Colored Glasses
By Medea Benjamin
September 17, 2011 "Information Clearing House" -- During August
recess this year, 81 members of Congress went on a junket to Israel
funded by the Israel lobby group AIPAC (well, funded by the American
Israel Education Fund, but they are really one and the same) to "learn first-hand about one of our closest friends and allies."
While the representatives insist they got a balanced view, their
itinerary belies that claim: 95% of their time was spent hearing the
Israeli government point of view, with only one token meeting with
Palestinian reps.
CODEPINK
has filed a complaint with the Congressional Ethics Committee stating
that these trips—and the upcoming ones scheduled for December–violate
the Congressional prohibition on traveling with a lobby group. We feel
these Potemkin voyages are part of AIPAC's grand plan to control and
monopolize Congress, which is not just unethical, but dangerous. Their
bias reinforces a disastrous U.S. policy of unconditional support for
Israel that obstructs peace and runs counter to our national interests.
At
a recent Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, entitled "Promoting Peace?
Reexamining US Aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA)", we got a glimpse
of what happens when Congress views the Middle East through
AIPAC-colored glasses. Here are a few of examples of their tunnel
vision:
* Asking the wrong questions:
Congress is intent on looking into the $600 million a year U.S.
taxpayers give to the Palestinian Authority, especially at a time, as a
few members brought up, of economic hardship in the United States. But
they would not dare hold a hearing about the more important issue: the $3 billion
a year we are giving to the Israeli government–which is five times what
we give the Palestinian Authority. The question they should be asking,
but won't, is: How can American taxpayers afford to give "military aid"
to the wealthy government of Israel, especially when that government
uses our funds to drop white phosphorous on civilians in Gaza, kill
international humanitarians on boats trying to break the Gaza siege,
bulldoze Palestinian homes and orchards, and imprison peaceful
protesters?" CODEPINK was in the hearing with signs saying "No More $$
to Israel", but we were not even allowed to quietly hold them.
* Listening to the wrong people:
While the hearing was about Palestine, not one of the four witnesses
was Palestinian-American, Arab-American, or even sympathetic to the
Palestinian point of view. Like the AIPAC-junkets to Israel, this
Washington hearing was completely one-sided. Three of the four people
testifying before the Committee were Jewish, and all four were white
men from conservative think tanks that take the side of the Israeli
government. One of the witnesses was none other than convicted criminal
Elliott Abrams, who, after the Iran-Contra scandal, went on to covertly arm Fatah after
Hamas won the 2006 elections in Gaza, leading to a bloody conflict and
inadvertently, to a Hamas takeover of all of Gaza. What great
credentials for giving Congress advice on the Middle East!
When
we asked the committee staff why there was not one pro-Palestinian
voice on the panel, we were told to be quiet or we'd be ejected from
the hearing.
* Polluting the atmosphere with racist comments: Not
once was the plight of the Palestinians under occupation even
mentioned. Instead, Democrats and Republicans across the board made
sweeping statements that were embarrassingly racist. "Sending aid to
the PA reinforces bad behavior," said Committee Chairwoman Ileana
Ros-Lethinen. "The Palestinians refuse to negotiate and they glorify
violence," she added. Cong. Carnahan wanted to know why there are no
"honest actors" among the Palestinians. Elliot Abrams added, "The
Palestinians have been cursed by a failure of leadership for 100
years." There was no mention, of course, that some of the best
Palestinian leaders can be found in Israeli jails.
At
the end of the day, one message that could clearly be taken away from
the hearing was that all Palestinians (except perhaps Salem Fayyad, who
they didn't think was so bad) are ungrateful, Jew-hating,
terror-worshipping freeloaders who are too lazy to work for peace and
who glorify violence. It obviously didn't fit into the AIPAC junket
agenda to introduce any of the committee members to peace activists in
the West Bank who organize nonviolent protests against the occupation
on a weekly basis.
* Ignoring history/denying reality: It
was painful to listen to the whole hearing, but one particular lament
of Congress was arguably the most offensive. "Ah, Israel has given up
so much land, and done so much for peace. When are the Palestinians
going to make some concessions and do anything at all for peace?",
asked Cong. Rohrbacher, throwing up his hands in disgust. The
Palestinians still want the right to return "so that they can destroy
Israel," he added. Cong. Poe complained that Israel has given so much
land for peace that "pretty soon they're gonna run outta land." Witness
Schanzer denounced "100 years of Palestinian nationalism, which has
been more concerned with destroying Israel than constructing a viable
Palestinian state."
Putting aside the fact that the West Bank and
Gaza territories represent a fraction of historical Palestine, Congress
completely ignores the fact that thousands of acres of Palestinian land
have been confiscated by the Israeli government to establish dozens of
settlements and populate them with hundreds of thousands of Israeli
settlers. When the word settlement came up, it was not in the context
of land theft but to chide the Obama administration for focusing too
much on settlements in its first two years and creating a rift with the
Israeli government.
