Published by Americans for The Link Middle East Understanding, Inc.

Volume 46, Issue 5 Link Archives: www.ameu.org November-December, 2013

BY PAMELA OLSON

hat can one conclude when by the Palestinian leadership but also by a “peace process” goes on the entire Arab world, namely: Israeli Wfor two decades without withdrawal from the territories occupied any resolution? since 1967 and a fair, negotiated solution to the issue of Palestinian refugees driven Perhaps the conflict is so intractable from their homes in 1947-49. that even people of good will cannot bridge the divides. Or maybe the conflict As we’llsee, though, the “peace proc- can be resolved, but the interlocutors ess” was designed from the beginning aren’tgood at diplomacy. (Israeli spokes- not to bring about this resolution but to people are fond of complaining they have prevent it. The process works to prolong “no partner for peace”on the Palestinian a status quo that favors a more powerful side.) over a weaker side, with an utterly biased referee posing as an “honest broker.” In fact, the parameters of solving the Israeli/Palestinian conflict are fairly What does such a process look like, straightforward, based on international how did it come about, and what can be law, and generous to Israelis (who would done to change current disastrous trends? receive 78% of the land under discus- sion). And they are agreed upon not only (Continued on Page 2.) The Link Page 2

AMEU Board (Continued from Page 1.) of Directors About This Jane Adas (Vice President) Issue The Sad Truth Elizabeth D. Barlow According to the Likud Party Edward Dillon After graduating in 2002 with a platform of March 1977: Rod Driver degree in physics from Stanford John Goelet University, Pamela Olson headed The right of the Jewish people David Grimland to the Middle East, eventually to the Land of Israel is eternal and indisputable and is linked Richard Hobson (Treasurer) settling down for two years in Ramallah, where she worked for with the right to security and Anne R. Joyce the Palestine Monitor and served peace. Therefore, Judea and Hon. Robert V. Keeley as foreign press coordinator for Samaria [the West Bank] will Kendall Landis Dr. Mustafa Barghouti’s 2005 not be handed over to any for- Robert L. Norberg (President) presidential campaign. (See page eign [i.e., Palestinian] admini- Hon. Edward L. Peck 13.) stration. Between the sea and the Jordan River there will be Donald L. Snook She chronicled her experiences only Israeli sovereignty. Rosmarie Sunderland in a memoir “Fast Times in Pales- James M. Wall tine,” a book Richard Falk, for- Such a platform is to be expected mer U.N. Special Rapporteur on from a right-wing Israeli party such AMEU National Human Rights in the Palestinian as the Likud. Unfortunately, illegal Council Territories, called the book he has Israeli settlements have expanded long been waiting for. Hugh D. Auchincloss, Jr. steadily in the West Bank since 1967 William R. Chandler On her return to the States, Ol- no matter which party has been in Kathleen Christison son worked at a think tank in power in Israel. And every U.S. Paul Findley Washington, D.C., and it is in the president since then— Democratic or Moorhead Kennedy light of that experience that she Republican— has aided and abetted Ann Kerr writes our feature article. that expansion, both before and dur- Nancy Lapp On page 14, we interview He- ing the “peace process,” sabotaging George E. Mendenhall lena Cobban, founder of the web any hope for a two-state solution. Mary Norton site www.justworldbooks.com, There was never an illusion Don W. Wagner as part of our series The Link’s among insiders in Israel and Wash- Miriam Ward, RSM Links. ington about a balanced approach to Our book/video selections are peace in Palestine/Israel based on Executive Director on page 15; they include Pamela international law. As Columbia Uni- John F. Mahoney Olson’sbook. versity professor Rashid Khalidi AMEU (ISSN 0024-4007) John F. Mahoney notes: “The words of Richard Nixon grants permission to speaking of the Arabs to Henry Kiss- Executive Director reproduce material from The inger in 1973 could have been spoken Link in part or in whole. by many of his successors, had they AMEU must be credited and Correction: On page 14 of our been as brutally frank as the thirty- one copy forwarded to our Sept.-Oct. 2013 issue, we mis- office at 475 Riverside Drive, seventh president of the United Room 245, New York, New identified the author of the book States: ‘You’vegot to give [the Pales- York 10115-0245. Tel. 212- we reviewed, “The General’s tinians] hope. It’sreally a— frankly, 870-2053; Fax 212-870- Son.” The author is Miko Peled, let’sface it: you’vegot to make them 2 0 5 0 ; E - m a i l : not Matti Peled. We regret the think that there’ssome motion; that [email protected]; Website: error. www.ameu.org. something is going on; that we’re The Link Page 3 really doing our best with the Israelis.’”1 U.S. government was called on to broker the eventual agreements. Two years later, President Ford sent a secret letter to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin stating: But five years came and went, and the Palestini- “Should the U.S. desire in the future to put forward ans received nothing except more settlements on their proposals of its own [for Middle East peace], it will land. Aaron David Miller, one of the chief advisors make every effort to coordinate with Israel its propos- during peace talks, later admitted, “Many American als with a view to refraining from putting forth pro- officials involved in Arab-Israeli peacemaking, myself posals that Israel would consider unsatisfactory,”ef- included, have acted as Israel’sattorney, catering and fectively giving Israel veto power over American for- coordinating with the Israelis at the expense of suc- eign policy in the Middle East.2 cessful peace negotiations.”4 President George H. W. Bush took the most con- Dennis Ross, President Clinton’sMiddle East en- frontational stance with Israel of any other president voy, was even clearer about this. He wrote in his 2004 since 1967, threatening to withdraw loan guarantees book The Missing Peace: “‘Selling’became part of our to the Israeli government at a time when a million modus operandi— beginning a pattern that would immigrants from the former Soviet Union were being characterize our approach throughout the Bush and resettled in Israel. It was a bid to pressure Israel to Clinton years. We would take Israeli ideas or ideas cease settlement construction, and it forced Israeli that the Israelis could live with and work them Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir to attend the historic over— trying to increase their attractiveness to the Madrid Peace Conference in 1991. This conference Arabs while trying to get the Arabs to scale back their was Bush’sattempt to use the political capital gained expectations. Why did this pattern emerge? The reali- after the First Gulf War to negotiate peace in the Mid- ties dictated it.”5 dle East. The “realities” were that Palestinian human But Palestinians were not allowed to participate rights, political realities, and just claims under inter- as a separate people or with delegates of their own national law were largely ignored in favor of Israel’s choosing. They were permitted only as part of a “joint ever-shifting “red lines.” Jordanian-Palestinian delegation”headed by a Jorda- Not just the content but also the form of the nego- nian. In addition, at the insistence of Shamir, any Pal- tiations worked in Israel’sfavor. By using endless in- estinian identified with the PLO or residing in Jerusa- terim agreements to delay serious negotiations about lem or the diaspora was banned from participating core issues (such as borders, Jerusalem, and refugees), completely.3 all the while allowing uninterrupted expansion of Is- raeli settlements and Israeli control and exploitation The Oslo Years of Palestinian resources, it gave Israel time to en- trench the occupation day to day until any acceptable The Madrid Conference became a moot point resolution based on international law became a fur- when Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization ther and further dream. Tensions naturally height- secretly negotiated a deal known as the Oslo Accords. ened. Shortly after Clinton came into office, he had the honor of presiding over a historic handshake on the Clinton tried one last time to square the circle of White House lawn between Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Palestinian rights and Israeli demands during frenetic Arafat in 1993. negotiations at Camp David in 1999. The Israeli nego- tiators refused to bend and the Palestinian delega- Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there. tion— who had already agreed to sign over 78% of The Accords were heavily biased in favor of Israel their historic homeland to Israel— refused to surren- and allowed for unencumbered settlement expansion der any further. The Palestinians were publicly on most of the West Bank. Palestinians were told the blamed for the impasse, adding insult to injury.6 arrangement would last for a five-year period during The final straw came in September 2000, when which final status issues would be negotiated, and the former Israeli general and alleged war criminal Ariel The Link Page 4

