Paul J. Balles looks at how Israel and its worldwide lobbyists, aided by a complicit Western media and abetted by politicians afraid of being destroyed by the lobbyists, is getting away with blue murder while an indifferent public turns the other way.
In one of Aesop's fables, a man and a lion travelled together through the forest. They soon began to boast of their respective superiority to each other in strength and prowess.
As they were disputing, they passed a statue carved in stone, which represented "a lion strangled by a man."
The traveller pointed to it and said: "See there! How strong we are, and how we prevail over even the king of beasts."
The lion replied, "This statue was made by one of you men. If we Lions knew how to erect statues, you would see the man placed under the paw of the lion."
That’s the fable. Now for the film.
The American Jewish Committee has released a hard-hitting 5-minute film dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict entitled "No: the real obstacle to peace."
The film asserts that the main hurdle to peace in the region is not settlements or land or borders, but rather the idea that Jews have "no right to a state in a territory where they have lived throughout history".
If the Palestinians were one-tenth as good at distorting reality, creating propaganda and controlling the media as the Zionists are, they wouldn't have to say "No" to every so-called offer of peace made by the Israelis.
The Israelis, like the man boasting about the statue of the lion he strangled, have developed abhorrent abilities to strangle the Palestinians. The fraud comes with the ability to distort the truth.
Richard Falk, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, offers a near-perfect portrayal of the man (beast) strangling the lion:
They impose a siege – turn Gaza into a ghetto – steal Palestinian lands – steal water resources – burn olive trees and other crops – create an apartheid wall on stolen land – imprison 12,000 people for 20 years without trial – indiscriminate use of US-provided F16s – kill thousands of civilians, mostly women and children – commit assassinations at will – starve an entire nation and complain that the oppressed Palestinians fire misguided missiles in revenge. Remember Jenin – with a 1000 casualties and a whole town torn to bits? No one probably does or cares.
Chris Hedges does an outstanding job of posing questions to the kind of monster who strangles the tame lion.
Can anyone who is following the Israeli air attacks on Gaza – the buildings blown to rubble, the children killed on their way to school, the long rows of mutilated corpses, the wailing mothers and wives, the crowds of terrified Palestinians not knowing where to flee, the hospitals so overburdened and out of supplies they cannot treat the wounded, and our studied, callous indifference to this widespread human suffering – wonder why we are hated?
What have the Israelis used to strangle the lion? None of the events, as reported above, has ever seen the light of day in the mainstream media. US coverage has been watered-down apologetics for Israel. Yet, 1.5 million people remain locked in the Gaza outdoor prison camp.
How has America reacted? They send congressmen to Israel. What does the delegation of 25 US Republican Party lawmakers do? They assure Israeli President Shimon Peres of strong congressional backing for the Jewish state. Democrats will follow and do the same.
In a letter to Jeff Blankfort, James Abourezk, former US Senator from South Dakota, wrote, "... in the Congress, the support Israel has in that body is based completely on political fear – fear of defeat by anyone who does not do what Israel wants done."
Some day the truth will catch up with them all – the Congress, the media and the public.
Paul J. Balles is a retired American university professor and freelance writer who has lived in the Middle East for many years. For more information, see http://www.pballes.com.
