<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Liberating the American&nbsp;People]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<table border="0" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" width="100%" align="center">
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<td class="normal_text" style="padding-left:15px;" align="right">14:37 01/29/2011</td>
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<td class="caption_text" align="center">&#8216;The U.S. keeps Mubarak in power.&#8217;</td>
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<td class="normal_text" style="padding-top:10px;"><strong>By Gilad Atzmon</strong></p>
<p>In  his latest Newsweek article Stephen Kinzer wonders who America is  betting on to counter the popular rising forces in the Middle East: &#8216;The  same friends it has been betting on for decades&#8217; he answers. &#8216;Mubarak’s  pharaonic regime in Egypt, Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority,  the Saudi monarchy, and increasingly radical politicians in Israel. It  is no wonder that Iran’s power is rising as the American-imposed order  begins to crumble,&#8217; he concludes.</p>
<p>Kinzer explains America&#8217;s  stance succinctly and accurately: “The U.S. keeps Mubarak in power &#8211; it  gave his regime $1.5 billion in aid last year -mainly because he  supports America’s pro-Israel policies, especially by helping Israel  maintain its stranglehold on Gaza. It supports Abbas for the same  reason; Abbas is seen as willing to compromise with Israel and is,  therefore, a desirable negotiating partner….. American support for  Mubarak and Abbas continues, although neither man is in power with any  figment of legality; Mubarak brazenly stage-manages elections, and Abbas  has ruled by decree since his term of office expired in 2009.”</p>
<p>In  the light of Kinzer&#8217;s statement, the following questions surely need  answering &#8212; Why does America support those regimes, whose leaders&#8217;  dictates, ideologies and methods of ruling are totally and openly  incongruous with America’s alleged value system? And If America is  genuinely concerned with the so-called ‘rise of Islam’, why then, did it  eradicate Saddam Hussein’s distinctly secular regime? And if America  is, as it claims, enthusiastic about encouraging &#8216;non radicalised&#8217;  secular Arabs, why is it constantly seeking conflict with Bashir Asad,  leader of another secular stronghold? And If America does indeed  champion democracy, why does it support the Saudi regime, Mubarak and  Abbas? Why does it not seek friendship with the democratically elected  Hamas?</p>
<p>In short American policy seems to be a total mess &#8212;  unless one is willing to openly admit that there is a clear coherent  thread running through American foreign policy: it simply serves  Israel’s interests.</p>
<p>For decades American foreign policy has  been dictated by Zionist forces within their administration. For  decades, America has been exhausting its resources to chase the enemies  of the Jewish state. It even sends its young boys and girls to fight and  die in Zionist wars. The second Iraq War was obviously such a war. It  is becoming clear that America’s decision makers have sacrificed the  interests of the American people.</p>
<p>We learned yesterday that the  Jewish Lobby in America shamelessly slammed Republican Senator and Tea  Party representative Rand Paul for  suggesting that the “United States  should halt all foreign aid including its financial aid to Israel”. Even  the alleged ‘peace seeking’ J Street was quick to attack the patriotic  senator. And clearly they didn’t mince their words: “Senator Paul’s  proposal would undermine the decades-long bipartisan consensus on U.S.  support for Israel. Any erosion of support should concern Israel’s  friends on both sides of the political aisle, and we call in particular  on leaders and donors in Senator Paul’s party to repudiate his comments  and ensure that American leadership around the world is not threatened  by this irresponsible proposal,&#8221; the statement issued by J Street read.</p>
<p>National  Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) President and CEO David Harris  repeated the same line of thought saying that “Paul&#8217;s suggestion is  negligent, shortsighted, and just plain wrong….Senator Paul&#8217;s statement  is yet another illustration of how the Republican Party continues to  grow increasingly out of touch with the values of the vast majority of  the American Jewish community.&#8221;</p>
<p>But NJDC&#8217;s spokesman David  Harris must have failed to grasp that the  patriotic senator Paul is  actually concerned with the interest of America, rather than the  tribally orientated ‘values of the vast majority of the American Jews’,  because Senator Rand Paul obviously points at a clear conflict between  American interests and the foreign interests promoted by the Jewish  lobby.</p>
<p>In his Newsweek article, Kinzer astutely points out that  America needs “new approaches and new partners. Listening more closely  to Turkey, the closest U.S. ally in the Muslim Middle East, would be a  good start. A wise second step would be a reversal of policy toward  Iran, from confrontation to a genuine search for compromise.”</p>
<p>But,  it is clear beyond doubt here that America will not be able to  integrate Kinzer&#8217;s very reasonable suggestions into its foreign policy  unless it first liberates itself from the grip of the Jewish Lobby. And  it has been proven that it is not easy for our greed-driven politicians  to emancipate themselves voluntarily from the Lobby. As we read above,  the ‘liberal’ J Street group has called upon donors to cut off the very  life supply of Senator Rand Paul. And The Jewish Lobby in America would  do the same to every American politician who dared to break the links.</p>
<p>However,  in the wake of the current financial turmoil, I am convinced that more  and more Americans are beginning to identify the root cause at the  bottom of their flawed foreign policy.  By the time this happens,  America may well be liberated.</p>
<p>And here is my musical take on the subject. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEDjgdjmCfA" target="_self"><strong>Liberating the American People</strong></a> (2006)</p>
<p><em>&#8211;  Gilad Atzmon is a writer and jazz musician living in London. He is the  author of several books. His latest CD is In Loving Memory of America.  He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com. Visit: </em><a href="http://www.gilad.co.uk/"><em>www.gilad.co.uk</em></a><em>.</em></td>
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<p><a href="http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16595">Liberating the American People</a>.</p>
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