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The Goy Who Cried Wolf

By Sarah Posner, The American Prospect. Posted March 16, 2007.


The Israel lobby gives America's leading Christian Right warmonger a warm welcome.

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This article is reprinted from the American Prospect.

Delegates at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference were treated to an air-brushed John Hagee last night, primed with his most innocuous talking points and stripped of his most outlandish Armageddon rhetoric. Hagee, the founder of the America's leading Christian Zionist lobby, Christians United for Israel, left his clumsy exegeses of Biblical prophecy back home in San Antonio. He is well-versed in bringing an audience of several thousand people to its feet, and he knew he didn't need his slide show of mushroom clouds and world-ending wars to work this crowd.

Hagee's set-up man was the historian Michael Oren, who recited the history of restorationism, a Protestant movement dating back to the first settlers at Plymouth Rock that sought to return the Jews to Palestine and create a Jewish state. In Oren's telling, you would have thought that before Mearsheimer, Walt, and Carter came along, Jews and American Christians had spent the last several centuries in an idyllic, carefree frolic together, and that George W. Bush's forebearers were Jew-loving Zionists rather than arms-dealing tycoons so intent on consolidating power that they were willing to transact business with the Nazis. The placement of Oren's speech laid the groundwork for Hagee by insinuating that the war-mongering fundamentalist is nothing more than an innocuous heir to a quintessentially American love-fest between apocalyptic Christians and displaced Jews.

In anticipation of Hagee's appearance at AIPAC's conference, there has been much discussion about whether Hagee is actually an anti-Semite who blames Jews for the Holocaust yet anticipates their conversion at the Second Coming -- and another debate over whether it's actually good for Israel or the world's Jews when groups like AIPAC ally themselves with him. But judging from the crowd's reaction, and that of delegates I spoke with afterwards, none of that mattered. Like other Jewish leaders I've talked to about Hagee, the attitude is simply that Israel has very few friends, and it needs all the friends it can get. If Hagee is willing to mobilize hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions of conservative Christians to the cause, then they're willing to overlook his eagerness for the Second Coming (when we'll all become Christians), because it's just a silly fantasy that won't come to pass, anyway.

Had Hagee come to Washington with his usual spiel, perhaps these delegates would have been mortified to learn that Hagee calls the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah "the Prophecy of the Trumpets," and says it represents the regathering of the church in anticipation of the Second Coming. He says the feast of Sukkot is significant because it will be the time of the Second Coming, and that the tallis, the Jewish prayer shawl, is a clear indication that there will be a Second Coming. You see, says Hagee, Jesus would not have left his tallis neatly folded up when he went off to his crucifixion if he didn't have plans to come back.


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Sarah Posner has covered the religious right for The American Prospect and AlterNet. She is at work on a book about televangelists in politics.

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Strange!!
Posted by: yellow on Mar 16, 2007 12:20 AM   
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I have always found it strange beyond all belief that Jews make common cause with the likes of Hagee and other Christian Zionists. It is only to hasten Armageddon that the Christian Right supports Israel at all (that and a healthy dose of anti-Arab paranoia and racism). The 144,000 Jews that will supposedly be saved from Hell and damnation in the Apocolypse are a mere fraction of the 15 million world total of Jews. This is hardly fair. I'd say the Christian Right has had its day and must pass on.

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» RE: Strange!! Posted by: cpatton
» RE: Strange!! Posted by: eagle_dove1
Welcome to the Looney Bin
Posted by: edith on Mar 16, 2007 12:55 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
AIPAC is the most amoral group in DC. Any fool, any lunatic, any dictator or oppressor who "stands by" Israel is a hero; any rational expert who explores the complex nuances of the Palestine problem is denounced as an anti-Semite.

There is more democratic and open discussion about the moralty and efficacy of Israeli policies in Israel itself than in the Halls of Congress or the dinner tables of zionist fundraising and lobbying groups like AIPAC.

AIPAC hosts a looney tooney psycho and hails his appearance as evidence of Christian- Jewish harmony. But it is Muslim-Jewish and Arab-Jewish harmony that the world needs right now. If South Africa had had friends lack the Mad Minister, apartheid would be stronger than ever.