Sharon, a member of the right-wing Likud party, advisors, and Christian Zionist supporters made the marched on the Haram al Sharif/Temple Mount, one George W. Bush administration the most friendly of the holiest sites in Islam, with scores of armed toward Israel in U.S. history. guards. The subtext of Sharon’smarch was clear: If This “extra special” relationship was on display he became Prime Minister, he would never allow in April 2004, when Bush sent a letter to Israeli Prime East Jerusalem to become the capital of a Palestinian Minister Sharon stating that “existing major Israeli state, as international law demanded. population centers” (that is, massive illegal settle- The response was entirely predictable. Palestini- ments and the Palestinian lands around them) were ans from all walks of life engaged in massive pro- “realities”that would have to be taken into account tests. In the two weeks that followed, Israeli forces in a final settlement. It was the first official U.S. state- killed sixty-eight Palestinians, including fifteen chil- ment legitimizing these illegal colonies. It stripped dren, and injured a thousand more. Twelve Palestin- the Palestinians not only of land that belonged to ian-Israelis were also killed. One of them was a well- them, but also of one of their last remaining bargain- known 17-year-old peace activist named Aseel ing chips. Asleh, killed by a shot to the neck at point blank The Bush administration also voted yearly in the range. U.N. against the Palestinian right of return (a posi- In those same two weeks, Palestinians killed tion the U.S. government first took in 1998) and con- three Israeli soldiers and two civilians. tinued the trend of vetoing any resolution at the United Nations of which Israel did not approve. The Thus the second Intifada was born. American judge was the sole dissenting opinion in A few months after his stunt on the Temple June 2004 when the International Court of Justice Mount, amid spiraling violence, a frightened Israeli found the route of Israel’sWall in the West Bank to population elected Ariel Sharon Prime Minister of be illegal under international law. Israel.7 Another “peace process” sprang up that Bush George W. Bush dubbed the “Road Map for Peace.”But according to one Palestinian expert involved in the process, it George W. Bush entered the White House shortly took on a familiar refrain: after the second Intifada began, and on the following The “peace negotiations” were a deceptive September 11, New York and Washington were at- farce, whereby biased terms were unilaterally tacked. Israeli Prime Minister Sharon did everything imposed by Israel and systematically endorsed he could to conflate the terrorists of 9/11 with Pales- by the U.S. and EU capitals. Far from enabling tinian resistance to occupation. a negotiated fair end of the conflict, the pursuit He had a great deal of help from the neoconser- of the Oslo process has deepened Israeli segre- vative movement in the U.S., which was hawkishly gationist policies and justified the tightening of pro-Israel and had enormous influence over the Bush the security control imposed on the Palestinian administration. Bush’s base also included many population as well as its geographical fragmen- moneyed and well-connected Christian Zionists who tation. Far from preserving the land on which believe in a strange and relatively new Biblical inter- to build a State, it has tolerated the intensifica- pretation called Millennial Dispensationalism, which tion of the colonization of the Palestinian terri- among other things aims to hasten the ingathering of tory. Far from maintaining a national cohesion, Jews to Israel so the Christian Messiah will return the process I participated in, albeit briefly, and usher in the end times and Armageddon. It is an proved to be instrumental in creating and ag- essentially anti-Semitic philosophy, but it provides gravating divisions amongst Palestinians.9 useful political support for some of Israel’s most dangerous policies.8 Barack Obama

