American policy shifting away from Israel?

[jbg]

Absolutely not.

Didn't the U.S. enter WW I basically to protect Britain, even though it had some significant part in kicking off that war?

[bud]

Seriously, he has criticized Israel unduly for building housing in already Jewish neighborhoods.

so what? so have every other administration. they have all criticized the expansion of settlements which are both recognized illegal internationally and go against the roadmap.

He made a keystone speech in Cairo lavishing praise on a very un-admirable Islamic world and gave plaudits to Islam's supposed role in building America.

so what? the war is not on islam. you're criticizing obama for trying to reach out?

for

He had the infamous "open mike" discussion with Sarkozy. Those are but a few examples.

that was not supposed to be in public. regardless, i'm sure sarkozy and obama are not the only politicians who see natanyahu and the israeli government being liars.

you failed to show how obama has been against israel. every u.s. action and ruling has been in support of israel and aipac. what is wrong with you people?

[cybercoma]

Didn't the U.S. enter WW I basically to protect Britain, even though it had some significant part in kicking off that war?

Partly, but I don't see how that's relevant.

[jbg]

Partly, but I don't see how that's relevant.

The relevance is that we (meaning both our countries) support close allies even when not blameless.

[DogOnPorch]

The relevance is that we (meaning both our countries) support close allies even when not blameless.

They ever so much wish to throw the Jews down the well.

[Bob]

Of course, the money that America pours in Muslim-majority states is of no concern to the reflexively anti-Israel/anti-Semitic crowd. Israel has received and average of about 2.5 billion dollars per year in aid from the USA since 1979, (primarily military aid). Egypt has received about 2 billion dollars since this same time period, as sort of a payment/bribe/incentive for both states to enter into an official peace treaty. Nobody wants to talk about the billions poured into Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia. Nor do they want to talk about the average of about three billion dollars per year (primarily military aid) going to Pakistan since about 2003. Nor do they want to talk about the untold billions poured in Afghanistan and Iraq, which is much more difficult to navigate given the complex nature of how the money is categorized: aid, state department operations, military, reimbursements, etc. Finally, the "Palestinians", who are among the highest per-capita recipients of foreign aid, are never discussed. It shouldn't be forgotten that the "Palestinians" receive billions of dollars from many sources: direct bilateral aid from the USA and many other countries, as well as transfers from the UN and its subsidiary institutions (primarily UNRWA, of course funded by the USA and many other countries), as well as some assistance from Muslim-majority countries and other places (self-described charities, etc). UNRWA's budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year was about 1.7 billion dollars. There was also a recent "International Donor's Conference for the Palestinian State" in February of this year which pledged 7.7 billion dollars for the "Palestinians" over a three-year period (with the USA being the largest single-state donor, of course).

The bottom line? The typical anti-Israel/anti-Semitic leftists harp on and on about the alleged one-sidedness of America with respect to its position on the Israel-Arab conflict, while remaining completely oblivious to the broader context within which American foreign aid to Israel occurs. America pours a lot more money into Muslim-majority countries, essentially Israel's enemies. Yet America is said to be "one-sided" and "unfair" in its approach to the conflict. Listening to the anti-Israel/anti-Semitic leftists who use "Zionist" in a pejorative sense, one would be left with the impression that Israel is the only recipient of foreign aid in the world, while the disadvantaged and noble Arabs/Muslims are completely swept aside and ignored.

[cybercoma]

The relevance is that we (meaning both our countries) support close allies even when not blameless.

And I don't condone supporting allies no matter what, as you asked. So, what's your point?

[GostHacked]

The bottom line? The typical anti-Israel/anti-Semitic leftists harp on and on about the alleged one-sidedness of America with respect to its position on the Israel-Arab conflict, while remaining completely oblivious to the broader context within which American foreign aid to Israel occurs. America pours a lot more money into Muslim-majority countries, essentially Israel's enemies. Yet America is said to be "one-sided" and "unfair" in its approach to the conflict. Listening to the anti-Israel/anti-Semitic leftists who use "Zionist" in a pejorative sense, one would be left with the impression that Israel is the only recipient of foreign aid in the world, while the disadvantaged and noble Arabs/Muslims are completely swept aside and ignored.

I think I've seen this before. Where the US helped fun the Allies before they entered the war, and also through some slick loopholes, they helped fund part of Germany's efforts too. Hmmmm.

[jbg]

I think I've seen this before. Where the US helped fun the Allies before they entered the war, and also through some slick loopholes, they helped fund part of Germany's efforts too. Hmmmm.

Sickening. I agree with you.

While Americans and Canadians were losing their lives some profiteers were filling their bank accounts. The "economic war" on the Axis was a joke up until they were about to lose. Just as bin Ladin was killed not when he was at the peak of power but when he was shivering in his unheated mansion.

[bud]

Sickening. I agree with you.

While Americans and Canadians were losing their lives some profiteers were filling their bank accounts. The "economic war" on the Axis was a joke up until they were about to lose. Just as bin Ladin was killed not when he was at the peak of power but when he was shivering in his unheated mansion.

Israel's Tehran connection

Israel, while supposedly observing an ironclad boycott of all things Iranian, is happily buying Iranian oil

link

[jbg]

Israel's Tehran connection

Israel, while supposedly observing an ironclad boycott of all things Iranian, is happily buying Iranian oil

link

And I suppose Iran is happily selling it as well.

Seriously though oil is a fungible commodity. Any given barrel of oil will always find a market somewhere. That is why I am not a believer in the efficacy of sanctions. Japan during WWII may have been a unique exception because they were on an island, but would a starveout have been any less criticized by the likes of you than Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

[bud]

when thomas friedman is criticizing israel, you know things are changing:

Washington, DC -- Congressman Steve Rothman (D-NJ) released the following statement on Thomas Friedman's column where he wrote that the "standing ovation [israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] got in Congress this year was not for his politics. That ovation was bought and paid for by the Israel lobby" in The New York Times this morning:

is criticizing u.s.' support for israel by the mainstream no longer a taboo? is the mainstream media finally showing some courage?

if Tom Friedman of all people is now so anti-Israel and borderline anti-Semitic that he needs to publicly apologize, then you’ve reduced the accusation — and the movement that routinely spews it — to pure caricature.

glenn greenwald

[cybercoma]

There is true anti-semitism out there, but it gets thrown around too freely. One can be a Zionist, while criticizing Israel's foreign policy as a state. War-mongering, Palestinian hating Jews and their supporters throw around the "anti-semite" accusation as a way of shutting down any political criticism of Israeli politics and Israel's foreign policy. Disagreeing with their state's foreign policy does not automatically mean you hate Jews. The "anti-semite" accusation has been used to try and shut down criticism of Israeli foreign policy a bit too freely, but politics must always be scrutinized to the highest degree. The biggest problem in the Middle East is that politics have been mixed too freely with religion and this makes it too easy for someone crticizing the politics to be accused of criticizing the religion, and in Israel's case their Jewish ethnicity as well. It's a logical fallacy that needs to stop being perpetuated by the intellectually dishonest. One can criticize Israeli politics without criticizing the Jews or being an anti-semite or anti-Zionist. Being Jewish and being persecuted since time immemorial does not give the Jewish state of Israel carte blanche to do whatever it pleases without being criticized. People in general need to stop conflating Judaism with Israel because I think it takes attention away from the truly condemnable anti-semitism that's out there.

Edited December 22, 2011 by cybercoma