Declassified Senate investigation files show Israeli manipulation of US media

[JohnyCanuck]

Run time: 04:49 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kureFeGmoDI   Posted on YouTube: August 19, 2010 By YouTube Member: RussiaToday Views on YouTube: 305   Posted on DU: August 19, 2010 By DU Member: JohnyCanuck Views on DU: 1261

 

Declassified Senate Investigation Files Reveal Clandestine Israeli PR Campaign in America

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Declassified files from a Senate investigation into Israeli-funded covert public relations and lobbying activity in the United States were released by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) on July 23rd, 2010. The subpoenaed documents reveal Israel's clandestine programs for "cultivation of editors," the "stimulation and placement of suitable articles in the major consumer magazines" as well as U.S. reporting about sensitive subjects such as the Dimona nuclear weapons facility.

Documents are now available for download from http://IRmep.org/ila/azc include:

Dimona (excerpt): "The nuclear reactor story inspired comment from many sources; editorial writers, columnists, science writers and cartoonists. Most of the press seemed finally to accept the thesis that the reactor was being built for peaceful purposes and not for bombs." http://www.irmep.org/11-121960AZC.pdf

http://irmep.org/

[no limit]

1. So why were these files sealed in the first place?

[damntexdem]

2. Uh, maybe someone m-a-n-i-p-u-l-a-t-e-d something?

;-)

[peacetalksforall]

6. Do you mean the 'official' reason provided? I would like to know, also.

There is always an extra bonus in knowing what was said to get them classified versus what you, me, the reader feels is the reason.

I am not much on the side of anything the leaders of Israel are doing for the last twenty or so years while I support the people of Israel who are innocents and especially those who are trying to live side-by-side with Palestinians, through children, music, arts, communitry programs.

Getting documents classified is at the leader level (leaders and enablers), therefore I would like to know hot it got done.

Because I'm ticked at Israel again.

I despise the going around to the back door to see if they can pull off something with the citizens of the U.S. - from AIPAC on up and AIPAC on down and all the people who fund AIPAC, JINSA, and all the entities that that donate the money and energy and public realtions efforts to harm Palestinians (because that is what it has come down to) and pull the wook over our eyes. To maintain their military-industrial hold over us - for the purposes of perpetual war for profit, for cleansing the land with the borders of Palestinians so there is more room for arrivals and the earth resources can be owned exclusively.)

[JohnyCanuck]

3. Jeez I dunno

According to what we've been told, it's not like Israel and pro-Zionist organizations exercise any unusual influence over US politicians or US government policy.

[no limit]

4. It was a rhetorical question :)

[JDPriestly]

5. And RT is Russian propaganda.

Nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with Israel having its "public relations" voice in the US. Nothing wrong with Palestinians having theirs. This is a free country. All are welcome to present their point of view.

The point about Iran and Israel and nuclear weapons is interesting since Russia is providing nuclear fuel to Iran.

RT presents interesting stories, but it is no more objective than Fox News or Knesset. I like to get different points of view.

Palestinians go into Christian churches and propagandize their point of view. Israelis do the same. We believe in free speech -- First Amendment -- remember folks?

[JohnyCanuck]

8. At least now can wonder less

why we always hear an overwhelmingly pro-Israel, "Israel can do no wrong" point of view consistently and sympathetically coming from the US mainstream media to the virtual exclusion of or any signs of sympathy for Palestinian points of view. Thanks to this recent news (in spite of the US Senate's apparent attempt to keep it under wraps) we now know that Israeli funded pro-Zionist groups spent 36 million bucks on, among other things, covertly pushing Israeli propaganda which was aimed at stalling a US government attempt at reaching an Israeli/Palestinian peace accord and also covertly buying off US media outlets to fool American taxpayers (who fund Israel to the tune of several billions of their dollars a year) into falsely believing the Israeli nuclear reactor at Dimona was just a research reactor and not a nuclear weapons factory.

Now that this information is somewhat more in the open (although it is unlikely to receive any attention from the US mainstream media) at least a few more people will perhaps finally wake up to the US media's functions as a propaganda dispenser and be a bit more skeptical of the bullshit they are fed by mainstream media on a daily basis.

With the realization as to how they've been unknowingly propagandized and misled in the past by Israeli interests, they hopefully will come to realize that they should seek out sources of information other than the suspect mainstream source on things like the IDF's treatment of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, war crimes committed by the IDF in the last attack on Gaza, and the actions of Israeli settlers colonizers in the Occupied Territories. Last but not least, hopefully they will view with a renewed sense of skepticism the recent, re-vitalized calls in the media by Israel's neocon sympathizers for the US to back, or even join in, an Israeli attack on Iran.

[JDPriestly]

9. And, in that time, how much have countries like Saudi Arabia

who favor the Palestinians or certain of the Palestinians on buying US media and controlling it?

