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Image by: Carlos Latuff

By Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD

“Cowardice asks the question - is it safe? Expediency asks the question - is it politic? Vanity asks the question - is it popular? But conscience asks the question - is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it is right.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

The power of the Israel lobby is waning in the public and in mass communications (media, books, etc) thanks to those who listen to their conscience. This will not impact the next elections since leading candidates in both major parties are still pledging allegiance to AIPAC. But whoever gets elected will soon realize that AIPAC’s push for a war on Iran was the final treachery that will destroy what remains of the US’s reputation (so far support for Israeli expansionism costs us over $2 TRILLION for wars and occupation of Iraq and Palestine and thousands of American lives). Evidence for this waning influence is everywhere where good people stand up for what is right. We can cite the failure of the lobby to silence or put a dent in the sales of books like Carter’s “Palestine: Peace not apartheid” and Mearsheimer and Walt’s “The Israel Lobby”. Mearsheimer was even on the Colbert Report.

More evidence coming to light of results from people who follow their conscience rather than their fears:

# Chicago Tribune Special report. New revelations in attack on American spy ship: Veterans, documents suggest U.S., Israel didn’t tell full story of deadly ‘67 incident By John Crewdson.
(letters can be sent to ctc-TribLetter@Tribune.com )

# “Jewish money” and the presidential candidates rush to support conflict with Iran: An excerpt from an Amy Goodman interview with Seymour Hersh (both have been labeled “self-hating Jews”):

AMY GOODMAN: Sy Hersh, I wanted to switch gears for the last question, and this has to do with it not just being Republicans who are sounding a drumbeat for war. The three leading Democratic presidential candidates — Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards — have all declared no options off the table. This is a clip from last week’s Democratic debate. It was the day the Senate approved a controversial resolution calling on the State Department to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization. At the debate, Democratic presidential hopeful Mike Gravel bitterly criticized Hillary Clinton for voting in favor.

MIKE GRAVEL: This is fantasyland. We’re talking about ending the war. My god, we’re just starting a war right today. There was a vote in the Senate today. Joe Lieberman, who authored the Iraq resolution, has authored another resolution, and it is essentially a fig leaf to let George Bush go to war with Iran. And I want to congratulate Biden for voting against it, Dodd for voting against it, and I’m ashamed of you, Hillary, for voting for it. You’re not going to get another shot at this, because what’s happened, if this war ensues, we invade, and they’re looking for an excuse to do it. And Obama was not even there to vote.

TIM RUSSERT: Senator Clinton, I want to give you a chance to respond.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON: [laughter]

AMY GOODMAN: That was Hillary Clinton laughing. Fifteen seconds, Seymour Hersh. Your response?

SEYMOUR HERSH: Money. A lot of the Jewish money from New York. Come on, let’s not kid about it. A significant percentage of Jewish money, and many leading American Jews support the Israeli position that Iran is an existential threat. And I think it’s as simple as that. When you’re from New York and from New York City, you take the view of — right now, when you’re running a campaign, you follow that line. And there’s no other explanation for it, because she’s smart enough to know the downside.

AMY GOODMAN: And Obama and Edwards?

SEYMOUR HERSH: I — you know, it’s shocking. It’s really surprising and shocking, but there we are. That’s American politics circa 2007.

AMY GOODMAN: Seymour Hersh, thank you very much for being with us, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist. His piece in the New Yorker is called “Shifting Targets: The Administration’ s Plan for Iran.”
[Source: Democracy Now]

# The lobby is partially successful where it bunches up on people who are not knowledgeable enough of the issues and when good people get silent (usually out of fear of being smeared with labels like “anti-Semitic” or “Self-hating Jews”). An example is the misinformed canceling of an event by Desmond Tutu (background here!)

Take Action: Join Jewish Voice for Peace in protesting the silencing of Bishop Desmond Tutu

(My own letter read: As a Palestinian Christian, I am appalled by your actions to bar Archbishop Desmond Tutu from speaking at your campus. Your succumbing to the minority - and they are a minority even within the Jewish community - Zionist position is shameful. Here is a link to over 100 Jewish led organizations who would disagree with the Zionist pressure to silence voices of peace.

Archbishop Tutu is a Nobel Peace Laureate with whose voice for justice will win against Israeli apartheid just as it did against South African Apartheid. I strongly urge you to reverse this decision, let Tutu appear and reinstate Prof.)

Update: University president reverses ban on Tutu

# And lest we are disconnected from reality of what is going on in Palestine, please read this account by Gideon Levy “The war for the house”

# AND IN AMERICA… “Israel’s Toy Soldiers” By Chris Hedges

“If you are a young Muslim American and head off to the Middle East for a spell in a fundamentalist “madrassa,” or religious school, Homeland Security will probably greet you at the airport when you return. But if you are an American Jew and you join hundreds of teenagers from Europe and Mexico for an eight-week training course run by the Israel Defense Forces, you can post your picture wearing an Israeli army uniform and holding an automatic weapon on MySpace.”

# Jews for Ahmadinejad

“Just the facts Ma am, as Dragnet’s Jack Webb used to say. When it comes to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad however, facts can be hard to find. We hope to present a few facts here that may have escaped your attention.”

So “Cowardice asks the question - is it safe? Expediency asks the question - is it politic? Vanity asks the question - is it popular? But conscience asks the question - is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it is right.” Martin Luther King, Jr.”

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