*** A superbly written essay by Mark Green ***

[zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org]

-- 






'My Virulent Anti-Semitism' (And Theirs)

By Mark Green

September 6, 2006

After years of denial, I've concluded that I'm hopelessly 
anti-Semitic. Why? It's my terrible attitude. Not only do I disdain 
U.S. militarism in the Middle East, but I've identified its key 
enabling causes: intellectual dishonesty, democratic corruption and 
media deception. But it gets worse: I place the primary blame for 
America's Mideast disasters squarely on organized Jewry.

For those in the know, this makes me not only an anti-Semite, but a 
"virulent" anti-Semite, which is surely worse. Had I blamed 
everything on G.W. Bush, "Big Oil", or unnamed hawks in the Pentagon, 
then everything would be fine.

Some might even call me a political leader. But what I've discovered 
doesn't take me there.

Indeed, America's relentless Mideast military engagements 
consistently support the agenda of one nation only. That nation is 
Israel.

It's undeniable that many savvy political observers agree that Israel tends

to make its own rules, which is bad enough. What's worse, is that 
America tends to follow them. Take the war our ruling establishment 
is threatening to wage against Israel's enemy du jour, Iran. Who 
would have guessed that the prospect of nuclear energy development 
5,000 miles from the nearest American city would bring out the Sixth 
fleet? Funny thing. As it is, however, Iran's proximity is a mere 450 
miles from Israel's which, sadly, is the real reason America's on 
another war footing. Iran, you see, just happens to support several 
local resistance movements (called "terrorists", here) that contest 
Israel's confiscation of land formerly belonging to one neighboring 
country or another. This might not be such a big deal if not for an 
unexpected development which has crept up on America in recent years: 
when Israel gets irritated, Washington gets agitated.

Let's agree that the cheapest and easiest option for U.S. is simple 
neutrality. It's an old-fashioned idea, sure, and one that's largely 
forgotten, but it's got a nice ring to it. After all, given the 
relative strength of Iran's army vs. ours, few experts see this less 
affluent nation launching a successful attack on the U.S. for about 
two centuries. So we've got time. Unfortunately, there are lobby 
pressures here in the U.S. to consider. That's where Israel comes in. 
Neutrality makes sense for a country with our strengths,

power and accomplishments, sure. Only it's not an option. Why? 
"Strategic necessity". And in addtion to that, don't forget the 
pro-Israel fundraisers, assorted intellectuals, DC lawyers, policy 
wonks, movie moguls, Jewish federations, Zionist donors, esteemed 
academics, news editors, advisors, Holocaust survivors, AIPAC's 
minions, TV executives, roving bloggers, and more ADL operatives than 
you can shake a stick at.

In fact, with today's politics being what they are, the option of 
neutrality--of doing absolutely nothing, of not sending troops--is so 
totally out of step, so terribly reminiscent of Nazi appeasement 
(we're told) that it will certainly not even be considered--at least 
when Israel's foes are concerned. This is what passes for 
contemporary political wisdom. "Great Powers" must always intervene.

And in no instance is this more true than when the Great Power in 
question is the United States of America and the intervention in 
question concerns our plucky, defiant, besieged "democratic" (but 
only for Jews) ally, the State of Israel!

There are a few drawbacks however. Serial warfare does, 
unfortunately, get expensive. Plus there's the problem of all those 
dead and wounded G.I.s....

  Then again, nobody said managing an Empire would be easy, right?

Anyway, as for the latest nuclear "crisis" with Iran, first, a little 
background:

Way back when, decades ago, long before Israel enjoyed the 
territorial breathing space it now occupies, Jewish operatives 
secretly decided to acquire enriched uranium. I don't recall them 
asking anyone's permission. From there, Israel upped the ante and 
cranked out a stadium full of atomic bombs. When the headline finally 
broke, Washington didn't fuss much. Nor in fact did N.Y., Hollywood 
or any of those other heady places where scorn and disapproval rain 
down upon those miscreants who break vital rules involving The 
American People and Revered Democratic Values. Later, regional rivals 
in the Middle

East tried to follow Israel's bold example. Leading American voices 
responded: "How dare they?" Soon thereafter, high government decided 
that "measures" had to be taken: "These dangerous steps will not be 
tolerated."