* Targeting the victims: As
if pointing the finger at the Palestinians for all the Middle East's
woes wasn't enough, to its delight the committee found a new target to
defund and shut down: UNRWA, the United Nations Refugee Works Agency
for Palestinian Refugees. UNRWA assists about 5 million
Palestinian refugees throughout the Middle East, including those who
were displaced during the creation of the state of Israel and their
descendants. UNRWA provides these refugees with basic services such as
education and healthcare. The surrounding Arab countries where millions
of Palestinian refugees live refuse to grant many of them citizenship,
thus denying them the ability to work and receive social services.
Without UNRWA, these people would basically be left with nothing.
Instead
of acknowledging this sad reality, members of Congress nodded their
heads in eager agreement as witness Jonathan Schanzer insisted that
UNRWA be shut down. "UNRWA treats the Palestinians more like clients
than refugees," he claimed, thus perpetuating the refugee problem. The
only dissenting voice around shutting down UNRWA was David Makovsky,
who cautioned that the Israeli government might hate UNRWA, but it
would not like to see it shut down because then Israel would have to
pay for those services it provides, including schooling Palestinian
refugee kids.
* Shutting off the lights:
One witness, Jonathan Schanzer of the Foundation for the Defense of
Democracies, had just returned from Ramallah with news about the
"electricity scam." The PA, he said, was supplying power to
Palestinians in Gaza, but Hamas–which controls Gaza–was charging people
and pocketing the money. Since the US funds the PA, we were enabling
this scam. Committee Chair Ros-Lethinen was horrified and indicated
that cutting off funds for electricity (i.e. turning out the lights on
1.6 million people) might be in order. No one mentioned that Israel
bombed Gaza's sole power plant during the 2008 invasion, and today it
is still only partially functioning. No one mentioned that Israel
continues to restrict the entry of spare parts to rebuild the plant and
fuel to run it, leaving the people of Gaza with severe power shortages
of up to 12 hours a day!
* Tying aid with plenty of strings:
While most representatives expressed a desire to cut all funds to the
PA, the witnesses cautioned them–not for humanitarian reasons but for
Israel's interests. The PA security forces have been cooperating with
the Israelis on everything from stopping attacks on Israelis to
repressing demonstrations. David Makovsky from the Washington Institute
speculated that cutting off funds to the PA security forces would only
hurt Israel. Jonathan Schanzer said that cutting off the PA could lead
to an "intrafada" in which Hamas could emerge even stronger. He stated
that money is the U.S. leverage to control the PA. "If we cut the
funds, we lose our leverage and open the door for Iran and other
anti-Israel actors."
* Eviscerating the UN:
The United States claims that it will veto the Palestinian statehood
bid because the peace talks should take place between the two parties
directly and not through an outside entity—in this case, the UN. Many
of the reps could not contain their distain for the UN. "The UN would
vote for any resolution that is anti-Israel," said Cong. Poe in
disgust, even if it said that the world is flat. They suggested
defunding any UN organization that endorses Palestinian statehood. Some
went even further, suggesting we cut off aid to any country that
endorses statehood! Hungry Haitians or Ethiopians will simply have to
pay the price. There is no such thing as "going too far" when it comes
to standing up for Israel!
* Sheer stupidity: One
thing the representatives just couldn't understand is that if we are
giving the Palestinians so much money, how come they don't like us?
"Anti-Americanism among the Palestinians is only second to anti-Israel
invective," said witness Jonathan Schanzer, to the nods of the
representatives. Rohrbacher seemed incredulous that we've given the
Palestinians all this money, and it hasn't even bought us goodwill.
Duh! Of course the Palestinians don't like us—we are supplying billions
of dollars of weapons to their oppressors!
The
stranglehold AIPAC has over Congress is putting our nation on a
collision course with history. The vast majority of the world's nations
support the Palestinian bid for statehood (120 of them already
recognize the state of Palestine). The democratic movements sweeping
the Arab world are clamoring for Palestinian rights. Unconditional U.S.
support for Israel keeps the region in turmoil, pits us against world
opinion and jeopardizes our national security. It's time for Congress
to take off the AIPAC blinders.
– Medea Benjamin and Allison McCracken
Medea Benjamin is cofounder of the human rights group Global Exchange and the peace group CODEPINK. Allison McCracken is the DC Coordinator of CODEPINK.
Satrio Arismunandar
Executive Producer, News Division Trans TV, Lantai 3
Jl. Kapten P. Tendean Kav. 12 - 14 A, Jakarta 12790
Telp: 7917-7000 ext: 3542; Fax: 021-79184558
HP: 0819 0819 9163
http://satrioarismunandar8.blogspot.com
http://facebook.com/satrio.arismunandar
By Medea Benjamin
September 17, 2011 "Information Clearing House" -- During August
recess this year, 81 members of Congress went on a junket to Israel
funded by the Israel lobby group AIPAC (well, funded by the American
Israel Education Fund, but they are really one and the same) to "learn first-hand about one of our closest friends and allies."
