as always from condemnation or sanctions by a US veto in the Security Council. But even if the Israelis stood aside and let every ship and boat in the second flotilla deliver every scrap of their cargos to Gaza, including those utterly useless letters with which the Americans on the Audacity of Hope have squandered their opportunity to make a real difference, it would have no strategic effect whatsoever. The Wall would still stand. The settlements would persist and expand. Israel’s dominance of the US Government would continue, and with it Israel’s absolute ability to continue pursuing its own “Final Solution of the Palestinian Question” and its march to at least regional hegemony.
In this context, Gaza has thus served the Israelis well. They do not care greatly about it, although they will assuredly remove its people into the Sinai when they remove the remaining Palestinians from East Jerusalem and the West Bank into Jordan and perhaps Syria as well. But Gaza has captured the attention of the anti-Zionist movement, thereby functioning as a combination of distraction and decoy, a “Judas goat” of sorts that allows the Israelis to proceed with their primary plans in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, to extend their influence in the industrial democracies, and especially to consolidate their position in and around the US Government, with little or no interference from outside.
Pathology of Failure
It has been said that victory has many fathers but defeat is an orphan. Here, however, there are more than a few reasons for our failure. A key problem with the whole anti-Zionist effort (9/11 more than Palestine in the US, Palestine more than 9/11 elsewhere), is that all of us (myself included) have been like duck hunters standing in a circle blasting birdshot outward and upward in a thousand different directions on a thousand or more issues in so much detail that not one of us can possibly understand it all, while the general public — in America and elsewhere — who knows little or nothing of this is hopelessly confused at best, and totally turned off at worst. It doesn’t help that a lot of us indulge in rhetorical overkill that makes that general public say, “oh, yeah, the kooks are at it again,” and gives the Zionists firm grounds for ridicule (as I’ve heard on BBC and CNN commentaries, for instance).
Three visible examples of this phenomenon: (1) the attack on the USS Liberty was NOT a “Holocaust,” it was intended to be a massacre that didn’t work out that way; (2) the attack on the Turkish MV Mavi Marmara was NOT a massacre, although it was certainly a brutal attack; and (3) the Israelis are NOT Nazis resurrected in a coat of different colors, “only” traditional fascists with an especially ruthless streak. All this sort of hyperbole does is give our opponents an arsenal of ammunition to mock us (no great problem for us, apparently); AND to so discredit the anti-Zionist movement that reasonable and thinking people won’t bother considering the substantive merits of our arguments, even if they came across them in the first place (and this is a HUGE problem for us).
Second, every effort of consequence needs a strategy, a repertoire of tactics compatible with that strategy, and organizational skills to bring people and resources together when and where they are needed. Now, I am a strategy and plans person with a decent sense of tactics, but not much in the way of organizational skills. For their part, the leadership of the anti-Zionist movement, and especially of the assorted land and sea convoys (whatever name one chooses to use for them), do have organizational skills and a full measure of enthusiasm and perseverance. But beyond that they fail, and fail miserably. Arrogance, ignorance, incompetence, private agendas and in some instances duplicity war with one another for pride of place, to the detriment of their avowed goals and the welfare of Palestine. Just look at where assertions of “We don’t retreat” and “We know we are right” have taken us all today.
The whole exercise reminds me of a criticism by Lenin in the 1920′s called “Left-Wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder” (that his successors ruined everything does not invalidate his analysis). The “leadership” <sic.> of these “anti-Zionist”outfits would also be dismissed by that of the US antiwar movement of the 1960s in even more disparaging terms. They have tactics that do not fit their opponent, plans but no strategy to fulfill them, believe slogans constitute action, focus on symptoms and not causes, and play to their enemy’s strengths. And they lose. Surprise!
Remember this, and remember it well: Slogans, street theater and stubbornness do not constitute a strategy, nor does squandering resources like political lemmings rushing for the nearest cliff define one. One’s strategy must focus on the enemy’s weaknesses, and the tactics must match both the situation and the character of the adversary, or they are doomed.