The trifecta of post-9/11 Islamophobia, neocon When Barack Obama was voted into office— a The Link Page 5 dynamic speaker with a worldly and eclectic past, a estine/Israel affairs, but that didn’tstop him from Muslim father, and an educated and seemingly lib- insinuating himself in them, all the while remaining eral outlook— the world breathed a collective sigh of in direct contact with his friends in the Israeli gov- relief. ernment. The Arab world especially welcomed a president Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and George of color who had lived in the Muslim world and Mitchell became frustrated with Ross’smeddling. He talked of transformative change based on hope and soon left the State Department only to end up on the good will. They were desperate for a change, a National Security Council as a special assistant to the sweeping away of the bizarre and brutal paternalism president and senior director for the Central Region of George W. Bush. The worldwide celebrations in (which includes the Middle East). In the summer of November 2008 lasted well into the night. In the 2009, he was called on to “quarterback” all Middle Gaza Strip, a mug was designed to commemorate East issues. the event. Ross worked consistently to undermine George Right-wing supporters of Israel were wary, Mitchell and publicly opposed Obama’srequest for though, worried that this young upstart from Chi- Israel to cease expanding settlements. His objective cago might upset their apple cart. His visit to Cairo was to get things back to the same old script, capitu- and speeches mentioning both Palestinian and Israeli lating to Israeli “red lines”while ignoring Palestinian suffering made Israel supporters bristle. It got worse rights. And he succeeded. when Obama appointed George Mitchell as his Mid- Mitchell resigned in May 2011, barely two years dle East envoy, an American of Lebanese descent after being appointed. who helped broker peace in Northern Ireland and who understood very well the realities of the re- Obama got the message of how politically costly gion— as opposed to Israel’s talking points about it would be to use America’svast leverage to pres- them. sure Israel to change policies that violate interna- When Obama called on Israel to freeze settlement tional and even American law.13 He quickly caved on construction in preparation for peace talks,10 it was a the settlement freeze and has since allowed Israel to bridge too far. The Israel lobby, led by the American do virtually whatever it has pleased. He has chosen Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), mobilized to spend his limited political capital on domestic is- pressure through the Senate, three-quarters of whom sues, such as passing health care reform, rather than sent Obama a bi-partisan cease and desist letter im- defying Israel on behalf of stateless and persecuted plicitly chastising him for his confrontational stance Palestinians. 11 toward Israel. Soon Obama’srhetoric was among the most in- It didn’thelp that Obama came into office just as flated, obsequious, and counterfactual “pro-Israel” Netanyahu and his pro-settler coalition came to oratory in U.S. history. In a speech before the U.N. power in Israel. The 2010 Republican midterm vic- General Assembly in September 2011, he stated: tory strengthened Netanyahu, as the neocons and Tea Party were ideologically aligned with him. America’scommitment to Israel’ssecurity is unshakable. Our friendship with Israel is deep He also came into office already in debt to Den- and enduring. And so we believe that any last- nis Ross, one of the most nakedly pro-Israel partici- ing peace must acknowledge the very real se- pants in the Oslo process, blamed by his colleagues curity concerns that Israel faces every single for some of its worst failures. This bias eminently day. qualified Ross to vouch for Obama’s“Israel bona fi- des”in crucial states with pivotal Jewish communi- Let us be honest with ourselves: Israel is sur- ties when he ran for president in 2008, especially in rounded by neighbors that have waged re- 12 Pennsylvania and Florida. In exchange for this ser- peated wars against it. Israel’scitizens have vice, Ross was given the Iran portfolio at the State been killed by rockets fired at their houses and Department. He had no official position vis-à-vis Pal- The Link Page 6

