Santa Claus and the Israel Lobby

[Phoenall]

You mean words speak louder than dollars to the american people who believe Israel has a right to exist? With such a large amount of money and presence of arab lobbies, why have americans felt more akin to Israel? Do they have a more logical and effective case to present than the arabs? Do christian americans find more understanding of jews and their ties to Israel? Is there more a common basis in laws between Israel and America, that with most of the arab world? Could it be they both share an aversion to the idea of suicide bombing and terrorism? Could it be they are both victims of radical islamic groups? Could it be the rhetoric used by such groups insulting and defaming both Israel and America?
A natural alliance that forms between nations with common interests is somehow wrong? Why should America not be sympathetic with Israel?
What positives have the side offered?

It could just be the fact that for all the rhetoric and ANTI SEMITISM amongst the right wing NAZI WHITE SUPRENACIST Americans they cant show were Israel has attacked innocent men, women and children in the US and mass murdered over 3,000 in the process. Yet we can point to many Islamic terrorist attacks in part in support of Palestinian terrorism and genocidal qualities.

 

[Pennywise]

Gee, I could read the claim from one Jew, or I could read a thoroughly researched and footnoted volume of facts- The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy: John J. Mearsheimer, Stephen M. Walt: 9780374531508: Amazon.com: Books

Why the fuck are we constantly at war in the ME?

It's not Israel.

It's oil.

If only it were that noble.

 

[aris2chat]

Edited to add: Aris2chat, do you consider your sources here? Where is the info from your table coming from? The source states NEWS | Featured List - which, frankly, has some bizzare items.

The source was
"The Lid": Where Are The Complaints About The Powerful United Arab Emirates Lobby Controlling US Foreign Policy?
The author was
https://plus.google.com/117170359061258777592
The image has more than one link
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v1A8YwbAf...1600/Screen+Shot+2014-05-21+at+7.32.44+AM.png

Sunlight Foundations, Open Secrets, MISP, and POGO compiled a list detailing the total amount of dollars spent by each country to lobby government officials. The chart uses the latest data from that list (2013) for every country spending more than $1,000,000.

I could have copies it from Google image search on any of several sources. I happen to used the chart from the article I read from my online news paper.

None of this changes the information presented.

 

[MJB12741]

And let us not forget the Islamic HOLY LAND FOUNDATION that was based right here on our own US soil to finance terrorists to bring down our country.

Eric Holder Ducks Congress?s Questions About Massive Terrorism Financing Trial | Video | TheBlaze.com

Top Lobby Spenders

Lobbying Spending Database | OpenSecrets

There are over 1000 lobby groups many with deep pockets

Pro Israeli lobby spend less than $1 million but you really think with so much competition that AIPAC could possibly control the country?

Control? No. That's just another conspiracy theory. Like conflating CAIR with terrorists.

But the Pro Israeli lobby does have influence. As does the Saudi lobby. And others.

Whomever denies it, ignores the realities of American politics.

Well CAIR has been shown to have terrorist links.


In 2007 the organization was named, along with 245 others, by U.S. Federal prosecutors in a list of unindicted co-conspirators and/or joint venturers in a Hamas funding case involving the Holy Land Foundation,[3] which in 2009 caused the FBI to cease working with CAIR outside of criminal investigations due to its designation

CAIR has been criticized numerous times by various officials and organizations. The organization was criticized as pursuing an extremist Islamist agenda,[2] and putting out propaganda.

Council on American?Islamic Relations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


And if the Jews had the alleged influence they are accused of there would be no Islamic nations in the UN and the whole M.E. would be Jewish controlled, including all the Saudi oil and mecca

 

[Coyote]

hmm...another interesting article, that offers food for thought: it's not the dollars but rather, who controls the narratives.

The Pro-Israel Lobby: Narratives, Not Money - The Daily Beast

The Pro-Israel Lobby: Narratives, Not Money

The nature of the pro-Israel lobby’s influence on the American political system has been raised again this year by senatorial confirmation hearings, policy conferences, sequestration, and White House initiatives. This influence is typically attributed to campaign contributions, but this view is unsophisticated. The power of the pro-Israel lobby is, in fact, defined by the dominance of various pro-Israel narratives in American culture.