Examples abound. What made the first flotilla newsworthy, for instance, and made it a center of UN interest and a source of public concern to Israel, was that some people did resist and that there was overt Israeli violence resulting in some deaths on the high seas. Affirmations of non-violence and avowals of one’s defenselessness mean absolutely nothing to the Israelis, except to make them laugh and assure them of an easy win – had (e.g.) Gandhi tried to do to the Israelis what he did so successfully to the British, he and his followers would have been shot down in droves. I do not advocate offensive weaponry – civilians are not trained or mentally equipped to use them effectively. But self-defense is an inherent right of everyone anywhere, and the only thing that will matter to Israel is if Israelis die in their attack on a flotilla or a convoy. Internationals who do not understand this elementary fact of political life should either stay away or acknowledge that they are only there for the show.
Doing Better
Looking ahead, it is important to remember certain essentials. Gaza is both victim and symbol. Other Arab states are not your friends. Turkey is the one state that has actually tried to help, and it behooves us not to insult her and her government – we do not have an abundance of allies out there. Neither the EU nor NATO nor the Arab League nor the UN can be counted on to help, although the latter may be of some limited assistance, at least if Israeli and American bribes and blackmail of its membership fail. And Israel is the enemy.
Moreover, the source and the solution to the issue is in the United States, and secondarily other Western capitals. If you must take ships or trucks somewhere, go there, or at least to US embassies, and also to Westminster, which helps the US by legitimizing many of its actions. Protest there. Spend the same time outside of the gates of (e.g.) the White House that it took to assemble a convoy in the UK and go to Egypt, parking vehicles and dumping goods at the gates, calling on Obama to honor his words in Cairo, and people who matter WILL have no choice but to notice, the mainstream US media WILL hatefully and unhappily take note of it, and you may make a difference. Or take your boats up the Thames or the Seine or the St. Lawrence or the Rhine or the Potomac, have your demonstrations along the waterfront of their cities, and you may likewise make a difference. Otherwise the occasional convoy or ship or busload or truck of people and goods getting to Gaza means less than putting a band-aid on a sucking chest wound, except perhaps to a few egos who like being the center of attention even in a very small media pond.
The Zionists have a much better sense of how to do these things. They know that it is essential to focus on one or two key targets and issues, and pile on those issues from every direction without getting distracted by peripheral matters. To use my hunter analogy above, they are also standing in a circle, but they are facing inward from the high ground and firing rifled slugs downward at a wounded target. And remember as I wrote in the beginning that they are winning, and winning big time – or has no one looked at the change in the remnants of Palestine over the last five years (more settlements, more settlers, miserable Gaza) or the total lack of opposition to Israel now in the US Congress?
We need to adopt their approach to strategy, stop fighting them where they are strongest, and take a more indirect approach – Sun Tzu rather than Clausewitz, if you will. In the US, their strength is at the national level, and in some selected state level offices; their weakness is at most local levels. I doubt if there is a national office of anything, especially if it is based in Washington or New York City, that is not in their pocket, and I include the national offices of veterans organizations as much as the Congress. I would not be at all surprised if the national officers of (e.g.) the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) or the Navy League are regularly visited and entertained by AIPAC, for instance; but I’d bet the bank that the local VFW chapters here have never even heard of AIPAC. And the same with the rest – for instance, politicians who cozy up to AIPAC (or vice versa) in Washington are in their center of comfort and power, but when they come back to their home states and districts, the local media and the local chapters of their parties do not care about Washington, and that is where they can be cornered and hammered. And similarly in other countries.
Most importantly of all, we need to understand in our minds and believe in our hearts that this is not merely a civil protest against a misguided government or even a political struggle with the Zionists, but a war with Israel. Israel sees it in those terms – this is for them an all-or-nothing struggle, and it should be the same for the rest of us, and not just because of Palestine. The Israelis have won their battle in and for Palestine, but the war is not over, any more than WWII ended with the Nazi conquest of much of Western Europe in 1940. Contemplating that catastrophe, then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill stated that “the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin.”
So it is with those of us who truly care, not only about justice for the Palestinians, but also about defeating the extensive and embedded network of Zionism that is producing a new catastrophe. The Battle of Palestine is over. The Battle of America needs to begin. And like WWII, properly done it can lead to victory in this war as well, rolling back Zionism from its high-water marks of success much the way Nazism was rolled back from its high-water marks of conquest.
