My Virulent Anti-Semitism (and theirs)
by Mark Green

 
After years of denial, I've concluded  that I'm hopelessly anti-Semitic.  Why?  It's my terrible attitude.   Not only do I disdain U.S. militarism in the Middle East, but I've  identified its key enabling causes:  intellectual dishonesty, democratic  corruption and media deception.  But it gets worse:  I place the  primary blame for America's Mideast disasters squarely on organized Jewry.   
 
For those in the know, this makes me not only an  anti-Semite, but a "virulent" anti-Semite, which is surely worse.  Had I  blamed everything on G.W. Bush, "Big Oil", or unnamed hawks in the Pentagon,  then everything would be fine.  Some might even call me a political  leader.  But what I've discovered doesn't take me there.   
 
Indeed, America's relentless Mideast military engagements  consistently support the agenda of one nation only.  That nation is  Israel.  
 
It's undeniable that many savvy political  observers agree that Israel tends to make its own rules, which is bad enough.   What's worse, is that America tends to follow them.  Take the war  our ruling establishment is threatening to wage against Israel's enemy du  jour, Iran.  Who would have guessed that the prospect of nuclear energy  development 5,000 miles from the nearest American city would bring out the  Sixth fleet?  Funny thing.  As it is, however, Iran's proximity is a  mere 450 miles from Israel's which, sadly, is the real reason America's on  another war footing.  Iran, you see, just happens to support several  local resistance movements (called "terrorists", here) that contest Israel's  confiscation of land formerly belonging to one neighboring country or another.   This might not be such a big deal if not for an unexpected development  which has crept up on America in recent years:  when Israel gets  irritated, Washington gets agitated.  
 
Let's agree that the  cheapest and easiest option for U.S. is simple neutrality.  It's an  old-fashioned idea, sure, and one that's largely forgotten, but it's got a  nice ring to it. After all, given the relative strength of Iran's army vs.  ours, few experts see this less affluent nation launching a successful attack  on the U.S. for about two centuries.  So we've got time. Unfortunately,  there are lobby pressures here in the U.S. to consider.  That's where  Israel comes in.  Neutrality makes sense for a country with our  strengths, power and accomplishments, sure.  Only it's not an option.   Why?  "Strategic necessity".  And in addtion to that, don't  forget the pro-Israel fundraisers, assorted intellectuals, DC lawyers, policy  wonks, movie moguls, Jewish federations, Zionist donors, esteemed academics,  news editors, advisors, Holocaust survivors, AIPAC's minions, TV executives,  roving bloggers, and more ADL operatives than you can shake a stick at.  
 
In fact, with today's politics being what they are, the option  of neutrality--of doing absolutely nothing, of not sending troops--is  so totally out of step, so terribly reminiscent of Nazi appeasement (we're  told) that it will certainly not even be considered--at least when Israel's  foes are concerned.  This is what passes for contemporary political  wisdom.  "Great Powers" must always intervene.  
 
And in  no instance is this more true than when the Great Power in question is the  United States of America and the intervention in question concerns our plucky,  defiant, besieged "democratic" (but only for Jews) ally, the State of Israel!   
 
There are a few drawbacks however.  Serial warfare  does, unfortunately, get expensive.  Plus there's the problem of all  those dead and wounded G.I.s....    
 
Then again,  nobody said managing an Empire would be easy, right?
 
Anyway, as  for the latest nuclear "crisis" with Iran, first, a little  background:
 
Way back when, decades ago, long before Israel  enjoyed the territorial breathing space it now occupies, Jewish operatives  secretly decided to acquire enriched uranium.  I don't recall them asking  anyone's permission.  From there, Israel upped the ante and cranked out a  stadium full of atomic bombs.  When the headline finally broke,  Washington didn't fuss much.  Nor in fact did N.Y., Hollywood or any of  those other heady places where scorn and disapproval rain down upon those  miscreants who break vital rules involving The American People and Revered  Democratic Values.  Later, regional rivals in the Middle East tried to  follow Israel's bold example.  Leading American voices responded:   "How dare they?"  Soon thereafter, high government decided that  "measures" had to be taken:  "These dangerous steps will not be  tolerated."    
 