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» Happy Talk Posted by: edith
» The media is the message. Posted by: colinmeister
» Snap-count Posted by: eddie torres
» RE: Snap-count Posted by: yellow
AIPAC and Christian Zionists have no respect for reasonable and kind-hearted Jews and Christians
Posted by: maxpayne on Mar 16, 2007 3:48 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
let alone the Palestinians. Otherwise, they'd stop and realize that they bankrupted ideology produces 10 times as many terrorists as they catch.

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By the way, Israel Walked Out During Iran Speech, US Followed
Posted by: maxpayne on Mar 16, 2007 3:51 AM   
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Overestimated.
Posted by: kittynboi on Mar 16, 2007 6:14 AM   
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Israel has vastly overestimated it's importance to world events, and has convinced many people of how important it is.

I hate Palestinians, but I'm finding it easy to hate Israel too.

This is an issue whose importance is entirely in everyones minds.

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» RE: Overestimated. Posted by: pingoo
Israel only wants one thing
Posted by: kbest on Mar 16, 2007 6:48 AM   
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TO Exist.
The world gave Israel title to land that they occupied way before the Palestinians. Since 1948 all they have wanted is to exist but the were attacked that first day and everyday since. Quick test. If Israel laid down all their weapons what would you get. Instant Genocide. If their surrounding enemies laid down their weapons what would you get..........PEACE.

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» RE: THE UN???? Posted by: kbest
» RE: THE UN???? Posted by: drmflorida
Hagee is an Antichrist, Part 1
Posted by: wawa on Mar 16, 2007 6:58 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Antichrist means against what JC taught: you must love, pray for and do good towards your enemies, NOT bomb and torture them

Dr. Mark Braverman, a member of Jewish Voice for Peace who serves on the Boards of Partners for Peace and the Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace wrote:

"To our Christian sisters and brothers I say – do not, out of a sense of guilt for anti-Semitism, give the Jewish people a free pass. Do not confuse anti-Semitism with critique of Israel, and in so doing fail to hold Jews accountable for our choices and our actions, as members of the human community, as individuals, and as a nation state -- especially as a nation state. To make this mistake, to allow yourselves to be – I will use the word – bullied by the threat of the charge of anti-Semitism, is to commit a pernicious fallacy."

On March 7, 2007 His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan pleaded at a Joint Meeting of Congress, Washington, D.C that:


"This Congress knows: there are no bystanders in the 21st Century, there are no curious onlookers, there is no one who is not affected by the division and hatred that is present in our world…The security of all nations and the stability of our global economy are directly affected by the Middle East conflict. Across oceans, the conflict has estranged societies that should be friends… how [is it], that ordinary Palestinians are still without rights and without a country.


"Sixty years of Palestinian dispossession, forty years under occupation, a stop-and-go peace process, all this has left a bitter legacy of disappointment and despair, on all sides. It is time to create a new and different legacy, one that begins right now; one that can set a positive tone for the American and Middle East relationship; one that can restore hope to our region's people, to your people, and to the people of this precious world. Nothing can achieve that more effectively, nothing can assert America's moral vision more clearly, nothing can reach and teach the world's youth more directly, than your leadership in a peace process that delivers results not next year, not in five years, but this year.


"A lasting peace can only be built on understanding, agreement and compromise. It begins with courage and vision. We, all of us, must take risks for peace.
"The Arab states recognized that reality in 2002, when we unanimously approved the Arab Peace Initiative. It puts forward a path for both sides, to achieve what people want and need: a collective peace treaty with Israel and normal relations with every Arab state, collective security guarantees for all the countries of the region, including Israel, an end to the conflict, a dream every Israeli citizen has longed for since the creation of Israel, and an agreed solution to the refugee problem, a withdrawal from Arab territories occupied since 1967, and a sovereign, viable, and independent Palestine. The goal must be a peace in which all sides gain. It must be anchored in security and opportunity for all." -end of excerpt


"Israel , like South Africa, is an apartheid state."- Former South African President Hendrick Verwoerd , Rand Daily Mail, 11/23/61


"The US Jewish Establishment's onslaught on former President Jimmy Carter is based on him daring to tell the truth which is known to all: through its army, the government of Israel practices a brutal form of Apartheid in the territory it occupies. Its army has turned every Palestinian village and town into a fenced-in, or blocked-in, detention camp."- Former Israeli Minister for Education and Israeli Prize Laureate, Shulamit Aloni, Yediot Acharnot. December 20, 2006.