My take is that we generally spend way too much time looking at Palestine when searching for ways to combat Zionism. The American people would not care greatly about a distant issue like the Palestinians, or an abstraction (however significant) like Zionist domination of the mainstream media, even if they knew the cold, hard facts about those things. They do care about things that hurt them, or make them afraid, or enrage them. Therefore, we in America and elsewhere should hit the Zionists on what they do to us — because if we take them down on that, especially in the US, then Palestine wins by default, BUT the converse does not hold.
The way I see it, the gate to first containing and then rolling back Israel, and thus helping Palestine, is not over there, it is in the US. The lock to that gate is not in Washington, it is in the heartland of America where the Zionists have as of yet remarkably little influence. And the key to that lock is the open wound today which is 9/11 and the wars it spawned. Nail them on 9/11 and the cover-up of it, nail them for the wars they contrived and the wars they want the US to wage on Israel’s behalf, nail them for the lives and treasure America has spent and the lives it has taken waging America’s Jewish Wars, nail them often and hard, and the Zionists may end up wishing Germany had won WWII. How to define 9/11 for the American public and to bring them its message is the subject of the next article: Demystifying 9/11: Israel and the Tactics of Mistake.
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*Alan Sabrosky (Ph.D, University of Michigan) is a ten-year US Marine Corps veteran and a graduate of the US Army War College. He can be contacted at docbrosk@comcast.net
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this is what I scribbled on this article as I was forwarding it to my short list of friends plus a few select online editors. It is not definitive, much more could be said, hope to get back to this thread later. Starting with my Subject Line:
this is the most important piece of writing on the P/I issue I’ve seen in years. Outside the box.
My two cents: certain aspects of this have to be criticized but overall thrust is absolutely correct. Focus on Gaza is great humanitarianism, good PR stunts, but our attention and our energies need to be concentrated on the ZPC and the US ZioImperialist State.
The writer seems to be misinformed about the pervasive presence of Ziopower in local communities; probably he has yet to find himself labelled an AntiSemitic Racist Fascistoid by his local JCRC/ADL/Fed thought police:)
Possibly the greatest benefit for US activists of participation in the BDS movement will be that the reaction of the local branches of the Thought Police will help them understand the real nature of what they’re up against?
One point that can’t be emphasized enough is the recommendation to focus attention and forces at the Enemy’s weakest point. But I disagree on the point he identifies as weakest.
I myself believe that all available energy should be focused on backing Cynthia McKinney’s 2012 presidential campaign. This is for several reasons, but the most important one is that I see the continued attachment of the African American section of the electorate to Obama as the key weakness of the pro-Israel, pro-Waronterer consensus.
If Obama can be exposed for what he is, actually a deadly enemy of Black people in America, and his choir of soldout Black misleaders exposed with him, Black America again becomes the base for the most progressive political leadership in the country.
The fallout from such a development would include the impact on the Labor Movement, on the sectarian left, on all the Identity Politics groupings, and on all those who pre-Obama have considered the Demo Pty as the vehicle for their aspirations.
It’s one thing for a Trumka to get up and talk bullshit to a bunch of mainly white piecards, but if he found himself confronted by assembled Angry Blacks everytime he opened his mouth… Same for a lot of Dem Pty operatives/local candidates.
But that’s my own rap; do read this article carefully, the author is very smart.
[Reply]
Alan Sabrosky Reply:
June 23rd, 2011 at 5:41 am
Appreciate the thoughtful comments. Two thoughtlets on my part.
One is that we are both correct on the “local communities” aspect, and I will clarify my position in the future. You are absolutely correct when “local” refers to larger cities (e.g., Philadelphia, Miami, San Francisco) and even some mid-sized ones. But smaller cities and towns are largely outside their influence at this time — e.g., Lansing MI (state capital, where I grew up) and Jackson MS (state capital, where I now live) exemplify this. But you’ve a very good point & I will be more precise from here on out.
Second, McKinney (whom I personally like) has less chance in 2012 than Ralph Nader did in 2000. Any votes she gets will likely come from Obama supporters, to be sure, but all that will mean is an increase in the likelihood that the Republican candidate will win in 2012 — certainly a greater evil as far as US Middle East policy is concerned, if nothing else. I realize that for either Obama or his Republican opponent to win is for “us” a “lose-lose” outcome — but I wonder how much having (e.g.) the likes of Richard Perle back in Washington could be seen as an improvement over the status quo.
[Reply]
The author’s weakness is pessimism and projected failure. A lead like that is not likely to be followed by many, nor should it be.