While the representatives insist they got a balanced view, their
itinerary belies that claim: 95% of their time was spent hearing the
Israeli government point of view, with only one token meeting with
Palestinian reps.
CODEPINK
has filed a complaint with the Congressional Ethics Committee stating
that these trips—and the upcoming ones scheduled for December–violate
the Congressional prohibition on traveling with a lobby group. We feel
these Potemkin voyages are part of AIPAC's grand plan to control and
monopolize Congress, which is not just unethical, but dangerous. Their
bias reinforces a disastrous U.S. policy of unconditional support for
Israel that obstructs peace and runs counter to our national interests.
At
a recent Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, entitled "Promoting Peace?
Reexamining US Aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA)", we got a glimpse
of what happens when Congress views the Middle East through
AIPAC-colored glasses. Here are a few of examples of their tunnel
vision:
* Asking the wrong questions:
Congress is intent on looking into the $600 million a year U.S.
taxpayers give to the Palestinian Authority, especially at a time, as a
few members brought up, of economic hardship in the United States. But
they would not dare hold a hearing about the more important issue: the $3 billion
a year we are giving to the Israeli government–which is five times what
we give the Palestinian Authority. The question they should be asking,
but won't, is: How can American taxpayers afford to give "military aid"
to the wealthy government of Israel, especially when that government
uses our funds to drop white phosphorous on civilians in Gaza, kill
international humanitarians on boats trying to break the Gaza siege,
bulldoze Palestinian homes and orchards, and imprison peaceful
protesters?" CODEPINK was in the hearing with signs saying "No More $$
to Israel", but we were not even allowed to quietly hold them.
* Listening to the wrong people:
While the hearing was about Palestine, not one of the four witnesses
was Palestinian-American, Arab-American, or even sympathetic to the
Palestinian point of view. Like the AIPAC-junkets to Israel, this
Washington hearing was completely one-sided. Three of the four people
testifying before the Committee were Jewish, and all four were white
men from conservative think tanks that take the side of the Israeli
government. One of the witnesses was none other than convicted criminal
Elliott Abrams, who, after the Iran-Contra scandal, went on to covertly arm Fatah after
Hamas won the 2006 elections in Gaza, leading to a bloody conflict and
inadvertently, to a Hamas takeover of all of Gaza. What great
credentials for giving Congress advice on the Middle East!
When
we asked the committee staff why there was not one pro-Palestinian
voice on the panel, we were told to be quiet or we'd be ejected from
the hearing.
* Polluting the atmosphere with racist comments: Not
once was the plight of the Palestinians under occupation even
mentioned. Instead, Democrats and Republicans across the board made
sweeping statements that were embarrassingly racist. "Sending aid to
the PA reinforces bad behavior," said Committee Chairwoman Ileana
Ros-Lethinen. "The Palestinians refuse to negotiate and they glorify
violence," she added. Cong. Carnahan wanted to know why there are no
"honest actors" among the Palestinians. Elliot Abrams added, "The
Palestinians have been cursed by a failure of leadership for 100
years." There was no mention, of course, that some of the best
Palestinian leaders can be found in Israeli jails.
At
the end of the day, one message that could clearly be taken away from
the hearing was that all Palestinians (except perhaps Salem Fayyad, who
they didn't think was so bad) are ungrateful, Jew-hating,
terror-worshipping freeloaders who are too lazy to work for peace and
who glorify violence. It obviously didn't fit into the AIPAC junket
agenda to introduce any of the committee members to peace activists in
the West Bank who organize nonviolent protests against the occupation
on a weekly basis.
* Ignoring history/denying reality: It
was painful to listen to the whole hearing, but one particular lament
of Congress was arguably the most offensive. "Ah, Israel has given up
so much land, and done so much for peace. When are the Palestinians
going to make some concessions and do anything at all for peace?",
asked Cong. Rohrbacher, throwing up his hands in disgust. The
Palestinians still want the right to return "so that they can destroy
Israel," he added. Cong. Poe complained that Israel has given so much
land for peace that "pretty soon they're gonna run outta land." Witness
Schanzer denounced "100 years of Palestinian nationalism, which has
been more concerned with destroying Israel than constructing a viable
Palestinian state."
Putting aside the fact that the West Bank and
Gaza territories represent a fraction of historical Palestine, Congress
completely ignores the fact that thousands of acres of Palestinian land
have been confiscated by the Israeli government to establish dozens of
settlements and populate them with hundreds of thousands of Israeli
settlers. When the word settlement came up, it was not in the context
of land theft but to chide the Obama administration for focusing too
much on settlements in its first two years and creating a rift with the
Israeli government.