TBC

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Hagee is an Antichrist, Part 2
Posted by: wawa on Mar 16, 2007 7:00 AM   
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"I have seen the humiliation of the Palestinians at the checkpoints and roadblocks, suffering like us when young white police officers prevented us from moving about… Israel will never get true security and safety through oppressing another people. A true peace can ultimately be built only on justice…If peace could come to South Africa, surely it can come to the Holy Land." - Bishop Desmond Tutu, Dec. 20, 2006 , The Guardian


On November 8, 2006 , I attended a SABEEL [ARABIC for THE WAY] conference in Jerusalem , where the Anglican Palestinian Reverend Naim Ateek predicted,

"When I say the Holy Land I include both Israel and Palestine…There is no future in isolation or passivity. Our futures are all linked together.

"There is an urgent need to articulate and work with other faiths, especially Islam. Our future depends on good relations with all our brothers and sisters.


"Our relation with Israel is the most important issue for there can be no peace without justice. There can be no effective policy without ending the occupation in accordance with all UN Resolutions. The city of Jerusalem must be shared and there must be a just solution for refugees.


"Pressure on Israel must be done with nonviolent needs and the way is the way Christ taught: nonviolent and forgiving. The achievement of peace is not the end; but the beginning of reconciliation….

"We want to be protected by a constitution with full citizenship and nationality must be combined.

"Only in Israel is there a distinction between nationality and citizenship.

"Only good democracy can guarantee all citizens are treated equally under the same law."


President Bush, made a noble promise in his Second Inaugural Address:

"In the long run, there is no justice without FREEDOM. There can be no human rights without LIBERTY. All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know the United States will not ignore your oppression or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for liberty, we stand with you."


I wondered if he gave a thought to the Palestinians when he said that!


We the People must RISE UP and demand President Bush and Congress uphold this promise, to focus urgent and sustained attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which is inexorably linked to all key issues in the Middle East.


Two-state for two peoples will equal one peace: one piece of land that we all claim is Holy, will then be whole again, and no longer war torn.


Only an end to the forty years of occupation of Palestine will bring security to Israel .

NOW is the time to recognize BOTH people's pain and suffering and treat both sides equally, to uphold International Law and the UN Declaration of Human Rights.

NOW is the time for Israelis and Palestinians together to broker a comprehensive ceasefire with all the final status issues on the table once and for all: Jerusalem, borders, settlements and refugee rights.

TBC

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Hagee is an antichrist part 3
Posted by: wawa on Mar 16, 2007 7:03 AM   
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The term "antichrist" only appears five times in the Bible, but a cult not based on sound theology has created an urban legend that seeks Armageddon. The term "antichrist" never appears in John's Revelation or Daniel, two disparate works of literature written three centuries apart and under very different circumstances, yet the Left Behinder's weave them together.

The small texts that mention the "antichrist" were written to attack the Gnostic understanding of who Christ was. A Gnostic relies on intuition and not on dogma and doctrine. Gnostic's were most certainly free spirits and most all of the writings we have about Gnostics, have been the attacks upon them.

That all changed when the Nag Hamadi Library was translated and published, for what had been deemed heretical by those in power in the fourth century can now be read in most every language.

Biblical scholars today agree that many books of the Bible were written by others in the name of an apostle, for the quickest way to gain credibility is to trade on another's reputation.

We may never know if the author who coined the term "antichrist" was actually the apostle John who wrote I John and 2 John-the only sources where the term appears.