If you want to beat Zionism, beat antisemitism.
Israel’s weakness is peace and security. Without a threat to point at, they have little to no power or cohesion.
Peace goes forward as planned.
In all reality, Palestine is currently one of the most powerful forces in the world today. This is an inevitable result of the era in which we live.
I don’t expect this to be naturally understood by someone educated by a “War College”. Sorry Mr. Sabrosky, but my advice to you is to kick rocks. Nobody needs your pessimism added to the obstacles already at hand.
[Reply]
Let us re-focus on what should be done. What we need to do. Let the battle for America begin!
Excerpts:
“I would not be at all surprised if the national officers of (e.g.) the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) or the Navy League are regularly visited and entertained by AIPAC, for instance; but I’d bet the bank that the local VFW chapters here have never even heard of AIPAC. And the same with the rest – for instance, politicians who cozy up to AIPAC (or vice versa) in Washington are in their center of comfort and power, but when they come back to their home states and districts, the local media and the local chapters of their parties do not care about Washington, and that is where they can be cornered and hammered. And similarly in other countries.
“Most importantly of all, we need to understand in our minds and believe in our hearts that this is not merely a civil protest against a misguided government or even a political struggle with the Zionists, but a war with Israel. Israel sees it in those terms – this is for them an all-or-nothing struggle, and it should be the same for the rest of us, and not just because of Palestine. The Israelis have won their battle in and for Palestine, but the war is not over, any more than WWII ended with the Nazi conquest of much of Western Europe in 1940. Contemplating that catastrophe, then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill stated that “the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin.”
It is a small thing, but the kind of thing which might be effective in a small way to remind your Representatives in the Congress and Senate that you are their constituents, and that you are watching.
The next time they come home and hold press conferences, rallies and “fund-raisers, asking for your vote, simply ask them who paid for their last trip to Tel Aviv, and why they went there.
(Fund-raisers are simply “going through the motions” showpieces inasmuch as they are all getting the “real and meaningful” campaign funding and support from you know who… but they don’t vote.)
If they paid for the trips themselves out of pocket with personal funds, then give them credit for honesty and hope they enjoyed the vacation. Ask to see the credit card statements with which they paid for the tickets,hotel and dinners.
But, if they paid for it out of campaign funds, then that is an unauthorized, illegal expense and not what you contribute to campaign funds for. Ask just how many constituents they have on that campaign trail at the other end of the world. Registered voters?
If they were hosted by some lobby or foreign agency, friends, special interests or political associations, then that is an illegal gift. Did they declare it as required by Congressional protocols and Law?
Let them know you are watching!
Ask the embarrassing questions. “Why did you vote for such and such, which seems to float the boat pretty well in Israel or elsewhere, but how does it push the cart along here in Hometown USA?.
Make them explain how Israeli interests are your interests,and why they should come first!
Keep your bullshit meter set on”FINE!” You will need it!
Earlaiman
[Reply]
Almost every pro-Palestine Movement has been infiltrated or hijacked by the zios or past zios posing as pro-Palestine activists, which is why our progress has been slow. Yes, one has to wonder and suspect at every turn. It is a dilemma. The paranoid shall rule!
Alan Sabrosky advocates that we take the fight to the Heartland in America
The “information-education” target is “America,” liberating the American mind, and freeing it from the box, the Zionists box keepers turn out to be. It is a difficult task but this year has been amazing in terms of the amount of information and anti-zionist tools we have out there. Anthony Lawson’s videos are a great resource. Use them, organize, mobilize, post urls in comments and discussion forums on websites often to educate. Beat the zionists at their game. About time!!!
Phil Giraldi, Grant Smith, Alison Weir are American Firsters! Check their websites CNI AND IREMP regularly for the latest in a series of interviews, focus on college campuses, projects and actions to remove the Zionists from the drivers seat of The Movement for Change. Every bit counts. It has taken the zionists decades of focus and organization to fully usurp power from the American people, it will take them patience to dismantle the corrupt system and re-instate American Representatives one by one at National and State level.
People tend to forget, the people came out in the Millions to VOTE FOR CHANGE in America. It has not got them what they expected, but exposed them to the depth of corruption and uselessness of ‘the US president’s office.’
They can do it!!
Yes! Let the battle for America begin! Good Luck!