The standard line that pro-Israel sentiment is defined by dollar signs is easily refuted. The two largest pro-Israel contributors—the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and J-Street—together approximated $3.25 million in lobbying in 2012. While this sounds substantial, it’s a meager .09 percent of the total $3.28 billion spent on overall political lobbying that year.

America’s most tangible contribution to Israel is the annual $3 billion dollars in military aid that Israel subsequently spends, largely in the American defense sector. The biggest vested interests in these expenditures are well-known, and their lobbying contributions many times over exceed that of pro-Israel organizations. Boeing and Lockheed Martin spent $15 million each on lobbying in 2012.

Israel receives more aid per capita than any other country, but this cannot be accounted for by the relatively small amount of money its advocates inject into the American political system. The power of the various pro-Israel narratives in the American political discourse is a far more compelling explanation.

The “pro-Israel lobby” isn’t a monolith; various groups have very different views and interact with widely divergent constituencies.

Beginning with the extreme right wing of the Jewish political spectrum, the president of the right-wing Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), Morton Klein, categorically opposes a two-state solution and maintains that Israel is not occupying any territory. Klein implicitly questions the existence of Palestinians by insisting on reducing their identity to Arabs only and suggesting they relocate to “Arab States.” Because of their extreme views, the ZOA’s influence is very limited with respect to the White House and the Senate; however they do have friends in the House of Representatives.

Another narrative propelling right-wing American support for Israel is promoted by some evangelical Christian groups. Commonly referred to as “Christian Zionism,” this perspective emphasizes a prophetic role attributed to Israel. This might seem friendly on the surface, but it derives from evangelical eschatology best demonstrated by the wildly popular Left Behind novels. As the Anti-Defamation League notes, this narrative entails “the annihilation of Jews…who refuse to convert at Armageddon.” Evangelicals use Israel to promote their yearning for Armageddon rather than for a safe and prosperous Jewish state. Many Israelis and Jewish-American groups prefer to overlook these problematic beliefs as these Evangelicals have huge constituencies in the American electorate.

Mainstream Jewish proponents of Israel such as AIPAC tend to stress alliance and solidarity with the United States. First, these groups argue that Israel is the only democracy in an autocratic Middle East, despite Israel’s decades-long military occupation and the regional developments of the Arab Spring. Second, they argue Israel has shared values with the United States in terms of women’s rights, gay rights, and minority rights, without acknowledging discrimination against Palestinians. While they admit Israel must make concessions to achieve peace, they argue that Israel has already made many concessions and Palestinian intransigence is the main obstacle to peace. Moreover these groups are typically uncritical of Israeli policies, and generally support Israel’s leadership.

Further to the left are the self-defined “pro-Israel, pro-peace” groups like Americans for Peace Now and J-Street. These groups argue on Israel’s behalf, but assert that given the history and current state of the conflict, being pro-Israel also inherently means being pro-Palestinian and supporting the creation of a Palestinian state. While these groups have certainly experienced growth in recent years, their efforts to transform American conceptions of the conflict remain a work in progress.

Most importantly, there are deeply ingrained aspects of mainstream American culture into which pro-Israel narratives can, and do, tap. Consider AIPAC's presentation of Israel’s "Quest for Statehood": A religious minority facing European persecution believing “that they would only escape discrimination… in a state of their own” resolves to take up an arduous journey to a faraway, allegedly “sparsely populated” land. For many Americans this account of Israel’s national mythology is deeply reminiscent of their own. There is an unmistakable kinship between the Israeli and American national narratives that combine pioneer spirit with spiritual redemption of sanctified land.

Remainder of article at link.

Fancy using such a biased report to justify your own ANTI ISRAELI tendencies. That $3 billion is not all aid most of it is loans

I am not anti-Israel. I think there are pros and cons to both sides.

Point of the article isn't the aid - it's the narratives and cultural affinities.

5, 4, 3.....ISLAMOFASCISTRACISTBIGOT (that's your typical response is it not?)

One can always hope that Aris2chat will chime in with "rude behavior" but alas, she reserves that for only her opponents