The Israel lobby myth revived again
February 18, 2010
In a post last week, Professor Stephen Walt, co-author of The
Here’s why: ''I hope readers will forgive me if I indulge today in a bit of self-promotion, or more precisely, self-defence. This week, yet another piece of evidence surfaced that suggests we were right all along … In his testimony to the Iraq war commission in the UK, former prime minister Tony Blair offered the following account of his discussions with Bush in Crawford, Texas, in April 2002. Blair reveals that concerns about
Yet, a close reading of what Blair actually said (''the Israel issue was a big, big issue at the time'') reveals that he was referring to Israel’s actions in the West Bank during Operation Defensive Shield, not to the decision to invade Iraq.
Two weeks ago, Walt argued that if the US attacks Iran it will not be doing so independently - it would be because of the Israel lobby and its backers, including neoconservative newspaper columnists: ''If the United States does launch an attack, it will be doing so in part on Israel’s behalf, and the lobby would bear significant responsibility for having pushed this dangerous policy.''
In The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy, Walt and his co-author John Mearsheimer, wrote that American politicians are so fearful of ''The Lobby'' that they cannot vote according to their conscience. Other assertions are that the
The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy has been labelled the modern Protocols of the Elders of Zion and The International Jew. White supremacist David Duke has applauded it; The Holocaust denying Institute for Historical Review has published it on its site; Hamas, the PLO,
The book argues that
According to the authors, ''The Lobby'' is everywhere, controlling the media and academic publications and silencing debate on
The allegations that American Jews, and by extensions other Diaspora Jews, have a double loyalty, are subversive, even treasonous, and are working harmfully for another country is an alarming imputation to make. To question the loyalty of Jews who are devoted to
The book is overflowing with factual errors that even Noam Chomsky, no supporter of
The book’s core formulation - powerful Jews behind the scenes - is the staple of the radical fringe. But to have such charges aired with a tag of academic respectability in a style affiliated with serious, objective scholarship and to have them enter mainstream discourse is alarming. If Chicago and Harvard intellectuals accept these absurd convictions and beliefs, anyone may.
Mearsheimer opposed the Iraq War, believing it would provide
As Senator Moynihan once said, ''You have right to your own opinions, but not to your own facts.''
Dvir Abramovich is the Jan Randa Senior Lecturer in Jewish Studies and director of the Centre for Jewish History and Culture at The
Comments
44 comments so far
I think you'll find if you look hard enough that Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz were in fact front and centre at the Pentagon when the decision to invent the excuse of WMD's and link Saddam Hussein's Iraq with Al Quaeda and pin blame for the 9/11 attacks on Washington and New York on him, thereby giving a perfect excuse for war and as it was termed at the time, regime change. Regime change was at the time
Moradchai Vanunu | GC - February 18, 2010, 9:32AM
OK we get it - only Jews may acknowledge the existence of the Israel Lobby. Apologies for contemplating the issue.
USS Liberty - February 18, 2010, 10:51AM
Take a step back and see the wood for the trees, You Dvir, ARE the Israel Lobby. You ARE a part of this lobby that you deny is everywhere. The whole point of this blog is to play the victim thereby justifying the increasingly brutal, illegal, occupation and usurpation of
Rhett Orric | GC - February 18, 2010, 11:00AM
Well, of course there is an Israel Lobby, just as there are lobbies for everything from the environment to gay rights to underwater basket weaving. However, Dvir is correct to point out that allegations of a disproportionate amount of "influence" by the Israel Lobby is laughable - and that it is an anti-Israeli bias to think otherwise.
Where he is wrong is to link an anti-Israeli bias to an anti-Semitic bias. Although I deplore the way many posters here at the Age link the two, they are not the same. Not everything Jewish is a cause to attack
Sisu - February 18, 2010, 11:10AM
Oh dear, you need to read Bob Drogon's "Curveball", senate reports and anything other than the excrable Abe Foxman and you will note that all the phoney evidence about WMD was supplied directly by Israel and the lobby in the US.
Marilyn - February 18, 2010, 11:58AM
Dvir, of course there is a
Dave - February 18, 2010, 11:58AM
Dvir, other commentators here to your article correctly point out that one should not confuse anti-Israeli sentiment with anti-semetic sentiment. To do so prevents a rational discussion about the role of
The difference between the work of Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer and your artciles on this web site is that they are credible academics, and you are not.
Arkady Rabinowitz |
Of course there is a Jewish Lobby.. anyone else notice the influx of holocaust films that hit the screens around the same time
Asa | Bondi - February 18, 2010, 2:36PM
That's right, Dvir, there's no Israeli Lobby, just like there's no Mossad and no Israeli nuclear weapons of mass destruction, right?
Max Gross | Yarra Ranges - February 18, 2010, 2:38PM
Dvir, you are beginning to discuss some worthwhile topics instead of just whinging! Of course there is an
vanessa - February 18, 2010, 2:40PM
It should not come as a surprise that Jews' ears prick up if they think they can hear these old tunes hammered out once more. Our own virulently anti-Semitic blog poster Marilyn ... and fellow bigots such as "Arkady" and "Max" help perpetuate this toxic myth.