[Reply]
Hilarious: “this is a war vs Israel” translates to “Write Your Congresscritter”:D
ROTFL:)))
Dear Mr Earlaiman — it is “Mr”? if not my apologies, please correct me — I do appreciate your sentiments. So out of the kindly feelings evoked by your well-intended comment, I’m compelled to try to do you a favor: when it comes to Israel, your Congresscritter don’t give shit one what you think. Even if he/she did, he/she would never admit it to you or anybody else for fear “The Lobby” might be listening. (I use “the lobby” here as shorthand for the Zionist Power Apparatus in the US, which encompasses a lot more than lobbying.)
[Reply]
Thank you, Debbie Menon, for thoughtful comment.
I too am a big Grant Smith and If Americans New fan. At the recent Move Over Aipac conference, Smith was on a panel with Jeff Blankfort who is likewise worthy of more attention.
As is James Petras, whose books on the “Lobby”, or as he terms it the Zionist Power Configuration in America, cut much closer to the strategic heart of the matter than work by the relatively celebrated Walt and Mearsheimer.
A couple more thoughts on Dr Sabrosky’s fine essay: I think he hoped by starting with the “Palestine is defeated” theme to attract attention & spark controversy. If so, the tactic seems to be backfiring, by the so far extremely limited reader response.
Be that as may, it is one thing to note the extremely disadvantageous situation the Palestinian resistance is in. But the Palestinians on the ground are still struggling. They are down, but not totally out. So I think we need to be careful not to say or do that which tends to discourage them, to support adoption of a defeatist attitude.
It’s not over until it’s over, and it’s not over yet. It’s a “protracted struggle”.
Another point: Dr Sabrosky poohpoohs the significance of a request for UN recognition of a Palestinian state this September. I found his arguments compelling, but I notice that the Israelis view the matter differently, since they’re pulling out all stops to undercut any UN consideration of any such idea.
[Reply]
Debbie Menon Reply:
June 22nd, 2011 at 2:36 pm
@kwibono
Dr.Sabrosky is a strategist not a journalist. Stay tuned for the next in the series on July 4th.
Phil Giraldi, Grant Smith, Alison Weir are collaborating on several projects Check their websites CNI AND IREMP.
Couple of interesting incidents that took place at the Moveoveraipac conference:
http://mycatbirdseat.com/2011/05/alison-weir-tempers-flare-post-cni-press-briefing/
http://mycatbirdseat.com/2011/05/alison-weirhelen-thomas-and-move-over-aipac/
[Reply]
kwibono Reply:
June 22nd, 2011 at 4:27 pm
BTW, a tiny correction? the actual URL for the Institute for Research:Middle Eastern Policy is IRmep.org.
Thanks for the links re the Move Over, I’ll check them but most likely saw them earlier, since I’m subbed to both CNI & IAK newsletters.
The thing that interests me about the Move Over thing is that Petras was not invited.
BTW if you have a moment, I hope you’ll check your Catbird site, er seat? and let me know what happened to the comment I (re)posted there?
I have to confess to not understanding what Dr Sabrosky not being a “journalist” has to do with the points I made. Would it be a sign of paranoia if I was to guess there is a connection with why my comment there has disappeared?
Could it be that you or/and the Intifada Palestine editors really don’t want substantive comments to be posted on these articles? That it seems unduly rude to challenge anything your writers have said, even while lavishing praise overall?
???
[Reply]
Debbie menon Reply:
June 22nd, 2011 at 11:29 pm
I have no idea what you are on about, I see your comments on both sites and I responded to your comment in I-P. I donot often respond to comments due to time constraints and I donot censor comments. WordPress automatically holds a comment for moderation if it contains profanity or a particular word that is banned by wordpress. That was not the case with your comment. Anyone who understands the time and effort that goes into what I do will not complain.
As for Dr. Sabrosky I am not defending him. He has always had a unique and interesting take on Palestine and in my opinion is brutally honest. Which is why when he writes I pay attention and I think others should too.