suicide bombs on their buses. Israel’schildren vulnerable to missile strikes, to ensuring that come of age knowing that throughout the re- Israel maintains its qualitative military edge, to gion, other children are taught to hate them. fighting back against delegitimization of Israel, Israel, a small country of less than eight million whether at the [U.N.] Human Rights Council, people, looks out at a world where leaders of or in front of the U.N. General Assembly, or much larger nations threaten to wipe it off the during the Goldstone Report, or after the flare- map. The Jewish people carry the burden of up involving the flotilla— the truth of the centuries of exile and persecution, and fresh mattter is that the relationship has functioned memories of knowing that six million people very well.15 were killed simply because of who they are. Those are the facts. They cannot be denied. The “delegitimization”that Obama is referring to includes a report by credible experts about gross Is- This image of a frightened, vulnerable Israel raeli violations of the laws of war (the Goldstone Re- bears little relation to reality. Most of its conflicts port) during Operation Cast Lead in 2008-2009 (in have been wars of aggression and opportunity. Sui- which around 1,400 Palestinians were killed, mostly cide bombings stopped long before this speech was civilians, including hundreds of children, while 13 made. Gaza’srockets kill in the single digits per year Israelis were killed, four of them by friendly fire). while Israeli violence has killed many hundreds of The Obama administration rejected the report’sfind- Palestinians since the second Intifada ended. And no ings without any serious research or fact-finding of nation has ever threatened to wipe Israel off the its own. map. (The last claim is based on a deliberate mis- translation of a speech by former Iranian president The Obama administration also withdrew sup- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.) The Israeli security estab- port for UNESCO to punish it for accepting Palestine lishment knows it has no serious military rivals. as a member, vetoed a Palestinian statehood bid in the U.N. Security Council, and supported Israel But this type of speech serves a specific purpose: when it withheld tax revenues from the Palestinian “If a country is considered to be so vulnerable as to Authority to punish them for applying for ‘non- be confronting perpetual existential danger, and as member observer state’status at the U.N. General having teetered on the brink of imminent destruction Assembly. since the moment of its creation, almost anything is permitted to it, and much can be forgiven it.”14 Is- rael’s systematic violations of Palestinian human Obama’sPeace Talks rights and international law can thus be explained away as desperate acts of self-defense. Given all this, it’s not surprising that most knowledgeable observers responded with little more And Obama’ssupport for Israel goes far beyond than a tired shrug when Obama, at the start of his rhetoric. Military aid has gone from $2.55 billion in second term, appointed John Kerry Middle East En- 2009 to over $3.1 billion in 2013, plus $100 million in voy and announced renewed peace talks. the American defense budget for development of an Israeli missile shield. According to Obama: The Palestinian leadership insisted they would not engage in talks while settlement expansion was I think the prime minister— and certainly the ongoing— they didn’twant to fall for that same old defense minister— would acknowledge that trick again. But as usual, their objections were ig- we’ve never had closer military and intelli- nored, and talks went ahead with no preconditions gence cooperation. When you look at what I’ve for Israelis. done with respect to security for Israel, from joint training and joint exercises that outstrip Preconditions were imposed on the Palestinians, anything that’sbeen done in the past, to help- however. From his position of powerlessness, Pales- ing finance and construct the Iron Dome pro- tinian president Mahmoud Abbas made a humiliat- gram to make sure that Israeli families are less ing promise not to lodge any complaints against Is- rael with international legal bodies, such as the Inter- The Link Page 7 national Criminal Court or the International Court of well as its security. According to the 9/11 Commission Justice, for the duration of the negotiations. This op- Report, Israeli oppression of Palestinians was one of tion was virtually the only tangible benefit of apply- the chief grievances of the 9/11 attackers, and the ing for ‘non-member observer’status at the U.N., conflict serves as a radicalizing element and recruit- and Abbas was forced to give it up before negotia- ment tool for groups that target the U.S. and its al- tions even began. lies. “This is more than a mistake, it’sa catastrophe,” said Shawan Jabarain, head of the Ramallah-based Other than George W. Bush, every U.S. president human rights group Al Haq. “It’slike when one is since Carter has come into office attempting to being beaten and you take away from him the ability breathe at least some degree of fresh air into the to go to court and the police.”16 moribund and deteriorating Israeli-Palestinian real- ity. But virtually every effort to go against the wishes If one is inclined to search for a silver lining, the of Israeli governments has been frustrated. Why? good news is that at least the hypocrisy is becoming more clear, open, and exposed. During a recent press conference with State Department spokeswoman Jen The Lobby Psaki, for example, several journalists cornered her into admitting that there would be severe conse- The Israel lobby, dominated by AIPAC, is consis- quences for Palestinians when they did something tently ranked as one of the most powerful and effec- deemed “unhelpful” to the peace process, yet no tive lobbies in Washington. How powerful? consequences whatsoever when Israel did things that AIPAC’s former second-in-command, Steve were far more harmful, such as expanding settle- Rosen (later indicted under the Espionage Act), was ments.17 The bias could not have been clearer. asked this question by Jeffrey Goldberg, a journalist When this last-ditch effort fails, perhaps finally known for his sympathy toward Israel. He described the blame will fall where it belongs, the fig leaf will Rosen’sresponse: disintegrate for good, this rigged framework will be A half smile appeared on his face, and he abandoned, and the stage will be set for more fruitful pushed a napkin across the table. “You see this strategies to end the occupation. napkin?” he said. “In twenty-four hours, we Reasons for the Bias could have the signatures of seventy senators on this napkin.”19 Why does the U.S. government have such a pas- It’snot much of an exaggeration. Recall the 76 sionate attachment to the dictates of successive Is- Senators who signed AIPAC’s“cease and desist”let- raeli governments? ter in 2010.20 When Netanyahu spoke before a joint It started with President Harry Truman, who session of Congress in May 2011, he received 29 bi- spoke of powerful, organized domestic political partisan standing ovations at a time when his rela- forces that were “anxious for the success of Zion- tions with Obama were tense. ism.”18 There was no similarly powerful or organized Chuck Hagel, when he was nominated to be Sec- force arguing against it. It was politically safer to rec- retary of Defense, was grilled relentlessly by Con- ognize the new Israeli state, and he did so despite gress mostly about whether and to what extent he warnings from his advisors that it would result in would pay obeisance to Israel. The spectacle decades of violence and instability in the region. prompted the writers of Saturday Night Live to cre- Their warnings, of course, were all too prophetic. ate a sketch in which John McCain interrogated Israel has also been caught stealing U.S. technol- Hagel about whether or not he would fellate a don- ogy and selling it to rivals, and AIPAC agents have key if Israel required it. been found spying on the U.S. government. Israel’s Newt Gingrich, a Republican candidate for presi- violations of international law using U.S. weapons dent in 2012, was literally bought and paid for to the and support harm America’simage in the world as tune of over $10 million by Sheldon Adelson, a The Link Page 8 wealthy casino mogul whose main political concern The Arab world, which does possess vast wealth, is blocking any possibility of a Palestinian state, has been of little help. The Arab Peace Initiative of which he sees as “asteppingstone for the destruction 2002 was never backed by any serious pressure on of Israel and the Jewish people.”21 Israel to come to the table. Saudi Arabia has been an important strategic partner of the U.S. since at least The nation watched in bemusement as Gingrich 1945 (with the 1973 oil embargo being the sole excep- began parrotting Adelson’stalking points, including tion). So have the various other Gulf states, the mon- that there is no such thing as a Palestinian people. archies in Morocco and Jordan, and the military rul- After Gingrich flamed out, Adelson was the largest ers of Egypt. Countries that have defied the U.S., single funder of the eventual Republican nominee, such as Iraq and Iran, have faced dire consequences. Mitt Romney— who also trashed the idea of a two- The undemocratic rulers in the region fear the eco- state solution. nomic and military might of the U.S. more than they Another source of lobby power comes from vari- fear the wrath of their own populations (the vast ma- ous think tanks, such as the Saban Center for Middle jority of whom support Palestinian rights). East Policy at the venerable Brookings Institution, Turkey, a democratic state, has made symbolic funded by Israeli-American billioniare entertainment gestures and statements supporting Palestinian mogul Haim Saban. Saban operates within the De- rights, but their close military and political collabora- mocratic Party as an advocate for Israel, and he even tion with Israel has never been in serious jeopardy. tried to buy the LA Times in order to influence its Is- rael coverage.22 The Washington Institute for Near The European Union is well aware of the situa- East Policy was established by AIPAC leaders to give tion, but due to understandable guilt over the Holo- academic credit to their lobbying efforts. caust, business and military ties, and domestic lobby pressures, they have been rather lukewarm in their Despite the fact that these are partisan organiza- actions against Israeli occupation, aside from send- tions that frequently turn out reports and policy rec- ing funding to the U.N. and various NGOs that make ommendation that either ignore or downplay Israeli the occupation slightly less miserable for Palestinians intransigence and Palestinian just rights and claims, (and easier for the Israeli government). Recently that they are treated in Washington as if they are disinter- has begun to change slightly, and I hope the trend ested research institutes. It lends a vital air of legiti- will continue. macy to clearly biased policies. The Narrative No Push-back The lobby also operates with an American public As influential as the lobby is, its greatest power almost completely in the dark about the realities of comes from the fact that it operates virtually unop- the region. Israeli talking points are easily able to fill posed. The odds are stacked against Palestinians: the vacuum. They have no military, no nuclear weapons, little wealth, few resources, and precious few bargaining This is in part because of the simple fact that vir- chips. In the face of the Israel lobby, they possess no tually all Americans have read the Old Testament or comparable organization or group of organizations at least watched The Ten Commandments starring with such single-minded focus, vast reserves of Charlton Heston. Our movies, art, and literature are wealth, or connection within American culture or the steeped in Biblical allusions. We grow up with a halls of power. compelling and romantic narrative of Jewish people “returning” to the Holy Land, and their heroic When a letter is placed in front of a Congress- deeds, foibles, and dreams beautifully humanized by man, and he knows he may pay a political price for literature and poetry. Nearly every American school not signing, while signing will cost him only the five child also learns about the Holocaust and reads The seconds it will take to scribble his or her signature— Diary of Anne Frank, giving us a deeply personal and in Washington, that kind of decision is sadly easy. sobering look at the unthinkable modern tragedy of The Link Page 9 the Jewish people. Wall, and Bethlehem being turned into an open air prison by Israel’spolicies. The segment also publi- By contrast, most Americans know virtually cized the Kairos Document, a Palestinian Christian nothing about the Arab or Muslim worlds, much less appeal to the world’sconscience to help end Israeli the heroic, tragic, and beautiful stories of the Pales- oppression. tinian experience. By the time I finished university, the only images in my mind of Palestinians were of Israel’stalking points were, for once, utterly de- fanatical terrorists and pathetic victims. They’re vir- molished. It’ssafe to say the Israel lobby had a con- tually never presented in our culture or media as niption fit. simply human beings, and their popular image tends Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren phoned Jeff to be intimidating, sinister, and unrelatable. When Fager, the head of CBS News and executive producer Palestinians try to tell their own story, most Ameri- of 60 Minutes, and tried to have the segment axed cans don’tknow where to begin to grasp what they before it was even aired. When Fager stood by the are talking about. piece, Oren demanded air time for a rebuttal. He got American news organizations contribute to this it, but he made a complete fool of himself, so it was a bias. Some, like Fox News, the New York Post, and the rather Pyrrhic victory.23 Wall Street Journal, owned by hawkish Israel sup- After the program aired, Bob Simon was excori- porter Rupert Murdoch, make little pretense of bal- ated in a full-page advertisement in the Wall Street ance. Journal that showed his photograph along with accu- Others, like the New York Times and CNN, seem sations that he had deliberately defamed Israel— more nuanced, but if you look closer, you see the which could have been interpreted as a threat to his patterns. Jerusalem bureau chiefs are almost always safety. CBS received 32,000 angry emails, and the Jewish with some knowledge of Hebrew, and virtu- station was hounded for over a year by the Orwel- ally never Palestinian or with any knowledge of Ara- lianly-named “Committee for Accuracy in Middle bic. Their narratives tend to treat Palestinian state- East Reporting in America” (CAMERA), which de- ments as “claims”and Israeli statements as facts. Is- manded multiple retractions. The following year’s raeli deaths are treated as major news stories corporate shareholder meeting’s Q&A was domi- whereas Palestinian deaths (not to mention oppres- nated by CAMERA activists demanding satisfaction. sion, ethnic cleansing, home demolitions, non-violent They haven’tgotten it yet. But it goes to show the resistance, and so on) are largely ignored. level of organized and relentless pressure a news or- When Palestinian narratives do manage to get ganization can expect if it goes too far outside the too close to the mainstream, there is a price to pay. lines of discourse acceptable to Israel. And most Last year, Bob Simon of CBS’flagship news program busy editors and executives don’twant to deal with 60 Minutes had the audacity to travel to Bethlehem this kind of hassle. and interview Palestinian Christians about their lives During the Civil Rights era, southern Senators under occupation. and skittish advertisers similarly tried to quash cov- The official Israeli narrative of Palestinian Chris- erage of sit-ins, freedom rides, and horrible repres- tians is that, yes, life is difficult for them, but it’sbe- sion of non-violent demonstrations. cause of Islamic extremists, not the Israeli occupa- Imagine how the world might be different if they tion. This is pure nonsense, as anyone knows who had succeeded. actually bothers to ask Palestinian Christians about their own situation. And that is precisely what Bob Simon did. Reasons for Hope

