"The terrorists have no resolvable grievances. It's not as if we could offer them Brussels or Istanbul, or California or even the West Bank," said Netanyahu. "That won't satisfy their grievances because what they seek is our utter destruction and their total domination. Their basic demand is that we should simply disappear."Funny, the Israelis have been working for nearly 70 years to make the Palestinians disappear. Domination is their specialty. "The only way to defeat these terrorists is to join together and fight them together... with political unity and with moral clarity. I think we have that in abundance...." Achingly funny. "The chain of attacks from Paris to San Bernardino to Istanbul to the Ivory Coast and now to Brussels, and the daily attacks to Israel... This is one continuous assault on all of us." No it isn't.
And who is this "we"? It's Netanyahu's endless attempt to push the old 'hasbara' line to make us think we're all in it together.
A few years back 'The Israel Project', a US media advocacy group, produced a revised training manual to help the worldwide Zionist movement win the propaganda war, keep their ill-gotten territorial gains in Palestine and persuade international audiences to accept that their crimes are necessary and conform to "shared values" between Israel and the civilised West.
- "Draw direct parallels between Israel and America—including the need to defend against terrorism.... The more you focus on the similarities between Israel and America, the more likely you are to win the support of those who are neutral. Indeed, Israel is an important American ally in the war against terrorism, and faces many of the same challenges as America in protecting their citizens."
- "The language of Israel is the language of America: 'democracy,' 'freedom,' 'security,' and 'peace.' These four words are at the core of the American political, economic, social, and cultural systems, and they should be repeated as often as possible because they resonate with virtually every American."
- "A simple rule of thumb is that once you get to the point of repeating the same message over and over again so many times that you think you might get sick — that is just about the time the public will wake up and say 'Hey, this person just might be saying something interesting to me!' But don't confuse messages with facts.... "
- "Successful communications is not about being able to recite every fact from the long history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. It is about pointing out a few core principles of shared values—such as democracy and freedom—and repeating them over and over again.... You need to start with empathy for both sides, remind your audience that Israel wants peace and then repeat the messages of democracy, freedom, and peace over and over again.... we need to repeat the message, on average, ten times to be effective."
Embracing evil
As La Clinton and others perform their obscene ritual acts of obeisance let us ponder what being a Friend of Israel really entails.
It means aligning yourself with the vilest villainy. It means embracing the terror and ethnic cleansing on which the state of Israel was built.By then you should consider how you no longer qualify for membership of the human race and it's time for the revolver on the silver tray.
It means embracing the dispossession at gunpoint and oppression of the native Palestinians. It means embracing the discriminatory laws against those who remain.
It means embracing the jackboot thuggery that abducts civilians, including children, and imprisons and tortures them without trial.
It means embracing the theft and annexation of Palestinian land and water resources, the imposition of hundreds of military checkpoints, severe restrictions on the movement of people and goods, and maximum interference with Palestinian life at every level.
It means embracing the strangulation of the West Bank's economy and the cruel blockade on Gaza.
It means embracing the denial of Palestinians' right to self-determination and return to their homes.
It means embracing the religious war that humiliates Muslims and Christians and prevents them from visiting their holy places.
It means endorsing a situation in which hard-pressed British and American taxpayers are having to subsidise Israel's illegal occupation of the Holy Land.
And if, after the most recent bloodbaths inflicted by the Israelis on Gaza, you are still Israel's special friend, you are comfortable with blowing to smithereens hundreds of children, maiming thousands more, trashing vital infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, power plants and clean water supplies, and causing $6 billion of devastation that will take 20 years to rebuild. And, by the way, where is the money for that coming from?
Stuart Littlewood, since retiring has been a newspaper columnist and produced two photo-documentary books. He is a regular contributor to a number of internet news magazines. Stuart's book Radio Free Palestine, tells the plight of the Palestinians under brutal occupation. It can now be read on the internet by visiting RadioFreePalestine.org.uk.




Comment: There is clearly a need for the US/West to get a serious grip on this picture and begin to discern good from evil and its place within it. The 'predator' has taken over Western minds and its 'puppet fingers' now choreograph every move.