I have to agree with the point he is making about a strategic void. For instance on Israel & recognizing Palestine, Months more will pass while everyone who was running around for Gaza now runs around for Palestinian recognition by the UN, but the three essentials to and for Israel will remain untouched and will continue to be strengthened: (1) Israeli military power, (2) the numbers of Israeli settlements and settlers, and most of all (3) Israel’s lock on the US government. And even if Palestinian does get that recognition, do you think it will affect the way Israel deals with the Palestinian parts (Gaza, West Bank & East Jerusalem) in the slightest? Hell, the Lebanon is a member of the UN, and I have lost track of how many times Israel has attacked or invaded it – always with US protection. So why would Palestine be different than the Lebanon? It won’t…Hell, the PA ? Should have been sacked when they pulled the Goldstone Report which was being sent for a vote by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to the UN General Assembly for possible action.?
Please check this out…this is what pro-Palestine Americans are up against:
http://mycatbirdseat.com/2011/05/alison-weir-tempers-flare-post-cni-press-briefing/
http://mycatbirdseat.com/2011/05/alison-weirhelen-thomas-and-move-over-aipac/
Please bear with me, dear readers, as I try to salvage a scrap of credibility here on IP. This is the note I sent to Ms Menon in response to her comment just above:
Dear Ms Menon,
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I’m really sorry to put you to extra trouble. I’m totally impressed by your list of contributors and the political direction of both sites. My comment on I-P could have been phrased better. I can only plead that I was tired and it’s been hot.
I just visited the Catbird page, and saw a link for Kwibono in the list of recent comments. But when I clicked on the article, below it were three comments, one by a “Bob”, one by a Paul, and one by Dr Sabrosky. No Kwibono.
So now I’m wondering if you actually saw my comment itself, or just the link to it on the front page?
Apparently there has been a miscommunication caused by either a glitch of some kind in the Catbird page’s software, or, a really unusual glitch in my browser.
I was about to send out a “general call” for people to zero in on the Catbird site as a place to discuss the kind of strategic questions raised by the Dr Sabrosky article. That’s on hold until we find the source of the problem.
Sorry about the extra trouble, congratulations on the great site and all your contributions,
(kwibono)
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There seem to be some really unusual software glitches aflicting my interaction with IP, and also with MCS. Probably it’s my IE9 again; I’m going to have it looked at soon as I can.
Bums me out bigtime because I do think Dr Sabrosky’s essay deserves as much attention as I can focus on it.
Okay, I’ll post this, then try to respond to his “thoughtlets”:)
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Greetings Dr Sabrosky, thank you for your gracious comment.
Thoughtlet #1, re Local Communities etc: It happens that the communities I know most about, other than SF and the Eastbay, are Sacramento, the capital of California, nearby Davis CA, and the “wine country” counties of Sonoma, Napa & Mendecino. I do have good contacts in Portland OR, & now that I think about it, in Vallejo, Fairfield & Solano county.
BDS efforts haven’t gained any traction in any of these places. Early on I was hopeful that by introducing BDS resolutions before City Councils etc, a space might be opened to present some better information to “the folks” than they get from the MSM. But it seems now that where local BDS campaigns have been launched, other than Olympia WA which is a special case, they’ve been hijacked by the JVP crowd, who have selected Natural Food coops as the focus, and are now bogged down trying to get Coop members to insist that Coop Boards/Officers follow the bylaws. A simple approach would be to sue the Boards under the CA Corporations Code but it is feared that anything that radical would likely alienate the membership.
To me it looks like BDS is another struggle that will go on and on and on and… just like the ME issue in general.
To me, the idea that a VFW chapter would give a hearing to pro-Palestinian ideas seems extremely far-fetched. I guess you would know better than I, since I try to avoid VFW types. It could be I guess that there might be some traditional “Spotlight” type anti-Jewish bigots in a place like Jackson MS, maybe some subscribers to Winklers “Rebel News”?
If you want to try making a presentation to the local chapter there, go for it. And let me know how it comes out. I’ll go out on a limb right now and predict it will come to nothing, but don’t let me discourage you from trying.
Re smaller & larger US communities: I think you will find, when you try to present your ideas about Palestine & “Jake” in public, that there will be a response from the organized “Jewish Community” (sic). In an academic setting, they might confine themselves to demanding “equal time”, as they did when Mazen Qumsiyeh’s Wheels of Justice bus scheduled a stop at a high school in Davis CA. An attempt to present a resolution to a City Council or Human Rts commission will be countered by a whole team from the local JCRC, at least one Reform Rabbi, a couple of Leading Businessmen donors to campaigns, and somebody from Bnai Brith/ADL. Most will be attorneys who will eloquently explain that you are either a Nazi or a person suffering from mental illness, or a combination of both.