U.S. political morality is less  about the rule of law, than about alliances, "interests" and deals.  The  objective is power.  How do we get it?  Through the abuse of power.   This is how the game is now played.  And no government alliance  with our great republic is more "special" than the one involving Israel.   To merely call this "cronyism" does not even come close to acknowledging  the absolute brilliance behind the accomplishments of a small, determined  collection of Zionist visionaries.  Their extraordinary feat took decades  to achieve.  And it all happened while the average American snoozed.   Here we go:  
 
Billions in foreign aid?  No  problem.
 
Zero accountability?  Naturally.  
 
Special privileges, special rules?  Of  course.

Ethnic cleansing?  What's the big deal?   
 
Weapons of Mass Destruction?  For YOU, anything  anytime.  
 
To me, this smells like the deal of the  century.  But then, I'm a "virulent" anti-Semite.
 
But for  you remaining moralists out there, consider this:
 
Like Iraq  before it, Iran is a signatory to the international Nuclear Non-proliferation  Treaty.  Israel however refuses to sign.  Israel, and only Israel,  gets the perennial green light from above to manufacture and possess nuclear  weapons in all the Middle East.  This unspecified privilege is rarely  discussed, yet it's surely central to Iran's current quest to achieve its own  deterrent capabilities.  Despite all this, it is Iraq and Iran--not  Israel--who face America's wrath for the mere possibility that they could  follow the Jewish State's provocative lead.  Israel's nuclear arsenal not  only makes the possibility of atomic annihilation more likely, but it gives  life to an arms race in the world's most volatile region.   
 
Washington, London, New York and Hollywood's collective  wisdom on this matter may be summarized as followed:   "So?"
 
U.S. foreign policies have become so uniquely  inconsistent, so politicized, that they make a mockery of international law.   Can moral decay be far behind?  No wonder the U.N. is such a basket  case.  Like the corpse of a fish, it's rotting from the head down.   In supreme deference to Israel, America has discarded its opportunity to  lead the world by example, namely, upholding the impartial rule of law.   Consequently, America's entire Mideast mission carries the stain of  Jewish "exceptionalism".  Why so little outcry?  The problem is  demographic and ideological:  America's media and political classes are  overstocked with 'Israel-first' loyalists.  Their target:  U.S.  public opinion and the institutions which shape it.
  
To  push this agenda, pro-Israel spin-meisters have convinced Americans into  believing that our government's ongoing war dance towards all of Israel's  adversaries signal nothing more than the mere convergence of U.S.-Zionist  interests.  But that's a kosher fairy tale.  Israeli fingerprints  are all over America's disastrous war in Iraq as well as our continuing  confrontation with Iran.  And our President's self-righteous claims about  spreading "freedom" and "democracy" are just as contrived.  Not only have  all the original rationalizations for the U.S. invasion of Iraq been  discredited, but comparable Israeli misdeeds are consistently met with  American aid, diplomatic cover, and state-of-the-art weapons systems.   This pattern has endured for decades.   And woe to those  would-be leaders who dare challenge this glaring double standard, as they tend  to disappear.
  
It can be argued that America is a nation  under 'soft occupation' by a shadow government serving a foreign power.   
 
