Even those pundits who seem to want to distance U.S. foreign policy from Tel Aviv’s demands and begin treating Israel like any other country sometimes feel compelled to make excuses and apologies before getting down to the nitty-gritty. The self-lacerating prologues generally describe how much the writer really has a lot of Jewish friends and how he or she thinks Israelis are great people and that Israel is a wonderful country before launching into what is usually a fairly mild critique.

Well, I don’t feel that way. I don’t like Israel very much. Whether or not I have Jewish friends does not define how I see Israel and is irrelevant to the argument. And as for the Israelis, when I was a CIA officer overseas, I certainly encountered many of them. Some were fine people and some were not so fine, just like the general run of people everywhere else in the world. But even the existence of good upstanding Israelis doesn’t alter the fact that the governments that they have elected are essentially part of a long-running criminal enterprise judging by the serial convictions of former presidents and prime ministers. Most recently, former President Moshe Katsav was convicted of rape, while almost every recent head of government, including the current one, has been investigated for corruption. Further, the Israeli government is a rogue regime by most international standards, engaging as it does in torture, arbitrary imprisonment, and continued occupation of territories seized by its military. Worse still, it has successfully manipulated my country, the United States, and has done terrible damage both to our political system and to the American people, a crime that I just cannot forgive, condone, or explain away.

The most recent outrage is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s direct interference in U.S. domestic politics through his appearance in a television ad appearing in Florida that serves as an endorsement of Republican candidate Mitt Romney. The Netanyahu ad and his involvement in the election has been widely reported in the media and has even been condemned by several leading Jewish congressmen, but it has elicited no response from either Obama or Romney. Both should be condemning in the strongest terms the completely unprecedented intervention by a foreign head of government in an American election.

That they are saying nothing is a testament to the power that Israel and its friends in Congress and the media have over the U.S. political establishment. Romney might even privately approve of the ads, as he has basically promised to cede to Netanyahu the right to set the limits for U.S. policy in the Middle East.

And why is Benjamin Netanyahu in such a lather? It is because President Barack Obama will not concede to him a “red line” that would automatically trigger a U.S. attack on Iran. Consider for a moment the hubris of Netanyahu in demanding that Washington meet his conditions for going to war with Iran, a nation that for all its frequently described faults has not attacked anyone, has not threatened to attack anyone, and has not made the political decision to acquire a nuclear weapon in spite of what one reads in the U.S. press. At the U.N., Netanyahu’s chart showing a cartoon bomb with a sputtering fuse reminiscent of something that might have been employed by an anarchist in the 1870s failed to pass any credibility test even for the inevitable cheerleaders in the U.S. media. If the U.S. is to go to war based on a Netanyahu cartoon then it deserves everything it gets when the venture turns sour, most likely Iraq Redux, only 10 times worse.

Patrick Clawson, director, WINEP.

Even more outrageous, and a lot less reported in the media, were the comments made by Patrick Clawson, director of research for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), an organization founded by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). WINEP is widely viewed as a major component of the Israel Lobby in Washington and is closely tied to the Israeli government, with which it communicates on a regular basis. Clawson heads WINEP’s Iran Security Initiative. At a briefing on Sept. 24 he said, “I frankly think that crisis initiation is really tough, and it’s very hard for me to see how the United States … uh … president can get us to war with Iran.… The traditional way America gets to war is what would be best for U.S. interests.”

Note that Clawson states his conviction that initiating a crisis to get the U.S. involved in a war with Iran and thereby fooling the American people into thinking that it is the right thing to do is actually a “U.S. interest.”

He cites Pearl Harbor, Fort Sumter, the Lusitania, and the Gulf of Tonkin as models for how to get engaged. Which inevitably leads to Clawson’s solution: “if the Iranians aren’t going to compromise it would be best if someone else started the war … Iranian submarines periodically go down. Some day one of them may not come up…. We are in the game of using covert means against the Iranians. We could get nastier at that.”

Clawson is clearly approving of Israel’s staging an incident that would lead to war, possibly even a false-flag operation carried out by Israel that would implicate the United States directly, or he is urging the White House to do the job itself.

