The world is not blind; it can see clearly what is happening in Gaza and what the fate of the Gazan civilians will ultimately be. The footage and photos from the warzone are devastating, and anyone with an ounce of blood in his system must be totally horrified by the calamities occurring. And yet the world, particularly the US, is doing nothing but watching Gazans die.
The US and most countries around the world denounced the bloodthirsty approach that Hamas undertook on October 7th, but, unfortunately, no similar fury occurred when Israel bombed Gaza savagely and starved its citizens for months on end. Furthermore, the US has backed Israel all along and given it the green light to do whatever it sees fit in Gaza, and, on December 8th, the US vetoed a UN resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza allowing Israel to continue its annihilation.
As the carnage continues, we wonder what holds the US from acting fairly and in a humanitarian fashion. Had the perpetrator of this carnage been another country, the US would’ve held its leaders responsible and considered the attack reprehensible. A case in point is Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the lengths that the US and the West had undertaken to support the besieged country. So why is the US vindicating Israel’s action, and, more importantly, where is the American unconditional support of Israel coming from?
Let’s call a spade a spade: it is the wealth and influence of Israel’s advocates and partisans; they happen to be the most affluent and most influential financiers, media tycoons, and powerful lobbyists in the US. In all fairness, the US cannot stand up to the Israeli moguls and lobbyists who would not want Israel to make concessions towards a ceasefire and to end this abusive war.
In their book “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy,” renowned political professors John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt explain the reasons behind the unwavering support the US provides Israel. “The explanation lies in the political power of the Israel lobby. Were it not for the lobby's ability to work effectively within the American political system, the relationship between Israel and the United States would be far less intimate than it is today.”
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, AIPAC, and other pro-Israeli organizations, candidly supports those who support Israel. According to the New Times, US lawmakers, congressmen, and potential presidents all aspire to be the recipients of big campaign cash from AIPAC. And, today, AIPAC made it clear that it is going to “spend big, probably far more than in previous election cycles, to defeat anyone standing up for Palestine.”
The most affluent moguls in the US are Israeli supporters; they donate generously first to Israel and second to those who back Israel. Mike Bloomberg, the 11th richest person in the world, had the largest ambulance stations in Jerusalem named after his father, following his donations; Yuri Milers, the Russian-born Israeli billionaire, a San Francisco resident, has donated $10 million to Israel after October 7th; Lynn Schusterman, the Oklahoma-based billionaire funds several causes in Israel. These are a mere handful of Israeli benefactors; there are hundreds of others.
US Media, too, suffers the stern control of the Israeli lobbyists. It is controlled by pro-Israeli executives who play a fundamental role in swaying the US public towards Israel. Their bias is reflected in the editorials of major newspapers: The New York Times, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Washington Times, regularly run editorials that are strongly pro-Israel. Robert Bartley, the late editor of the Wall Street Journal, has said once, "Shamir, Sharon, Bibi — whatever those guys want is pretty much fine by me." The goal of these media outlets is to prevent critical commentary about Israel from getting a fair hearing in the American public eye while undermining the Palestinian and other causes.
Organizations such as Stand With us, think tanks such as Brookings, and institutes such as the Saban Center for Middle East Studies are, without any doubt, supporters of Israel. Together they incriminate Hamas and render Israel the victim. They take Israel’s side and do not question the unconditional US support of Israel.
More importantly, it is the Israeli lobbyists everlasting capacity to shape the political scene in the US that is most profound. Pro-Israeli groups and billionaires are deemed most influential in the US’s political approach and foreign policy as they manipulate and mold elections. These Israeli billionaires spend big on presidential races, on governors’ races, and on winning congressional and senate seats, all with a single aim: to maintain the US’s unconditional support of Israel. They donate to campaigns, place ads in support of their favourite candidates, and aim to sabotage opponents.
Israeli lobbyists also go after adversaries They air attack ads against pro-Palestinians and back their opponents who challenge members not voting for or supporting Israel’s war on Gaza. The Christians United for Israel and AIPAC are trying to bring down anti-war pro-Palestinian lawmakers such as congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. Ilhan Omar, the congressional representative of Minnesota, speaks openly of the need for a ceasefire in Gaza, and, hence, has faced sharp criticism from pro-Israeli groups. She will face difficulty in her re-election bid.
To take but one other example, let’s consider the Republican running for the US presidency Nikki Haley’s advocacy role for Israel. During her tenure as the US ambassador at the UN, Haley promoted Israel quite blatantly. She helped in blocking US funding of the UN Palestine Refugees Agency and had the US exit from the UN Human Rights Council due to its criticism of Israel. Also, ahead of a vote on Jerusalem, she, in letters sent to dozens of UN state representatives, said that the US is taking down names of those who dare to criticize Israel. At an AIPAC conference, emboldened Nikki Haley went as far as saying, “I wear heels. It’s not for a fashion statement. It's because if I see something wrong, we're going to kick them every single time.”And on what should happen to Gazans, she arrogantly decided the fate of 2.3 million; "They must leave the enclave. "They should have gone to the Rafah Crossing and Egypt would have taken care of them."
But Haley’s resolute bolstering of Israel paid off. Nikki Haley is Israel’s wishful candidate for the White House. The Jordan Times says, “Haley's strategy is paying dividends, at least financially. Prominent Jewish donors have donated to her campaign.”
Nikki Haley’s case is a drop in the bucket since the strategy applied here applies to US lawmakers across the board.
With the pro-Israeli lobby playing a most effective role in the US political scene, it is no wonder that the US maintains a blind eye to the Israeli aggressions.
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