The Disappearing Palestinian

The Disappearing Palestinian by Philip Giraldi

...

" ... Without a political consciousness and identity, a very Marxist concept, the Palestinians could not claim to recover something that, at least per Meir, they had never had. Meir’s view provided a suitable interpretation of recent history for the newly minted Israelis but it meant nothing less than a "nakba" or catastrophe for the surviving Palestinians."

...

"Israel has the most right wing government in its history presiding over a system of exploitative colonial rule that would be rightly called both racist and imperialist anywhere else in the world. That it is largely given a free pass is a tribute to the Israel Lobby’s effectiveness at silencing most criticism through its network of friends in the media and in political circles in both the United States in Europe. And that silence might become even more pervasive. The de facto conflation of criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism in hate crime legislation has already been used to attack critics of Israel in Canada and Australia. As such laws become more commonplace, it might soon mean that any and all criticism of Israel will become illegal in many countries."

"Washington might well buck that trend by insisting that Israel conform to the standards of the rest of the world in terms of human rights and acceptance of international law, but that is in practice difficult to achieve. As long as Israel’s numerous friends in congress and the press provide it with political cover and media cooperation, Tel Aviv will continue to behave recklessly towards its own Arabs and its neighbors with impunity. The sense of Israeli exceptionalism and entitlement that drive the process, which has been noted and challenged even by many liberal Israelis and diaspora Jews, is without a doubt racist in origin."

"There is also a central fantasy in Israeli life regarding what is needed to keep the country safe. A series of Israeli governments has been engaged in a holding action while making life miserable for the Palestinians under the assumption that they will presumably someday just decide to give up and go away."

...

" ... The United States and the rest of the world know perfectly well that the course that the Israeli government is on is both suicidal and unsustainable, but will they really do anything about it? Barack Obama seems serious at the moment — but when AIPAC and the Israeli Lobby really start serious pushback will he be able to take the heat? Every president before him has decided that pressuring the Israelis is not a game that can be won, but just maybe Obama might be made of sterner stuff."


Bill