U.S.
Too Often Follows Israel's Lead
In Diplomatic Situations
By Paul Findley
16 October, 2007
Iowa
City Press-Citizen
There is an open secret in Washington.
I learned it well during my 22-year tenure as a member of the U.S. House
of Representatives. All members swear to serve the interests of the
United States, but there is an unwritten and overwhelming exception:
The interests of one small foreign country almost always trump U.S.
interests. That nation of course is Israel.
Both ends of Pennsylvania
Avenue give priority to Israel over America. Those on Capitol Hill are
pre-primed to roar approval for Israeli actions whether right or wrong,
instead of at least fussing first and then caving. The White House sometimes
puts up a modest and ineffective show of resistance before it follows
Israel's lead.
In 2002, President Bush publicly
ordered Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon to end a bloody, destructive
rampage through the Palestinian West Bank. He wilted just as publicly
when he received curt word from Sharon that Israeli troops would not
withdraw and would continue their military operations. A few days later
President Bush invited Sharon to the White House where he saluted him
as a "man of peace."
I had similar experiences
in the House of Representatives. On several occasions, colleagues told
me privately that they admired what I was trying to do in Middle East
policy reform but could not risk pro-Israel protest back home by supporting
my positions.
The pro-Israel lobby is not
one organization orchestrating U.S. Middle East policy from a backroom
in Washington. Nor is it entirely Jewish. It consists of scores of groups
-- large and small -- that work at various levels. The largest, most
professional, and most effective is the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee. Many pro-Israel lobby groups belong to the Christian Right.
The recently released book,
"The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy," co-authored by
distinguished professors John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago
and Stephen Walt of Harvard, offers hope for constructive change. It
details the damage to U.S. national interests caused by the lobby for
Israel. These brave professors render a great service to America, but
their theme, expressed in a published study paper a year ago, is already
under heavy, vitriolic attack.
They are unjustly accused
of anti-Semitism, the ultimate instrument of intimidation employed by
the lobby. A common problem: Under pressure, the Chicago Council on
Global Affairs withdrew an invitation for the authors to speak about
their book. Council president Marshall Bouton explained ruefully that
the invitation posed "a political problem" and a need "to
protect the institution" from those who would be angry if the authors
appeared.
I know what it is like to
be targeted in this way. In the last years of my long service in Congress,
I spoke out, making many of the points now presented in the Mearsheimer-Walt
book. In 1980, my opponent charged me with anti-Semitism, and money
poured into his campaign fund from every state in the Union. I prevailed
that year but two years later lost by a narrow margin. In 1984, Sen.
Charles Percy, then chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and
an occasional critic of Israel, was defeated. Leaders of the Israel
lobby claimed credit for defeating both Percy and me, claims that strengthened
lobby influence in the years that followed.
The result is that Members
of Congress today loudly reward Israel as it violates international
law and peace agreements, lures America into costly wars, and subjects
millions of Palestinians under its rule to apartheid-like conditions
because they are not Jewish.
It is time to call politicians
to account for their undying allegiance to a foreign state. Let the
Mearsheimer-Walt book be a clarion that bestirs the American people
to political action and finally brings fundamental change to both Capitol
Hill and the White House.
Citizen participation in
public policy development is a hallmark of our proud democracy. But
the pro-Israel groups subvert democracy when they engage in smear campaigns
that intimidate and silence critics. America badly needs a civilized
discussion of the damaging role of Israel in U.S. policy formulation.
Paul Findley
represented Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives for 22 years.
Leave
A Comment
&
Share Your Insights
Comment
Policy
Digg
it! And spread the word!
Here is a unique chance to help this article to be read by thousands
of people more. You just Digg it, and it will appear in the home page
of Digg.com and thousands more will read it. Digg is nothing but an
vote, the article with most votes will go to the top of the page. So,
as you read just give a digg and help thousands more to read this article.