Pretending Israel Is Innocent of Apartheid

Without doubt Israel practices apartheid toward Palestinians who are broadly denied human rights, but Israel’s political clout is such that the reality must be denied at the U.N. and in the U.S., as Lawrence Davidson explains.

By Lawrence Davidson

On March 15, the United Nations’ Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) published a report on Israeli practices and policies toward the Palestinians. Using international law as its comparative criterion, the report came to a “definitive conclusion” that “Israel is guilty of Apartheid practices.”

A section of the barrier — erected by Israeli officials to prevent the passage of Palestinians — with graffiti using President John F. Kennedy’s famous quote when facing the Berlin Wall, “Ich bin ein Berliner.” (Photo credit: Marc Venezia)

The term Apartheid was not used in the report merely in a “pejorative” way. It was used as a descriptor of fact based on the evidence and the accepted legal meaning of the term.

Such was the immediate uproar from the United States and Israel that U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, in a moment of moral failure, ordered the report’s withdrawal. The head of ESCWA, the Jordanian diplomat Rima Khalaf, decided that she could not, in good conscience, do so and so tendered her resigation.

The initial New York Times coverage of the incident paid little attention to the accuracy of the report, an approach which, if pursued, would have at least educated the Times’ readers as to the real conditions of Palestinians under Israeli domination. Instead it called the report, and those involved in producing it, into question.

For instance, the NYT told us that “the report provoked outrage from Israel and the United States.” The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki R. Haley, was quoted as declaring that, “when someone issues a false and defamatory report in the name of the U.N. it is appropriate that the person resign.” At no point in the NYT story was it noted that Ms. Haley’s charge that the report was false, was itself false. Other coverage by the NYT improved only slightly.

The NYT did pay attention to the fact that, among the authors of the report, was former U.N. human rights investigator Richard Falk. Falk served six years as U.N. Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Territories. According to the NYT, his presence “gall[ed] many Israeli supporters who regard him as an anti-Semite.” There is something troubling about a newspaper that claims to represent the epitome of professional journalism reporting such slurs without properly evaluating them.

Richard Falk, who is Jewish, has an impeccable record of both academic achievement and public service. His reputation for honesty and dedication to the cause of human rights exemplifies the best practice of Jewish values. Thus, he has every right to say, “I have been smeared in this effort to discredit the report” – a study which “tries its best to look at the evidence and analyze the applicable law in a professional manner.”

Israel’s Behavior

An objective consideration of Israel’s behavior makes it hard to escape the brutal reality of its officially condoned practices.

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at joint press conference on Feb. 15. 2017. (Screen shot from Whitehouse.gov)

On March 17, at the same time as the forced withdrawal of the ESCWA report, the U.S. State Department released a report on “grave violations against Palestinian children living under Israeli military occupation.” This was part of the department’s annual “country reports on human rights practices.” Among the problems cited were Israel’s practice of unlawful detention, coerced confessions and excessive use of force, including torture and killings.

Usually, these annual human rights reports are made public by the Secretary of State. This year Rex Tillerson, who presently holds the office, was nowhere in sight. And, of course, President Trump failed to issue any of his characteristic tweets in reference to the Israel’s barbaric behavior.

Earlier, on Feb. 8, it was reported that “Israel has banned anesthesia gas from entering the Gaza Strip.” There is a current backlog of some 200 patients in Gaza requiring surgical care, and some will die due to Israel’s ban.

A week later, on Feb. 14, it was reported that Israeli officials were blackmailing Palestinian patients seeking permission to enter Israel for necessary medical treatment. A 17-year-old Gazan boy who suffered from congenital heart disease and needed a heart valve replacement “was explicitly told that in order to [leave the Gaza Strip and] have his operation, he would have to cooperate with the security forces and spy for Israel.” He refused and subsequently died. This is not a new or unusual tactic for the Israelis.

Blackmail All Around

The moral failure at the U.N., represented by the withdrawal of the ESCWA report, is the result of Secretary General Guterres’s decision to acquiesce in a denial of reality – the reality of Israel’s practice of Apartheid.

