Israels ties that bind

Who or what has the most say over Israel policy? Discuss today's Blowback.

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From the Los Angeles Times

I will only comment on the shared values. The passionate commitment to democracy remains however an empty shell when there is no constitutional law as is the case in Israel. Then how are the human rights for "Israelic Arabs" implemented? Lets see, the budget for their basic education is roughly a third of the budget for an Israelic Jew . Equality before the law? Then why can a Jew citizen in Israel have his relatives from abroad become Israelic citizens, while an Israelic (Arab) citizen can not? The points of shared values are all empty shells ,I'm afraid.

Leo Germeys @ 2:11 PM PST, Jan 16, 2008
This seems to be a whole lot of protesting too much, as it were. America protects Israel because of the Jewish lobby and their many millions of dollars. Does anyone actually believe that Feith, Wolfowitz, Libby, Abrams, Ledeen et al were hired for their policy experience and even-handedness? Asking the Palestinians and Israelis to sit down for a friendly chat is tantamount to asking the slaves of 1860 to find common ground with plantation owners. Memo to the pro-Israel faction: No one believes you. You're committing crimes against humanity. You're swimming in blood. Own it.

Keith Johnsen @ 2:32 PM PST, Jan 13, 2008
Mearsheimer and Walt deserve credit for a crucial contribution to the question of the strength of support for Israeli policy in the United States, even when that policy supports flagrantly illegal seizure of land by Setttler vigilantes. Israel has long ago secured the vast majority of all the land in Palestine, but what's really going on cannot even be discussed in the United States without charges of anti-Semitism or Hitlerism being lodged against the would-be discussant. Are you critical of anything Israel does? Well, so is David Duke! So that means you are. . . Abbott Gleason

Abbott Gleason @ 5:08 AM PST, Jan 13, 2008
For anyone who doubts the power of the lobby note there is nothing in our political system that is not debated; health care, the Iraq war, slavery, etc. Anything is on the table. Our SACRED COW that is never debated is unconditional support for Israel. The presidential candidates have only ONE subject that they all agree on; total and unconditional support for Israel even if it goes against clearly stated US policy. From a political, media, or entertainment point of view the discourse does not exist. THE LOBBY'S EXISTENCE IS AS CLEAR AS THE SUN ON A CLEAR DAY.

Al @ 7:45 AM PST, Jan 12, 2008
(1) Walt and Mearsheimer have curious views about lobbies, and are completely silent about the Arab Lobby. (2) Dave says that Israel regards Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Norway antisemitic because they vote in the UN for Israel to withdraw to its legal borders? What borders are they? Those of the Palestine Mandate - which includes Jordan; those of Judea and Samaria, disputed?

jwubnig @ 7:24 PM PST, Jan 11, 2008
What #1. Do Mexicans in Mexico get to vote in American elections? Come on, Palestinians are not citizens of Israel, nor does Israel govern them. They have been under the authority of the PNA since 1993. They are no 'Israeli Palestinians'. They are either Israelis or they are not. As for build anywhere they want, of course not. They have to own the land and it has to zoned for building, but otherwise yes. Israeli-Arabs own 40% of the privately own land in Israel, which is twice their percentage of the population. What percentage of privately own land is Hispanic in the US?

Gee @ 10:17 AM PST, Jan 11, 2008
Is Israel a democracy? Do Palestinians in the occupied West Bank get to vote in elections? Can Israeli Palestinians live and build anywhere they like? Questions to ponder about this "democracy".

What @ 4:10 PM PST, Jan 10, 2008
How many Americans are aware that Israel considers Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway monstrously anti-semetic because they vote in the United Nations for Israel to withdraw to its legal borders?

Dave @ 3:36 PM PST, Jan 10, 2008
Mearsheimer and Walt wrote in their LA Times article we all know Clinton's outline of the eventual peace settelment between Israel and the Palestineans. They do not tell the readers that it was Arafat who violently turned it down. They claim that they truly have the best interest of Israel in mind, not the lobby. The writers covert the lands of a country with an 8.5 mile wide costal plane. Why do they not respond to Secretary George Shultz's point by point contridiction of their thesis, before they continue to spread their faulse and hipotrical doctrine?

Professor Ezekiel Bahar @ 2:40 PM PST, Jan 10, 2008
Bard is nothing but an Israeli apologist. Walt and Mearsheimer have demolished every one of his arguments in their book. As for cooperation, this begs the question. We cooperated and traded with the Soviet Union. By Bard's logic, that made us best buddies with Kremlin. Finally, as for shared values, Bard is right on this. But the US with which he sees sharing Israel's is the ante-bellum South. Israel's courts routinely give Israeli Jews superior rights over Israeli Arabs, not to mentions Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. Dr. Norman Finkelstein has destroyed this argument in his acclaimed book, Beyond Chutzpah.

George @ 12:18 PM PST, Jan 10, 2008
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