FlotillaHyves2
  • Front Page
  • Home
  • Siege-Crossings
    • Siege-Crossings 2019 >
      • Siege-Crossings 2018
      • Siege-Crossings 2017
      • Siege-Crossings 2016
      • Siege-Crossings 2015
      • Siege-Crossings 2014
      • Siege-Crossings 2013
      • Siege-Crossings 2012
  • Jerusalem & Mosques
    • Jerusalem & Mosques 2019 >
      • Jerusalem & Mosques 2018
      • Jerusalem & Mosques 2017
      • Jerusalem & Mosques 2016
      • Jerusalem & Mosques 2015
      • Jerusalem & Mosques 2014
      • Jerusalem & Mosques 2013
      • Jerusalem & Mosques 2012
  • Israeli War Criminals
    • War Criminals 2019 >
      • War Criminals 2018
      • War Criminals Pictures
      • War Criminals 2017
      • War Criminals 2016
      • War Criminals 2015
      • War Criminals 2014
      • War Criminals 2013
      • War Criminals 2012
      • War Criminals 2011
      • War Criminals 2010
      • War Criminals 2009
      • War Criminals 2008
      • War Criminals 2007
      • War Criminals 2006
      • War Criminals 2005
      • War Criminals 2004
      • War Criminals 2003
      • War Criminals 2002
      • War Criminals 2001
  • Occupied Children
    • Occupied Children 2019 >
      • Occupied Children 2018
      • Occupied Children 2017
      • Occupied Children 2016
      • Occupied Children 2015
      • Occupied Children 2014
      • Occupied Children 2013
      • Occupied Children 2012
  • Children of the gravel
    • Children of the gravel 2011
    • Children of the gravel 2010
  • Tunnels
    • Tunnels 2019 >
      • Tunnels 2018
      • Tunnels 2017
      • Tunnels 2016
      • Tunnels 2015
      • Tunnels 2014
      • Tunnels 2013
      • Tunnels 2012
  • Sewage - Waste
    • Sewage - Waste 2019 >
      • Sewage - Waste 2018
      • Sewage - Waste 2017
      • Sewage - Waste 2016
      • Sewage - Waste 2014
      • Sewage - Waste 2013
      • Sewage - Waste 2012
      • Sewage - Waste 2015
  • Non-Violent Protest
    • Non-Violent Protest 2015 >
      • Non-Violent Protest 2014
      • Non-Violent Protest 2013
  • Yasser Arafat
    • Yasser Arafat 2013 >
      • Yasser Arafat 2012
      • Yasser Arafat 2008
      • Yasser Arafat 2007
      • Yasser Arafat 2004
      • Yasser Arafat 2003
      • Yasser Arafat 2001
  • Rachel Corrie
    • Rachel Corrie 2014 >
      • Rachel Corrie 2013
      • Rachel Corrie 2012
      • Rachel Corrie 2010
      • Judgment in the case of Rachel Corrie 2012
      • Rachel Corrie 2006
      • Rachel Corrie 2005
      • Rachel Corrie 2003
  • Vittorio Arrigoni
  • Juliano Mer-Khamis 2012
    • Juliano Mer-Khamis 2011
  • Israeli Media-AIPEC
    • Israeli Media-AIPEC 2019 >
      • AIPEC 2018
      • AIPEC 2017
      • AIPEC 2016
      • AIPEC 2015
      • AIPEC 2014
      • AIPEC 2013
      • AIPEC 2012
      • AIPEC 2011
      • AIPEC 2010
      • AIPEC 1994
      • AIPEC 1993
  • Mossad
    • Mossad 2019 >
      • Mossad 2018
      • Mossad 2017
      • Mossad 2016
      • Mossad 2015
      • Mossad 2014
      • Mossad 2013
  • Omar Nayef
  • Fadi al-Batsh
  • Mohamed al-Zouari
  • Sociopatic Mentality
    • Sociopatic Mentality 2014
    • Sociopatic Mentality 2013
    • Sociopatic Mentality 2012
    • Sociopatic Mentality 2010
    • Sociopatic Mentality 2009
    • Sociopatic Mentality 2008
    • Sociopatic Mentality 2007
    • Sociopatic Mentality 2006
    • Sociopatic Mentality 2005
  • Ben Gurion Airport
    • Ben Gurion Airport 2019 >
      • Ben Gurion Airport 2018
      • Ben Gurion Airport 2017
      • Ben Gurion Airport 2016
      • Ben Gurion Airport 2015
      • Ben Gurion Airport 2014
      • Ben Gurion Airport 2013
      • Ben Gurion Airport 2012
  • Israeli Blood Diamonds
    • Israeli Blood Diamonds 2012
  • Israeli Medical Industry
    • Israeli Medical Industry 2019 >
      • Israeli Medical Industry 2018
      • Israeli Medical Industry 2016
      • Israeli Medical Industry 2015
      • Israeli Medical Industry 2014
      • Israeli Medical Industry 2013
      • Israeli Medical Industry 2012
      • Israeli Medical Industry 2011
      • Israeli Medical Industry 2010
      • Israeli Medical Industry 2009
  • Israeli Nuclear
    • Israeli Nuclear 2019 >
      • Israeli Nuclear 2018
      • Israeli Nuclear 2017
      • Israeli Nuclear 2016
      • Israeli Nuclear 2015
      • Israeli Nuclear 2014
      • Israeli Nuclear 2013
  • Palestinian Nukes
26 july 2020
AIPAC praises US lawmakers as Congress approves a $3.8 billion in defense assistance for Israel
Picture
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden

The aid package comes as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, despite opposition by some who say the package should be used to pressure Israel to nix annexation plans

The American Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC) praised U.S. lawmakers after a bill including $3.8 billion in defense assistance for Israel cleared both chambers of Congress, Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported Friday.

The funding comes as part of the National Defense Authorization Act: In the House of Representatives the bill was approved 295 to 125, Tuesday - while the Senate cast its votes, 86 in support and 14 against the bill, Thursday.

AIPAC praised both the Democrats and Republicans in Congress who cast their vote in favor of the defense budget, saying it “will help Israel protect itself against continuing security threats."


Earlier this year, the aid for Israel emerged as one of the points of contention on the left wing of the US political scene.

A number of Democratic presidential candidates, including, most notably, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, said they were willing to use the funding to pressure Israel not annex parts of the West Bank.


However, Joe Biden, the presumptive challenger to U.S. President Donald Trump, said on multiple occasions that he would not make the aid conditional on any policies by Israel.

7 mar 2020
Two attendees of AIPAC conference test positive for coronavirus
Picture
At least two attendees of AIPAC’s conference last week have tested positive for coronavirus.

The pro-Israel lobbying group said in a statement to attendees, speakers, administration and Capitol Hill offices on Friday that the two individuals affected traveled from New York to Washington, D.C. to attend the March 1-3 conference.

Attendees and speakers at the conference included Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., former 2020 Democratic candidate Mike Bloomberg, former candidate Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and several other lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle.

More than about 18,000 people attend the conference from across the country, and two-thirds of Congress participate, according to AIPAC’s website.

25 feb 2020
US Senator Bernie Sanders to Boycott AIPAC Conference
Picture
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders announced, on Monday, that he will not attend a forthcoming conference organized by a pro-Israel lobby group that serves as a platform to “express bigotry,” Anadolu Agency reports.

“The Israeli people have the right to live in peace and security. So do the Palestinian people,” Sanders, a front-runner in the Democratic nomination for US president, wrote on Twitter.

“I remain concerned about the platform AIPAC [American Israel Public Affairs Committee] provides for leaders who express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights. For that reason, I will not attend their conference.”

Sanders reiterated his support for a two-state solution in the region, saying: “As president, I will support the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians and do everything possible to bring peace and security to the region.”

12 feb 2020
AIPAC is in a losing battle to preserve Israel’s bipartisan status in America
Picture
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

The latest clash in the American civil war over Israel, which pits liberal progressives against right-wing reactionary nationalists, ended with an apology at the weekend by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Better known as AIPAC, the anti-Palestinian group issued a full apology for posting an advertisement accusing the Democratic Party of anti-Semitism. It has finally realised that its vilification of US lawmakers critical of the Zionist state is actually self-harming.

“Radicals in the Democratic Party are pushing their anti-Semitic and anti-Israel policies down the throats of the American people,” the lobby group had said on Facebook. “America should never abandon its only democratic ally in the Middle East.” It urged its supporters to sign a letter of protest and not “abandon Israel”.

AIPAC’s fury was provoked by the insistence of senior Democrats that the annual $3.8 billion aid given by the US to the Zionist state should be conditional upon a change in Israeli policy towards the Palestinians. Would-be presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is one target of AIPAC’s ire. The Vermont senator, who is Jewish, has been the most powerful proponent of leveraging US aid to get the Israelis to respect international law.

Sanders is not alone amongst Democrats in expressing growing frustration over Israel’s annexation policy. Elizabeth Warren, another leading presidential contender, has also backed this idea in reply to a question about withholding aid to Israel if it continues building settlements in the occupied West Bank and moves further away from a two-state solution: “All options are on the table,” she insisted.

