{"id":994,"date":"2015-03-13T10:28:32","date_gmt":"2015-03-13T17:28:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ramallahcafe.com\/?p=994"},"modified":"2015-03-13T10:28:32","modified_gmt":"2015-03-13T17:28:32","slug":"israeli-elections-hit-new-low-foreign-minister-threatens-to-behead-disloyal-palestinians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ramallahcafe.com\/?p=994","title":{"rendered":"Israeli elections hit new low: Foreign Minister threatens to behead disloyal Palestinians"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><center><\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.666667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/463501194?et=XLv9yzO_Rad5k9Bk5VpU_A&amp;sig=EjiyUua5lsf65W8Gk0Mngcuvx_QSzf-Yvuo-iSLeeWY=\" height=\"396\" width=\"594\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>It was the kind of threat you\u2019d expect to hear from the Islamic State \u2013 so extreme it made you want to rub your eyes in disbelief.\u00a0 But there was Israel\u2019s foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, on the campaign trail, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.haaretz.com\/news\/israel-election-2015\/1.646076\">calling for the beheading<\/a> of disloyal Arab citizens of Israel.\u00a0 &#8220;Those who are against us, there&#8217;s nothing to be done \u2013 we need to pick up an ax and cut off his head,&#8221; said Israel\u2019s foreign minister on March 8. &#8220;Otherwise we won&#8217;t survive here.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Lieberman\u2019s extremism is well known.\u00a0 He frequently calls for loyalty oaths of \u201cIsraeli Arabs,\u201d as Palestinians are known in Israel.\u00a0 And in the face of the Arab \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/forward.com\/articles\/104247\/when-avigdor-lieberman-takes-your-idea\/\">demographic threat<\/a>,\u201d he has repeatedly advocated \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2014\/mar\/25\/transfer-arab-israeli-citizens-palestinian-state\">transfer<\/a>\u201d of those Palestinians out of Israel and into the West Bank \u2013 choosing the state\u2019s Jewishness over democracy.\u00a0 Yet Lieberman\u2019s ISIS-like statement was extreme even for him.\u00a0 It was covered in the Israeli press, and the Palestinian Authority called for Lieberman\u2019s removal.\u00a0 In the U.S., however, the news \u2014\u00a0the foreign minister of a close ally endorsing the execution of Arab citizens he deems disloyal \u2014\u00a0was met with a curious silence.<\/p>\n<p>Sadly, there\u2019s little reason for surprise here.\u00a0 Israeli officials\u2019 words and actions \u2013 the deadly 2014 assault on Gaza that killed 500 children and nearly 1000 other civilians; endlessly expanding West Bank settlements that force Palestinians into ever smaller pockets surrounded by military occupation; death threats from the foreign minister \u2013 take place without fear of consequence from Israel\u2019s American benefactors.\u00a0 (One can imagine, however, the justified outrage if a Palestinian official called for the beheading of Jews.)<\/p>\n<p>The impunity now takes new form.\u00a0 Last week, mostly Republican members of Congress rose like automatons, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.salon.com\/2011\/05\/24\/netanyahu_standing_ovations\/\">29 times<\/a>, to cheer the leader of a government under <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-middle-east-30393540\">multiple<\/a> international <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2015\/01\/17\/middleeast\/palestinians-icc-inquiry\/\">inquiries<\/a> into <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/2014\/09\/11\/us-mideast-gaza-war-idUSKBN0H60XZ20140911\">war crimes in Gaza<\/a>.\u00a0 The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ochaopt.org\/content.aspx?id=1010361\">deaths of 1400 civilians in Gaza<\/a>, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ochaopt.org\/content.aspx?id=1010361\">108,000 made homeless<\/a>, the <a href=\"http:\/\/unispal.un.org\/UNISPAL.NSF\/0\/890CF37824B5F5C685257DDC00513213\">children who died of hypothermia<\/a>, and the utter devastation which could take <a href=\"https:\/\/www.middleeastmonitor.com\/news\/europe\/14628-oxfam-funds-pledged-for-gaza-could-take-decades-to-reach-people\">decades to repair<\/a>, is framed as part of Israel\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/kerry-defends-israels-defend-itself-130316917--politics.html\">right to defend itself<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 (In this frame, Palestinians are <a href=\"http:\/\/theweek.com\/articles\/444821\/israel-right-defend-itself-what-about-palestinians\">not accorded such rights<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>Now, however, as Republican members of congress attempt to extend Israel\u2019s impunity, allowing it to meddle in sensitive U.S. nuclear negotiations with Iran, questions of loyalty arise.