Let's Boycott Israel and Its Friends
If you want change, begin to play hardball
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In his recent article
“Averting World Conflict with China” Ron Unz has come up with an
intriguing suggestion for the Chinese government to turn the tables on
the December 1st arrest of Meng Wanzhou in Canada. Canada
detained Mrs. Meng, CFO of the world’s largest telecoms equipment
manufacturer Huawei, at the request of the United States so she could be
extradited to New York to face charges that she and her company had
violated U.S. sanctions on Iran. The sanctions in question had been
imposed unilaterally by Washington and it is widely believed that the
Trump Administration is sending a signal that when the ban on purchasing
oil from Iran comes into full effect in May there will be no excuses
accepted from any country that is unwilling to comply with the U.S.
government’s demands. Washington will exercise universal jurisdiction
over those who violate its sanctions, meaning that foreign officials and
heads of corporations that continue to deal with Iran can be arrested
when traveling internationally and will be extradited to be tried in
American courts.
There
is, of course, a considerable downside to arresting a top executive of a
leading foreign corporation from a country that is a major U.S. trading
partner and which also, inter alia, holds a considerable portion of the
U.S. national debt. Ron Unz has correctly noted the “…extraordinary
gravity of this international incident and its potential for altering
the course of world history.” One might add that Washington’s demands
that other nations adhere to its sanctions on third countries opens up a
Pandora’s box whereby no traveling executives will be considered safe
from legal consequences when they do not adhere to policies being
promoted by the United States. Unz cites Columbia’s Jeffrey Sachs as describing it
as “almost a U.S. declaration of war on China’s business community.”
If seizing and extraditing businessmen becomes the new normal those
countries most affected will inevitably retaliate in kind. China has
already detained two traveling Canadians to pressure Ottawa to release
Mrs. Meng. Beijing is also contemplating some immediate retaliatory
steps against Washington to include American companies operating in
China if she is extradited to the U.S.
Ron
Unz has suggested that Beijing might just want to execute a quid pro quo
by pulling the licenses of Sheldon Adelson’s casinos operating in
Macau, China and shutting them down, thereby eliminating a major source
of his revenue. Why go after an Israeli-American casino operator rather
than taking steps directly against the U.S. government? The answer is
simple. Pressuring Washington is complicated as there are many players
involved and unlikely to produce any positive results while Adelson is the prime mover on much of the Trump foreign policy, though one hesitates to refer to it as a policy at all.
Adelson
is the world’s leading diaspora Israel-firster and he has the ear of
the president of the United States, who reportedly speaks and meets with
him regularly. And Adelson uses his considerable financial resources to
back up his words of wisdom. He is the fifteenth wealthiest man in America
with a reported fortune of $33 billion. He is the number one
contributor to the GOP having given $81 million in the last cycle.
Admittedly that is chump change to him, but it is more than enough to
buy the money hungry and easily corruptible Republicans.
In a
certain sense, Adelson has obtained control of the foreign policy of
the political party that now controls both the White House and the
Senate, and his mission in life is to advance Israeli interests. Among
those interests is the continuous punishment of Iran, which does not
threaten the United States in any way, through employment of
increasingly savage sanctions and threats of violence, which brings us
around to the arrest of Meng and the complicity of Adelson in that
process. Adelson’s wholly owned talking head National Security Adviser
John Bolton reportedly had prior knowledge of the Canadian plans and may
have actually been complicit in their formulation. Adelson has also
been the major force behind moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, has
also convinced the Administration to stop its criticism of the illegal
Israeli settlements on Arab land and has been instrumental in cutting
off all humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. He prefers tough love when
dealing with the Iranians, advocating
dropping a nuclear bomb on Iran as a warning to the Mullahs of what
more might be coming if they don’t comply with all the American and
Israeli demands.
Meanwhile
another Israeli, Haim Saban has performed similar work with the
Democrats, contributing $5 million to their coffers, making him the top
donor to the party. Saban has said that he is a “one issue guy, and my issue is Israel.”
