How A Real Journalist Speaks

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You don’t see this sort of commentary from the mainstream media these days. Phillip Weiss, of Mondoweiss:

Yesterday I wrote a piece predicting that the election in Israel would be hugely clarifying for Americans. Netanyahu would be gone, the Herzog peace process would begin, and the fight would at last begin between liberal Zionists and anti-Zionists in the U.S. over who could produce results, with neoconservatives exiled.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. I was influenced by the excitement of the Zionist Camp, which believed Netanyahu would end up with as few as 18 seats in the Knesset. Netanyahu got 30. Zionist Camp only 24.

But I was right about this being a hugely clarifying election. All has been revealed to a watching world. Netanyahu’s reversion to racism in the last days of a desperate campaign, his explicit denunciation of “Arab voters” on Facebook so as to get his people out, along with his repudiation of the two-state solution—and the huge reward delivered to him by Israelis for these statements — should be clarifying revelations to the American political class. This is Israel. Everything you have been told about the “Jewish democracy” by the Israel supporters: it is wrong. It may be Jewish, but it is no democracy, this is a white settler society where a fearful privileged group of Jews holds on to its power in ever-expanding colonies by reelecting a strong leader, now in his tenth year as premier, who will use threats and violence against the Palestinians. This place is what Ali Abunimah and Max Blumenthal told us it was years ago. Blumenthal’s video Feeling the Hate in Jerusalem was censored just about everywhere he put it up six years ago. MJ Rosenberg, a liberal Zionist, said that Blumenthal had caricatured the Israeli public by quoting a few yokels.

Well today those yokels have spoken, and they are Israel.

23 thoughts on “How A Real Journalist Speaks”

  2. Steve…I enjoy engaging with you…but my biggest take away for our discussions is that you seem to eat what they feed you. I’m concerned that you don’t understand that you are a useful tool to those that push lies to further their own agenda…I don’t pretend to know everything, but I sure do know when the bs meter pegs out at stupid. You seem to believe it all…DON’T.
    Always interesting conversations though, so thanks… the President isn’t the bad guy here, know that.

    • I find it interesting that we can sit on opposite sides of the table and yet are fervently convinced our side is the correct one. That is one of the reasons I like this blog…I can read a number of opposing points of view with minimal hate.

      I read where your husband is a retired Cheif from the Submarine Corps. Kudos to him for his service and to you for putting up with those frequent and long deployments. I have always had great admiration for the men who served on subs and the families that kept watch while they were gone.

      • Thanks. He was gone just about the entire first year of our marriage 🙂 yes, he’s a retired chief. Been on carriers and submarines and I can tell you it takes a special person to be on one of our subs. I went out for a day and couldn’t wait to be back on land. Tough duty, for sure!

  3. That election really reminded me of GWB’s reelection in 2004. Fearmongering and appealing to people’s lizard brains always works.

    • Come now, Donna, you must be aware that a significant portion of what is posted on this blog qualifies as “fear mongering”.

  4. Of course Bibi knows our system, he grew up in Philadelphia. He is more American than Israeli. This teeny artificially created nation in Asia based on a made up book will be the bane of human existence. Having tested our worst (best?) weapons in the USAF and Navy I can assure you that a nuclear WW3 will destroy every living thing on this planet. ONE Trident2 MIRV missile can wipe out earth and we have 22 Trident subs, with 24 missiles each, and then add to it the bombers, land based ICBMs, and carriers in the triad. That is just the USA. Then add every other nuclear power. I don’t think our feeble primate brain comprehends what this can do under the influence of stupid adrenalin. I’ve seen these in tested action, programmed it’s targeting, written its manuals myself. Think people, think.

    • Hear you. Loud and clear. Married to a retired Navy chief…fast attack sub variety. Not so funny when its for real and not a damn video game…Thinking is in short supply. People better learn quickly.

  5. Netanyahu’s election does speak volumes about the current state of mind in Israel. What I find surprising is that anyone was surprised by it. Israelis have found themselves increasingly isolated in the midst of steadfast enemies wanting to see Israel destroyed…especially if it could be accomplished through the generous funding and support of a willing and ready surrogate (Read: Palestinians). So the election should not have surprised anyone.

    The real question, obviously, is what does it mean in the near term? I think it means more of the same, but probably more intensified. It is fortuitous for Israel that at this particular moment, more attention in the Middle East is focused on ISIS and less on Israel, but that is only a temporary respite. Once ISIS is dealt with, the same old situation will re-emerge and that long term focus on the destruction of Israel will start anew.

    I don’t think the REAL issue is the election yesterday in Israel. The real issue is the election of Obama with his subsequent cold shoulder policy to Israel and the Israelis. As long as the United States stands behind Israel, she has a chance to exist in a real, if sometimes tenuous, situation. Without the support of the United States, she has little chance of surviving in the long term. Netanyahu has correctly determined that Obama is a closed door and the current support for Israel lies in the Congress. He is cultivating that support quite successfully. He understands how our political system works and is making it work for Israel’s interests. He has less than two years to wait until a possibly more pro-Israel President may be elected.

    If that happens, I suspect Mr. Netanyahu will be voted out of office. If Israelis think they have the support of the United States, they will feel they have the breathing room for a less right wing government. They have done this in the past and I think they will do it in the future.

    • It is apparent that you have absolutely ZERO idea what President Obama has done for Israel. You don’t seem to understand that because of nut bag’s win , we are all worse off, and the apartheid govt in Israel is now on display for all to see… The lies Bibi told will now come home to roost.

