- Former congressman Paul Findley writes from the perspective
of having been a member of Congress targeted for defeat by the pro-Israel
lobby for questioning America's unconditional support for Israel's geopolitical
agenda which has, in fact, deepened since Rep. Findley was in Congress.
This was written a week ago. By Paul Findley
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- Last Wednesday George W. Bush gave presidential blessing
to Israel's extensive acquisition and occupation of Palestinian territory
by force of arms. In effect, he approved conquest that is expressly outlawed
by the United Nations Charter and other international agreements, prohibitions
that both Israel and the United States have long been pledged to support.
Bush did so in a televised news conference in the White House. He announced
that the U.S. government will not, in future diplomatic negotiations, demand
that Israel vacate large Jewish settlements it has unlawfully established
within Palestinian territory over recent years.
He also announced that the U.S. government will no longer support another
property right clearly recognized in international law, the right of Palestinians
to reclaim private property they were forced to abandon years ago when
Jewish military forces took control of territory that now comprises Israel
proper.
It is shocking to witness our chief executive cavalierly dismissing the
important legal rights of an aggrieved nationality. It is particularly
galling to see Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon smiling broadly at his
side.
Sharon should be tried as a war criminal, not honored at the White House.
A few years ago, Sharon was found complicit by an official Israel board
of inquiry for his major responsibility in the 1982 massacre of hundreds
of defenseless Palestinians in Beirut refugee camps. During the same period,
Sharon was an architect of Israel's aerial bombardment of Beirut that slaughtered
over 18,000 innocent civilians. The aircraft, artillery and munitions
used in this slaughter were donated by the U.S. government.
Three years ago, the prime minister magnified this criminal record by ordering
ruthless military sweeps through Palestinian territory that left large
scale death and destruction in their wake. In recent months, with no provision
of due process, he ordered the assassination of countless Palestinians
purely on suspicion of terrorism. One of the victims was a widely revered
Islamic leader, a nearly-blind quadriplegic blown to bits by U.S.-supplied
helicopter gunships while emerging from a mosque in a wheelchair.
This gross, malignant behavior is not only illegal, it defies the rules
of every major religion, including Judaism. To top it all, Sharon currently
faces corruption charges brought by Israeli prosecuting attorneys. Bush,
perhaps unwittingly, dignifies this rascal and advances the prime minister's
political fortunes by approving his plan to wipe away the legal rights
of dispossessed Palestinians.
From the standpoint of U.S. national interests, the timing of this spectacle
is unfathomable. President Bush acts as if he is oblivious of Middle East
realities. In a prime time television address the night before his appearance
with Sharon, Bush urged other nations, including Arabs, to help quell rising
lethal violence against U.S. forces occupying Iraq, a nation, like Palestine,
that is largely Muslim.
Bush does not seem to understand that one of the reasons for the insurgency
is Iraqi awareness of the U.S. government's long complicity in Israel's
brutal abuse of their Arab neighbors in Palestine. Injuries he helps Israel
inflict on Arabs in Palestine are bound to incite greater violence against
U.S. troops, as well as terrorist measures elsewhere.
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- Bush's announcement will surely add fuel to anti-American
passions in Iraq. It is tantamount to stabbing our own soldiers in the
back. It will fuel similar passions worldwide, not just among Arabs and
Muslims. Bush should be trying to build goodwill in Arab countries, not
destroy it.
The Iraqi insurgents and other anti-American protestors worldwide surely
view the otherwise mighty government in Washington as the pawn of Israeli
manipulation, the meek errand-boy of tiny Israel, whose officials openly
and accurately boast that Israel has full control of the U.S. Congress,
as well as the presidency.
I predict that Members of Congress will be lining up in the next few days
to applaud Bush for endorsing Israel's gargantuan theft of Arab legal rights.
There will be few, if any, words of lament. And no one in elective office
seems willing to acknowledge the colossal cost of U.S. aid to Israel: more
than $1.3 trillion since 1975. Although staggering in monetary terms,
it is a trifle when contrasted with the damage done by Bush's abandonment
of Palestinians..
Uri Avnery, an Israeli peace activist and a Jew, recently declared: "America
controls the world, and Israel controls America." Our president and
our Members of Congress should hang their heads in shame.
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- _____
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- Paul Findley, Member of Congress 1961-83, resides in
Jacksonville, Illinois. He lectures widely and is the author of five books,
the latest being Silent No More: Confronting America's False Images of
Islam.
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