Is it possible for the US to cut off its relations with Israel? Mustapha Karkouti

Opinion Editorials, October 2003, www.aljazeerah.info

Is it possible for the US to cut off its relations with Israel?

Mustapha Karkouti

| Special to Gulf News | 28-10-2003

Now with the American troops occupying Iraq and effectively, but not necessarily entirely, making the United States in full control of the region and its natural resources, one could argue, on the part of Israel, the case for independence from America.

With the new reality in the Middle East, and as far as the US foreign policy in the region, can Israel in the mid-term or long term, become redundant? This may sound, for some, weird to even entertain such a thought. But, why not?

This is a legitimate question which American politicians, journalists and the public at large should ask, but never dare to. Why should a country, such as Israel, continue to freely draw money from American citizens pockets endlessly?

Only a handful of Americans have had the courage to openly engage in this debate but always with a heavy price to pay. The case for independence from America has been argued before by a number of American Jews, including the late Liberal Rabbi, Elamr Bergur. And to do so, requires a great deal of courage and decency.

Bizzare relation

Many people in the US speak about this bizarre relation between the US and Israel privately because of fear of being accused of anti-Semitism, or self-hating Jews. One of the early and courageous people who dared to speak up and debate the case for independence from America was a Jew.

Writing in Washington Post in March, 1989, the then paper's deputy financial editor, Steven Pearlstein, explained why it was impossible to review the relations with the Jewish state. It is the power of the American Jewish lobby, or to be more precise, the US pro-Israel pressure groups, which certainly includes non-Jews.

Pearlstein, who is currently columnist for the Post on economic affairs, wrote: "American Jews could be counted on to give Israel everything it wanted: Time. Money. Encouragement. Understanding. And most of all, help in gaining the unwavering support of the greatest military and economic power on earth."

As a former congressional aide in Washington, DC and a television reporter and magazine editor in Boston, Pearlstein understands very well how the system works, and how risky it was to debate the relations with Israel.

He talked at length about the "indisputably heavy-handed quality" of the Israeli lobby activities. "In recent years," he explained, "its strategy has been not only to answer Israel's critics but to silence and delegitimise them."

Please read on: "I have this chilling effect on public debate firsthand. As an aide to a US senator and congressman in Washington a decade ago (1970s), I heard otherwise courageous members of Congress sharply criticise Israel in private conversations, then in public (they) support every major aspect of Israeli policy."

Pearlstein spoke in his article more than 14 years ago about his experience in the American media and said: "As a journalist in Boston some years ago, I saw few stories pulled and more than a few toned down in anticipation of some criticism."

"In deciding whether to speak their mind, both politicians and journalists found that they were asking themselves not only 'Is it truthful?' or 'Is it right?', but also 'Is it worth the hassles?'- the letters, the threats, the questioning of motives and integrity," he said.

Of course the situation has got worse since then, particularly in post-September 11 attacks in New York and Washington, DC. Now, journalists and politicians are not only silenced, but in some cases, they have been blacklisted or fired. We all remember how some politicians and diplomats physically thrown out of Fox News studios because they were critical against the war in Iraq.

I know a number of American colleagues operating from London, who are highly intelligent and in full grasp of ME politics and history with personal experience of the region. But sadly their knowledge is rarely reflected in their writing.

Why? An American colleague explained how frustrated they have become since September 11. Their editors interference in the choice of stories or the use of terminologies has reached its peak since the preparation for war in Iraq started.

"We are not only restrictive in our movements," my colleague said, "but we have been forcibly subjected to two forms of censorship: The built-in self-censorship we have acquired on the job when it comes to Israel, and duty editor's overall control of the copy."

The Post's columnist debated the issue for independence from America then, based on the political circumstances in the late 1980s. He pointed out that the overall American assistance to Israel jumped dramatically after the Camp David accords of 1979. This amounted to $4 billion a year since then in direct and indirect aid.

But Israel, concluded Pearlstein, "has rejected every peace initiative taken by the US and others. If anything, the virtual guarantee of aid seems only to have emboldened the most hardline of Israeli leaders in their attempts to crash the Palestinians once and for all and expand Israeli settlements in the occupied areas."

Still true

How true it was then, and how shockingly it is still true today. With Israel to get an additional $1 billion in military grants and $9 million in economic guarantees from the president's "war budget", contravening the roadmap, the Israeli housing ministry of Ariel Sharon's government issued, last week, tenders to build 324 additional homes in an illegal Jewish settlement in occupied Gaza.

Unquestionably, Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of US aid since World War II. It is not possible to arrive at an exact amount so far, but the January/February 2001 estimate was $91.6 billion through Financial Year 2001.

This estimate is based on an October 2000 Congressional Research Service, CRS, report, which used available and verifiable numbers, that calculated cumulative aid to Israel from 1949 through FY 2000, at $81.38 billion.

Now, with the Zionist-Christians enhanced pro-Israel lobby is many times stronger and more effective than it has ever been, it is unlikely to see a repeat of Steven Pearlstein's call to review Israel-US relations. But sooner or later, sense would prevail.

The writer is the former president, Foreign Press Association in London. He can be contacted at mkarkouti@gulfnews.com

Earth, a planet hungry for peace

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03).

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03).

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