There it was on primetime American TV: Chris- But there is a great deal of hope in several recent tians in Jesus’birthplace complaining about Israeli trends. occupation, talking about the West Bank being turned into Swiss cheese by settlements and the Some Israelis and Israel supporters are beginning The Link Page 10 to realize that the status quo— and where it is lead- world to impose broad boycotts and imple- ing, i.e., toward further entrenched apartheid and ment divestment initiatives against Israel simi- possible bloody conflict— is not in the real interest of lar to those applied to South Africa in the Israelis. Two former Israeli prime ministers, Ehud apartheid era. We appeal to you to pressure Barak and Ehud Olmert— once they were safely out your respective states to impose embargoes of office— warned of an anti-apartheid struggle and and sanctions against Israel. We also invite eventual one-state solution if major changes aren’t conscientious Israelis to support this Call, for made. the sake of justice and genuine peace. So far this has fallen on mostly deaf ears within The movement is growing quickly all around the both Israel and the American Jewish establishment, world, with new victories reported weekly. Artists, both of which have taken alarmingly rightward tacks scientists, and authors have refused to appear in Is- in recent years. rael or canceled scheduled appearances following But two pillars of the occupation are vulnerable. appeals from BDS activists. The Norwegian govern- The first is the fact that Israel pays virtually no price ment has divested from companies that profit from for exploiting Palestinian labor and resources while the occupation, and a massive corporation called Ve- reaping many economic benefits. The second is U.S. olia, which until recently operated bus lines for set- public opinion about the legitimacy of Israel’spoli- tlers on segregated roads, recently sold off all its bus cies. And they go hand in hand. lines in Palestine/Israel after a massive worldwide campaign. BDS In one of the biggest victories to date, the Euro- pean Union published new guidelines that effec- The movement to Boycott, Divest from, and tively sanction any Israeli entity with ties to illegal Sanction Israel (BDS) until it ends the occupation and settlements. And virtually all of Israel is tied to the complies with international law got its start in 2005. settlements one way or another. Europeans are huge Palestinian civil society, represented by more than trading, travel, sporting, and cultural partners with 170 political parties, NGOs, civil rights groups, and Israel, and their “charitable” funding underwrites unions of Palestinian women, farmers, teachers, law- the occupation and makes it cheaper and easier for yers, doctors, dentists, and professors, made a his- Israel. If these guidelines are maintained and ex- toric call: panded, it could have a devastating impact. In light of Israel’spersistent violations of inter- national law, and… given that all forms of in- Public Opinion ternational intervention and peace-making have until now failed to convince or force Is- The Israeli government’sjustifications for their rael to comply with humanitarian law, to re- actions have always been on the thin side, dependent spect fundamental human rights and to end its on propaganda with little basis in reality, and occupation and oppression of the people of Islamophobic trends in the West have played into Palestine, and in view of the fact that people of their hands. But it’sdifficult to blame illegal Israeli conscience in the international community settlement expansion on Islamic radicals, and Israeli have historically shouldered the moral respon- extremism— from settler “price tag” attacks to a sibility to fight injustice, as exemplified in the rabbi funded by the Israeli government (Yitzhak struggle to abolish apartheid in South Africa Shapiro) who authorizes the killing of non-Jewish through diverse forms of boycott, divestment children under very dubious circumstances— is be- and sanctions… coming more pronounced and visible by the day. Most people are fundamentally fair and decent, We, representatives of Palestinian civil society, and what’sbeing done to the Palestinians is funda- call upon international civil society organiza- mentally unfair and indecent. The more people tions and people of conscience all over the know about it, the more likely they are to become The Link Page 11 active in principled, non-violent corrective strategies less able to be manipulated by fear. And their gener- like BDS. BDS campaigns, in turn, foster public de- ally liberal values are coming into conflict with the bate and education in every community where they essentially tribalist values of the American and Is- take place, leading to a virtuous cycle of awareness raeli Jewish right-wing. and activism. A turning point in larger U.S. public opinion Shifting public opinion can also have a real po- came in 2006 with the publication of Jimmy Carter’s litical impact. Congress has so far been unwilling to book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid and in 2007 with authorize a strike on Syria despite the Israel lobby’s Walt and Mearsheimer’s The Israel Lobby and US For- support for such a strike. The lobby’sefforts to fo- eign Policy. Activists and academics had been making ment a war with Iran have also largely fallen on deaf similar points for decades, but it was received differ- ears. When American public opinion becomes as ently coming from a respected former president and hostile to unconditional support for Israel as it is to two eminent Ivy League professors. The usual smear strikes on Syria and war with Iran, the lobby will tactics were used against them, including accusing lose a great deal of its power. them of anti-Semitism. But they were willing and able to withstand the attacks and stand by their the- The strategic liability of our support for Israel is ses. Precious space was opened up in which it be- also becoming clearer. Many in the State and Defense came politically and socially safer to make similar Departments understand this very well but rarely arguments. The Israel lobby and the word say so until they are retired or out of office. Retired “Apartheid” relating to Israel, previously unmen- U.S. general James Mattis recently admitted at the tionable in polite society, became legitimate topics of Aspen Institute Security Forum: mainstream discourse.