John also say's much more:

"Dear Children,
...as you have heard that the antichrist is coming; even now many have come..."- I John 2:18


"This is how we know who the children of God are not: anyone who does not do right; nor anyone who does not love his brother."-I John 3:10

"If anyone has material possessions and see's his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? ...let us love with actions and in truth."-I John 3:17

"God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. There is no fear in love. Perfect love drives out all fear because fear has to do with punishment."-1 John 4:8, 18


The theology promoted in the Left Behind fiction is a theology based on fear and punishment.

The followers of this heretical theology worship a false god: a punitive father, who seeks obedience, is patriarchal, demonizes woman, gays, lesbians, and seek empire on this world and cares naught for the fragility of Mother Nature. They resist what science offers, in particular they are antichristic in their refusal to see that stem cell research could lead to actual HEALINGS of diseases, and JC was very big into healing.

I cite John 5: 1-6, which in some readings is prefaced with an angel from heaven, who would descend and agitate the waters of the Pool of Bethsaida.

Only the first leper, blind, or invalid who made it into the water would receive a healing. One day while Jesus was there, he walked by a man who had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years. Jesus asked him, "Do you want to be healed?" The man answered he had no friends to help him get into the water first. Jesus asked him again, "Do you want to be healed?"

JC is always a gentle man, he never pushed anyone into anything!


The antichrist theology is the opposite and in the 21st century, these fundamentalists among us are seeking theocracy based on fear of others and they seek empire in this world.

Not at all what JC was about; he was about liberation from the bondage of corrupt teachers of The Law, that God loved ALL and the Kingdom of God is NOT of this world.

Antichrists do not have eyes to see that nature is God's primary temple, and war the greatest abomination...


TBC

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» RE: Hagee is an antichrist part 3 Posted by: dikaiosyne
Hagee is an Antichrist, Part 4
Posted by: wawa on Mar 16, 2007 7:03 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
During the time when the writer of John was writing about the spirit of antichrist, Gnosticism was still in its evolution and far from the intricately developed system of the second and third centuries when the church and its institutional hierarchy became firmly established. During the time John was writing against the false teachings, the Gnostics were by and large libertines who denied Christ's humanity. Some said that Christ only appeared to have a body; others said the divine Christ joined the man Jesus at his baptism and left him when he died.The Gnostics left no testimony in their behalf, so all we have had to go on is what was written against them and the texts that survived that have become the Nag Hamadi Library.


These texts offer no new information but prove that early Christians were just as diverse as Christians today.The Armageddon groupies believe they will be lifted out of the misery of the world, and neglect to reflect upon the antichrist within, which is how centuries of theologians understood the term. The term anti/against Christ is best understood to be anti/against what Jesus taught.

Christ was ALWAYS pointing to the Father, saying he only did what the Father wanted, and the prophet Micah summed it up best:

"What does God require? He has already told you o'man! Be JUST. Be Merciful! And walk humbly with your Lord."-Micah 6:8


The antichrists take certain scriptural passages literally, and totally neglect those they do not want to see or hear. Such as, Matthew 12:31-32, Mark 3:28-29, and Luke 12:10 which are simpatico with Gnostic Thomas saying 44:


Jesus said: "Whoever blasphemes against the father will be forgiven, whoever blasphemes against the son will be forgiven, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven either on earth or in heaven."

The Holy Spirit, AKA the spirit of God is within all created things. One should wonder what spirit is driving those that torture and bomb another, for just who would Jesus torture and bomb?


No religion owns God and no church owns Jesus.

Jesus has been hijacked by the right wing fundamentalists and the time of his liberation from the antichrists is NOW. Christ was no Christian, that term was not even coined until three decades after he walked the earth.

But JC was a social justice radical revolutionary Palestinian devout Jewish road warrior who challenged the job security of the temple priests and disturbed the status quo of the Roman Occupying Forces for teaching subversive ideas such as all people are equal and valuable.

The antichrists of today, neglect the non-negotiable's that JC commanded that his followers must do: LOVE, pray for and forgive your enemies, treat all people the way you want to be treated and remain NONVIOLENT, even if nailed to a cross.

