Comment by Riaz Haq on June 30, 2024 at 9:45am

Christiane Amanpour
@amanpour
“If we shall not end the occupation, we shall not have security,” warns Ami Ayalon, former head of Shin Bet, “and if we shall not end this occupation, we shall not have democracy.”

In an extraordinarily candid interview, Israel’s former internal security chief condemns what he calls Prime Minister Netanyahu’s “toxic leadership,” and argues that as the war continues, “we are losing our identity as people, as Jews, and as human beings.”

Watch our full conversation here.

https://x.com/amanpour/status/1805295431355973645

-------------

In January 2024, Ami Ayalon, a former head of Israel's internal security force, the Shin Bet, said that Israel will not have security until Palestinians have their own state. Ayalon also called for Israeli authorities to release Marwan Barghouti, the jailed leader of the second intifada, to help negotiate the creation of a Palestinian state. Ayalon also said that Israel is not at war with the Palestinians.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/14/shin-bet-ami-ayalon-c...

Ami Ayalon, a retired admiral who also commanded Israel’s navy and was wounded in battle and decorated for his service, also said destroying Hamas was not a realistic military goal, and the current operation in Gaza risked entrenching support for the group.

“We Israelis will have security only when they, Palestinians, will have hope. This is the equation,” he said in an interview at his home. “To say the same in military language: you cannot deter anyone, a person or a group, if he believes he has nothing to lose.”

He said Israel’s war in Gaza was a just one, after the horrors of the 7 October attack, in which Hamas slaughtered at least 1,200 people and took more than 240 others hostage. But too many Israelis could not accept that Hamas did not represent all Palestinians, or that they had a legitimate claim to their own state, he said.

Ayalon said most Israelis believed that “all Palestinians are Hamas or supporters of Hamas”, and they did not accept the concept of a Palestinian identity. “We see them as people, not ‘a people’, a nation,” he said. “We cannot accept [the idea of a Palestinian people] because if we do, it creates a huge obstacle in the concept of the state of Israel.”

He believes releasing Barghouti, a Palestinian who has been jailed since 2002, serving a life sentence for murder after leading the second intifada, would be a vital step towards meaningful negotiations. According to recent polls he would beat senior Hamas figure Ismail Haniyeh in open elections.

Comment by Riaz Haq on August 12, 2024 at 8:39pm

Why pro-Israel groups aren’t going after Ilhan Omar after helping oust others in Squad | The Times of Israel

https://www.timesofisrael.com/why-pro-israel-groups-arent-going-aft...

Patrick Dorton, a spokesman for the United Democracy Project, a political action committee affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that poured millions into the Bowman and Bush primaries, confirmed that the PAC was not involved in Omar’s race, but would not elaborate. AIPAC PAC, which is also associated with the lobby, and Democratic Majority for Israel, another pro-Israel PAC involved in targeting Bowman and Bush, likewise would not explain why they were ignoring Samuels this time around.

In 2022, pro-Israel givers rued not noticing earlier how well Samuels was doing. UDP dumped $350,000 in the race in its last few days. But it was not enough to get Samuels over the line, a regret pro-Israel fund-raisers continue to nurture.

UDP is a Super PAC that by law may raise unlimited funds, and this year, it and its allies started targeting vulnerable officeholders early. They spent more than $14 million defeating New York’s Jamaal Bowman in June, and more than $9 million defeating Missouri’s Cori Bush this week. (Both candidates were seen as vulnerable for reasons beyond their esteem among pro-Israel voters.)

But the pro-Israel strategist said the elements that favored Samuels in 2022 — and that pro-Israel donors noticed too late — were simply not in place this time.

For one, Samuels is trailing Omar substantially in the polls. In Bowman’s and Bush’s races, the numbers were in pro-Israel groups’ favor: Bowman had consistently trailed challenger George Latimer in polls, while Wesley Bell, who beat Bush, ran a close race before pulling ahead. Omar’s campaign, by contrast, says she’s beating Samuels by 25 percentage points.

In addition, in 2022, Omar was substantially outraising Samuels — but not spending the money. Joelle Stangler, Omar’s campaign manager, told Mother Jones this week that the campaign recognized it “took our foot off the gas” in 2022 — in other words, it was overconfident of a win.

This time around, the campaign is not repeating that mistake. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Jewish de facto leader of congressional progressives, has campaigned for her. And her campaign has highlighted far-right Republicans who have called on Minnesotans to back Samuels in the open primary, in which members of all parties can vote.