Clawson not surprisingly has never served in the U.S. military and has a Ph.D. in economics from the New School for Social Research, which would at first glance seem to disqualify him from figuring out how to set up a covert operation to sink a submarine and thereby start a war. He might be seen as moderately ridiculous, but like many of his neoconservative colleagues he is well wired into the system. He writes regularly for The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal; appears on television as an “expert”; and is a colleague at WINEP of the ubiquitous Dennis Ross, sometimes called “Israel’s lawyer,” who was until recently President Obama’s point man on the Middle East. Clawson is a useful idiot who would be registered as an agent of the Israeli government if the Justice Department were doing its job, but instead he is feted as a man who tells it like it is in terms of American interests. The distortion of the foreign-policy decision-making in this country is something that can be attributed to Clawson and his host of fellow travelers, all of whom promote Israel’s perceived interests at the expense of the United States. And they do it with their eyes wide open.

Israel first Pamela Geller

I will deliberately avoid belaboring another Israel Firster Pamela Geller and her New York subway posters calling Palestinians savages and Israelis civilized, as I am sure the point has been made about how any lie that can serve the cause of Israel will be aggressively defended as “free speech.” A poster excoriating Jews or blacks in similar terms as “savages” would not have seen the light of day in New York City, another indication of the power of the Lobby and its friends to control the debate about the Middle East and game the system.

And then there are the reasons to dislike Israel and what it represents that go way back. In 1952’s Lavon Affair, the Israelis were prepared to blow up a U.S. Information Center in Alexandria and blame it on the Egyptians. In 1967, the Israelis attacked and nearly sank the USS Liberty, killing 34 crewmen, and then used their power over President Lyndon Johnson to block an investigation into what had occurred. In 1987, Jonathan Pollard was convicted of spying for Israel with investigators determining that he had been the most damaging spy in the history of the United States. In the 1960s, Israelis stole uranium from a lab in Pennsylvania to construct a secret nuclear arsenal. And the spying and theft of U.S. technology continues. Israel is the most active “friendly nation” when it comes to stealing U.S. secrets, and when its spies are caught, they are either sent home or, if they are Americans, receive a slap on the wrist.

And Israel gets away with killing American citizens — literally — in the cases of Rachel Corrie and Furkan Dogan of the Mavi Marmara. And let’s not forget Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians which has made the United States complicit in a crime against humanity.

Tel Aviv has also played a key role in Washington’s going to war against Iraq, in promulgating a U.S.-led global war on terror against the Muslim world, and in crying wolf over Iran, all of which have served no U.S. interest. Through it all, Congress and the media are oblivious to what is taking place. Israel is a net recipient of over $123 billion in U.S. aid and continues to get $3 billion a year even though its per capita income is higher than that of Spain or Italy.

No one questions anything having to do with Israel while Congress rubber-stamps resolution after resolution virtually promising to go to war on Israel’s behalf.

I have to admit that I don’t like what my own government is doing these days, but I like Israel even less and it is past time to do something about it. No more money, no more political support, no more tolerance of spying, and no more having to listen to demands for red lines to go to war. No more favorable press when the demented Benjamin Netanyahu holds up a cartoon at the U.N. The United States government exists to serve the American people, no more, no less, and it is time that our elected representatives begin to remember that fact.

http://mycatbirdseat.com/2012/10/giraldi-why-i-dislike-israel/
Philip Giraldi is the executive director of the Council for the National Interest and a recognized authority on international security and counterterrorism issues. He is a former DIA and CIA counter-terrorism specialist and military intelligence officer who served eighteen years overseas in Turkey, Italy, Germany, and Spain. He was Chief of Base in Barcelona from 1989 to 1992 designated as the Agency’s senior officer for Olympic Games support. Since 1992 he consulted for a number of Fortune 500 corporate clients. Mr. Giraldi was awarded an MA and PhD from the University of London in European History and holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honors from the University of Chicago. He speaks Spanish, Italian, German, and Turkish.

YOUTUBE FINDS ISRAELI POLICE BRUTALITY OFFENSIVE OR INAPPROPRIATE

So do we!
*
The following content has been identified by the YouTube community as being potentially offensive or inappropriate. Viewer discretion is advised.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ywi-EcSnEl8&bpctr=1350169895

Same old Kuddelmuddel warmed over in the same old greasy CT-Skillet!
Not even fit for the Humor and Joke-Threads!
Where does one find Stuff like that?