\u00a0 Analysis varies as to whether Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton and his 46 Republican cadres crossed the line of treason with their condescending and ill-informed letter to Iran; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vox.com\/2015\/3\/12\/8191209\/tom-cotton-treason-logan-act-iran-letter\">it appears they did not<\/a>.\u00a0 But at the very least, in openly attempting to scuttle a U.S.-Iranian agreement, they were undermining American interests in favor of Israel\u2019s, as narrowly defined by an influential group representing AIPAC, neocon architects of the Iraq war, and the hard-right American casino magnate, billionaire <a href=\"http:\/\/www.salon.com\/2015\/03\/07\/we_are_hostage_to_his_fortune_sheldon_anderson_benjamin_netanyahu_and_americas_dark_money_conspiracy_partner\/\">Sheldon Adelson<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Senator Cotton, the newly-elected neocon darling, has received <a href=\"http:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2013\/06\/gop-hawks-raise-cash-for-tom-cotton-93509.html\">substantial campaign contributions<\/a> from Adelson, a key promoter of Israeli settlements, close ally to Netanyahu, publisher of an influential right-wing newspaper in Israel, and bankroller of scores of other Republican hardliners.\u00a0 Adelson, a fierce opponent of any agreement with Iran, instead promotes a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jpost.com\/Diplomacy-and-Politics\/Adelson-US-should-drop-atomic-bomb-on-Iran-329641\">U.S. nuclear first strike<\/a> in the Iranian desert, to show their leaders that \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/mondoweiss.net\/2013\/10\/adelson-nuclear-negotiate\">we mean business<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another of Cotton\u2019s benefactors is the Emergency Committee for Israel, whose founder, William Kristol, helped forge the bogus justification for the American invasion of Iraq.\u00a0 Kristol promised a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nONm4myKwY8\">two-month war<\/a>\u201d in Iraq; now he is part of the neocon-saber rattling campaign against Iran.\u00a0 His Emergency Committee, according to Lobelog\u2019s Eli Clifton, provided <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lobelog.com\/exclusive-emergency-committee-for-israel-spends-big-on-rep-tom-cotton\/\">nearly one million dollars<\/a> in advertising funds for Cotton\u2019s successful Senate campaign.\u00a0 Elliot Management, the hedge fund of billionaire and Republican Jewish Coalition board member Paul Singer, <a href=\"http:\/\/influenceexplorer.com\/organization\/elliott-management\/f8c8e395f18a4a449ea0a19b279762e5\">gave $165,000<\/a> to Cotton\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n<p>And then there is AIPAC, which, according to Connie Bruck\u2019s brilliantly-reported September 1, 2014 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2014\/09\/01\/friends-israel\">article in the <i>New Yorker<\/i><\/a>, provides \u201cconsiderable input\u201d in drafting legislation that is presented under the name of its sponsoring member of Congress.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/mondoweiss.net\/2015\/03\/israel-fingerprints-republican\">It appears this was the also case<\/a> with the letter from the 47 Senators.\u00a0 \u201cOn all matters relating to Israel and the Middle East in general, AIPAC writes the legislation (or letters, resolutions, etc) which are then handed over to legislators to drop in the hopper, gather cosponsors, and get it passed or sent,\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/mjrosenberg.net\/2015\/03\/09\/how-we-know-aipac-wrote-the-treason-letter-to-iran\/\">writes MJ Rosenberg<\/a>, a former AIPAC staffer who is now sharply critical of the Israel lobby.\u00a0 \u201cNot only that, the ideas for these initiatives come out of AIPAC rather than (as is usually the case with lobbies) starting with the Member of Congress who then asks the lobby for help with drafting.\u00a0 AIPAC does it all, from soup to nuts\u2026 I know this because back in my days working as a Congressional aide, I participated in that process. Mea culpa!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Are the 47 Senators thus guilty of harboring greater loyalty to Israel and its lobby than to their own nation\u2019s interests?\u00a0 Perhaps Cotton and his Senate colleagues are acting on the sincere conviction that, in attempting to undermine sensitive nuclear negotiations with Iran, they are simply <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vox.com\/2015\/3\/12\/8191209\/tom-cotton-treason-logan-act-iran-letter\">representing the American interest as they see it<\/a>.\u00a0 However, AIPAC, representing Israel and Netanyahu\u2019s interests, has a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lobelog.com\/aipacs-problems\/\">history of using its congressional influence to try to destroy<\/a> any such agreement by pushing for ever more crippling economic sanctions.\u00a0 \u201cWe told them directly that a sanctions bill would blow up the negotiations \u2013 the Iranians would walk away from the table,\u201d a senior administration official told the <i>New Yorker<\/i>\u2019s<i> <\/i>Bruck.\u00a0 \u201cThey said, \u2018This bill is to strengthen your hand in diplomacy.