* Targeting the victims: As
if pointing the finger at the Palestinians for all the Middle East's
woes wasn't enough, to its delight the committee found a new target to
defund and shut down: UNRWA, the United Nations Refugee Works Agency
for Palestinian Refugees. UNRWA assists about 5 million
Palestinian refugees throughout the Middle East, including those who
were displaced during the creation of the state of Israel and their
descendants. UNRWA provides these refugees with basic services such as
education and healthcare. The surrounding Arab countries where millions
of Palestinian refugees live refuse to grant many of them citizenship,
thus denying them the ability to work and receive social services.
Without UNRWA, these people would basically be left with nothing.
Instead
of acknowledging this sad reality, members of Congress nodded their
heads in eager agreement as witness Jonathan Schanzer insisted that
UNRWA be shut down. "UNRWA treats the Palestinians more like clients
than refugees," he claimed, thus perpetuating the refugee problem. The
only dissenting voice around shutting down UNRWA was David Makovsky,
who cautioned that the Israeli government might hate UNRWA, but it
would not like to see it shut down because then Israel would have to
pay for those services it provides, including schooling Palestinian
refugee kids.
* Shutting off the lights:
One witness, Jonathan Schanzer of the Foundation for the Defense of
Democracies, had just returned from Ramallah with news about the
"electricity scam." The PA, he said, was supplying power to
Palestinians in Gaza, but Hamas–which controls Gaza–was charging people
and pocketing the money. Since the US funds the PA, we were enabling
this scam. Committee Chair Ros-Lethinen was horrified and indicated
that cutting off funds for electricity (i.e. turning out the lights on
1.6 million people) might be in order. No one mentioned that Israel
bombed Gaza's sole power plant during the 2008 invasion, and today it
is still only partially functioning. No one mentioned that Israel
continues to restrict the entry of spare parts to rebuild the plant and
fuel to run it, leaving the people of Gaza with severe power shortages
of up to 12 hours a day!
* Tying aid with plenty of strings:
While most representatives expressed a desire to cut all funds to the
PA, the witnesses cautioned them–not for humanitarian reasons but for
Israel's interests. The PA security forces have been cooperating with
the Israelis on everything from stopping attacks on Israelis to
repressing demonstrations. David Makovsky from the Washington Institute
speculated that cutting off funds to the PA security forces would only
hurt Israel. Jonathan Schanzer said that cutting off the PA could lead
to an "intrafada" in which Hamas could emerge even stronger. He stated
that money is the U.S. leverage to control the PA. "If we cut the
funds, we lose our leverage and open the door for Iran and other
anti-Israel actors."
* Eviscerating the UN:
The United States claims that it will veto the Palestinian statehood
bid because the peace talks should take place between the two parties
directly and not through an outside entity—in this case, the UN. Many
of the reps could not contain their distain for the UN. "The UN would
vote for any resolution that is anti-Israel," said Cong. Poe in
disgust, even if it said that the world is flat. They suggested
defunding any UN organization that endorses Palestinian statehood. Some
went even further, suggesting we cut off aid to any country that
endorses statehood! Hungry Haitians or Ethiopians will simply have to
pay the price. There is no such thing as "going too far" when it comes
to standing up for Israel!
* Sheer stupidity: One
thing the representatives just couldn't understand is that if we are
giving the Palestinians so much money, how come they don't like us?
"Anti-Americanism among the Palestinians is only second to anti-Israel
invective," said witness Jonathan Schanzer, to the nods of the
representatives. Rohrbacher seemed incredulous that we've given the
Palestinians all this money, and it hasn't even bought us goodwill.
Duh! Of course the Palestinians don't like us—we are supplying billions
of dollars of weapons to their oppressors!
The
stranglehold AIPAC has over Congress is putting our nation on a
collision course with history. The vast majority of the world's nations
support the Palestinian bid for statehood (120 of them already
recognize the state of Palestine). The democratic movements sweeping
the Arab world are clamoring for Palestinian rights. Unconditional U.S.
support for Israel keeps the region in turmoil, pits us against world
opinion and jeopardizes our national security. It's time for Congress
to take off the AIPAC blinders.
– Medea Benjamin and Allison McCracken
Medea Benjamin is cofounder of the human rights group Global Exchange and the peace group CODEPINK. Allison McCracken is the DC Coordinator of CODEPINK.
Satrio Arismunandar
Executive Producer, News Division Trans TV, Lantai 3
Jl. Kapten P. Tendean Kav. 12 - 14 A, Jakarta 12790
Telp: 7917-7000 ext: 3542; Fax: 021-79184558
HP: 0819 0819 9163
http://satrioarismunandar8.blogspot.com
http://facebook.com/satrio.arismunandar
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