Don’t let it bother you, it goes with the territory.
Let me submit this before a software glitch erases it? In a moment I’ll turn to Cynthia McKinney 2012…
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It appears that this thread isn’t garnering much attention at this point, so I’ll keep this brief.
There is need for discussion of the value of the Flotilla and other provision of supplies to Gaza, and of the BDS campaign, relative to the need to concentrate forces against Ziopower and Ziopower Denial in the US. But this thread doesn’t seem the right place for it.
If the Palestinians decide to take their demand for Statehood recognition to the US, it’s up to them, not us.
Cynthia Mckinney’s main support base before Libya erupted has been the Green Party. The reason the 2004 and 2008 “third party” campaigns failed to draw as much support as Nader 2K was primarily due to the successful effort by operatives of the hegemonic electoral duopoly to create splits; Nader’s 2004 response magnified the tactic’s effectiveness. In 2008 the Obamania phenomenon effectively undercut McKinney’s support among Blacks, many of whom saw her campaign as an effort by racist Republicans to undercut the “race” candidate Obama.
There are plenty of anti-Obama people who don’t like McKinney or like somebody else more, Ron Paul fans, Naderites etc so we who DO like McKinney should not sell her out in advance. Predicting the future is an iffy proposition. Hegel and certain students of his thought have taught us that Things Change, sometimes in unexpected ways.
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TYPO ALERT: re “If the Palestinians decide to take their demand for Statehood recognition to the US…”, should of course read “to the UN”. Sorry.
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I do not believe that Israel was directly involved in the 9/11 Operation though it was definitely to her advantage. Neither was the U.S. Government directly involved, THEY ALLOWED IT TO HAPPEN!
9/11 fit in perfectly with the Neo-Con vision of the Pax Americana espoused by the THE PROJECT FOR THE NEW AMERICAN CENTURY “ REBUILDING AMERICA’S DEFENSES” “ A transformation strategy that solely pursued capabilities for projecting force from the United States, for example, and sacrificed forward basing and presence, would be at odds with larger American policy goals and would trouble American allies.
Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor. “
There was a great deal if intelligence that an attack by al Qaeda was imminent. The intelligence even specified some targets ant the use of planes as weapons. Was deliberately ignored. They needed their Pearl Harbor! I’m not sure if George Tenet was in the loop or not? “CIA Director George Tenet was having breakfast at a hotel on Sept. 11 with former senator David Boren when an aide rushed over to whisper the news to him. “This has bin Laden all over it,” Tenet is reported to have said. “I wonder if it has anything to do with this guy taking pilot training?” he was also overheard to say. This is a reference to Zacarias Moussaoui, who had been detained in August after attracting suspicion at a flight school in Minnesota. The Wall Street Journal reported on May 20 that the FBI did not tell the White House about Moussaoui’s arrest until after Sept. 11. It did tell the Federal Aviation Administration. But that agency decided against warning the airlines to increase security, the Journal reported.” (washingtonpost.com, Sunday, May 26 The ‘First Rough Draft’ By Michael Getler)
As you may already know many of the members of the PROJECT are American Zionist who hold Dual American-Israeli Citizenship. Al Qaeda was the perpetrator, but the Neo-Cons and the Bush Administration were the facilitators.
Regarding the USS Liberty, I think LBJ was a pawn, W. was a collaborator.
Some members:
Paul Wolfowitz
I. Lewis Libby
William Kristol
David Epstein
Eliot Cohen
Article
http://www.usasurvival.org/ck6902.shtml
http://www.newamericancentury.org/RebuildingAmericasDefenses.pdf
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Dear Ms Duberstein,
I’m in sympathy with your general opinions on things, but. The information you present is stale. Old Stuff. This kind of thing has been hashed and hashed by Webster Tarpley, Alex Jones, and a host of 911 Truth pages and groups.
Possibly you meant to post your comment on a different thread? It seems out of place here, where we are discussing strategic focus of anti-Zionist/anti-”Isreal” educating and organizing.
Possibly you were moved to comment on thoughts expressed on the Veterans Today site?
Sorry to be blunt; I don’t mean to be rude but I don’t find the placement of your comment on this thread to be helpful.
Perhaps others will disagree, but that’s how it seems to me.
??
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