I paid a military security price every day as a Thomas Friedman, a long-time friend of Israel, commander of CENTCOM because the Ameri- made a bold statement after Netanyahu’sfamous 29 cans were seen as biased in support of Israel standing ovations: “I sure hope that Israel’sprime and that [discouraged] all the moderate Arabs minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, understands that the who want to be [allied] with us because they standing ovation he got in Congress this year was can’tcome out publicly in support of people not for his politics. That ovation was bought and who don’twant to show respect for the Arab paid for by the Israel lobby.”25 Such a declaration in Palestinians. the pages of the New York Times would have been unthinkable even a few years earlier. He warned that if the peace process failed, a kind of apartheid was around the corner, and “That didn’t And nowadays, when one reads articles such as work too well the last time I saw that practiced in a this one by Friedman, the top ten or so reader- 24 country.” recommended comments tend to display a knowl- edge of the region more sophisticated than that of Peter Beinart argues in his book The Crisis of Zion- the pundits and journalists themselves. In other ism that there has been a rightward shift in the aging words, when it comes to this topic, New York Times leadership of the institutions of the American Jewish readers are out in front of the writers. community that are most supportive of a hard line on Israel, such as the Conference of Presidents of The most astonishing story to come out of The Major American Jewish Organizations, AIPAC, the New York Times in recent years was a piece by Ben American Jewish Congress, the Anti-Defamation Ehrenreich about non-violent Palestinian resistance League, and so on. in Nabi Saleh.26 While most articles about Palestine/ Israel equivocate and pull punches to soften the full At the same time, younger Jews are becoming force of reality, this article offered an unfiltered, hon- estranged from Israel because they are aware of their est, and terrifying glimpse of life under occupation. privilege, more distanced from the Holocaust, and The phenomenal film Five Broken Cameras pro- The Link Page 12 vides another heart-wrenchingly honest portrayal, most of that support is weak and can be swayed if and it was deservedly nominated for an Oscar— people are given the right information in a format perhaps the most mainstream accolade any Palestin- they can understand and assimilate into their view of ian narrative has ever received. the world. Anthony Bourdain, famous food and travel TV It feels sometimes like the occupation will never personality, recently ventured into the West Bank end, like the American public will never wake up, and Gaza— something virtually unprecedented on like the Israeli government, army, and lobby are all- popular American TV— and found delicious food, powerful. This feeling is especially oppressive in the warm hospitality, and adorable children— in short, West Bank and Gaza, in the shadows of massive human beings. It was unbelievably refreshing to see walls, mammoth settlements, and all-seeing drones Palestinians portrayed as such. and sniper towers. And in Washington, where defy- ing the Israel lobby can still cost you a promotion or As for Bob Simon and his ground-breaking re- even your job. port on Palestinian Christians, it’strue that CBS re- ceived 32,000 angry emails. But it also received But five years before Apartheid fell, if someone 35,000 supportive emails. And as American Chris- had suggested the regime would be gone in five tians learn more about the reality in the Holy Land, years, he or she would have been advised to sober mainline churches have begun to discuss, endorse, up. Two years before the Berlin Wall came down, it and participate in the BDS movement to varying de- felt like a permanent fact of life. A year before the grees, and the trend is growing. Soviet Union dissolved, it was a global superpower. Books, films, and plays are also being written to Situations that are fundamentally unjust and un- popularize the Palestinian narrative and expose Is- sustainable have a way of collapsing unexpectedly. rael’s actions, such as Mornings in Jenin by Susan In the meantime, we have work to do. ■ Abulhawa, Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel by Max Blumenthal, and my own contribution, Fast Times in Palestine, a personal account of living under Israeli occupation for two years during and after the second Intifada. Such chronicles are crucial, because human minds are wired to respond more strongly to narra- Pamela Olson, tives than to facts. We shouldn’texploit this, but we author of Fast Times in Palestine, should use narrative effectively as a vital supplement is currently work- to the facts. ing on a second As more people become educated, more space book, Palestine, opens up to speak publicly about these issues, and so DC. on, in a virtuous spiral that moves inexorably toward the truth.