U.S. political morality is less about the rule of law, than about 
alliances, "interests" and deals. The objective is power. How do we 
get it? Through the abuse of power. This is how the game is now 
played. And no government alliance with our great republic is more 
"special" than the one involving Israel. To merely call this 
"cronyism" does not even come close to acknowledging the absolute 
brilliance behind the accomplishments of a small, determined 
collection of Zionist visionaries. Their extraordinary feat took 
decades to achieve. And it all happened while the average American 
snoozed. Here we go:

Billions in foreign aid? No problem.

Zero accountability? Naturally.

Special privileges, special rules? Of course.

Ethnic cleansing? What's the big deal?

Weapons of Mass Destruction? For YOU, anything anytime.

To me, this smells like the deal of the century. But then, I'm a 
"virulent" anti-Semite.

But for you remaining moralists out there, consider this:

Like Iraq before it, Iran is a signatory to the international Nuclear 
Non-proliferation Treaty. Israel however refuses to sign. Israel, and 
only Israel, gets the perennial green light from above to manufacture 
and possess nuclear weapons in all the Middle East. This unspecified 
privilege is rarely discussed, yet it's surely central to Iran's 
current quest to achieve its own deterrent capabilities. Despite all 
this, it is Iraq and Iran--not Israel--who face America's wrath for 
the mere possibility that they could follow the Jewish State's 
provocative lead. Israel's nuclear arsenal not only makes the 
possibility of atomic annihilation more likely, but it gives life to 
an arms race in the world's most volatile region.

Washington, London, New York and Hollywood's collective wisdom on 
this matter may be summarized as followed: "So?"

U.S. foreign policies have become so uniquely inconsistent, so 
politicized,  that they make a mockery of international law. Can 
moral decay be far behind? No wonder the U.N. is such a basket case. 
Like the corpse of a fish, it's rotting from the head down. In 
supreme deference to Israel, America has discarded its opportunity to 
lead the world by example, namely, upholding the impartial rule of 
law. Consequently, America's entire Mideast mission carries the stain 
of Jewish "exceptionalism". Why so little outcry? The problem is 
demographic and ideological: America's media and political classes 
are overstocked with 'Israel-first' loyalists. Their target: U.S. 
public opinion and the institutions which shape it.

To push this agenda, pro-Israel spin-meisters have convinced 
Americans into believing that our government's ongoing war dance 
towards all of Israel's adversaries signal nothing more than the mere 
convergence of U.S.-Zionist interests. But that's a kosher fairy 
tale. Israeli fingerprints are all over America's disastrous war in 
Iraq as well as our continuing confrontation with Iran. And our 
President's self-righteous claims about spreading "freedom" and 
"democracy" are just as contrived. Not only have all the original 
rationalizations for the U.S. invasion of Iraq been discredited, but 
comparable Israeli misdeeds are consistently met with American aid, 
diplomatic cover, and state-of-the-art weapons systems. This pattern 
has endured for decades. And woe to those would-be leaders who dare 
challenge this glaring double standard, as they tend to disappear.

It can be argued that America is a nation under 'soft occupation' by 
a shadow government serving a foreign power.

Despite that provocative claim, my anti-Semitism has its 
accommodating limits. I strive to live harmoniously with those Jews 
(and others) who refuse to push our nation into needless wars. I even 
believe that our nation can make peace with most of the "Muslim 
terrorists" we Americans are programmed to despise. But Western 
interventionists must give them autonomy and leave them be, since we 
demand nothing less for ourselves. My anti-Semitism is real, yes, but 
nuanced. What about yours? Is it incorrect (like mine) or 
conventional (like Washington's)? After all, the U.S. and Israel 
bomb, demonize and depopulate areas of high Semitic density way over 
there (near Israel) with some regularity, yet the ADL, both major 
political parties in Washington, the American Jewish Committee, FOX 
News, AIPAC, the majority of Christian evangelicals, and even most 
mainstream institutions of governance don't seem to mind much. Even 
the American voter (depending on the headlines) is pretty much on 
board. What gives? Are some forms of anti-Semitism a good thing? Are 
some Semites more equal than others?