Despite that provocative claim, my anti-Semitism has its  accommodating limits.  I strive to live harmoniously with those Jews (and  others) who refuse to push our nation into needless wars.  I even believe  that our nation can make peace with most of the "Muslim terrorists" we  Americans are programmed to despise.  But Western interventionists must  give them autonomy and leave them be, since we demand nothing less for  ourselves.  My anti-Semitism is real, yes, but nuanced.  What about  yours?  Is it incorrect (like mine) or conventional (like  Washington's)?  After all, the U.S. and Israel bomb, demonize and  depopulate areas of high Semitic density way over there (near Israel) with  some regularity, yet the ADL, both major political parties in  Washington, the American Jewish Committee, FOX News, AIPAC, the majority of  Christian evangelicals, and even most mainstream institutions of governance  don't seem to mind much.  Even the American voter (depending on the  headlines) is pretty much on board.  What gives?  Are some forms of  anti-Semitism a good thing?  Are some Semites more equal than others?    
 
Indeed, it's clear that the very meaning of the word  "Anti-Semitism" is kept deliberately fuzzy, and it is this ambiguity of  definition which makes the term so politically useful.  After all, we are  reminded that the Nazis began their genocidal campaign by making accusations  against the Jews, right?--And where did that lead?  Thus, the suppression  of "hateful" (or even "hurtful") speech is now one of the key unwritten rules  of protocol when it comes to criticizing Semitic behavior that is Jewish.   Yes, you may respectfully chastise Israel as it sends guided missiles  into Arab neighborhoods, but there must be love in your heart!  Better  yet, just say nothing at all.  Leave policy arguments to the Left wing  ("pro-peace") Jews who, after 50 years, remain highly visible but dutifully  ineffective.  As for those other Semites--those "Islomo-fascists,"  those "homicide bombers"--here is where the rules of discourse and engagement  reverse course.
 
Witness the modern, conventional and  politically-correct form of anti-Semitism:  identify the Jihadist  enemies, vilify them, and crush them.  The political movement might be  Hamas or Al Queda or Hezbollah.  Whatever.  Who knows, and who  cares?  Their respective origins and purposes are as much of a blur in  the American Mind as our reasons for hating them.  What matters is that  they, like Saddam Hussein before them, oppose American (and Israeli)  "interests".  Thus, we paint Hamas and Hezbollah with the same brush as  Al Queda.
 
Now go out there and vote you American knuckleheads.   But watch out for what you say.  Racism and bigotry will NOT be  tolerated, especially anti-Semitism.  What we've got to do is spread  freedom, stop terrorism, and fight for...  whatever.
 
But  when rhetoric fails to match reality, problems arise.  U.S. policies are  in an moribund state.  Despite the loud chatter about democracy, no  nation on earth comes close to matching our quantity of unwelcome soldiers  patrolling foreign lands.  Yes, the Empire has no clothes, as we're  running out of money and friends.  Whether or not the average, clueless  voter ever figures this out is another matter.
 
Contributing to  this problem, Big Media is in bed with Big Government, as they both need one  another to effectively rule the world.  America's hand-picked pundit  class is not only pro-empire, but overwhelmingly pro-Israel.  So the  political forecast is grim.  Expect continued war, escalating world-wide  disgust with U.S.-Israeli hegemony, and a further rise in political cronyism  here at home.  This, regrettably, is our political future no matter which  candidate gets the nod in 2008, since all viable U.S. office-seekers  invariably run on the anything-for-Israel platform.
 
Indeed, when  we look closely at the contemporary phenomena of privilege and power in  America, we see something quite different than what's commonly advertised.   Those scary anti-Semites of the world are actually quite powerless,  unfairly mocked, continuously threatened, and often destroyed.  And their  poor, beleaguered adversaries?  American Jews are the most affluent,  influential and accomplished minority in U.S. history, criticism of their  political actions by 'outsiders' is taboo, and our government is hog wild IN  LOVE with the Jewish State.  Champagne, anyone?
 
In fact, it  can be argued that we are in the midst of a unparalleled epidemic of  PHILO-Semitism.  Pound for pound, no nation on earth gets the amount of  economic, military and diplomatic cover that we Americans lavish on Israel  year after year.  Despite the money and bloodshed, America's commitment  to the Jewish State remains, to quote former Presidential candidate Al Gore,  "unshakable".  And President G.W. Bush's infatuation with Israel may be  even more off the charts.  Indeed, no change of Administration, no U.N.  resolution, no war crime charge, or U.S. national emergency, ever  diminishishes our federal government's unsettling adoration for the Jewish  State.  More unsettling still:  virtually no public figure dares to  ask, "Why"?  
 