On the other hand, it probably also stems from Guterres’s acceptance of the reality of U.S. financial leverage along with the apparent threat to bankrupt the United Nations. This is, of course, a form of blackmail. Significantly, U.S. use of its financial clout at the U.N. mimics the same practice by the Zionist lobby in the halls of Congress.

Obviously the United Nations, to say nothing of U.S. politicians, needs alternate sources of income. My wife Janet once suggested that the UN be awarded the right to exploit and profit from all undersea resources. Not a bad idea. Likewise, U.S. politicians should agree to, or be forced to rely upon, government-based campaign funding rather than be pressed into putting themselves up for sale.

However, such changes do not appear imminent. As it stands now, reality in Palestine is what the Americans and Israelis say it is because politicians and international leaders literally can’t afford to challenge their corrupted views.

Lawrence Davidson is a history professor at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. He is the author of Foreign Policy Inc.: Privatizing America’s National Interest; America’s Palestine: Popular and Official Perceptions from Balfour to Israeli Statehood; and Islamic Fundamentalism. He blogs at www.tothepointanalyses.com.

61 comments for “Pretending Israel Is Innocent of Apartheid

  1. March 27, 2017 at 16:52

    Do we need money?! By which I mean Do we need a money system? That’s rhetorical. I absolutely do not believe in money.

  2. Rob Roy
    March 27, 2017 at 11:28

    ” My wife Janet once suggested that the UN be awarded the right to exploit and profit from all undersea resources. Not a bad idea.” Whaaaaa? At first I thought this was said as sarcasm. Isn’t it enough to wreck the entire world by extracting all its resources from the earth for profit, leaving destruction and death in its wake? Now we think it’s “not a bad idea” to destroy the oceans, which are already under siege? Yes, let’s bring on death of the planet altogether and be done with it. Couldn’t believe my eyes.

  3. M Murqus
    March 27, 2017 at 11:05

    A few notes: Of course Israel is guilty of apartheid in its treatment of Palestinians under its occupation. The truth cannot be erased just because of the “clout” of the zionists and their domination of U.S. politics. What is more, the Israeli occupation is illegal and Israel itself is an illegal colony imposed on Palestine, again, due to the clout of the zionist bankers who bought it, illegally, from Britain in return for financing the first world war. Also, the U.S. representative at the United Nations, who is quoted in the article, was born an Indian Sikh by the name of Nimrata Randhawa and is embarrassingly well-known as an irrational hater of Palestinians. Finally, why waste time on what the New York Times said or didn’t say. This is also well-known as a zionist rag.

  4. R Davis
    March 27, 2017 at 10:17

    I would be very interested to have Israel disclose it’s financial status to the world.
    Where do they get their money from.
    How much money flows into Israel in the form of aid & charitable donations & how is it spent on exactly what.
    In coming monies .. example .. the $38 BILLION donated to Israel by Obama.
    Who else donates to Israel ?
    What kind of money .. why & what for ?
    How much does Israel earn selling “STUFF”
    Is the “STUFF” legal or is it contraband ?
    That kind of inventory ..
    Israel does what the hell it pleases .. they are everybody’s best girlfriend .. cute .. it is definitely cute.
    BILLIONS of dollars flow into Israel & are never accounted for.
    Shouldn’t we know what is going on .. after all it is mostly our money in the form of aid & charitable donations.

    • M Murqus
      March 27, 2017 at 11:08

      It is well known from where Israel gets its money. Israel is backed by the world’s wealthiest banking family, the Rothschilds, whose illegal colony it is and who illegally bought it from Britain in return for financing the British effort in the first world war.

  5. Billy Greenwood
    March 27, 2017 at 02:48

    To truly understand Israel/Palestinian problems, try google; Thomas Suarez new 2017 book,”STATE OF TERROR”, which is extremely well documented.