Of
course, one might reasonably argue that America’s problem with Jews who
are passionately attached to Israel funding and controlling the major
political parties is self-generated, that no one should be allowed to
fund any political party to such an extent that one obtains control over
policies. But that is an argument that will have to be directed at the
Supreme Court, which permitted corporations to be treated as persons
with its Citizens United ruling, allowing virtually unlimited money to
flow into political PACs as a First Amendment right.
The
lopsided wag-the-dog relationship with Israel is so dangerous to actual
American interests in so many ways that the United States is now
approaching a precipice and might soon find itself plummeting to ruin.
Israel, not Russia, constantly interferes in the functioning of
America’s remaining democracy. Fighting Israel’s wars and protecting it
from any criticism have debased the value of being an American citizen
and literally impoverished the country under a mountain of debt. The
U.S. has been victimized by terrorism, much of which can be traced back
to Israeli roots, and the Washington is now isolated globally as the
United States has become more and more like Israel, a militarized state,
politically corrupt and abandoning basic liberties.
How
does one right the sinking ship? For starters, the Ron Unz formula for
correcting the problem with China provides an excellent roadmap. Israel
and its friends do not have a grip on congress, the White House and the
media because they are wonderful warm people that others find to be
sympathetic. It is difficult even to imagine a scintillating
conversation with a malignant toad like Sheldon Adelson. Israel’s
ability to corrupt and misdirect is all based on Jewish money, a process
in which Zionist oligarchs buy their way to power and access. So the
solution is to hit back where it really hurts – boycott Israel and
Israeli products and do the same for the companies that are the sources
of income for the American Jews who are the principal supporters of the
Zionist project.
The
United States Congress is currently moving to make it illegal to openly
advocate boycotts of Israel or even to inquire about doing so, while 25
states have already also done the same to a greater or lesser extent.
Last week a speech therapist in Texas was fired
from a job she had held for nine years because she refused to sign an
oath affirming that she would not boycott Israel. It is a measure of
Jewish power in the U.S. that American politicians choose to provide
cover for Israel’s misdeeds even if it means the end of the First
Amendment and free speech. But punitive steps intended to intimidate any
and all critics of Israel aside, there is no reason why consumers
cannot exercise judgement over what they buy and what they are
supporting through their spending. If you want to visit Las Vegas, by
all means go, but don’t patronize the casinos and hotels owned by
Sheldon Adelson, which include The Venetian and Sands Resort.
Democratic
party major donor Haim Saban, meanwhile, is a producer of Hollywood
children’s entertainment, including the lucrative Power Rangers.
You can stop your children from watching his violent programming and
tell the network’s advertisers why you are doing so. And then there are
businessmen including Bernard Marcus, who is a co-founder of Home Depot
and a major supporter of Israel, and Robert Kraft, owner of the New
England Patriots. No one really has to spend $1000 to go to a football
game, particularly if the owner is a good friend of Benjamin Netanyahu,
and if you need something for your home or are seeking entertainment,
choose to spend your dollars somewhere else. Readers can do the homework
for the businesses and services that they normally patronize. If
outspoken advocates for Israel own the company, take your dollars
elsewhere.
As
it is nearly impossible in the United States to vote for a politician
who is in any way critical of Israel, those who are opposed to the
terrible damage that the Israelis and their domestic lobby are doing to
the U.S. can instead vote with their purchasing power. It does not
afford the same pleasure as “throwing the bums out,” but there will be
considerable satisfaction in being able to strike back against a
powerful lobby that is so hubristic and insensitive to any criticism
that it has become completely tone deaf.
Apart
from domestic considerations, observers have noted that Israeli
treatment of the Palestinians has been worse than apartheid under South
Africa yet South Africa was subjected to multiple boycotts and bans on
its participation in international fora, to include even sporting
competitions. It is past time to do the same to Israel, which has been
shooting dead hundreds of unarmed Palestinians for months now without
paying any price at all. Boycotting Israel internationally is a good
start. It is non-violent and proportionate and it just might be an idea
that will spread and finally bring about some payback for what Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabal of war criminals have done and
continue to do. As the end of 2018 approaches, it would be something to
look forward to if 2019 just might turn out to be the year of the
international Israel Boycott.
Philip
M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Council for the
National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax deductible educational foundation that
seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
Website is www.councilforthenationalinterest.org, address is P.O. Box 2157, Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is inform@cnionline.org.
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