Philip Giraldi
Israel never
loses an opportunity to promote what it perceives to be its interests.
That any nation would do just that most of the time should surprise no
one, but Israel is perhaps unique in terms of how assiduously it works
at creating situations that favor it through the use of corruption of
foreign governments and subversion of existing institutions. For most
countries, the actions of a minority that seeks to advance the interests
of a foreign nation would face strong resistance, but Israel manages to
get away with what it does due to the presence of powerful and wealthy
diaspora communities, most particularly in the Anglophone countries, but
also in France.
The Israel Lobby
in the United States has been subjected to some scrutiny thanks largely
to the impetus provided by Professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen
Walt’s groundbreaking study The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.
More recent revelations have come from undercover journalism undertaken
by al-Jazeera, which has demonstrated how British Jewish groups and
parliamentarians have worked together with Israeli Embassy intelligence
officers to remove public officials believed to be critical of Israel.
Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party, has been on the receiving end
of a campaign to replace him for his alleged anti-Semitism solely
because he has condemned Israeli oppression of the Palestinians. A
second al-Jazeera investigation demonstrated how The Lobby, cooperating
with the Israeli Embassy, has been controlling discussion of the Middle
East in the United States, which should have surprised no one.
Europe indeed
appears to be a hotbed of anti-Semitism, or so Israel and its friends
would have us believe. Leaders in France, Germany and Britain feel
compelled to frequently address the issue, making the equivalent of a
war on anti-Semitism a principal objective of government. The United
States has joined this effort, appointing a Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism whose job includes reporting other countries’ treatment of Jews and Israel.
The newest
wrinkle comes under the category of Lawfare. It consists of hate crime
laws that are directed against anyone criticizing Jews and,
increasingly, Israel. In fact, any criticism of Israel is frequently
being seen as a criminal offense, a trend that is also evident in the
United States at the national, state and local levels, where Jewish
groups have also been quick off the mark in claiming that anti-Semitism
is surging. Freedom of speech in the western world has been diminished
as a result.
Diaspora Jews are
well entrenched in the media, which has enabled them to promote a
narrative favorable to Israel no matter what it does, to include a
repetitive dose of holocaust guilt that plays out from Hollywood and
elsewhere in the media. The assiduously cultivated message for the
public is that Jews are always the victims, never the aggressors, even
when IDF snipers shoot Arab children and medical workers during
protests.