  6. Andy Jones
    March 25, 2017 at 23:52

    The situation is different from Apartheid in that Israel is not discriminating against against its own citizens on the basis of race. The problem is that it is moving part of its civilian population outside of its borders and into enemy territory under military occupation. That is a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Calling that Apartheid is propaganda.

    The real issue is to encourage both sides to make peace and to observe the laws of war until they do. That means the Palestinians stop using terrorism as a tactic and that the Israelis stop moving their civilians into territory under military occupation. Mindless drivel like this article will do nothing to improve the situation.

    • Equal Rights
      March 26, 2017 at 08:38

      Utter garbage. You treat the two sides as equals. Over the last 100 years or so, Palestinians have seen almost all of their land taken away from them. Most of them have been herded into Bantustans in the West Bank and Gaza, where they are policed by one of the most brutal armies in the world, and the rest remain as second class citizens inside “Israel proper”. Actually, “Israel proper” already includes more territory than Israel declared as its borders to achieve statehood, territory gained by conquest and so legitimately should be handed back. The occupied people have a legitimate and moral right to use violence against this kind of inhumanity. When Israel decides, and it the “side” with the power to do so, either to get out of all occupied territories or integrate all of the West Bank and Gaza into Israel and give equal rights to everybody, violence will end. Instead Israel pretends to be interested in a solution while constantly moving the goalposts.

    • Marko
      March 26, 2017 at 16:45

      ” Calling that Apartheid is propaganda. ”

      I agree , actually. ” Apartheid ” is an understatement.

      I’d call it ” slow-motion genocide “.

    • John
      March 26, 2017 at 18:30

      Israel had over 50 laws on the books that discriminate against non-Jewish citizens of Israel.

      So, when you claim “Israel is not discriminating against against its own citizens on the basis of race.”, you are lying.

    • M Murqus
      March 27, 2017 at 11:12

      The Palestinians’ response to the illegal occupation of their homeland by Israel is not “terrorism” but resistance to illegal military occupation and such resistance is authorized, if it needs authorization, by the United Nations Charter.

  7. backwardsevolution
    March 25, 2017 at 01:38

    History could have been different:

    “The Uganda Proposal was a plan in the early 1900s to give a portion of British East Africa to the Jewish people as a homeland. It drew support from Theodor Herzl, a prominent Zionist, as a refuge for European Jews facing antisemitism.

    British Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain was aware of the ambitions of the Zionist Organization, which had been on his mind during a trip to East Africa earlier in the year. Chamberlain noted during his trip that, “If Dr Herzl were at all inclined to transfer his efforts to East Africa there would be no difficulty in finding land suitable for Jewish settlers.”

    Herzl was introduced to Chamberlain by Israel Zangwill in the spring of 1903, a few weeks after the outbreak of the Kishinev pogroms.

    Chamberlain offered 13,000 square kilometres (5,000 sq mi) at Uasin Gishu (also spelled “Gwas Ngishu”), an isolated area atop the Mau Escarpment in modern Kenya (not Uganda).

    The land was thought suitable because of its temperate hill station-like climate and its relative isolation, being surrounded by the Mau Forest. The offer was a response to pogroms against the Jews in Russia, and it was hoped the area could be a refuge from persecution for the Jewish people.”

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uganda_Scheme

    • March 25, 2017 at 10:58

      the first zionist congress first voted to create isreal in argentina.

    • Lisa
      March 25, 2017 at 18:45

      Yes, Uganda….
      There is a curious historical fact that A Jewish Autonomous District was created by Soviet government (Stalin) in 1934. A homeland for Soviet Jews with a possibility to pursue their culture and religion freely, within a socialist framework. The plan was first to have such areas in the Crimea and southern Ukraine, but due to strong local opposition the region chosen was in the Soviet Far East. It still exists within the Russian Federation, although most of the Russian Jews have now emigrated to Israel.

      However, this region could not have been the target for Jewish immigration from other countries, I suppose.