Indeed, it's clear that the very meaning of the word "Anti-Semitism" 
is kept deliberately fuzzy, and it is this ambiguity of definition 
which makes the term so politically useful. After all, we are 
reminded that the Nazis began their genocidal campaign by making 
accusations against the Jews, right?--And where did that lead? Thus, 
the suppression of "hateful" (or even "hurtful") speech is now one of 
the key unwritten rules of protocol when it comes to criticizing 
Semitic behavior that is Jewish. Yes, you may respectfully chastise 
Israel as it sends guided missiles into Arab neighborhoods, but there 
must be love in your heart! Better yet, just say nothing at all. 
Leave policy arguments to the Left wing ("pro-peace") Jews who, after 
50 years, remain highly visible but dutifully ineffective. As for 
those other Semites--those "Islomo-fascists," those "homicide 
bombers"--here is where the rules of discourse and engagement reverse 
course.

Witness the modern, conventional and politically-correct form of 
anti-Semitism: identify the Jihadist enemies, vilify them, and crush 
them. The political movement might be Hamas or Al Queda or Hezbollah. 
Whatever. Who knows, and who cares? Their respective origins and 
purposes are as much of a blur in the American Mind as our reasons 
for hating them. What matters is that they, like Saddam Hussein 
before them, oppose American (and Israeli) "interests". Thus, we 
paint Hamas and Hezbollah with the same brush as Al Queda.

Now go out there and vote you American knuckleheads. But watch out 
for what you say. Racism and bigotry will NOT be tolerated, 
especially anti-Semitism. What we've got to do is spread freedom, 
stop terrorism, and fight for... whatever.

But when rhetoric fails to match reality, problems arise. U.S. 
policies are in an moribund state. Despite the loud chatter about 
democracy, no nation

on earth comes close to matching our quantity of unwelcome soldiers 
patrolling foreign lands. Yes, the Empire has no clothes, as we're 
running out of money and friends. Whether or not the average, 
clueless voter ever figures this out is another matter.

Contributing to this problem, Big Media is in bed with Big 
Government, as they both need one another to effectively rule the 
world. America's hand-picked pundit class is not only pro-empire, but 
overwhelmingly pro-Israel. So the political forecast is grim. Expect 
continued war, escalating world-wide disgust with U.S.-Israeli 
hegemony, and a further rise in political cronyism here at home. 
This, regrettably, is our political future no matter which candidate 
gets the nod in 2008, since all viable U.S. office-seekers invariably 
run on the anything-for-Israel platform.

Indeed, when we look closely at the contemporary phenomena of 
privilege and power in America, we see something quite different than 
what's commonly advertised. Those scary anti-Semites of the world are 
actually quite powerless, unfairly mocked, continuously threatened, 
and often destroyed. And their poor, beleaguered adversaries? 
American Jews are the most affluent, influential and accomplished 
minority in U.S. history, criticism of their political actions by 
'outsiders' is taboo, and our government is hog wild IN LOVE with the 
Jewish State. Champagne, anyone?

In fact, it can be argued that we are in the midst of a unparalleled 
epidemic of PHILO-Semitism. Pound for pound, no nation on earth gets 
the amount of economic, military and diplomatic cover that we 
Americans lavish on Israel year after year. Despite the money and 
bloodshed, America's commitment to the Jewish State remains, to quote 
former Presidential candidate Al Gore, "unshakable". And President 
G.W. Bush's infatuation with Israel may be even more off the charts. 
Indeed, no change of Administration, no U.N. resolution, no war crime 
charge, or U.S. national emergency, ever diminishes our federal 
government's unsettling adoration for the Jewish State. More 
unsettling still: virtually no public figure dares to ask, "Why"?