“Don Samuels and his conservative benefactors have a common enemy – DFL candidates and values,” an Omar campaign document said, using the acronym for the Minnesota affiliate of the Democratic Party. The document listed donors to Samuels who have given to Republicans, a tactic Bowman and Bush also employed.

Comment by Riaz Haq on August 13, 2024 at 4:41pm

Late last year, Clapton released a song called “Voice of a Child,” accompanied by a video featuring images of extensive destruction in Gaza that ignored the October 7 massacre committed by Hamas.

https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-804047


British rock guitar legend Eric Clapton moved one step closer to Roger Watersterritory last week, telling an interviewer that “Israel is running the world, Israel is running the show.”

The 79-year-old musician, who has recently performed playing a guitar painted in the colors of the Palestinian flag, was interviewed on May 22 by David Spuria, an American Youtuber who hosts the popular Real Music Observer show.

Talking about the recent campus protests in the US against Israel, Clapton criticized the Senate hearings in which university presidents were asked about antisemitism on campus.


Clapton criticizes Senate hearings
“I was so enthused about what was going on at Columbia [University] and elsewhere. And then what I couldn’t believe, because it freaked me out, were the Senate hearings, which were like the Nuremberg trials, you know?” he said.

“The Senate committee chairman asked pointed questions to presidents of universities, saying, ‘I just want to hear yes or no. Don’t talk to me about context. Yes or no, are you promoting antisemitism on your campus?’ And I thought, what is this, the Spanish Inquisition? And it is! It’s AIPAC, it’s the lobby. Israel is running the show. Israel is running the world.”


Talking about the guitar painted with the Palestinian flag colors, Clapton said, “We’re doing a thing now on this tour that I wrote originally as a tribute to Jeff Beck [who died in 2023]. I performed it at a tribute concert and then I didn’t play it anymore. But for this tour I’m doing it under a different guise. It’s the same tune, but I devoted it to the situation in Gaza. It’s called ‘Blue Dust’ because that’s what’s probably going to be left there. And I play a guitar that’s painted like the Palestinian flag.”

Late last year, Clapton released a song called “Voice of a Child,” accompanied by a video featuring images of extensive destruction in Gaza that ignored the October 7 massacre committed by Hamas terrorists, which sparked the war.


In last week’s interview, Clapton also questioned the West’s support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. Talking about Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said, “he always tells you what he intends to do, and he tells the truth. So he gives you plenty of warning.”

https://www.tiktok.com/@lyon5947/video/7401982391167880480?_r=1&...

Comment by Riaz Haq on September 23, 2024 at 8:46am

Leon Panetta Calls Israel's Pager Operation 'Terrorism'

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/former-cia-director-leon-panetta-calls-...


During an interview with CBS News Sunday Morning, Panetta told anchor Lee Cowan that the action’s by Israel are “a form of terrorism.” Panetta then added that the action’s by Israel could lead to more deadly operations going forward in the war.

PANETTA: The ability to be able to place an explosive in technology that is very prevalent these days. And turn it into a war of terror. Really, a war of terror. This is something new.

COWAN: Is it terrorism?

PANETTA: I don’t think there’s any question that it’s a form of terrorism…This is going right into the supply chain, right into the supply chain. And when you have terror going into the supply chain, it makes people ask the question, what the hell is next?

COWAN: It sounds like you’re genuinely worried.

PANETTA: I am. I am. This is a tactic. That has repercussions. And we really don’t know what those repercussions are going to be…The forces of war are largely in control right now. What’s going on?

COWAN: Do you think there should be condemnation for it? Should other nations step in, including us?

PANETTA: I think it’s going to be very important for the nations of the world to have a serious discussion. About whether or not this is an area that everybody has to focus on, because if they don’t try to deal with it now. Mark my word. It is the battlefield of the future.

Watch the clip above via CBS News.

Comment by Riaz Haq on October 5, 2024 at 9:12am

Kerry Burgess
@KerryBurgess
My goodness, this was 10 years ago. How prophetic. This man (Phil Giraldi) knew his stuff. It's a shame that the US doesn't have people like this anymore

https://x.com/KerryBurgess/status/1842547446766780811

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After a full day of protesting outside AIPAC’s annual conference, CODEPINK members and supporters gathered at Busboys and Poets in Washington, DC on the evening of March 1 for a discussion on the Israel lobby. The event featured remarks by former CIA case officer and current executive director of the Council for the National Interest Phil Giraldi and peace activist Miko Peled, author of The General’s Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine (available from AET’s Middle East Books and More).