  8. Tomk
    March 24, 2017 at 22:05

    Israel is a friend of…Israel…currently working with Saudi Arabia which is currently exporting its brand of “religion” worldwide to the detriment of wherever that may be….Israel Mossad Motto: “Thru Deception We Wage War.”
    An example: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/fiveisraelis.html
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv5s_VEmZd0

  9. March 24, 2017 at 17:39

    Great statement, mike k, have often thought of Jeremiah Wright speaking truth that dare not be spoken.

  10. mike k
    March 24, 2017 at 16:03

    When Jeremiah Wright said in a sermon “God damn America” he spoke a truth that Obama could not admit if he sought the US presidency. Under the bus he pushed his former teacher, and Obama was all set to become Obomber, without the encumbrance of a conscience….

  11. mike k
    March 24, 2017 at 15:51

    The US government is the absolute enemy of peace in the world.

    • John
      March 24, 2017 at 21:01

      I saw netenyahoo shopping at Walmart today……what ??? say it isn’t so……

  12. mike k
    March 24, 2017 at 15:48

    And some still wonder “why they hate us.” How are they supposed to feel when we turn their wedding parties into a bloodbath?

  13. mike k
    March 24, 2017 at 15:44

    Tyrants always lie about their atrocities. They make a great show of sincerity about their lies. Nothing is more hateful that their pretenses of purity to cover their evil deeds.

  14. Mary in Las Vegas
    March 24, 2017 at 15:27

    It is not only unbelievable to US citizens that the US is encouraging Israel in its apartheid and violent actions against the Palestinians, but is truly the instigator of those actions…. and that the US supplies Israel with the majority of its military equipment. Asked any Israeli on the street and you will find that the majority of them are against what their government under Netanyahu (Likud party) is doing….they actually feel empathy for the Palestinians. Then ask anyone in the world what country’s government is the most violent and threatening to the rest of the world and the answer is “The United States” . We can easily reach the conclusion that the United States, together with Israel, are the worst terrorists in the world and threaten peace that could be possible without their existence.

    • Bill Bodden
      March 24, 2017 at 19:21

      Asked any Israeli on the street and you will find that the majority of them are against what their government under Netanyahu (Likud party) is doing

      Israel today has much in common with the Deep South in the United States prior to the civil rights advances in the 1960s. The dominant forces consist of rampant violent racists and they get away with their unconscionable behavior because of the silence of others and the complicity of political courtesans bought and paid for by the Israel lobby in the United States.

      • Bill Bodden
        March 25, 2017 at 12:29

        Israel today has much in common with the Deep South in the United States prior to the civil rights advances in the 1960s

        Richard Gere agrees: “Actor Richard Gere in Hebron: ‘it’s exactly like what the what the Old South was in America’”
        by Allison Deger – http://mondoweiss.net/2017/03/richard-exactly-america/

        • Andy Jones
          March 25, 2017 at 23:59

          So he has other interests besides gerbils.

          • Bill Bodden
            March 26, 2017 at 12:27

            Also Tibet

    • MEexpert
      March 26, 2017 at 14:17

      Asked any Israeli on the street and you will find that the majority of them are against what their government under Netanyahu (Likud party) is doing..”

      If this is true, why then do they keep electing him.

      • Rob Roy
        March 27, 2017 at 11:22

        They keep electing him because he runs on fear (he is the great protector of Israelis, he tells them).

  15. March 24, 2017 at 14:44

    The Israel-Palestine problem is probably the most complicated issue on the world stage. Neither side will budge and the other Arab nations seem unable to speak up, either. It is clear that Israel is guilty of apartheid but in this particularly dishonest age, that word evokes outrage. The UN also has a checkered history as an honest broker.

    I would like to know how in the world Trump picked Nikki Haley, whose only experience is as former governor of South Carolina, to be Ambassador to the UN? Did he think because she is an Indian-American she has some foreign policy experience?