When we review our political relationship for the past generation or 
more, we find that there is simply nothing our nation is unwilling to 
do for our colonizing, nuclear-ready, ethnic-cleansing, "democratic" 
ally. Isn't this just a wee bit outrageous? It's certainly 
unprecedented. The costs of this alliance to the American taxpayer 
are absolutely astronomical and climbing rapidly. What it's done to 
our national reputation however, moves us in the opposite direction. 
Recent polling data indicates that a nearly a third of Western Europe 
considers the U.S. a primary threat to world peace. Our nation's 
international reputation is probably at an all-time low.

Indeed, it's America's unconditional love for one group of Semites 
over another that has lead us into a series of needless (and 
morally-bankrupt) wars. Even America's "War on Terrorism" may 
eventually be understood as little more than a manufactured pretext 
to advance bankrupt policies. After all, "terrorism" too is a fuzzy 
and politicized term. It describes merely a tactic, not an ideology. 
But the political grievances behind many acts of terror are real. 
Mideast terrorists hate us for what we do, not for who we are. And 
what we do is sustain Israeli militarism and expansionism virtually 
without condition. If this wasn't true, these terrorists could easily 
turn their sights on other "Western" targets. But don't hold your 
breath. You will never see Al Qaeda attacking the likes of Japan, 
Switzerland or Austria, since these Western nations don't advance 
meddlesome and hegemonic foreign policies.

In fact, it's American taxpayers and Americans in uniform who are the 
unwitting fools in this whole scenario. America is a captive bride, 
the victim of an arranged marriage which, at its core, is actually 
loveless. The Israeli affection for the United States is born of 
political necessity. And their distrust of the American people is 
unmistakable. This is why we Americans, the "great friends of 
Israel", are subjected to continuous Holocaust propaganda as well as 
other kosher narratives day in and day out. America's once modest 
pride and sense of fairness has given way to collective hubris, guilt 
and arrogance. Gentleness, fair play and humility do not mesh well 
with war.

How else do you explain the manufactured alarm over one small 
country's ambition to develop nuclear energy (Iran), while its 
famously besieged neighbor confiscates land and water by force, 
systematically destroys non-Jewish property, launches a full-scale 
international invasion over the kidnapping of two armed soldiers, and 
moves defiantly towards enlarging its already terrifying arsenal of 
nuclear weapons? Do you see a happy ending on the horizon?

More perverse still, our very own news media is determined to 
circulate the false news that it's the U.S., not Israel, which is 
most threatened by Iran's tiny step into the atomic age. U.S. 
production of pro-Zionist spin simply never stops, since 'attitude 
management' on a national scale is a colossal job.

Our Israeli-centric cultural values have created a swelling 
distortion in our nation's intellectual and political climate, which 
brings us back to the obsessive use of that overwrought and overused 
term, "anti-Semitism". Why the fancy lingo? After all, those other 
Semites aren't at all what that unique term is designed to cover. So 
why the misleading label? The sacred taboo shields Jews exclusively, 
so why the avoidance of plain language?

Why? Because plain language tends to undermine vital myths and 
taboos. When one removes the anti-Semite boogeyman from the political 
arena, the non-Jewish critic is free to choose sides in a complex 
struggle involving Jews, Arabs, Persians and Americans. One then can 
one be legitimately anti-Jewish, pro-Jewish, whatever, just as one 
can be pro- or anti-Syrian, or pro- or anti-war, or pro- or 
anti-Republican. Seek peace. Cultivate your alliances. The presumed 
'Original Sin' of anti-Semitism (concerning Jews) must be lifted from 
the American Mind. Only then can freedom-of-choice return to the 
intellectual marketplace. Thereafter, political discourse goes 
guilt-free. The playing field becomes level again. And finally, the 
option--the necessity--of exploring pro-Israel excess in American 
politics is legitimately on the table, where it belongs.

