Israel

Excuse me. Yesterday I was accused, during our TV show, of being anti-semitic. Why? Because I dared to criticize Israel’s heavy handedness in its current fight with Hezbollah. Well let me reiterate my point: Israel is being appallingly heavy handed. Were its actions those of, say, Serbia in Kosovo rather than Israel in Lebanon, all sorts of people would be clamoring for war crimes indictments of the generals responsible. Instead we hear nothing. Apparently no one is supposed to criticize Israel. And if you do: then you “must” be anti-semitic.

Rubbish!

The nonsense that a criticism of Israel automatically is a criticism of Jews has been allowed to fester far too long. They are not the same thing. Only the most devious and shameful demagogue would conflate the two notions. The simple fact is that Israel is a nation state. It acts as a nation state. It can be praised and criticized just like all the others. And it is a separate entity from Judaism. Or at least it should be. I reserve the right to make any statement I like about Israel and its actions. And I keep those statements totally segrgated from my opinions about religious or racial prejudice.

For far too long American public opinion has been prevented from airing any balanced discussion about the Middle East because of the knee jerk attacks launched by the extreme pro-Israel lobby against anyone who speaks up. Their first instinct is to tar an opponent with the odium of the anti-semitic brush. Well its getting old. It is easily seen through. And it will backfire. Sooner or later this country has to come to terms with the unrelenting bias in its Middle East policies. Is it little wonder that the rest of the world thinks that when Israel speaks America jumps? That might or might not be true. But it is the perception that colors much of the Arab world’s reaction to America. One example gets my point across about the bias: America supports Israel’s economy despite that fact that Israel has one of the highest standards of living in the world. Total aid given to Israel so far has been over $135 billion. That’s approximately 30% of all American foreign aid. That’s right 30% of all American foreign aid goes to a small middle eatsern country whose citizens are among the richest on the planet. Is it any wonder that the average Arab, let alone any extremist, harbors deep suspicions about American motives?

Just for the record: I think Israel has a perfect right to settle its score with Hamas and Hezbollah. But it has no right to dictate American policy. That’s for Americans to do. All of us. Not just a well organized and vocal minority.