    Ironic that Netanyahu has been PM of Israel for how long, elected four times, and people are screeching about Putin over here. What a fake age this is…

    • Bill Bodden
      March 24, 2017 at 15:18

      The Israel-Palestine problem is probably the most complicated issue on the world stage.

      In one respect it is very simple. We only need all the people involved in this issue, one way or another, to adhere to international law, the Geneva Conventions, the U.N. Charter and subsequent resolutions AND THE GOLDEN RULE: DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU.

      I would like to know how in the world Trump picked Nikki Haley, …

      Again, simple. He, or one of his flunkies, tested Governor Haley to see if she could read a script handed to her. She passed the reading test and got the job. Based on her history in politics they probably assumed she wouldn’t be a problem regarding morality or ethics.

      • Mary in Las Vegas
        March 24, 2017 at 15:31

        I am in agreement with your statement regarding Nikki Haley – and we can go even further and say that Trump was ‘chosen’ because he was amenable to ‘read from the already written script’ of the billionaire group that truly controls the US, including its military actions with ‘ruling the world’ in their sights.

    • MEexpert
      March 26, 2017 at 14:14

      The Israel-Palestine problem is probably the most complicated issue on the world stage. Neither side will budge and the other Arab nations seem unable to speak up, either.”

      Jessica K. I am surprised at your comments. How much more “budging” do you want the Palestinians to do? Israel has already taken most of their country and is now building settlements on what little land they have left. As to the other Arab countries attitude, they are not interested in the Palestinians plight at all. Every once in a while they will give some lip service to the Palestinian issue but otherwise they tow the Israeli and the US line.

      Oddly, the one Middle Eastern country that shows some interest in the Palestinian question is Iran. Khomeini started the celebration of the Al-Quds day on the last Friday of Ramadhan each year. The Arab countries don’t even take part in that. Only the “hated” shias worldwide celebrate it by taking out processions to keep the issue alive.

    • John
      March 26, 2017 at 18:17

      There is nothing complicated about an invading settler colonial occupation versus the indigenous population that resists that occupation.

      It’s really a very simple issue.

  16. Erik G
    March 24, 2017 at 13:32

    An excellent idea that UN funding should derive from income from undersea or other natural resources, a tax on trade goods in international waters, etc.

    Perhaps a new UN is necessary, formed by a new treaty among members, without the “security council” and able to embargo the “superpowers” from trade with their membership. The new UN should become a large economy of international trade, controlling trade so as to prohibit trade with members by non-members and violators of international law. It should also have a means of economically penalizing nations that refuse to provide their share of payments or resources, or violate its rulings. It should also penalize or deny membership to nations like the US that violate international law and threaten the ICC.

    Perhaps a bicameral legislature like the US would be agreeable, the lower House having membership proportionate to population. But a better Constitution, able to protect the branches (legislative, executive, and judicial) from economic and information power. And better checks and balances, operating within each branch as well as between branches.

    That seems potentially even more powerful even than the multi-polar future envisioned by BRICS.

  17. Bill Bodden
    March 24, 2017 at 13:15

    There is another copy of the report at Richard Falk’s website: https://richardfalk.wordpress.com/2017/03/19/un-sponsored-report-on-israels-responsibility-for-apartheid-in-relation-to-the-palestinian-people/

    Mondoweiss.net is another excellent source of information about Israeli-Palestinians relations.

    • March 24, 2017 at 14:15

      Bill Bodden,
      Thank you for sharing the direct internet link to Professor Tilley and Professor Falk’s 27,000-word report, which allows interested men and women from around the Earth to read it, and by doing so gain total understanding of the issue.

  18. Brandon Simmons
    March 24, 2017 at 13:14

    The bit about banning “anesthesia” from Gaza, and thus preventing surgery, shows that this article is in the main bullshit. What was banned was nitrous oxide, which isn’t a general anesthetic, and would not prevent surgery from taking place.

    • Rowena
      March 24, 2017 at 14:19

      Brandon, you did notice that the “bit” about banning anesthesia came from our own State Department, right? The article is just quoting State Department reports.