Let's agree and state openly that hostility against Jews because of 
their genetic profile, economic status, or religious beliefs is 
utterly wrong. Unprovoked violence against any and all is 
unacceptable. But special protections and special privileges are a 
dangerous step in the direction of racial supremacism.

The "anti-Semitism" taboo has become an abused privilege. The taboo 
assures that certain conduct and behavior (guided by Jewish 
self-interest) is beyond criticism. The charge, or veiled threat, of 
anti-Semitism succeeds by insinuation. The accusation, the suspected 
"whiff" is designed is to render critics guilty of 'bad character' 
automatically. As a political tactic it is brilliant, since it 
manages to keep millions whispering among themselves rather than 
speaking out publicly. These chains must be broken.

When that day comes, will America regain enough independence of mind 
to re-evaluate its national prerogatives? It's possible. But the 
Israel conundrum is surely our greatest challenge. Certainly, all 
military alliances must be earned. And the double-standards must end, 
as well.

Indeed, the preferential treatment we accord the Jewish State would 
be illegal if practiced openly within the U.S., since it violates 
Constitutional provisions mandating equal treatment under the law, as 
well as the separation of Church (and Synagogue) from State. Isn't it 
about time our nation started respecting the world's Semitic peoples 
outside our borders equally, as we're required to do towards the many 
different ethnic and religious groups living within our borders? This 
is the core problem: America's "special relationship" with the Jewish 
State is all about giving Israel an advantage over its adversaries. 
And to maintain this preference, we Americans are subjected to a 
continuous drumbeat of noise involving anti-Semitism, The Holocaust, 
Islamo-fascism, Nazism and so on. This unending, repetitive chatter 
subliminally softens us towards bending in the direction of Tel Aviv. 
Without saying so, Israel requires (and gets) special consideration 
from Americans each and every day. . The latest "crisis" concerning 
Iran's quest for nuclear energy/weapons is a valuable example of how 
this political reflex works. Here the message is clear but mixed: 
Iranians, Iraqis and non-Jews in the Middle East can't be trusted 
with nuclear deterrence. But Israel? Your nukes are absolutely 
fabulous, babe.

No doubt about it: Israel is not only America's most coddled ally, 
but Israeli-Americans enjoy government-sanctioned, special treatment. 
Their Semitic cousins on the other hand are the political equivalent 
of a leper colony. Which brand of Anti-Semitism will YOU be buying? 
President Bush's brand calls for an American-style Jihad against 
"Islamic fascism", even though Christians and Muslims have 
successfully coexisted in the Middle East for centuries. But this was 
before the Jewish State was invented. Polling data confirms that Arab 
Christians throughout the Middle East resent Zionized America every 
bit as much as their Muslim counterparts. Clearly then, the 
escalating tension between America and the Arab world does not 
involve theological differences or America's much-ballyhooed 
"freedoms". The core issue for millions of Arabs and Persians alike 
concerns longstanding U.S. policies which favors Israeli interests 
over those of its neighbors. Foremost, this includes the festering, 
unresolved issue of Palestine.

Therefore, what's desperately needed now is more responsible 
criticism of America's Israeli-centric policies, not less. Due to 
political pressures, anti-Zionist commentators and journalists have 
been sidelined. No wonder there's so little public discussion on this 
vital topic: would-be critics have been purged or unfairly smeared.

Under normal circumstances, those waging war, dissembling propaganda, 
and confiscating lands are required to justify their actions, not the 
victims. Yet pro-Israeli American culture has turned this tradition 
on its head.

This undermines our nation's sovereignty, democratic institutions, 
and the rule of law.

  =====

Mark Green is a former TV talk show host.  Semd comments to: 
MarkGreen at flashpoint-tv.net

Source: http://www.rense.com/general73/vir.htm