Giraldi began by arguing that the lobby is destructive for Americans, Israelis and Palestinians alike. The lobby, he explained, pushes the U.S. to pursue pro-Israel policies that harm its image, cause pain and suffering for Palestinians, and provide cover for the Israeli government to enact ill-advised and self-defeating policies.

Questioning the basis of the U.S.-Israel “special relationship,” Giraldi said that “Israel is no ally and never has been.” He described the bilateral relationship as “garbage,” as it heavily favors Israel.

The self-professed Jewish state has a massive spying operation in the U.S., pushes the U.S. into costly wars, and shares phony intelligence, Giraldi explained.

“When I was a CIA officer,” he recalled, “I used to see the intelligence that Israel passed to us. It was a joke. Every Israeli intelligence report that came to the United States was…essentially pushing an Israeli point of view, lying about what Arabs and the Iranians were up to and trying to convince Americans that there was some kind of threat coming from that direction. The only threat was coming from Israel.”

Domestically, Giraldi noted, the lobby has many levers of power: it maintains a stranglehold over Congress and the media, has been able to insert pro-Israel political appointees into the State Department, and helps facilitate close relations between Israeli security services and American police.

Despite this influence, Giraldi believes AIPAC’s days are numbered. “In my opinion, AIPAC and the rest of the Israel lobby is basically dead….but will take a long time to roll over,” he said. “I believe this because the task of defending what Israel does is beyond all credibility now. There’s just no way this thing can be sustained forever.”

Peled agreed with Giraldi’s assessment and proceeded to make an even bolder statement: “I have no doubt that within the next decade we are going to see the fall of Zionism in Palestine just like we saw the fall of apartheid in South Africa.”

This is not soon enough, however, he said, as “many Palestinians are still going to die” in the intervening years.

How does Peled believe Zionism will collapse? “I think what will bring them down is their arrogance and their stupidity,” he said. Israel does not appreciate the strides being made by the nonviolent movement in the West Bank, the significance of the unification of Israeli Arabs, or the momentum of the international solidarity movement, Peled explained.

AIPAC and its allies will not go down without a fight, however. Peled said the lobby is well versed at vilifying individuals and groups that question the Zionist narrative. The likes of Rasmea Odeh and Sami Al-Arian have been successfully depicted as threats, he pointed out, not only to Zionism, but also to American security. In reality, “the only threat [these individuals pose] is to the Zionist narrative,” Peled opined.


https://www.wrmea.org/2015-may/phil-giraldi-and-miko-peled-critique...

Comment by Riaz Haq on October 23, 2024 at 8:51am

A new survey has revealed that 60 percent of Germans oppose arms exports to Israel, with a majority of voters from the country's three ruling coalition partners supporting restrictions.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/poll-reveals-majority-germans-op...

According to a poll by Forsa, 50 percent of Green Party voters opposed weapons sales, while 60 percent of Social Democratic Party supporters and 52 percent of Free Democratic Party voters also rejected continued arms exports.

Opposition was particularly high in the former East Germany, where 75 percent of respondents rejected arms sales to Israel.

Last week, German media reported that several German leaders blocked the sale of weapons to Israel, despite Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s insistence that arms sales would continue.

According to a report by German tabloid Bild, Green politicians, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who are in the governing coalition with the Social Democrats, withheld approval for weapons exports, demanding assurance that they would not be used on civilians.

Comment by Riaz Haq on October 24, 2024 at 10:33am

The Intercept
@theintercept
How Does AIPAC Shape Washington? We Tracked Every Dollar. https://interc.pt/3YE465D by
@akela_lacy

https://x.com/theintercept/status/1849486930364272670

-----------

https://theintercept.com/2024/10/24/aipac-spending-congress-electio...

When it rolled out its new strategy in the 2022 election cycle, AIPAC found immediate success. The lobbying group and another pro-Israel group, Democratic Majority for Israel, defeated Reps. Andy Levin, D-Mich., and Marie Newman, D-Ill., who were outspoken in their criticism of unconditional U.S. military funding for Israel. The campaign to defeat Levin marked a significant push from AIPAC to repress criticism of Israel even from Jewish members of Congress.