    • Sam F
      March 24, 2017 at 16:40

      Wikipedia “Nitrous oxide has significant medical uses, especially in surgery and dentistry, for its anaesthetic and analgesic effects.” It is used as a general anesthetic in dental and other surgery. Perhaps Mr. Simmons will volunteer to have his next major surgery done without anesthetics to prove that they are unnecessary.

    • Bill Bodden
      March 24, 2017 at 19:25

      … this article is in the main bullshit.

      We have your number, Brandon. If that is your opinion then you’ll be ahead not wasting your time at Consortium News and sparing some of our better-informed commenters the trouble of correcting your bullshit.

      • Barney
        March 25, 2017 at 12:51

        “Better informed” lol… I can tell you as an anesthesiologist that N2O is NOT a necessary anesthetic, one that definitely is not needed for surgery. Congrats to the guy who showed, via Wikipedia, it has medical uses, but it doesn’t address the point that banning N2O does not mean surgeries can’t proceed. And when you look at the litany of drugs that aren’t banned (because, you know, they can’t be used to make explosives to kill civilians), the claim that Israel isn’t allowing surgeries to proceed does, in fact, kinda unveil this article is BS (not that anybody with an IQ higher than 90 wouldn’t have been able to see that). This article misses the entire, obscenely obvious point that before these severe restrictions were in place there were near daily terrorist attacks in Israel (you know, like 9/11— but something tells me most people here would think it was a hoax perpetrated by Israel to stock up on the blood of Christian children). Nowhere does it talk about the elected leadership, Hamas, is a recognized terrorist organization that calls not just for the destruction of Israel, but Jews worldwide.

        You guys all continue living your fantasy. Will not be following up on replies so keep patting each other on the back and spewing more conspiracy theories to each other… my only hope is when you read the comment of your peer and think “uhhh well no that’s obviously not true” you’ll realize you’re no different. Moon landing real? How about ISIS, you guys think Israel propped them up? And let’s discuss the Iran nuke deal, what’s going on in Syria, and perhaps the countries that make up ESCWA and how their citizens are treated?

        • Zachary Smith
          March 25, 2017 at 13:49

          We have a self-declared medical doctor defending Holy Israel now. Naturally this hero doesn’t see the need to present a single source for his claims. But when the medical professional starts with this –

          This article misses the entire, obscenely obvious point that before these severe restrictions were in place there were near daily terrorist attacks in Israel (you know, like 9/11— but something tells me most people here would think it was a hoax perpetrated by Israel to stock up on the blood of Christian children). Nowhere does it talk about the elected leadership, Hamas, is a recognized terrorist organization that calls not just for the destruction of Israel, but Jews worldwide.

          it becomes clear this is routine propaganda for the murderous and thieving little shithole of an apartheid state.

          Hey, Mr. Anesthesiologist, tell us about Israel’s God Given right to steal the land, water, and lives of the subhuman Paleos. Your version ought to make mighty fine reading.

        • Sam F
          March 25, 2017 at 14:13

          Barney, while Nitrous oxide is not preferred in the US as a general anesthetic, it is used elsewhere depending on availability of preferred anesthetics.

          Surgery would not proceed if at all deferable, if no anesthetic were available. So the question turns on what else is available. Given the circumstances suggested, I would assume that ths was the only option. Can you show otherwise?

        • MEexpert
          March 26, 2017 at 14:25

          “Nowhere does it talk about the elected leadership, Hamas, is a recognized terrorist organization that calls not just for the destruction of Israel, but Jews worldwide.”

          Recognized by Israel and the US and their lap dogs. The entire leadership of Israel consists of terrorists. David Ben-Gurion, Begin, Shamir, Sharon, etc. were all known terrorists. With Netanyahu, that tradition continues to this day.

        • John
          March 26, 2017 at 17:41

          Israel is a terrorist state, founded by terrorists using terrorism. (Much like the US.)

          To deny this is to deny well documented history.

