Netanyahu's Speech To Congress Shows America Will Buy Anything

[Purveyor]

By Gideon Levy

It was an address with no destination, filled with lies on top of lies and illusions heaped on illusions. Only rarely is a foreign head of state invited to speak before Congress. It's unlikely that any other has attempted to sell them such a pile of propaganda and prevarication, such hypocrisy and sanctimony as Benjamin Netanyahu did yesterday.

The fact that the Congress rose to its feet multiple times to applaud him says more about the ignorance of its members than the quality of their guest's speech. An Israeli presence on the Jordan River - cheering. Jerusalem must remain the united capital of Israel - applause. Did American's elected representatives know that they were cheering for the death of possibility? If America loved it, we're in big trouble.

The fact that the only truth spoken in the Capitol was that of a former Israeli shouting "equal rights for Palestinians" is a badge of honor for us and a mark of shame for America. Netanyahu's "speech of his life" was the speech of the death of peace.

It was a 1970s show. Maybe back then people still bought the piles of pretty, wise words shoveled by a peace-loving Israeli prime minister. How can an Israeli prime minister dare to say his country "fully supports the desire of Arab peoples in our region to live freely" without spitting out the entire bitter truth - as long as they aren't Palestinian. Suddenly Netanyahu marvels at the Arab Spring, but where was he when it began? He was on his standard scare campaign, warning of the dangers of an extremist Islamic regime and rushing to build a fence along our border with Egypt. And yesterday, suddenly, it's "the promise of a new dawn." Apparently there is no end to hypocrisy.

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http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/netanyahu-s-speech-to-congress-shows-america-will-buy-anything-1.363897

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

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[yurbud]

2. it's not that America will buy anything, but that our politicians can be bought

[classysassy]

3. Fear grips

every American congressman and women when it come to Israel,most of them probably know Netanyahu is a war criminal just as they know Bush/Chaney are.The flow of cash from the men and women that support bad behavior keep them in line,there is no lie too big for those greedy,evil members of our congress who support Israel more than they do our citizens.

[KoKo]

4. I was truly surprised that he was invited to speak and introduced as "Your Excellency" and

then the "Puppet Jerk" of the audience of our elected representatives who applauded and hooted out praise while they were jumping up and down like Jumping Jacks.

I watched the whole thing and tried to see if there was ANY One Senator or House Rep who didn't "jump up and down" and applaud wildly or hoot vocally.

I didn't ever see any Senator or House Member sitting down with hands folded over the Hyperbole that Bibi was spewing. There were a couple of people sitting off to his "right" on the TV screen who seemed to not applaud or jump...but I think they were the "Recorders" who were taping and typing his speech and so might have been busy otherwise.

It was really an "eye opener" watching that whole thing. And...it was done and staged when our President was on a Foreign Trip to the G-8 Summit?

What was this a "Coup?" If it wasn't it was just bizarre.

[JohnyCanuck]

5. I would say it was just bizarre, period. Unless......

the critics such as Walt and Mearsheimer are correct in asserting that the pro-Israel lobby does exert undue influence on the US political process. In which case it makes more sense.

'The smallest minds and cowardliest hearts': Is Congress clapping for apartheid?
Posted By Stephen M. Walt Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - 1:13 PM S

Mark Twain once described members of Congress as having "the smallest minds and the selfishest souls and the cowardliest hearts that God makes." Twain's mordant assessment provides a parsimonious explanation for the predictably rapturous reception that Bibi Netanyahu received there yesterday. All one can say about the vast majority of our courageous elected officials is that they aren't genuine friends of Israel, because every burst of applause was another nail in the coffin of the Zionist dream.

Why? Because Netanyahu's central message yesterday was an emphatic rejection of a genuine two-state solution. While professing to be willing to make major sacrifices for the sake of peace, his lengthy list of preconditions made it abundantly clear that he thinks Israel is entitled to rule the Palestinian population in perpetuity-even when it becomes numerically larger than Israel's Jewish citizens -- and that the United States should back this effort no matter what. And even though the only alternatives to a two-state solution are 1) further ethnic cleansing, 2) a binational, one-state democracy, or 3) permanent apartheid, Congress is just fine with that.

snip

The key point, however, is that the settlements didn't sprout spontaneously, and the settlers themselves didn't just show up by accident. On the contrary, the vast majority of the settlers are there because every Israeli government since 1967 has actively promoted and subsidized the colonization of the West Bank, even though this policy is contrary to international law and at odds with measures such as U.N. Security Council Resolution 242. Not only does 242 say that Israel should withdraw from territories occupied in the Six Day War (the French version of the official text says "the territories") but it begins by emphasizing "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force." The United States played a key role in drafting the resolution, and then effectively ignored its implications for the next forty years.

snip

As I said in my previous post, Israel faces a choice -- a two-state solution or apartheid -- and it is now crystal-clear which one Netanyahu has chosen. I see this situation as genuinely tragic, as he is condemning several more generations to live in bitter conflict and putting his own country's future at risk. That's his privilege, I suppose, but America's blind support for this foolish policy is also a serious threat to U.S. national security. So if your Congressman or Senator was clapping loudly yesterday, you might drop him or her a note and ask why they care more about subsidizing an illegal and unjust occupation than they do about America's long-term welfare and well-being. You'll probably discover that Twain was on to something.

http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/05/25/the_smallest_minds_and_cowardliest_hearts_is_congress_clapping_for_apartheid