      • Actually, I do know a lot of what Obama has done for Israel and very little of what he has done was of his own undertaking. The pressure from Congress for continued aid and support for Israel is something that Obama accepts and responds to. The truth is I want to say nothing Obama has done was of his initiative, but odds are there is something I overlooked.

        Why does it bother you that the apartheid government in Israel is on display for all to see? I would think that is precisely what you would want. Won’t that further along the cause of the divestiture movement?

        You were rather vague on exactly how we are all worse off now that Netanyahu was elected again. What great cataclysm has occurred with this election that changes anything from all the other times when he was elected?

        Are there any lies in particular that are going to come home to roost sooner rather than later? To me, it appears largely to be the status quo for Israel and the region.

        • Please share particulars. This President doesn’t do “for show” . Ever. What explicitly has he done/ not done that you don’t agree with?

    • Please do share what this President has/has not done in relation to Israeli security. Be specific. Do you think that we should blindly support any and all things that the PM does regardless of whether or not we agree with them? t Because to my ears, that’s what you seem to be implying. Not ok…furthermore, I don’t even want my tax money going for this man’s hateful and warmonger ambitions.
      Back to the question…explain why you think that the President hasn’t supported Israel’s people…I’m NOT talking about Nutsforbrains…I’m talking about the people themselves.

      • Here are three things off the top of my head:

        1. Obama said he would shoot down Israeli planes flying through Iraqi airspace if they tried to fly to Iran to destroy the nuclear sites there.

        2. Obama actively discussed sanction against Israeli for the West Bank settlements

        3. Obama has snubbed Netanyahu on several occasions when he visited this country

        The Arab daily newspapers and the Israeli Press noted all these actions and commented extensively on the tone actions like these set regarding US support of Israel. To us, the matter of US/Israeli relations are a side note in our daily lives. To Israel, it is a critical factor in their daily lives.

        Wouldn’t it be nice if we could yell Congress where they could spend our tax dollars that we send in? There a lot of things I don’t want to pay for, but, like you, I go ahead and send the payment in regardless. (sigh!)

        • Debunked as ridiculous lies. Seriously?

          http://www.politicususa.com/2015/03/02/wing-media-explodes-rumor-obama-shoot-israeli-jets-attacking-iran.html

          http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/03/01/netanyahu-invite-is-a-symptom-of-boehners-grudge-match-against-the-u-s-constitution/

          Yet you take the side of the crazy ass neocon as opposed to your President that has been working on sensitive negotiations to rid Iran of nukes, but WHATEVER!

          Do you even know or care how Palestinians are treated by Israelis? Worse than animals.

          http://www.juancole.com/2015/03/apartheid-palestinian-citizenship.html

          • I am aware of the egregious manner in which Israel has dealt with Palestinians. I do care about that very deeply and I never excuse Israel for it. Nor do I excuse the Palestinians for the manner in which they have dealt with Israelis. Neither side has any record to boast of.

            I freely admit to a slight bias in favor of Israel. It goes back to my having been shot by a Palestinian while sitting outside a café in Tel Aviv, and my being rescued by Israeli soldiers from a Hamas ambush in Lebanon a few years before that. But knowing I have that bias, I try very hard to keep it in check. I am not speaking out in favor of Netanyahu over our President. I am disappointed that President Obama seems to have taken a pro-Palestinian stance and seems willing to let Israel go by the wayside.

            I understand the Palestinians have legitimate grievances and I believe they have a right to a Palestinian Homeland/Nation. I also believe Israel has a right to exist unmolested. My desire is to see both accommodated as individual free and independent nations recognized by the world. Israel cannot exist in the current circumstances without United States support. President Obama is indicating he could live without Israel in the picture. THAT is what I object to.

          • Thank you for sharing that article with me, Cheri. I recall reading it back when it was originally published and had forgotten about it. He mentioned a few things Obama had done for Israel that I had forgotten. As I said, the odds are he HAD to have done something in their favor. Remember, though, that when this article was published it was a pro-Obama campaign article. It tended to put rose colored glasses on what Obama had done while attacking Romney. I thought the key line in his article was this one:

            ”Beyond efforts to build Israel’s military capabilities, Obama has attempted to shape a regional and international environment that enhances Israel’s security over the long haul.”

            What that means, according to the rest of the article that wasn’t attacking Romney, is finding a way to force Israel to settle with the Palestinians, even if such a settlement was to Israel’s disadvantage. It is the carrot and stick approach with Obama favoring the Palestinians.

            Let’s fast forward to today…I think I need to change my prediction that Netanyahu’s election only meant the status quo. I have been reading that the Obama Administration is quietly discussing an “Absent/Abstention” vote the next time the United Nations proposes a forced settlement of the Israeli-Palestine conflict on Israel. This idea has been floating around for years, but the United States always vetoed it. If Obama follows through on this threat – and you said he never bluffs – then Netanyahu’s election will have a profound effect on the region.

            The idea reminds me of Pontius Pilate washing his hands of the entire problem, knowing full well what the results will be. Given that this taking place in the Holy Land, it seems somewhat appropriate.

  6. My sense is that this election will prove to be a real pivot for many American Jews. The cognitive dissonance of supporting this racist regime will prove to be too much for many. The anti divestment and sanctions proposals that have started on many American campuses will greatly increase.

  7. Perfectly stated. The outcome in Israel should terrify anyone that has been paying attention. The world is a more dangerous place after this election than it was before.

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