          Resistance to an illegal military occupation is not terrorism, it is resistance (and, under international law, is completely leval.)

          As far as Israel propping up ISIS (by providing them medical care, unknown material, and even air cover) this is well documented by the UN, and has been reported in Haaretz, and even openly admitted by Israeli officials.

          If one looks beyond Hasbara, it becomes obvious that the factually challenged are those supporting a colonial settler state that openly practices Apartheid.

  19. Tom Welsh
    March 24, 2017 at 13:06

    “The initial New York Times coverage of the incident paid little attention to the accuracy of the report…”

    This reminds me strongly of a passage in Andrew Cockburn’s excellent book “Kill Chain”, which dives deeply into the American tradition of killing anonymously (and often inaccurately) from the air. When the Pentagon’s Office of Operational Test and Evaluation ran a series of tests on the Predator drone in 2001, it concluded that “the Predator UAV is not operationally effective”, and backed this conclusion up with a great deal of hard technical evidence. It is what happened next that I think shows a strong similarity to American reception of the UN report:

    “Darleen Druyun, the principal deputy undersecretary of the air force, known around the Pentagon as ‘the dragon lady’… came straight to the point. ‘What the fuck is this?’ she shouted at the testing office director. ‘What do you mean sending out this fucking report saying the Predator doesn’t work? Who is the fucking asshole that wrote this report? I’m going to ream him a new fucking asshole’.
    “’Hold on,’ retorted Christie, unfazed by her foul language. ‘Have you found anything in this report that’s wrong?’
    “’Er, no,’ admitted the official. ‘But couldn’t you at least take the bit about “not operationally suitable” out of the cover letter?’ (All present were well aware that this was as far as most officials would ever read)”.

    • Tom Welsh
      March 24, 2017 at 13:11

      In case my point is at all unclear, it is that American officials are not even challenging the accuracy of the UN report. They are merely forbidding the subject to be discussed at all.

      I am sorry about the vivid language quoted in my comment. Please note that this is a direct quotation from a US official, not my own choice of words. I quoted it because it shows so graphically how sheer bad temper and resentment can completely swamp reasoned argument or facts and figures.

  20. March 24, 2017 at 12:49

    The Tide is turning slowly against both the US and Israel. China, Russia, Iran, Syria amoungst other countries are slowly but surely prying US and Israeli fingers from around the world´s throat, one finger at a time. The AIIB is now joined by 70 countries, against the wishes of Israel and the US. Russia is getting ready to live without SWIFT. Both Russia and China are buying up gold and in the not too distant future will back their currencies with gold. this will either spell the end of the US dollar which is backed by nothing or severely weaken it.

    That is where both the US and Israel derive their power over the world and that is economically. So long as the world´s economy is dominated by US paper money it will never be free, The US dollar is being used to beat the Palistinians into submission. The Jews have bought the US Government out with US dollars. So the US and Israel will continue to walk in lockstep over Palistine.

  21. Joe Tedesky
    March 24, 2017 at 10:27

    Israel is a fine example of how colonialism is wrong. Imagine being an indigenous Palestintian reading the Balfour Declaration. Further imagine being a Palestintian and watching the Zionist take your home and land away from you. With all of that how could a native to this ancient land understand that because some English Lord deems your land to a foreigner that this is legal. I know everything in life isn’t always fair, but how about the fairness of a crime against humanity?

    • Plincoln
      March 24, 2017 at 18:58

      Actually Israel today has went way beyond the Balfour Declaration which said “that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine” The UN resolution giving them part of Palestine was not voted on by the security council so are not legally binding. In the General Assembly only 33 states voted for this and 23 abstained or rejected it. Again , not binding but Zionists in Israel jumped on it and proceeded as if it was. In 1949 Israel was admitted to the UN so that was that. By that time the damage was done. Truman received piles of cash from the Zionist lobby so did nothing to block it despite concerns from Military and Intelligence officials that this was not in our national interest.
      Relations were rather cool until LBJ when he overlooked the attack on the USS Liberty. By the 1970’s we basically became their asset in breaking up the Middle East and creating a whole bunch of extremists to justify these wars and interventions. Both parties candidates are influenced each year by their lobbyists but we worry about Russia. Lol. Probably spent up to 10 trillion in todays dollars over 35 years executing the Odin plan in the Middle East