I care about Isreal as much as Isreal cares about me. Zero

Israel cares about america as long as we economicly support them.

We borrow from China to pay Israels bills.

OK, we get it you dislike Israel with an irrational hatred.
Just like Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Islamic Jihad and Neo-Nazis.
Congratulations!!!

This thread mimics its' complaint...Now that really is funny!

Enlighten me

When is the last time Iran spied on us? (Pollard spy case)
When did Iran murder a US citizen? ( Rachel Corrie)
How about the Lavon affair?

All this done while taking US taxpayer funds.

This is not uninformed hatred but reality.

Palestinians murdered Rachel!

Iran spies on you daily!
The rest of the Jihadists hate America for being America,NOT for standing with Israel!
BTW,look up Yosef Amit!


seems you Guys bee doing pretty well in the spying against Israel!

Yosef Amit (Hebrew: יוסף עמית‎, 1945-[1]) is a former Israeli military intelligence major who was convicted of espionage in 1987.[2][3] Amit is thought to have spied for the United States and a European NATO country, though this has never been confirmed by the Israeli government.[3]


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosef_Amit

You Guys really need to get away from those CT-Sites!
They are a bad influence on Rational Thinking!

Israeli regime threatens Gaza-bound ship with military force

The Tel Aviv regime has warned that it will use its military force to stop a Swedish-owned ship under the Finnish flag attempting to break the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip.


Finnish Foreign Ministry spokesman Risto Piipponen said on Saturday that the Israeli regime said it would “take action to stop the ship from reaching land if it tries to break the blockade.”

“We pointed out that it is a civilian vessel and urged them to practice restraint in any action they take,” Piipponen added.

The vessel, Estelle, which is transporting a group of activists and a cargo of humanitarian aid for the Palestinians, left the Italian port city of Naples on October 6 and is expected to reach Gaza next week.

On May 31, 2010, Israeli forces attacked the Gaza-bound humanitarian Freedom Flotilla in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea, killing nine Turkish nationals aboard Turkey’s Mavi Marmara and injuring about 50 other activists who were part of the six-ship convoy.


Also in November 2011, a Canadian and an Irish yacht were prevented by Israeli forces in the international waters to transport pro-Palestinian activists and medical supplies to Gaza.

The Israeli regime denies about 1.7 million people in Gaza their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, jobs that pay proper wages, and adequate healthcare and education.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/14/266571/israel-threatens-gazabound-ship/

Of course if anyone wishes to distribute aid to Gazans then they
can simply use the well established inspected channels rather than
trying to use smuggling routes which are prohibited because they
are known to be methods of smuggling arms which are used in terrorist
attacks against Israeli citizens.







The goal of these ridiculous propaganda stunts is not to deliver
aid or support of course but rather to start altercations.

Fortunately no one is fooled by these stupid, futile and pointless
provocations.

they have every right to do so under the UN-Resolution 242!
Read something factual for a Change!

Gaza–Jericho Agreement (Annex I, Article XI) which vests Israel with the responsibility for security along the coastline and the Sea of Gaza. The agreement stipulates that Israel may take any measures necessary against vessels suspected of being used for terrorist activities or for smuggling arms, ammunition, drugs, goods, or for any other illegal activity.

Israel Encourages Settler Violence


A senior United Nations envoy on Sunday condemned a wave of attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian olive groves and called on Israel to punish the perpetrators.

"I am alarmed at recent reports that Israeli settlers in the West Bank have repeatedly attacked Palestinian farmers and destroyed hundreds of their olive trees at the height of the harvest season," said Robert Serry, UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process.

"These acts are reprehensible and I call on the government of Israel to bring those responsible to justice," he said in a statement.

Israeli rights group Yesh Din said it had logged 35 attacks targeting olive trees, grapevines and other fruit trees between September 2011 and July 2012, but in 99 percent of cases police had closed their probes for lack of evidence.

"The phenomenon of tree vandalism continues even more forcefully this year and targets the property and livelihood of many Palestinian families," said Yesh Din.

"The police's failure to enforce the law and protect the Palestinians' property encourages this phenomenon because the criminals who go unpunished are not deterred from repeating their actions."

Israeli police challenged Yesh Din's findings.

"They are inaccurate and out of date," spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP. "Police have stepped up activity, particularly over the past few weeks, in dealing with the incidents which have been taking place."