Likewise, Pete Buttigieg, another would-be candidate, echoed his colleagues’ views when asked about withholding US aid to Israel.

There seems to be a new mood in the US concerning Israel. Not since 1991 when George H W Bush refused to give Israel $10 billion in loan guarantees that it requested to resettle Soviet immigrants, until the Israelis froze settlement growth in the West Bank, have US politicians been as outspoken about penalising the Zionist state for its unlawful behaviour.

On the rare occasions that this has occurred, such as when Senator Rand Paul (Republican, Kentucky) attempted to block bipartisan security aid to Israel in 2018, members of Congress were not subjected to the kind of excoriation that was witnessed over the weekend.

It would seem that Americans have forgotten the time when the least they expected from their politicians and Presidents was global leadership in punishing rogue behaviour of the kind that has been a consistent feature in Israel. Furthermore, to be able to do this without being accused of “anti-Semitism”.

Would AIPAC have considered President Dwight D Eisenhower an anti-Semite for threatening to withhold US aid in 1956 unless Israeli troops withdrew from Egypt within a 36-hour deadline? Or President Gerald Ford, who did something similar by halting new arms sales to Israel which had the effect of forcing a partial Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai in 1975?

Likewise, one suspects Americans would have been outraged if President Jimmy Carter, who forced Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon in 1977 with a threat to cancel future arms sales, had been labelled an anti-Semite by a lobby group like AIPAC. Carter, who would go on to describe Israel as an “apartheid” state, also threatened to withhold aid during the Camp David talks that led to Israel leaving the Sinai completely.

Some degree of impartiality was maintained even under President Ronald Reagan, who in 1982 banned new sales of cluster bombs to Israel for six years after it was determined that that it was using them in Lebanon in violation of America’s Mutual Defence Assistance Agreement with the Zionist state.

In the three decades since George Bush Senior refused to give Israel the loan guarantees, no serious threat has been issued by any US President despite Israel’s acceleration of its colonial-expansionist policies. Instead, the Zionist state has acquired a unique status in Washington. It is viewed with the kind of awe one normally associates with religious fundamentalists, whose notion of the sacred is filled with a zeal that defies common sense.

AIPAC has apparently realised the self-harm that its advertisement has caused. The pro-Israel lobby group has been the most effective force in making and maintaining Israel’s bipartisan status immune to political changes on Capitol Hill.

However, Israel’s policies and the death of the two-state solution, to which liberal supporters of Israel clung desperately in the hope that the Zionist project could be redeemed, have made this an impossible task.

A growing number of progressive Democrat representatives no longer want to remain silent over the cost of America’s abiding loyalty to Israel. Their outspoken views, which in all likelihood would have been quite normal under previous administrations during the Cold War, reflect a growing chasm in US politics as far as Israel is concerned.

The image of the Zionist state as a liberal democracy, crafted painstakingly over many years, has taken a battering. In the decades in which Israel has enjoyed reverential status in Washington, it has managed to empty the Palestinian cause of any moral and legal considerations, and divorced it from normal laws governing the behaviour of democratic states.

At the same time, it has asserted for itself an ethno-religious identity at odds with secular liberal and democratic values while overseeing the longest military occupation in modern history which denies millions of people their basic rights. It is no wonder that liberal Democrats in the US are turning their backs on Israel.

A typical pro-Israel American now belongs to the Republican Party, or the far right, often now one and the same. Paradoxically — given that it was far-right ideology which was behind the Holocaust — Israel might be losing the support of progressive liberals, but it is gaining support on the right and far right, not only in the US, but also around the world in places like Hungary and Brazil, for example.

According to a 2018 survey carried out by the Pew Research Centre, nearly eight in ten US Republicans (79 per cent) sympathise more with Israel than they do with the Palestinians. This was a 29 per cent increase from 2001. On the other hand, sympathy for Israel amongst the Democrats has declined to just 27 per cent.

These changes in social attitudes are now reflected in Congress through the election of representatives like Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. This has made AIPAC’s task of preserving Israel’s status as a bipartisan issue more daunting than ever before.

AIPAC’s “unequivocal apology to the overwhelming majority of Democrats” whom it admitted were “rightfully offended” by being labelled anti-Semites, demonstrates that the pro-Israel lobby is fighting a losing battle.

Americans now “know too much” about Israel and its occupation to stay firmly on the fence. With attitudes towards the Zionist state hardening on both sides, Israel is unlikely to remain a bipartisan issue much longer. Instead, it will come to represent the dividing line between liberal democracy and ethno-religious fundamentalism, something with which no self-respecting Democrat would ever wish to be associated.

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.