      • Joe Tedesky
        March 24, 2017 at 23:57

        I hear you. Sometimes I wish I could jump in a time machine and somehow interrupt the mechanisms that created the Federal Reserve. This aside from these same Zionist forcing the English and French from delaying the armistice and convincing them to bring America on board to fight the Hun. Just this alone could have changed the destiny of the world’s evolving tragic events that would be sure to follow.

        Harry should have stopped the buck coming from the Israeli Lobby of his day, but for plain spoken Harry winning a presidential election took precedent over everything. As Truman had said, he had more Jewish constituents than Arab, so there ya go….Israel is born.

        I must add that just like I don’t want to be judged by the world for what our nation’s leaders do, just because I’m an American, I don’t want to judge anyone who’s Jewish for what their Zionist leaders do, or have done. It’s important we determine just who is the villains, and who is not. Otherwise we would not be any better than those we criticize.

        If only American politicians were not so bought and paid for by the Israeli lobby AIPAC. If only America would quit with our carnival block buster expensive political campaigns…yet there I go again. I think you readers know what troubles us the most, and yet with all these riches this country boast of we are 20 trillion dollars in debt…think about that the massiveness of that kind of money, and then consider how much has been spent on implementing the Yinon Plan?

    • Halal
      March 24, 2017 at 21:11

      You have been sucking too much allah cock.

      • Joe Tedesky
        March 25, 2017 at 00:00

        No Halal you have me confused with your brother who yearns for the uncut.

        • Sam F
          March 25, 2017 at 05:19

          Well put.

    • Andrew Nichols
      March 25, 2017 at 04:41

      Rather like the Highland clearances in Scotland…

      • Joe Tedesky
        March 25, 2017 at 12:44

        If the shoe fits.

    • Native American
      March 25, 2017 at 11:46

      If you live in the USA and are not descended from the indigenous people who lived here before England and other colonized the continent you should be more modest in your analysis of the issue. Maybe you should leave my land.

      • Joe Tedesky
        March 25, 2017 at 12:43

        Dear Native American I think we European are as wrong as the Zionist. If it were solely up to me I would start paying taxes to the Indigenous who were here before me. I don’t make the rules, but try and understand that I tread just the mere thought of what colonialism means. Plus possibly if we Europeans would have adapted to living amongst you, instead of ruining your way of life, this world would no doubt be a better place.

      • John
        March 26, 2017 at 17:32

        In the US, Native Americans are equal citizens under the law. This is not the case for the indigenous of Palestine.

        In no way do I intend to demean either the historic or ongoing injustices against Native Americans, but they are in a far better position than the indigenous of Palestine. Noone in the US Congress is openly calling for their complete extermination (as members of the Knesset have called for in regards to the indigenous of Palestine.)

        And yes, I am, in part, descended from the First Peoples of Turtle Island (along with having ancestors from 3 other continents).

    • Peter Loeb
      March 26, 2017 at 06:49

      WITH REPECT TO THE ESCWA AND THE UN…

      Lawrencen Davidson’s article adds little to the two stories on the United
      Nations’ USCWA report that wasn’t made made in two recent articles
      in the “Electronic Intifada” by Ali Abuminah. These articles include
      the text of the report.

      Not much at all is added to Thomas Suarez’ landmark book
      “STATE OF TERROR” (nor could it be) ( Olive Branch Press,
      2017)

      What the ESCWA report analyzes are relevant current legal
      ramifications of Zionism as practiced from the very beginning.

      —-Peter Loeb.Boston, MA, USA

  22. Brian
    March 24, 2017 at 09:39

    Some animals are more equal than others.

Comments are closed.