When we review our political relationship for  the past generation or more, we find that there is simply nothing our nation  is unwilling to do for our colonizing, nuclear-ready, ethnic-cleansing,  "democratic" ally.  Isn't this just a wee bit outrageous?  It's  certainly unprecedented.  The costs of this alliance to the American  taxpayer are absolutely astronomical and climbing rapidly.  What it's  done to our national reputation however, moves us in the opposite direction.   Recent polling data indicates that a nearly a third of Western Europe  considers the U.S. a primary threat to world peace.  Our nation's  international reputation is probably at an all-time low.
 
Indeed,  it's America's unconditional love for one group of Semites over another that  has lead us into a series of needless (and morally-bankrupt) wars.  Even  America's "War on Terrorism" may eventually be understood as little more than  a manufactured pretext to advance bankrupt policies.  After all,  "terrorism" too is a fuzzy and politicized term.  It describes merely a  tactic, not an ideology.  But the political grievances behind many  acts of terror are real.  Mideast terrorists hate us for what we  do, not for who we are.  And what we do is sustain Israeli  militarism and expansionism virtually without condition.  If this wasn't  true, these terrorists could easily turn their sights on other "Western"  targets.  But don't hold your breath.  You will never see Al Queda  attacking the likes of Japan, Switzerland or Austria, since these Western  nations don't advance meddlesome and hegemonic foreign  policies.
 
In fact, it's American taxpayers and Americans in  uniform who are the unwitting fools in this whole scenario.  America is a  captive bride, the victim of an arranged marriage which, at its core, is  actually loveless.  The Israeli affection for the United States is born  of political necessity.  And their distrust of the American people is  unmistakable.  This is why we Americans, the "great friends of Israel",  are subjected to continuous Holocaust propaganda as well as other kosher  narratives day in and day out.  America's once modest pride and sense of  fairness has given way to collective hubris, guilt and arrogance.   Gentleness, fair play and humility do mesh well with  war.
 
How else do you explain the manufactured alarm over one  small country's ambition to develop nuclear energy (Iran), while its famously  besieged neighbor confiscates land and water by force, systematically destroys  non-Jewish property, launches a full-scale international invasion over the  kidnapping of two armed soldiers, and moves defiantly towards enlarging its  already terrifying arsenal of nuclear weapons?  Do you see a happy ending  on the horizon?  
 
More perverse still, our very own news  media is determined to circulate the false news that it's the U.S., not  Israel, which is most threatened by Iran's tiny step into the atomic age.   U.S. production of pro-Zionist spin simply never stops, since 'attitude  management' on a national scale is a colossal job.
 
Our  Israeli-centric cultural values have created a swelling distortion in our  nation's intellectual and political climate, which brings us back to the  obsessive use of that overwrought and overused term, "anti-Semitism".   Why the fancy lingo?  After all, those other Semites aren't  at all what that unique term is designed to cover.  So why the misleading  label?  The sacred taboo shields Jews exclusively, so why the avoidance  of plain language?  
 
Why?  Because plain language tends  to undermine vital myths and taboos.  When one removes the anti-Semite  boogeyman from the political arena, the non-Jewish critic is free to choose  sides in a complex struggle involving Jews, Arabs, Persians and Americans.   One then can one be legitimately anti-Jewish, pro-Jewish, whatever, just  as one can be pro- or anti-Syrian, or pro- or anti-war, or pro- or  anti-Republican.  Seek peace.  Cultivate your alliances.  The  presumed 'Original Sin' of anti-Semitism (concerning Jews) must be lifted from  the American Mind.  Only then can freedom-of-choice return to the  intellectual marketplace.  Thereafter, political discourse goes  guilt-free.  The playing field becomes level again.  And finally,  the option--the necessity--of exploring pro-Israel excess in American  politics is legitimately on the table, where it belongs.
 