Ahead of the 2024 cycle and amid growing public outrage over Israel’s war on Gaza, AIPAC made a bold pronouncement: Through its United Democracy Project arm and AIPAC PAC, it would spend $100 million on elections, about one-sixth of what outside groups spent on the 2020 presidential election.

There are few congressional races that AIPAC sat out this year. Of the 469 seats up for reelection this year, AIPAC has spent money on more than 80 percent: 389 races in total. AIPAC has sought influence over 363 seats in the House and 26 in the Senate.

Of the 389 candidates AIPAC funded, 57 did not face a primary. Of the primary elections that did take place, 88 candidates had no opponent.

The size of AIPAC’s war chest means it can pick and choose the races in which it is most likely to succeed — boosting its image as a kingmaker and its influence among candidates and members, while simultaneously hiking up the cost of criticizing U.S. policy toward Israel.

Funding Both Parties
AIPAC’s approach to electoral spending is bipartisan. The group has funded Republican, Democrat, and independent candidates alike. AIPAC PAC supported 233 Republicans with a total of more than $17 million in funds, 152 Democrats who received more than $28 million in sum, and three independents: Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, and Angus King of Maine, who got just under $300,000 between them. (Spending not covered in this analysis includes AIPAC PAC contributions that were refunded in 2023 or 2024 or those that went to other PACs and political organizations, such as the National Republican Senatorial Committee or the centrist Democratic nonprofit fundraising platform Democracy Engine.)

Comment by Riaz Haq on October 30, 2024 at 10:15am

See new posts
Conversation
WikiLeaks
@wikileaks
The US has funded 73% of the military costs associated with the attack on Gaza.

According to an analysis by Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, the US government has provided $22.76 billion in military aid to Israel since the conflict began on October 7, 2023 to September 30, 2024.

This funding includes $17.9 billion for direct military assistance and $4.86 billion for Israel assistance operations in the region.

https://x.com/wikileaks/status/1851572574183973118

Comment by Riaz Haq on November 22, 2024 at 8:55am

Opinion | The ICC Arrest Warrant for Netanyahu Is Also an Indictment of US Policy and Complicity | Common Dreams

Ultimately, this is the story of how the Israel lobby undermined America, wrecked the Middle East, and set a series of international crimes against humanity in motion.
JEFFREY D. SACHS
Nov 21, 2024
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/icc-arrest-warrant-netanyahu


It’s official now. America’s closest ally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the one accorded more than 50 standing ovations in Congress just months ago, is under indictment by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity and war crimes. America must take note: the U.S. Government is complicit in Netanyahu’s war crimes and has fully partnered in Netanyahu’s violent rampage across the Middle East.

For 30 years the Israel Lobby has induced the U.S. to fight wars on Israel’s behalf designed to prevent the emergence of a Palestinian State. Netanyahu, who first came to power in 1996, and has been prime minister for 17 years since then, has been the main cheerleader for U.S.-backed wars in the Middle East. The result has been a disaster for the U.S. and a bloody catastrophe not only for the Palestinian people but for the entire Middle East.

These have not been wars to defend Israel, but rather wars to topple governments that oppose Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people. Israel viciously opposes the two-state solution called for by international law, the Arab Peace Initiative, the G20, the BRICS, the OIC, and the UN General Assembly. Israel’s intransigence, and its brutal suppression of the Palestinian people, has given rise to several militant resistance movements since the beginning of the occupation. These movements are backed by several countries in the region.

The obvious solution to the Israel-Palestine crisis is to implement the two-state solution and to demilitarize the militant groups as part of the implementation process.

Israel’s approach, especially under Netanyahu, is to overthrow foreign governments that oppose Israel’s domination, and recreate the map of a “New Middle East” without a Palestinian State. Rather than making peace, Netanyahu makes endless war.

What is shocking is that Washington has turned the U.S. military and federal budget over to Netanyahu for his disastrous wars. The history of the Israel lobby’s complete takeover of Washington can be found in the remarkable new book by Ilan Pappé, Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic (2024).



Netanyahu repeatedly told the American people that they would be the beneficiaries of his policies. In fact, Netanyahu has been an unmitigated disaster for the American people, bleeding the U.S. Treasury of trillions of dollars, squandering America’s standing in the world, making the U.S. complicit in his genocidal policies, and bringing the world closer to World War III.

If Trump wants to make America great again, the first thing he should do is to make America sovereign again, by ending Washington’s subservience to the Israel Lobby.

