Adbusters asks:
What do you do when your friend is blind drunk, slurring, staggering and boisterous as they fumble for their car keys? Do you cheer them on, slap them on their back and hand them another shot of whiskey? Of course not, no matter how much they may protest. And when it comes to America’s friendship with Israel, what is true for the ethics of bars holds true for international politics as well.
Israel is America’s obnoxious drunk friend. And for over half a century, America has been Israel’s bartender and enabler: each year dumping billions of dollars in military aid that is used to oppress Palestinians, handing out bribe money to Arab tyrants in exchange for the suppression of their people’s outrage and, most importantly, protecting Israel from the UN Security Council despite repeated, flagrant violations of international law. On Friday, America did it again by vetoing a Security Council resolution that would have declared Israel’s settlements illegal… all other members of the council, longstanding friends of Israel included, had voted in favor of the reprimand.
In the last thirty days, the power dynamics of the Middle East have changed irrevocably. Israel’s biggest ally in the region has been toppled, popular movements are sweeping neighboring countries and a new mood of self-governance has captured the imagination of the world’s citizens. It is time for Israel to sober up and face the reality that their aggressive militarism won’t work any more. Only America has the power to grab Israel’s car keys.
The Guardian reports:
Palestinians are planning a “day of rage” on Friday in response to the US wielding its veto against a UN security council resolution condemning Israeli settlements.
The US decision to use its veto has sparked a furious reaction in the West Bank and Gaza.
Anti-US rallies took place in the West Bank towns of Bethlehem, Tulkarem and Jenin this weekend after the 14-1 vote on the resolution, in which the US stood alone against the rest of the security council, including Britain, Germany and France. It voted in contradiction of its own policy.
In Gaza, Hamas described the US position as outrageous and said Washington was “completely biased” towards Israel.
Ibrahim Sarsour, an Israeli-Arab member of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, said it was time to tell the US president, Barack Obama, to “go to hell”.
“Obama cannot be trusted,” he wrote in an open letter to the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. “We knew his promises were lies. The time has come to spit in the face of the Americans.”
old joke, a friend will come to bail you out of jail; a really good friend will be in the next cell, laughing, “man, that was fun!”
using the car key analogy, we’d sometimes egg them into doing one, two more shots–whatever it took to incapacitate them and get them passed out or puking–honestly a better option. The result is the same no matter what, eventually the drunk driving stops, thanks to a tree or on-coming traffic. It’s all over save the doing.
One problem with that anology.
Israel is not our friendly drinking buddy.
Israel is the guy spiking your drinks so he can roll you in the parking lot when you stagger out.
The problem with the analogy:
The US is as drunk as Israel. Hope they both drive off the cliff!
The US is not only a drunk, but an adicted junky. It is adicted to War. As J. Pilger out it so eloquently: Cluster bombs, dornes, torture, lies, corruption are as ‘american’ as apple pie. (words of effect!)
As long as the American Jews are in control of the U.S. Congressional & Executive branches, there will be no change in the U.S./Israeli duopoly. Time has come, as the events of the M.E. are showing, whereby the U.S. can no longer be the big stick. This doesn’t mean that such will come to pass, for at this same time, N.A.T.O. and the African states are entering into a compact together. The U.S. is also heavily involved in N.A.T.O. , so at the present time, only a shift will take place. Perhaps, the ongoing events in Libya, Yemen are what will take place in Israel. Points to ponder.