Let's  agree and state openly that hostility against Jews because of their genetic  profile, economic status, or religious beliefs is utterly wrong.   Unprovoked violence against any and all is unacceptable.  But  special protections and special privileges are a dangerous step in the  direction of racial supremacism.
 
The "anti-Semitism" taboo has  become an abused privilege.  The taboo assures that certain conduct and  behavior (guided by Jewish self-interest) is beyond criticism.  The  charge, or veiled threat, of anti-Semitism succeeds by insinuation.  The  accusation, the suspected "whiff" is designed is to render critics guilty of  'bad character' automatically.  As a political tactic it is  brilliant, since it manages to keep millions whispering among themselves  rather than speaking out publicly.  These chains must be  broken.
 
When that day comes, will America regain enough  independence of mind to re-evaluate its national prerogatives?  It's  possible.  But the Israel conundrum is surely our greatest challenge.   Certainly, all military alliances must be earned.  And the  double-standards must end, as well.
 
Indeed, the preferential  treatment we accord the Jewish State would be illegal if practiced  openly within the U.S., since it violates Constitutional provisions mandating  equal treatment under the law, as well as the separation of Church (and  Synagogue) from State.  Isn't it about time our nation started respecting  the world's Semitic peoples outside our borders equally, as we're required to  do towards the many different ethnic and religious groups living within our  borders?  This is the core problem:  America's "special  relationship" with the Jewish State is all about giving Israel an advantage  over its adversaries.  And to maintain this preference, we Americans are  subjected to a continuous drumbeat of noise involving anti-Semitism, The  Holocaust, Islamo-fascism, Nazism and so on.  This unending, repetitive  chatter subliminally softens us towards bending in the direction of Tel Aviv.   Without saying so, Israel requires (and gets) special consideration from  Americans each and every day.  
.
The latest "crisis" concerning  Iran's quest for nuclear energy/weapons is a valuable example of how this  political reflex works.  Here the message is clear but mixed:   Iranians, Iraqis and non-Jews in the Middle East can't be trusted with  nuclear deterrence.  But Israel?  Your nukes are absolutely  fabulous, babe.  
 
No doubt about it:  Israel is not  only America's most coddled ally, but Israeli-Americans enjoy  government-sanctioned, special treatment.  Their Semitic cousins on the  other hand are the political equivalent of a leper colony.  Which brand  of Anti-Semitism will YOU be buying?  President Bush's brand calls for an  American-style Jihad against "Islamic fascism", even though Christians and  Muslims have successfully coexisted in the Middle East for centuries.   But this was before the Jewish State was invented.  Polling data  confirms that Arab Christians throughout the Middle East resent Zionized  America every bit as much as their Muslim counterparts.  Clearly then,  the escalating tension between America and the Arab world does not involve  theological differences or America's much-ballyhooed "freedoms".  The  core issue for millions of Arabs and Persians alike concerns longstanding U.S.  policies which favors Israeli interests over those of its neighbors.   Foremost, this includes the festering, unresolved issue of Palestine.   
 
Therefore, what's desperately needed now is more  responsible criticism of America's Israeli-centric policies, not less.   Due to political pressures, anti-Zionist commentators and journalists  have been sidelined.  No wonder there's so little public discussion on  this vital topic:  would-be critics have been purged or unfairly smeared.   
 
Under normal circumstances, those waging war, dissembling  propaganda, and confiscating lands are required to justify their actions, not  the victims.  Yet pro-Israeli American culture has turned this tradition  on its head.
 
This undermines our nation's sovereignty, democratic  institutions, and the rule of law.  
 
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Mark Green is a former TV talk show host.  He is the  co-founder and former co-editor of MarWenMedia.com and can be reached at markgreen@flashpoint-tv.net