Sanders and Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner
Congressional Democrats have finally awoken from a somnolent slumber regarding Aipac. The group has been a mythical Sandman sprinkling magic dust on the sleepers, in the form of hundreds of millions in campaign cash. The Gaza genocide and slaughter in Lebanon and Iran, not to mention the lucre dumped into Democratic primary races to sabotage progressive candidates, and polling finding Americans no longer support Israel (80% of Democrats)–all of this has begun a sea change in Democratic attitudes toward Israel-Aipac.
A Congressional letter says this:
…Is the latest sign of a shift in the Democratic Party’s approach to Israel amid growing frustration over the country’s killing of civilians in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon and its high-profile lobbying in Washington for the war in Iran…
The push for transparency by Democrats reflects a deeper soul-searching on Israel that is happening within the party…
That’s not to say that the dragon has been slain. But he’s been wounded (actually, he wounded himself). Though you know what they say about wounded animals–they’re desperate and most dangerous. In other words, Aipac has not been vanquished. Those hundreds of millions from fat-cat Zionist oligarchs (Paul Singer, Bill Ackman, Arthur Yass, Jan Koum, etc.) ensure its ability to continue gaming the Party’s primary system.
Not to mention, that the Party grandees (Schumer, Gildebrand, Pelosi, Clyburn, et al.) remain enamored of all that cash. They’re addicted to it and its almost impossible to wean them off the bad stuff. That’s why the DNC refused to debate a resolution calling for ending US military aid to IDF units sanctioned for human rights violations..
But increasingly the scales have fallen from the eyes of Americans, particularly the Democratic grassroots, increasingly aware of the scam being perpetrated against them. They no longer buy the pro-Israel mantra. No longer parade in lock-step with Aipac’s marching orders. They’ve developed a spine. Thank God, and just in time.
The latest development illustrating this phenomenon is Rep. Joaquin Castro’s letter, signed by 30 Democratic Congress members and addressed to Secretary of State Rubio, demanding answers regarding Israel’s nuclear weapons program:
“The risks of miscalculation, escalation, and nuclear use in this environment are not theoretical. Congress has a constitutional responsibility to be fully informed about the nuclear balance in the Middle East, the risk of escalation by any party to this conflict, and the administration’s planning and contingencies for such scenarios.”
Among others, the letter seeks an inventory of nuclear weapons systems, the amounts and types of nuclear material produced at Dimona, whether Israel has defined when it would use such weapons, and risks of Israeli use. It points out the hypocrisy of the US lending tacit support for Israeli nukes while it attacks Iran, claiming falsely it’s on the verge of developing such such weapons:
“We cannot develop coherent nonproliferation policy for the Middle East … while maintaining a policy of official silence about the nuclear weapons capabilities of one party central to the ongoing conflict”…
The letter is a bold and unprecedented break with Lobby protocols. These are issues never to be mentioned. WMD is Israel’s dirty little [non] secret. Refusing to acknowledge the existence of these weapons anaesthetizes the world, and allows Israel to divert attention to the concocted threat posed by Iran.
A nuclear expert said:
“Nonrecognition allows the Israeli government to redirect attention at other countries in the region who are pursuing nuclear activities that could lead to nuclear weapons,”
Everyone knows Israel has nukes. Former prime minister Olmert even intimated as much in violation of a longstanding policy of “nuclear ambiguity” (nothing ambiguous about it). But everyone gives Israel a free pass. It is the only nuclear state, with the possible exception of North Korea) which has a totally opaque nuclear project.
It is vital that this veil of secrecy be pierced: for the sake of the region and its potential victims; and for the world’s sake. No nuclear state has the right to endanger the entire world without any accountability. That Israel has been granted that right is shameful.
Aipac targets progressive Senate candidates, Platner and Abu-Sayed
Aipac is using the candidacies of Graham Platner (Maine) and Abdul Abu-Sayed (Michigan) to drum up cash for its multi-hundred-million dollar campaigns to sabotage candidates who criticize Israel and call Israeli crimes (genocide, ethnic cleansing, apartheid) by their names. It must be so frustrating to Aipac political strategists to have to stand by while such progressives weather their assault and surge, despite such massive well-funded smear/attack campaigns.