The Israel Lobby not only controls the votes in Congress but places hardline backers of Israel into key national security posts. These have included Madeleine Albright (Secretary of State for Clinton), Lewis Libby (Chief of Staff of Vice President Cheney), Victoria Nuland (Deputy National Security Advisor of Cheney, NATO Ambassador of Bush Jr., Assistant Secretary of State for Obama, Under-Secretary of State for Biden), Paul Wolfowitz (Under-Secretary of Defense for Bush Sr., Deputy Secretary of Defense for Bush Jr.), Douglas Feith (Under-Secretary of Defense for Bush Jr.), Abram Shulsky (Director of the Office of Special Plans, Department of Defense for Bush Jr.), Elliott Abrams (Deputy National Security Advisor for Bush Jr.), Richard Perle (Chairman of the Defense National Policy Board for Bush Jr.), Amos Hochstein (Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State for Biden), and Antony Blinken (Secretary of State for Biden).

Comment by Riaz Haq on November 22, 2024 at 8:55am

Opinion | The ICC Arrest Warrant for Netanyahu Is Also an Indictment of US Policy and Complicity | Common Dreams

Ultimately, this is the story of how the Israel lobby undermined America, wrecked the Middle East, and set a series of international crimes against humanity in motion.
JEFFREY D. SACHS
Nov 21, 2024
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/icc-arrest-warrant-netanyahu


It’s official now. America’s closest ally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the one accorded more than 50 standing ovations in Congress just months ago, is under indictment by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity and war crimes. America must take note: the U.S. Government is complicit in Netanyahu’s war crimes and has fully partnered in Netanyahu’s violent rampage across the Middle East.

For 30 years the Israel Lobby has induced the U.S. to fight wars on Israel’s behalf designed to prevent the emergence of a Palestinian State. Netanyahu, who first came to power in 1996, and has been prime minister for 17 years since then, has been the main cheerleader for U.S.-backed wars in the Middle East. The result has been a disaster for the U.S. and a bloody catastrophe not only for the Palestinian people but for the entire Middle East.

These have not been wars to defend Israel, but rather wars to topple governments that oppose Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people. Israel viciously opposes the two-state solution called for by international law, the Arab Peace Initiative, the G20, the BRICS, the OIC, and the UN General Assembly. Israel’s intransigence, and its brutal suppression of the Palestinian people, has given rise to several militant resistance movements since the beginning of the occupation. These movements are backed by several countries in the region.

The obvious solution to the Israel-Palestine crisis is to implement the two-state solution and to demilitarize the militant groups as part of the implementation process.

Israel’s approach, especially under Netanyahu, is to overthrow foreign governments that oppose Israel’s domination, and recreate the map of a “New Middle East” without a Palestinian State. Rather than making peace, Netanyahu makes endless war.

What is shocking is that Washington has turned the U.S. military and federal budget over to Netanyahu for his disastrous wars. The history of the Israel lobby’s complete takeover of Washington can be found in the remarkable new book by Ilan Pappé, Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic (2024).



Netanyahu repeatedly told the American people that they would be the beneficiaries of his policies. In fact, Netanyahu has been an unmitigated disaster for the American people, bleeding the U.S. Treasury of trillions of dollars, squandering America’s standing in the world, making the U.S. complicit in his genocidal policies, and bringing the world closer to World War III.

If Trump wants to make America great again, the first thing he should do is to make America sovereign again, by ending Washington’s subservience to the Israel Lobby.

The Israel Lobby not only controls the votes in Congress but places hardline backers of Israel into key national security posts. These have included Madeleine Albright (Secretary of State for Clinton), Lewis Libby (Chief of Staff of Vice President Cheney), Victoria Nuland (Deputy National Security Advisor of Cheney, NATO Ambassador of Bush Jr., Assistant Secretary of State for Obama, Under-Secretary of State for Biden), Paul Wolfowitz (Under-Secretary of Defense for Bush Sr., Deputy Secretary of Defense for Bush Jr.), Douglas Feith (Under-Secretary of Defense for Bush Jr.), Abram Shulsky (Director of the Office of Special Plans, Department of Defense for Bush Jr.), Elliott Abrams (Deputy National Security Advisor for Bush Jr.), Richard Perle (Chairman of the Defense National Policy Board for Bush Jr.), Amos Hochstein (Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State for Biden), and Antony Blinken (Secretary of State for Biden).

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