The naive assumption at work here is that the American dog has no interests of its own, leaving it free to be wagged by the pro-Israel tail. It's a convenient view, casting the great superpower as a hapless, and essentially innocent, victim. But guess what: the
Perhaps the most powerful example - if only because so many believe the reverse to be true - is the
Josh |
I reckon Sisu has pretty well nailed it.
However, an effective lobby is not some well-financed, shadowy pressure group, it's the right person in the right place at the right time. If the current Middle East situation is anything to go by, any lobby that engineered it really needs to get its act together- because this is just one dirty great mess and likely to get dirtier and messier
David | Leongatha - February 19, 2010, 8:01AM
Bonita | Rowston, - February 18, 2010, 11:54PM
What a slam dunk! Your logic and solid argument tear the professor's arguments to shred. What do the Jews and Israelis have to do for the world and Christian folks like myself to like them?
Jamie |
I have no doubt that the Israeli lobby had a hand in pushing the American administration to attack
Sam | Hurtsville, NSW - February 18, 2010, 11:42PM
I find it hysterical that eminent scholars would buy into hackneyed conspiracy theories that have been so discredited they are not even funny. This blog is becoming a must read for me, so keep churning them my good Dr.
Hayden | WA - February 18, 2010, 11:38PM
That this kind of rubbish was published in the London Review of Books says plenty about the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish feeling that dominates the intellectual atmosphere in
Jaxon |
Actually, i could believe that if you have a powerful team of influential policy makers and political operatives, you could convince an administration already leaning for an invasion to go the extra step. But that's where it stops.All the other claims the professors make don't sound true, and come across as just unbelievable.
Carmen | NSW - February 18, 2010, 9:24PM
I can't believe anyone would buy the garbage that one group of people, and I don't care if it's the pro-lifers or the gun lovers, can make any government invade another country. I mean, I've heard a lot of things, but this one takes the cake.
EddieK |
Hey guys if we try hard enough we can pin the JFK assassination on the Israeli lobby.
Natalie |
Bonita, going to war against
Good blog. Two comments; One, every group lobbies. It's just the way it is.
Two, quoting the morally and intellectually bankrupt Christopher Hitchens is IMO not such a great move. Other than that, good blog.
Dan - February 19, 2010, 9:35AM
As a university student i studied the protocols of the elders of
Daniella - February 19, 2010, 9:59AM
The invasion of
Leroy |
I hate to say it, but on this one you're totally right mate. I don't buy any theory that looks for what I call the lone gun theory. What I mean is that the Israeli lobby theory looks to paint the lobby as so powerful so as to push a sovreign nation like
Benny | QLD - February 19, 2010, 10:10AM
I had never heard of the two gentleman you refer to Dr Abramovich, but I'm grateful for bringing them to my attention. I am truly appaled by this report, and the damage it seeks to inflict on the Jewish people. My grandfather was Jewish, and he would often recount the antisemitism he encountered first hand as a boy. All good people, he said, must be judged by how they treat those who are different and are in the minority. We should all fight with all our might and soul against incitment directed at the Jews.
Freya - February 19, 2010, 10:44AM
The Israelis have been stirring the entire world to attack
Sonny |
Max: you refer to
Jurgen | WA - February 19, 2010, 10:27AM
Maybe you folks down under don't have time to read 15000 word books but I did and let me tell ya, the professors have a point. AIPAC, or the lobby, have a lot of juice and connections. they know exactly what buttons to push. That's why the Israelis don't like Obama, coz the man says it like it is and takes orders from no one.
Sure the lobby exists, just watch what happens the moment you try and criticize
Seth |
Asa, i found it really offensive and shameful for you to say that Holocaust films is pro-israeli propaganda. The holocaust happened before
Katja |
While I agree that pro-Israel lobbyists did not push the Bush administration into the invasion, the main architects of the invasion did include the security and interests of
I did read "The Israel Lobby" while I was living in the
My own experience in living there was that there are a large number of independent pro-Israel organisations, from grassroots campaigns up to AIPAC, active at ensuring support for
bikegeek | Terrigal - February 19, 2010, 11:49AM
I'm sorry - but what? What in hell are all these comments talking about? What Israeli lobby? Who says you're criticised for 'talking about
University students (supposedly the new intelligentsia) are so far left and so rabidly anti-Israel that they will say anything. It's just utter crap; antisemitism has somehow become acceptable again. It was especially bad when i was at UWS, but come on. How does the 'Israeli lobby' force anyone to do anything? It's just the stupidest idea ever. It's like, if you stop thinking, and start talking about the wildest, dumbest crap you possibly can, you'd start believing what everyone says criticising
That's what is just so confusing - all these comments are about some all powerful Israeli lobby, and it just doesn't make any sense; it's as if anyone with Jewish name that works for any government is 'pulling the strings'. What's even more strange is that it used to be the mark of the extreme right wing that were antisemitic and now it appears to be the extreme left. Guess the extreme left and extreme right aren't that different after all.
