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Samantha Power Advocates 82nd Airborne Occupy Tel Aviv
Jewish Wingnut Alert:
Now that I’ve got your attention I should point out that the title is a lie, just as is this roughly parallel charge by the American far-right American Thinker and Commentary Magazines. This is real “out there” stuff. I liken it to the Jewish version of the National Enquirer. So I hope you can follow the whacked out “argument” as outlined in Key Obama adviser called for US military invasion of denuded Israel:
A video clip from a 2002 interview reveals Power calling for…”sacrificing … billions of dollars not in servicing the Israeli military but rather investing in the new state of Palestine” and in a “mammoth protection force.”
Power suggested that the US would need to send a “meaningful military presence” to go in on a scale greater than any previous force. Though “imposition of a solution on unwilling parties is as a “dreadful… a terrible thing to do, … fundamentally undemocratic,” she said, it was essential to stop Israeli and Palestinian leaders who seem “politically destined to destroy the lives of their own peoples.” She suggested that just as “external intervention” in Rwanda might have prevented genocide, doing the the same in “Palestine-Israeli situation” would likely prove “lesser evils.”
Did you follow that? Powers, way back in 2002, suggested that neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians are capable of resolving their conflict; and that in the interests of regional stability and ending the bloodshed for both sides, that the U.S. should intervene and possibly impose a settlement on both sides. Sounds like advocating an invasion to me, doesn’t it?
By the way, this is an idea that Power didn’t think up herself. In fact, Zeev Sternhell, distinguished Hebrew University professor who was the victim of an assassination attempt last week, suggested precisely this idea in a post bombing interview. Henry Siegman has also suggested it.
One can legitimiately argue whether this proposal can work in the face of possible opposition from both sides. But to smear the idea by calling it an invasion of Israel is beyond ludicrous.
By the way, would anyone care to lay down a wager on how long it wll be before Marty Peretz starts shreying from the rooftops about this in his TNR blog, The Spine[less]? The list of other right-wing loony tunes sites which features this dreck is the usual suspects, but I really liked the sound of this one, Fuckfrance. Isn’t the blog name a bit passe considering France is now ruled by a president who adores the U.S. and Bush politics?
Considering that Samantha Power left the Obama campaign months ago, one wonders what’s the point of this smear now. The Israel Insider piece gives you your answer:
The Irish-born Power, pegged as a leading candidate for a top foreign policy position in a prospective Obama administration, perhaps NSC Advisor or even Secretary of State…
The militant pro-Israel right here in the U.S. is terribly frightened of the Middle East advisors Obama will appoint to negotiate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They want to lay down the first marker in the battle to ensure honest brokers like Power will not make it into the new Administration. They’ve smeared Brzezinski, they’ve smeared Rob Malley, now they’re smearing Samantha Power. It’s a shame.
Jerry Haber said:
Martin Indyk called several years ago for Israeli forces on the West Bank and Gaza to withdraw, and to be replaced by a multi-lateral force. OK, so that is not a forced intervention. But Indyk, not exactly known for being pro-Palestinian was suggesting international intervention. Needless to say, Israel shot that down, and Indyck buried the idea, as far as I know.
By the way, on one of the political shows tonight, the rightwing blogger Hugh Hewitt shouted at Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, “Do you know who Rashid Khalidi is?” (needless to say he mispronounced the name. Wasserman Schultz ignored him, but I wish she had shouted back, “Do you know who Senator Joseph McCarthy is.”
Rev John Momo said:
What do you think Cindy Sheehan would say if her son was part of such a force? Would you allow your children to participate in this force?
Acai Berri said:
Thanks for this you tube. It is scarier than anything the RJC could put together. Imagine the domestic anti-Semitism that will arise when American boys are killed either defending Israel or attacking Israel
Acai Berri said:
What does “shreying” mean? Also, given that Marty peretz has endorsed Obama, would one assume that he would support this plan?
Richard Silverstein said:
@Rev John Momo: Different situation entirely. In the case of the I-P situation, both sides would welcome a force that would separate them & provide them with a respite from murderous attacks emanating fr. the other side as long as both sides decided they could live with the political solution offered to them. Personally, I’d be proud to have my son participate in such a peacekeeping operation.