Christ dealt compassionately with sinners and outcasts, but hypocrites received his wrath.

Compassion, which is sorrow for the suffering of others, is accompanied by the urge to help. This should define the Christian attitude.

If there is no compassion within a Christian, then it is the spirit of the antichrist that rules.



e
http://www.wearewideawake.org/

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Nice Bedfellows You've Got There!
Posted by: rwa on Mar 16, 2007 8:16 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Hagee sent the AIPAC crowd into a frenzy, causing them to chant, “ISRAEL LIVES!”
forward.com

Commentary:
The video of Hagee's speech to AIPAC is the most horrifying thing I've seen since "The Exorcist".

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Sara Posner:
Posted by: rwa on Mar 16, 2007 8:21 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
In Hagee’s telling, Israel has no choice but to strike at Iran’s nuclear facilities, with or without America’s help. The strike will provoke Russia -- which wants Persian Gulf oil -- to lead an army of Arab nations against Israel. Then God will wipe out all but one-sixth of the Russian-led army, as the world watches “with shock and awe,” he says, lending either a divine quality to the Bush administration phrase or a Bush-like quality to God’s wrath.

But Hagee doesn’t stop there. He adds that Ezekiel predicts fire “‘upon those who live in security in the coastlands.’” From this sentence he concludes that there will be judgment upon all who stood by while the Russian-led force invaded Israel, and issues a stark warning to the United States to intervene: “Could it be that America, who refuses to defend Israel from the Russian invasion, will experience nuclear warfare on our east and west coasts?” He says yes, citing Genesis 12:3, in which God said to Israel: “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you.”

To fill the power vacuum left by God’s decimation of the Russian army, the Antichrist -- identified by Hagee as the head of the European Union -- will rule “a one-world government, a one-world currency and a one-world religion” for three and a half years. (He adds that “one need only be a casual observer of current events to see that all three of these things are coming into reality.”) The “demonic world leader” will then be confronted by a false prophet, identified by Hagee as China, at Armageddon, the Mount of Megiddo in Israel. As they prepare for the final battle, Jesus will return on a white horse and cast both villains -- and presumably any nonbelievers -- into a “lake of fire burning with brimstone,” thus marking the beginning of his millennial reign.


So you see, John Hagee, who wants to see Israel adopt a hawkish foreign policy that he believes will result in its destruction at the hands of a Russo-Arab alliance is a friend of the Jews. By contrast, everyone who thinks a little pressure to make peace could wind up helping Israel in the long run, is an anti-semite.

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» RE: Sara Posner: Posted by: edith
» Israel's law of return Posted by: wireup
» Dear wireup: Clarification Posted by: freethink7
» ????????????????? Posted by: wireup
» RE: ????????????????? Posted by: yellow
Israel lobby's summit included 'adoration for Cheney' by Mike Sheehan
Posted by: rwa on Mar 16, 2007 9:19 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Cheney's presence yielded a rousing, warm reaction, says Levey. "When Cheney first appeared on the stage on Monday morning," he writes, "the crowd immediately rose to its feet and filled the room with loud applause, which continued intermittently through his predictably hawkish speech."

"It seemed a remarkable contrast to the currently dismal public opinion polls regarding Bush and Cheney," concludes Levy, who quoted a nearby AIPAC delegate among the cheering throng as saying, "This has got to be the last crowd that still greets him this way."

full article

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American Fascism Only Asks For One Thing..
Posted by: shinseiji on Mar 16, 2007 11:31 AM   
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The right to exist!

Sorry Zionist chumps, we don't think your New American Fascist latchup has the right to exist!

Imagine thinking that Hitler or Mussolini do not have the "right to exist". The same applies to you.

For make no mistake, the Far Right American Christian Zionist movement - a 100% Made In USA political movement - poses the greatist danger for the institution of a fascist regime here in the USA, a danger greater that all the leftover skinheads, neo-Nazis and Klansmen combined.

American Christian Zionism and the Israeli Apartheid State IS the KKK of our time!

