I am reading Walt and Mearsheimer's book 'The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy'.
As I am familiar with their article of the same title published in the LRB before the Israeli agression on Lebanon in July 2006, and with the debate that followed, I started the book by reading the last chapter on the lobby and the July 2006 Israel's war on Lebanon.
I will account for the reading of this chapter soon but up to now what I can tell is that the chapter gives a precise account of the maneouvers preceding the war, of the results of the war itself on civilian populations, on Israel's actions, and a chilling portrait of the Lobby in full spin. Leaders of top Human Rights organisations (Amnesty and HRW) accused of Anti-semitism and smeared in public for voicing criticism of Israel's actions, US senators having to aoplogize to the Lobby, chastised and sent to Israel on an 'educational' trip for asking to spare Lebanese civilians, Bush admonished for voicing concern for the implications of the actions of Israel during the war on Sanyura's government, and so on...
There is no denying that Walt and Mearsheimer have become a reference on the lobby and at the same time a useful Watch chronicling the lobby.
There is no way out for the lobby because the more it surveys and smears Politicians and organisations for criticising Israel and the more it will confirm Walt and Mearsheimer's thesis. I think the process has attained a critical point. What will come after depends on the mindset of the few people who manage the lobby. Either they are pragmatic and the lobby will mutate into something else more respectable and more credible, at least on the surface, or they are not pragmatic, and this is likely to be the scheme, most of them being extreme ideologues greedy for what they want for Israel and sure to obtain it, and the lobby will push for more radicalisation of public opinions worldwide against Islam and Arabs, hoping to hide Israel's and the lobby's misdeeds.
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Since March 29th 2006
7 comments:
I thought this article by Mondoweiss was good.
http://justice4lebanon.wordpress.com/2007/09/15/the-israel-lobby-and-us-foreign-policy/
Anonymous,
Thanks for the Link. It was exactly the case I mentioned in the post.
Hi Sophia,
Is it worth reading the whole book? I read the PDF which circulated earlier on with the same subject and was wondering if the book offered anything more? What do you think?
I think the whole book is a reference for those who are interested in the ME. A must.
Now even Dawkins has been smeared as an Anti-Semite for even mentioning that people give credence to the existence of "the lobby". Mind you, it amused me to read of the intolerant sod getting a taste of his own medicine.
http://www.thesharpener.net/2007/10/10/culture-war-not-conversation/
Wolfie,
I didn't know Dawkins is touching on such issues.
Sophia, do you understand the commonality between the criticism of U.S. policy on Israel re: Walt & Mearsheimer and criticism of the U.S. policy on Tibet and the Dalai Lama?
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