Platner and Abu-Sayed, among others:
“Aren’t just critics of Israel, but are running campaigns built on undermining it…[They] embrace “extreme rhetoric,” push “false accusations of genocide” and support cutting off aid to Israel, policies “pushed by Bernie Sanders and amplified by voices like [left-wing political streamer] Hasan Piker.”
What is truly extreme rhetoric? Defending genocide? Calling for elimination of all Palestinians from their homes and villages, justifying pogroms and mass murder? What can be more extreme than that? Is denouncing such heinous acts “extreme?” By whose standard? These positions have become the bedrock of Zionist discourse, and illustrate the moral rot at its core.
As for “false” accusations of genocide–scores of genocide scholars and multiple international human rights groups say otherwise. Who are we to believe? Israel apologists who would defend Satan himself if he were a Zionist, or learned professors who have studied the question for decades?
It’s always amusing that Bernie Sanders becomes the bete noir of the Lobby. Here is a Brooklyn-born Jew who lived on a kibbutz in his youth and who, until recently held conventional liberal Zionist views. As for Hasan Piker, attacking an Arab social media influencer with millions of followers is not exactly as intimidating as Aipac might think.
Of course, it does tend to make the Zionist oligarchs’ hair catch fire and open their checkbooks. While their billions may fill the airwaves with smears and libels, Sanders’ and Piker’s mass following will trump them every time. Well, not every time because progressive Democrats do lose some. But the victories against the Lobby are more frequent and more decisive. The worse Israel’s crimes, the more desperate its defense becomes.
Platner and Abu Sayed are willing to single out Israel for its crimes, which lately include genocide and forever wars against Lebanon and Iran. The only sense in which they “undermine” Israel is that they oppose these crimes. When the US commits such crimes, are its critics undermining its existence? How can Bernie Sanders destroy the State of Israel? The very notion is preposterous. What is wrong with calling out state-sponsored terrorism? And shouldn’t such a state be admonished and sanctioned? Why is Israel immune? Of course, because there is a Lobby shielding it from accountability.
There is also the underlying smoldering anti-Semitism smear: “undermining” Israel comes awfully close to saying such criticism is anti-Semitic. Of course, it isn’t. But it’s the job of the Lobby to confuse and conflate the two. Everyone hates anti-Semitism. But Zionism is an entirely different story. If it can equate the two, then attacking a contested, controversial ideology like Zionism becomes as taboo as spouting anti-Semitic slogans. A sly trick.
Aipac goes to Washington (state)
Aipac has advertised for a western states director based in Seattle. There’s gold in them thar hills. Namely, the increasingly right-wing (hence, pro-Israel) tech bros with their billions, vested shares of Northwest titans like Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing, and Starbucks.
Outright fascist oligarchs like Peter Thiel and Alex Karp, though they don’t reside here, have set the ideological tone for the technocracy. This is sweet music to the ears of Aipac, which could write a symphony about the tens, or even hundreds of millions that awaits. Those funds can be used, in turn, to poison American democracy, tilting the playing board toward domestic fascism and support for Israel uber alles.
The local model might be StandWithUs, which essentially stole a $5-million gift from the University of Washington by persuading a 91-year-old widow that a Jewish studies professor who signed a petition calling for peace, had actually engaged in impermissible political activity. The erstwhile donor then demanded return of her pledged gift (which had no legal basis, since she signed an irrevocable legally-binding contract). The University, eager to be rid of the troublesome ex-donor, returned it. She promptly turned around and transferred the gift to StandWithUs. It pumped those funds into its lawfare projects, which sue various entities for alleged support of terrorism.ar
That financial coup undoubtedly helped persuade Aipac that the oligarchs of the Northwest were fertile ground for harvesting pro-Israel dollars.
The northwest also features extremist firebrands like Ari Hoffman, the resident genocide enabler and media influencer. Hoffman is a gadfly ever eager to glom onto a controversy and turn it into a Zionist cause celebre. His latest “achievement” was successfully pressuring the University’s president to fire Prof. Aria Fani as director of the University’s Middle East Center.
This is all music to Aipac’s ears. An indication that the region’s millions are ripe for the taking. This will undoubtedly be heartily welcomed by its Zionist billionaires.