In Conclusion

The lobby is still very powerful, but it is weaken- ENDNOTES ing. Truth is a one-way valve; thousands of people at any given moment are learning about Palestine while 1 Rashid Khalidi, Brokers of Deceit, Beacon Press (2013), p. 65 very few are un-learning. Activists who campaigned 2 Khalidi, Brokers, p 8. for decades against Apartheid in South Africa are 3 Khalidi, Brokers, p. 33. astonished at how quickly the BDS movement is 4 Aaron David Miller, “Israel’sLawyer,”Washington Post, May growing. U.S. public opinion still favors Israel, but 23, 2005. The Link Page 13

5 Josh Ruebner, “Good riddance, ‘peace process,’”LA Times, the United States, I don’tbluff,’”Atlantic, March 2, 2012. January 28, 2011. 16 Ben Lynfield, “Israel increases rate of home demolitions as 6 Hussein Agha and Robert Malley, “Camp David: The Tragedy peace talks chug along,”Christian Science Monitor, September of Errors,”New York Review of Books, August 9, 2001. 29, 2013. 7 The first suicide bombing of the second Intifada took place on 17 Philip Weiss, “No consequences… ad finitum’— Reporters March 4, 2001. By that time more than 300 Palestinians had reject State Dept. explanation of U.S. policy on settlements,” been killed, including 91 children (half of whom were killed by Mondoweiss, December 8, 2011. gunfire to the head). In the same period, 14 Israelis were killed 18 Khalidi, Brokers, p. 103. in Israel and 49 were killed in the West Bank and Gaza, one a 19 child. See http://www.btselem.org/statistics; cited in Pamela Jeffrey Goldberg, “Real Insiders,”The New Yorker, July 4, Olson, Fast Times in Palestine, Seal Press (2013), p. 178. 2005. 20 8 Jane Lampman, “Mixing Prophecy and Politics,” Christian In fact, when I was researching this article I had to sift Science Monitor, July 7, 2004. through several AIPAC-sponsored initiatives with 70+ Senato- 9 rial signatures to find the one I wanted. I even found an AIPAC- Ali Abunimah, “Palestine Papers whistleblower revealed and sponsored bill that every single Senator voted for despite Saeb Erekat responds,”Electronic Intifada, May 14, 2011. Obama’s objections. See: Philip Weiss, “AIPAC posterizes 10 Chris McGreal, “Obama administration officials in Israel to Obama in Senate, 100-0,”Mondoweiss, December 8, 2011. demand end to settlement building,” The Guardian, July 27, 21 “What Sheldon Adelson Wants,”New York Times, June 23, 2009. 2012. 11 “76 Senators sign on to Israel letter,”Politico, April 13, 2010. 22 Connie Bruck, “The Influencer,”New Yorker, May 10, 2010. 12 Khalidi, Brokers, p. 100. 23 This relatively short CBS segment entitled “Christians in the 13 The Arms Export Control Act stipulates that weapons re- Holy Land”— and Michael Oren’s priceless rebuttal— is well ceived from the U.S. by foreign countries should be used only worth watching. for legitimate self-defense. When the President is aware of the 24 Max Blumenthal, “If Kerry fails, Israel will be an apartheid possibility of violations of the AECA, the law requires a report state ‘and that didn’twork too well last time,’CENTCOM gen- to Congress on the potential violations. The Israeli government eral warns,”Mondoweiss, July 21, 2013. is in violation of this law in many cases where it uses American 25 weapons, yet no reports or complaints have been filed, and the Thomas Friedman, “Newt, Mitt, Bibi and Vladimir,” New shipments continue, in violation of U.S. law. York Times, December 13, 2011. 26 14 Khalidi, Brokers, p. 78. Ben Ehrenreich, “Is This Where the Third Intifada Will Start?”New York Times, March 15, 2013. 15 Jeffrey Goldberg, “Obama to Iran and Israel: ‘As President of