\u2019\u00a0 We kept saying, \u2018It doesn\u2019t strengthen our hand in diplomacy.\u00a0 Why do you know better than we do what strengthens our hand? Nobody involved in the diplomacy thinks that.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 This year, with the DNA of AIPAC and pro-Israel hardliners apparently in the letter of the 47 Senators, the question of Congressional loyalties remain.<\/p>\n<p>In recent months, however, there has been notable pushback from the Obama administration.\u00a0 In late 2013, the White House sharply opposed AIPAC\u2019s sanctions bill.\u00a0 Sixteen months later, in the wake of John Boehner\u2019s ill-advised Congressional invitation to Netanyahu, the White House isolated Israel, suggesting it <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ynetnews.com\/articles\/0,7340,L-4632711,00.html\">could no longer be trusted<\/a> with U.S. intelligence.\u00a0 Coincidentally or not, one of the staunchest Democratic supporters of Israel, New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez, who, adopting Netanyahu\u2019s talking points, blasted the administration\u2019s Iran negotiations as a \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationaljournal.com\/congress\/at-aipac-sen-menendez-goes-head-to-head-with-the-obama-administration-on-iran-20150302\">bad deal<\/a>,\u201d is suddenly <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationaljournal.com\/politics\/senators-won-t-say-if-they-re-suspicious-of-robert-menendez-but-the-corruption-charges-are-another-story-20150311\">facing corruption charges<\/a> from the Justice Department. And shortly before Netanyahu\u2019s address to the Congress, the White House announced that Robert Malley, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theblaze.com\/stories\/2015\/03\/09\/obama-dropped-him-as-a-campaign-adviser-because-he-met-with-hamas-but-now-he-has-a-much-bigger-job-at-the-white-house\/\">vilified by segments of the Israel lobby<\/a> as being <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commentarymagazine.com\/2008\/02\/19\/more-on-malley\/\">too pro-Palestinian<\/a>, would head the Middle East desk at the National Security Council.<\/p>\n<p>Taken together, these developments are part of a steady deterioration in the U.S.-Israeli relationship, now at its <a href=\"http:\/\/www.al-monitor.com\/pulse\/en\/contents\/articles\/originals\/2015\/02\/israel-us-quartet-security-cooperation-palestine-negotiation.html\">lowest point in decades<\/a>.\u00a0 The time of impunity for Israel and its American lobby, of actions and words without repercussions, may be coming to an end.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;-<\/p>\n<p><em><\/em><i>Sandy Tolan&#8217;s new book\u00a0<i><a href=\"http:\/\/ramallahcafe.com\/?page_id=367\" target=\"_blank\">Children of the Stone: The Power of Music in a Hard Land<\/a>\u00a0<\/i>(Bloomsbury, April 7), tells the story of Palestinian children learning music against the odds, under Israel&#8217;s military occupation. Of the book, Yo-Yo Ma writes:<\/i><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i>In a world where so much popular fiction depicts life in a dystopian world, it is refreshing to have this non-fiction account that reflects one individual\u2019s belief in the power of music and culture to transform lives. Congratulations to Sandy Tolan for bringing us the story of Ramzi Hussein Aburedwan, his philosophy and his personal mission to make a difference.\u00a0 His story is proof of the famous words of Margaret Mead \u2013 \u201cNever doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it\u2019s the only thing that ever has.\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was the kind of threat you\u2019d expect to hear from the Islamic State \u2013 so extreme it made you want to rub your eyes in disbelief.\u00a0 But there was Israel\u2019s foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, on the campaign trail, calling for the beheading of disloyal Arab citizens of Israel.\u00a0 &#8220;Those who are against us, there&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/ramallahcafe.com\/?p=994#more-'\" class=\"more-link\">more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[14,6,9,15,11,12,20,19,16,21,13,18,17,8,7,10],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ramallahcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/994"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ramallahcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ramallahcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ramallahcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ramallahcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=994"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/ramallahcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1007,"href":"https:\/\/ramallahcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/994\/revisions\/1007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ramallahcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ramallahcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ramallahcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}