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Israel
Posted by: Ambrose Pare on Mar 16, 2007 12:12 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Why are the Americans in bed with Israel?

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» RE: Israel Posted by: babs
» RE: Israel Posted by: yellow
Beware! The Lobby!!
Posted by: yellow on Mar 16, 2007 3:43 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Most people blame a mysterious organization called AIPAC for the fact that "we Americans cannot hold an honest and open debate on Middle East policy" who is said to "hold US policy hostage" to intimidation and influence peddling. AIPAC, a 100,000 member umbrella group of dozens of mostly Jewish organizations DOES have much influence on the halls of Congress. But that influence is often exaggerated in the discussions about US policy in the Middle East. In 2003, for example, the year the US invaded Iraq, the all powerful AIPAC spent about $1.28 million making its case to congress about US policy in the Middle East in general. This is considerably less than was spent by other groups such as oil lobbyists, defense contractors, the mega-churches, and other concerned groups.

In addition, Israel is really under the thumb of the US because of its total dependance on the US for its survival. Obviously the US is bigger than Israel and Israel must never alienate the US public in order to pursue it ends. One example is the way in which Israel backed down in 2005 from selling certain kinds of weapons technology to China when the US stepped in and forbade it on no uncertain terms. The whole matter was hushed up but Israel knuckled under. There is today no question of the Israelis breaking the embargo against the sale of certain weapons technologies to the Chinese. The Israelis hardly wish to court real disaster.

The real reason for the staunch US support for Israel is the US public. The debate that so many seem to want is not one for which the core of the US population is ready to take part in on a massive scale. Most people support Israel and view that country as an indefatiguable ally in the War on Terror. There is also the tremendous religious motivations on the part of small town Republican America. Finally, there is a negative view of Arabs and Muslims in the US in other words more anti-Arab racism than there is anti-semitism. In answer to the question of "why no real debate" it is that the American people dig Israel at a greater rate and level of intensity than even much of the more educated and liberal Jewish community who, believe it or not, is even more sickened by the indefensible conduct of the forty year long IDF occupation of the Palestinian territories. The vast majority of Americans, despite a desire for peace, see the Palestinians as the obsticle to peace and not Israel. Right or Wrong, this IS the perception. This may not be fair, but it is reality. Want to assign blame for the lack of a debate on US policy and the Israel/Palestine conflict? The vast US public, most of it Christian, would be a far better place to start than the wily but highly overblown AIPAC Lobby.

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» RE: Beware! The Lobby!! Posted by: opeluboy
» Good Luck! Posted by: rwa
The Holocaust Survivor Mentality Imported Into American Culture
Posted by: sofla100 on Mar 16, 2007 5:35 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Much of American support of Israel is not just AIPAC, but also how the issue of the Holocaust is continuously marketed to the American people and American Jews. As Americans, of all religions, we all learn in school about the Holocaust at an early age. We have museums, documentaries, the reiterated stories of Anne Frank, Schindlers List and the Warsaw Ghetto, and finally, what has happened, is that the Holocaust is not just about Jewish life anymore but has been exported into American life. So, for America, her support has become a "taken for granted" when it comes to support for Israel. And for Israel a central tenant of "Holocaust mentality" is not really about the original victims anymore, but is about a continuously pumped up survivor mentality. So, once again, Jews are "going to be victims" but now it is the Palestinians, the Arabs who are the new aggressors. Lost however is the central fact, that the issue of resolution of the Palestinian issue is completly a separate issue than what happened during the Third Reich, but in the psyche of millions of Jews and Americans imported into the Holocaust survivor mentality, Israel and Jews are once again "victims." So, a "blind eye" is easily turned to what otherwise would be universally seen as reprehensible behavior by any government. Such as bulldozing the homes of Palestinians in the territories, collective punishments, illegal setttlements, a stockpile of nuclear weapons, and the like. Israelis and Jews are continuously told, "you must be strong or it will happen again." And this drone, the drone, of it will happen again, goes on and goes on and goes on.

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Armageddon is here and has been
Posted by: Darrell Kern on Mar 17, 2007 6:37 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrfPM61tpwc

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