Don't worry, for every dime the Israelis have spent, pro-Palestinians have spent a dime also. That's the way it works. And if half that much time and money were spent desalinizing water and creating a viable economy for Palestinians where they are, lifting the Palestinians to the economic level of Israelis while maintaining the peace, the Israeli-Palestinian "problem" would not longer exist. They would be working as partners to improve lives in their region, neither side presenting a threat to the other.

Notice, many Americans claim about "illegals" meaning Mexicans coming into our country. But few people complain when people from Europe or Canada come in illegal and overstay their visas. That's because the cultural and socioeconomic situations of Mexicans and the US Americans are very different, but those of Canadians and Europeans are rather similar. It's not just about race. It's about how people live, how they use their resources.

Both sides propagandize.

[JohnyCanuck]

10. So all in all it is a good thing.....

that these documents the Senate attempted to hide finally came out in the open. If the US media is shown to be willing accomplices in spreading propaganda over American airwaves and in American newspapers or magazines, maybe more people will smarten up and stop allowing themselves to be manipulated and force fed whatever misinformation the media's talking heads, ex-general commentators or neocon mouthpieces might be spewing to demonize the latest "evil-doer" of the day or to convince the public of the necessity to start the next "unavoidable", ruinously expensive (but very profitable for the MIC) war.

At least the pro-Israel lobby doesn't really have to worry that news of the release of this information from the Senate investigation will receive much airtime or discussion in the US mainstream media. However, it is on the internet now, and it becomes another crack in the mainstream media dam that previously (i.e. pre-internet days) allowed the media and government to keep information they would find embarrassing from reaching the wider public.

[Sensible321]

11. Really Now - A Dime for a Dime?

Are you speaking of the same Saudi Arabia which recently gave the OK for Israel (a Non-NNPT signatory with hundreds of nuclear warheads) to use its airspace to attack Iran (an NNPT signatory with ongoing UN inspections) so they can maintain a monopoly on Nuclear weapons in the region? Sure, the Saudis give lip-service to the Palestinians, just as our government gives lip-service to supporting high-wage jobs while their policy is just the opposite. A 'nuclear-arms free' middle east is a nice dream, but I doubt Israel would go along.

Also, please name the heads of the media outlets and high government officials who are Palestinian so we can compare lists. To cite one example, consider Wolf Blitzer, former Jerusalem Post staff (the pro-Liqud Fox News of Israel) on CNN. It seems that only WASPs were required to adopt the idea of ethnic neutrality and bury the racist-hatchet; everyone else can advocate for 'their ethnicity's interests over others' and it is Politically Correct. I hope that someday we can give up that crap and live MLK's dream, but this will not happen until the majority realize we are all part of the same unified lifeform.

We should also consider the influence of movies/TV and their portrayals of Arabs (and other Moslems) versus Jews; these set the stage for US perceptions of Israel. Joel Stein reported on the topic of Jewish influence in Hollywood for the LA Times. He stated, "The Jews are so dominant, I had to scour the trades to come up with six Gentiles in high positions at entertainment companies. When I called them to talk about their incredible advancement, five of them refused to talk to me, apparently out of fear of insulting Jews. The sixth, AMC President Charlie Collier, turned out to be Jewish." < http://articles.latimes.com/2008/dec/19/opinion/oe-stein19 > I think it is a safe bet that we won't see much pro-Palestinian propaganda coming from that camp.

I'm trying to think of any foreign power, not just Palestinian/Arab, which has the influence over our so-called 'representatives' in Washington as AIPAC has. The multinational corporations certainly qualify as foreign powers (and have demonstrated they do not have the American people's interests at heart by a long-shot) but they are not representing 'nations'. As a result, every interview with a Congressperson we see is influenced by a fear of AIPAC's power.

A dime for a dime influence versus the Palestinians in the media? I think not.

I should hasten to add that many of my closest friendships and some of the most interesting conversations I have had over my lifetime were with Jewish-Americans. I am thankful for their contributions to our culture and push-back against Xtian-extremism here. I do hope the Israeli people with replace their government with a peaceful one as I hope for the same in the USA. Unfortunately, power corrupts all equally, it seems, and "hooray for our side" and dehumanization of anyone standing in the way wins the day.

[TheEuclideanOne]

7. Seriously? We are worried that some group covertly manipulated the media?

What about the clearly, open manipulation of the media that is done all of the time? All I can say is join the fucking club. I think that the headline is a statement all on it's own. We don't have news anymore, we have media. We are not even attempting to fool ourselves anymore to pretend what is covered by whatever organization that used be considered as "The Fourth Estate", is actually News. Now we call it, and rightfully so, Media. Simply a channel for the ones with the highest bidder to get their message out.