"There was an undercover police operation which took place just under two weeks ago where three police officers dressed up as Palestinian shepherds were attacked (by settlers)," he said, adding that the officers were specifically watching out for attacks on Palestinian farmers at the time.

"Israeli police have arrested four people who were directly connected in that attack."

On Saturday, dozens of olive trees were set ablaze in the West Bank village of Qaryut village, south of Nablus, in an attack villagers and Palestinian security officials blamed on settlers.

Yesh Din quoted Qaryut farmer Said Ahmad Jaber as saying that just a few days earlier, on Tuesday, he had 120 olive trees cut down.

Rosenfeld said an investigation into those attacks was under way but no arrests had so far been made.

A coalition of Israeli rights groups said hundreds of trees had been damaged or had their crop stolen since October 7.

"The past week was unusual in terms of the extent of the theft and destruction of Palestinian olive groves, especially those near settlements and outposts known as trouble spots," they said.

"According to early estimations, over 450 Palestinian trees have been damaged this week."

The threat faced by Palestinian olive farmers during the harvest, which began last week, was raised by senior Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi in a letter to diplomats.

"Palestinians across the country have begun the annual olive harvest this month and once again they are being attacked by violent Israeli settlers," she wrote in the letter, a copy of which was seen by AFP.

"The Palestinian people request that your mission to our country send observers to all major at-risk olive picking areas to document Israeli settler and military abuses. In addition we believe your presence will be a deterrent to further violence."

Figures released last year by aid group Oxfam indicated there are about 9.5 million olive trees in the West Bank, where the crop is a vital source of revenue for Palestinian farmers.

In a good year, the olive harvest contributes around $100 million (77 million euros) in income to some of the poorest Palestinian communities.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/settler-raids-palestinian-olives-reprehensible-un-211951556.html

so,where is the Encouragement in your post!
Besides,could you date the Article for us?

Recent Reports from at least three years ago!
You Guys really are a Joke!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0Wiz1elwHU

Way ahead of you Mr Conrad.


Last night in the West Bank village of Qaryut, 12 Palestinian owned olive trees were irreparably destroyed in a late night arson attack by Israelis from the illegal West Bank settlement of Eli.

The attack follows an incident last week, on the night of October 8th, in which settlers cut the branches from 130 trees with chainsaws. The branches will take some ten years to regrow, during which time the eight farmers who owned the trees will be without this crucial source of income.

Tree damaged last week by settlers’ chainsaws.

The attacks seem to have been carried out so as to maximize economic impact. Many Palestinian olive farmers are financially dependent on the olive harvest, which begun earlier this week. In last night’s attack, the settlers seem to have targeted the oldest and most fruitful trees. They set fire to hollows in their trunks, which kills the tree. Growing a new one to their size takes hundreds of years.

The timing, too, maximized the impact of the attack. For the last two years, the Israeli government has run a permissions system for Palestinians harvesting olives in areas near to West Bank settlements: although the farmers own both the land and the trees, they have to apply for Israeli permission to access the land. Permission is usually granted for impossibly short periods of time: in this case, the Qaryut farmers were able to harvest for either two or three days (traditionally harvest lasts between four and six weeks). The first attack came the night before the first permissions began in the area, thereby devastating the harvest the night before it started.

Such incidents are not uncommon. During the last two harvests, a reported 300 trees were destroyed in Quryat alone. In 2009, the village suffered violent attacks by settlers from Eli and another nearby illegal settlement Shilo (more here and here). Such attacks are commonplace across the West Bank during olive harvest, when the symbolic and economic importance of the crop make their farmers frequent targets for settler violence.



http://palsolidarity.org/2012/10/arson-attack-on-olive-trees-in-qaryut/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+palsolidarity+%28International+Solidarity+Movement%29

ain't their Land!
Could be theirs if their Leaders would negotiate in good Faith!
And your Nitpicking at something which isn't condoned by Israel is beyond the Pale!
Should have thought about that in 1948!
That Area was held illegally from '49 to '67!
Like I said before!
Ain't their Land!
Regardless what you claim!
Besides,how do you know the Israeli Courts won't do something about it?
What gave you such a Grudge against Israel,to post such onesided *********?

The OP's info supplied by the Iranian government's own propaganda machine no less!



That's credible!

Deserves a Double One!