Tom |
Bikegeek, you would have to live on another planet not to hear, read or watch about the suffering of the Palestinians. What about the suffering of the Israelis? But I agree with you, there is not open debate, we only get to hear from the one side, the Palestinian side.
Evelin - February 19, 2010, 1:00PM
If anything, most public opinion in
Miriam |
Miriam are you seriously saying that the so named lobby wanted to promote or provoke antisemitism? If you are, then you have no idea how twisted this sounds. No Jewish person wants to unlease hatred and violence against Jews which is what antisemitism amounts to. There is no purpose served by people getting assaulted. If you have a chance to do so, please post again and apologize.
Thomas | St Kilda - February 19, 2010, 1:33PM
What if in 1948 the state of
What if those early proposals for a Jewish homeland in
No PLO?
No Hezbollah?
No Hamas?
No Al Qaeda?!
No 9/11?!!
No
And that's just for starters, right folks?
Max Gross | Yarra Ranges - February 19, 2010, 2:58PM
Readers of this blog may be interested in this -
Professor Petras is the author of numerous books on state power and the nature of globalization in the context of the US and Latin America, and most recently in the Middle East. His latest book, published in 2006, is titled The Power of Israel in the
" I would argue that the pro-Israel lobby, the Zionist Lobby, is the dominant factor in shaping
http://dissidentvoice.org/Apr07/Borer-Petras-Finkelstein17.htm
Ruth - February 19, 2010, 3:14PM
Haha you are full of it Mr Abramovich as stated by an earlier post on this blog , "you are the Israel Lobby" . What a joke , i truly wonder for how much longer zionists can get away with the outrageous lies that you tell oh thats right its another "conspiracy theory" that the Jews/Zionists control the western media but hang on a second they do as per an article in the LA Times from December 19, 2008 by Joel Stein a Zionist Jew who says I quote "I have never been so upset by a poll in my life. Only 22% of Americans now believe "the movie and television industries are pretty much run by Jews," down from nearly 50% in 1964. The Anti-Defamation League, which released the poll results last month, sees in these numbers a victory against stereotyping. Actually, it just shows how dumb
So Mr Abramovich please stop lying as you are to easy to expose the Jewish/Zionist Lobby is all powerful because it has a huge amount of control over the western media which enables you and your fellow followers of the Judaic Religion to get away with your lies like "poor us , we are the victims of anti-semitism" lol "poor Israel surrounded by enemies" or "We [Israel] do not have thermonuclear weapons of mass destruction" hahaha . I am sick to death of these outrageous lies told by YOU the jewish/Zionist controlled media and
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/dec/19/opinion/oe-stein19
Mick |
*News Corp. President Peter Chernin (Jewish),
*Paramount Pictures Chairman Brad Grey (Jewish),
*Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Robert Iger (Jewish),
*Sony Pictures Chairman Michael Lynton ( Jewish),
*Warner Bros. Chairman Barry Meyer (Jewish),
*CBS Corp. Chief Executive Leslie Moonves (Jewish,his great uncle was the 1st P.M. of
*MGM Chairman Harry Sloan (Jewish)
*NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker (Jewish).
*Rupert Murdoch (his mother is Jewish so according to Jewish Genealogical tradition that makes him Jewish beyond that he is a Zionist no matter what his religion is)
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/dec/19/opinion/oe-stein19
Mick |
acking buckets of that. Even Jewish members of the House of Commons such as Sir Gerald Kaufman, have talked of the power of the
Lesm | Balmain - February 19, 2010, 4:41PM
@Jurgen | WA - February 19, 2010, 10:27AM: One of the most grotesque aspects of
Max Gross | Yarra Ranges - February 19, 2010, 5:12PM
Not to quote the Jewish Lobby but this is biased tripe.
A Israeli isn't Arab really isn't a
If I were to believe this I would believe that
Or that Hamas and other Arab countries haven't guaranteed peace with
Or the wall isn't about stealing more land.
This article was about as accurate as Inglorious Basterds.
And does more damage to the Jewish people than good.
Hopefully the wonderful Jewish people out there who helped bring down apartheid can teach the Israelis to do the same.
And stop treating the rest of the world with contempt.
The Kiwis can tell us all about Mossad forging passports.They get caught and then do it again.
We are not all stupid.
BMP |
Jurgen / WA I saw your comment.
Give your house and land back to the Aborginals. They have a direct link to the land and country. Not something created on the ashes and brutality of people kicked out of their homes. Jews have lived with Muslims throughout the ages but it wasn't the Muslims who killed them it was a mad European.
BMP |
Evelin, it was another planet I was living in - called the
That being said, I saw no evidence of some sort of conspiracy, but just a large number of independent pro-Israel activist organisations working very effectively to stifle debate and ensure the
bikegeek | terrigal - February 19, 2010, 7:14PM
Dvir Abramovich can’t see a tree in a forest! They magnify a few tragic incidents of
mukto_mona/Sydney 2/19/2010 10:23:17 PM (posted, hope will be published)
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