Dr. Mustafa Barghouti was among the candi- dates who cam- paigned to succeed the recently deceased Yasser Arafat as President of the Pales- tinian Authority in 2005, an election sub- sequently won by Mahmoud Abbas. Pamela Olson, who served as Dr. Barghouti’sforeign press coordinator, took this photograph as Israeli soldiers denied his attempt to carry the campaign into Hebron. The Link Page 14

on manuscripts in the traditional book-publishing From The Link’s Links model— usually considerably more than a year. And when you’re writing about rapidly evolving current www.justworldbooks.com events, that can be very hard. So when I founded Just World Books I gave the company the tagline “Timely Books for Changing Times,”and promised authors a Helena Cobban is the much speedier turnaround time. Right now (mid- founder of Just World October) we’re working with Gareth Porter on his Books. This interview important book “Manufactured Crisis: The Untold was conducted by Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare.”We need to get this AMEU’s Executive book out fast because it pulls together for the first Director John Mahoney. time the story of how U.S. and Israeli officials, work- ing together over the course of some decades, essen- tially fabricated and then broadly publicized this whole story about Iran having a covertly military nuclear program. We’re planning to have early PDFs You first appeared in the pages of The Link in 1985 of the book available well before Christmas and re- when we carried your book on the Palestine Libera- view-only print copies available shortly thereafter. tion Organization. In 2010 you founded Just World That way, the book can help to inform publics Books, a publishing firm with a strong focus on the worldwide (but especially here in the U.S.) about the Palestinians. What has sustained your interest over background to what’shappening in the talks in Ge- the years in that part of the world? I’vebeen in- neva. volved with the Palestine Question since 1970, the year I first traveled to Lebanon and saw some of the Laila El-Haddad, the author of two of your books, conditions of Palestinian refugees there firsthand. “Gaza Mom” and “The Gaza Kitchen”, was re- My book on the P.L.O., which was published in 1984, cently featured on the season’spremier of CNN’s drew together materials I had amassed during my “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.” That had to make you feel good. seven years of work in Beirut, 1974-81, as a foreign It was exciting for all of us (and for Palestine’sfriends everywhere) that Laila correspondent for the London Sunday Times, the was able to do that with Bourdain. He was coura- Christian Science Monitor, etc. Over the following geous to devote so much of that show to his visit years I authored three more books on the Middle with Laila to various places inside Gaza. It was also a East. I had grown up in England, and after I left testament to Laila’samazing communication skills Lebanon I came to the United States. I was severely and her passion for describing the situation of Gaza’s taken aback to discover the degree to which unthink- 1.6 million people to people in the west who may not ing support for Israel permeated all aspects of the want to hear what she has to say. I am proud to be popular culture here. In 1982, when the I.D.F. was her publisher. besieging West Beirut, no less a figure than the anti- war icon (in the U.S. context) Jane Fonda was proud As you noted, we’re in mid-October, at the start of to be photographed disporting herself on an Israeli the gift-giving season. Could you list other books tank as it shelled West Beirut. I am happy that atti- on your web site that we haven’t mentioned that tudes have been changing rapidly in the U.S. in re- would make good gifts? Three recommendations: cent years, especially among the young people. Miko Peled’s “The General’s Son,” Rabbi Brant Rosen’s“Wrestling in the Daylight,”and Amb. Chas You’ve said that your experience as a journalist has Freeman’s“America’sMisadventures in the Middle given you a newshound’s addiction to a speedy East.”Three terrific books by three terrific authors! turnaround. How have you applied that addiction to book publishing? My previous experience as an Have a joyous Christmas— and a busy New Year. author had shown me how frustrating it can be to Thanks. deal with the very long turnaround times imposed The Link Page 15 AMEU’sBook &Video Selections

All AMEU Prices Include Postage & Handling

Olson, P. Fast Times in Palestine, paper, 2013, 320 pp., AMEU: $15.00

5 Broken Cameras. Oscar-nominated documentary, 2008, 90-minute DVD, AMEU: $25.00.

Occupation 101. History of the colonization of Palestine, 90-minute DVD, AMEU: $15.00.

Baltzer, A., Life in Occupied Palestine, 2006, DVD, 61 minutes, AMEU: $20.00.

Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land, the media & Palestine, 146-minute DVD, AMEU: $25.00.

The Colonization of Palestine, List of 452 towns & villages destroyed in 1948, 56 pp, 2007, AMEU: $7.00.

Lest We Forget, Times when Israel acted contrary to US interests, 2011, 24 pp., AMEU: $5.00

Children of the Nakba, Mennonite production, 2005, 26-minute documentary, AMEU: $15.00.

Wagner, D., Dying in the Land of Promise, paper, 2001, 300 pp., AMEU: $17.95.

Fischbach, M., Records of Dispossession, cloth, 332 pp., 2003, the “land swap”of 1947-48, AMEU: $28.50.

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