Richard Silverstein said:
@Acai Berri:
Ooooooh, we’re all so SCARED!
Richard Silverstein said:
@Acai Berri:
I think you’re trying to be cute–too cute by half. And it’s not working.
BTW, I don’t provide Yiddish lessons to nudniks. Look both words up on Google.
Sharon said:
Given the US track record on intervening in other countries - the latest being Iraq - I can’t believe that any peace group would advocate any American military invasion of any country for any reason.
If you want to really promote peace in the Middle East and you are an American this is what you should be doing:
1) fight to end US dependence on the oil companies
2) fight the military industrial complex
US military contractors make millions off of the continued conflict in the Middle East. There are million of jobs in the US directly or indirectly related to this industry. They have no economic interest in seeing it end. That the Israeli peace movement ignores this fact and sees the US as some kind of Messiah is incredible. I thought the religious right were the only ones to believe in such superstitions.
There will be no peace in the Middle East until Middle Easterners themselves end their dependence on colonial and neo-colonial powers. You would think that after over a century and a half of such dependency they/we would learn to stop being dependent on superpowers who have been enriching themselves while we drown in debt, live in poverty and kill each other. There is no Messiah, no knight in shining armor.
Given what the US did in Vietnam, in Iraq, in Chile, in Panama, in Japan… in fact name one country that the US invaded that it didn’t devastate. If you know even the most basic history of US intervention you should be scared.
Richard Silverstein said:
@Sharon: We’re not talking about an invasion. That’s how the Jewish right is characterizing this. If you’re not a member of the Jewish right you should exercise a bit of caution & not fall into their rhetoric.
You simply do not understand how desperate the situation is in Palestine. Before you mischaracterize Power’s proposal, you should read up on how horrible things are. Likening Gaza to some of the awful international basket case situations Power refers to in her interview isn’t far off the mark. So, do you want to sit around and let Israel & Palestine slug it out until perhaps a nuclear weapon is dentonated or some other horror occurs? Or would you prefer that the U.S. be part of the solution?
You can sit w. yr head in the sand as we’re doing re: Darfur & as we did in Rwanda & for too long in Bosnia & Kosovo; or you can act. Acting would be messy, no question about it. But what’s the alternative??
How, btw, do you propose that Israel “end its dependency on” U.S. “colonial power?” What if that won’t happen for the next say, 60-80 yrs.? Then what? Do you have a suggestion for how you can drive a wedge bet. the 2? Because if you did you should be putting out yr shingle as an international relations consultant specialist & start raking in some real money. I simply don’t see this happening, period. And unlike you I’m not willing to wait around till the Messiah comes for the U.S. to stop propping Israel up.
The U.S. did pretty well by Bosnia & Kosovo. If something similar ever happened in Israel-Palestine it would not be a sole U.S. operation. It would be an international one like the UN force in Lebanon. And it would involve the U.S. & EU prob. coming up w. a mutually agreed upon solution in consultation w. Israelis & Palestinians. This happened in Kosovo and it could happen in Israel Palestine too.
Sharon said:
Richard what you are saying is pure speculation. You are not a general and you do not know what the 82 or any other airborne division would do. These are armed forces you are talking about not diplomats or negotiators.
The root of the problem since the time of the Tanzimat Reforms and the French invasion of Algeria in the Middle East has been Western intervention - that is the source of the problem. How can it possibly be the solution? Al laish tafakir wa ana la arif aye she ala mintaka a-sharq al-ousat? Me efo ata yodea al mi ani ve ma ani yodaat o lo yodaat al Yisrael ve Falastin? Garti sham shes shanim!
Also I don’t sell my advice to anyone - those who do are part of the problem not part of the solution.
Richard Silverstein said:
@Sharon:
There is no such thing as an ironclad rule about what will work or won’t work as far as the I-P conflict is concerned. And not every evil in the ME derives fr. Western intervention (though that is a very large part of the evil for sure). Native/local players have done more than their share of the evil as well. In fact, the entire reason the west should intervene is that the parties have shown themselves entirely incapable of acting responsibly.
The west has intervened in some conflicts in various parts of the world & done so fairly responsibly and judiciously. THat could be possible within the I-P situation as well.