Israel is in Import/Export Business of Organized Hate

Muhammad Barakei, Palestinian-Israeli Knesset Member from Hadash, regarding the upcoming event in Occupied Jerusalem this next Wednesday featuring racist leader Glenn Beck:

There are enough racists in Israel without importing them from the US.

(h/t to Mondoweiss for the quote)

The reverse is also true. The US has way too much internal support for its racist kooks to need any additional support for such from Israel. Tragically, Israel works through its US subsidiary, AIPAC, and effectively supports racism in the US. Witness, for example, AIPAC's strong support for Christians United For Israel (CUFI) event in Washington DC on July 19th, featuring Beck and John Hagee.

The event featured at least two executives from aipac, standing side by side by racist extremists. One was Jonathan Kessler, aipac's Leadership Development Director, responsible for the strategic development and oversight of AIPAC's campus efforts (for fascinating video on those efforts, see this!) Jeff Mendelsohn, who serves as AIPAC's National Outreach Director was also in attendance cheering on this wanton display of extremist jingoistic nationalism. Joining AIPAC leaders were Israeli leaders such as Netanyahu and Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the US. Having seen this event via the web, my first impression was that if Upton Sinclair were alive today, he might modify his famous prediction to something like:

“When fascism comes to America, it will come wrapped in US and Israeli flags and waving a cross.”

CUFI is based on the premise that a vengeful deity is solidly supporting Israel as an ethnic-based state. Individuals and even nations that have other ideas, such as supporting human rights for all that live there and opposing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homeland, will be punished by this deity, and more importantly, opposed politically (or even militarily) by adherents to this cult. Absent in this organization are Jewish/Christian traditional beliefs in universal justice, support for the oppressed, treating the neighbor as you yourself would be treated.

What we have here is the worst of traditional American xenophobia, imperialist ideology and exceptionalism mixed with Zionist extremism. It is a lethal brew that aipac and Israel are supporting in the US.

While Glenn Beck, a far-right conspiracy theorist who was fired from Fox News after his advertisers dropped him in droves, he has won the ardent support of the Israeli establishment and AIPAC. In early July, Glenn Beck was invited to address members of the Knesset, and he was supported not only by the far-right parties, but the traditional parties.

MK Danny Danon (Likud), the committe chairman, warned the audience not to clap in the Knesset. Yet to no avail. Dannon went on to introduce Beck as “a friend of Israel. If there wasn’t a Glenn Beck, Israel would have had to invent one.” +972

It may not be surprising that Beck with his virulent anti-Muslim/anti-Arab messaging would be welcomed by the Israeli establishment. You'd think that Beck's anti-Jewish conspiracy theories and ties to the far, lunatic right in the US would give them pause.

Political and religious leaders from “around the world” will be enjoying U.S. taxpayer subsidized — through non-taxable charitable contributions — travel to the rally. The travel will be paid for by WallBuilders, an organization founded by David Barton, a pseudo-historian and frequent Glenn Beck guest. Barton has a history of anti-gay and anti-Muslim rhetoric, has spoken at events sponsored by anti-Semitic organizations, and promotes a revisionist history of the U.S. claiming that the “Church-state separation is a liberal myth.” Think Progress

Nothing that Glenn Beck has said, or does say, seems to spark even the slightest protest among mainstream Jewish political parties in Israel. When Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik killed dozens of young people in Norway, Beck responded that the young victims, who were mostly supportive of peace and justice for all, were "Hitler Youth". Yet Beck will still be welcomed in Israel. Even more recently, Beck has condemned hundreds of thousands of mostly Jewish Israelis who are protesting economic injustice as "Communists" and suspects they have ties to Islamist groups. Israel, a state that recently did everything in its power from denying people even the right to visit Palestinians, is importing with unrestrained enthusiasm this racist Beck for the supposed good of the Israeli state, and with support from aipac.

Truly a sign of desperation from a dying system of oppression.

20% of House members in Israel last week, courtesy of AIPAC

In apparent violation of House Ethic rules, 81 members of the House of Representatives are flying First Class and enjoying lavish dinners as their constituents are told they have to cut back. They get this lavish vacation given to them by AIPAC, or to be more precise, an entity created (and sustained) by aipac to skirt around House ethic rules. One of the perks of being a member of Congress.

Among the congressional members subjecting themselves to aipac indoctrination is John Garamendi of California. Garamendi's district includes many areas that are struggling as the US economy falters under the weight of supporting multiple wars in the Middle East. But none of those areas were visited, instead promises were made to Israel that it alone will escape any budget cuts in Washington (unlike any city in the US). This push for continued massive aid to Israel is very expensive for US taxpayers.

Here's a list of those known congresspeople supporting the aipac-orientation to Israel.

They will not learn about the real problem in the Middle East, they will not talk to average Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank who are subject to Israeli oppression. They will not see Israel bulldozers, sponsored by the US taxpayers, destroy home after home of Palestinian civilians.

Yali Amit, an Israeli-American constituent of Rep. Jackson, Jr. (another vacationer) called his office to oppose his participation in the trip to Israel. He was told that Rep. Jackson, Jr. wants to learn what is happening there because of his position on the appropriations subcommittee that approves military aid to Israel. Amit retorted that “you can't learn what goes on there on a paid trip of a propaganda arm of the Israeli government.” And you certainly can’t learn about the devastating impact that these U.S. weapons have on unarmed Palestinian civilians, nearly 3,000 of whom were killed by the Israeli military over the last decade.

Is this even legal under rules adopted by the House of Representatives? Probably not...

Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist at Public Citizen who helped draft the new post-Abramoff federal lobbying and ethics reform legislation signed into law in 2007, agrees that something is rotten in state of AIPAC. According to Holman, “The House ethics rules do not provide an exemption for 501(c)(3)s that are controlled and directed by a lobbying entity to pay for travel junkets for members of Congress.

See much more in this article by Josh Ruebner of the US Campaign to end the Israeli Occupation.