You don’t have to imagine what would happen if a mouthpiece aligned with the American government were to write an article in an Israeli newspaper describing America’s preference as to how the government and opposition parties in Israel should treat an issue that Israel considers important.
In fact, something like this happened a number of times in
the past, and the reaction in Israel has been nothing short of the Israeli
Prime Minister and others publicly (that’s publicly) telling the American
government to shut up and mind its own f***ing business. This was followed by
the customary: hurry up and send money and weapons free of charges. And the
American government promptly obeyed.
Thus, stretching your imagination to the breaking point,
you think that Israel — being the little fart which, in real life, is
nothing more than a pauper-level supplicant — is allowed to treat
America in this manner because America chooses to treat it like an equal.
But when you discover that the reciprocation that’s
supposed to establish equality, is non existent, the stretching causes your
imagination to snap with the fury of the steel wire in a crane that’s trying to
lift a hundred-ton load. The snap happens when you discover that mouthpieces
aligned with the Israeli government routinely write articles in American
newspapers describing the Judeo-Israeli preference as to how America must
behave when handling matters that concern Israel. What galls you the most, is
that whereas the Israelis do not hesitate to put America in its place when they
think it went out of line, not a word comes out the mouth of dithering Americans
to tell the Jews to shut up or mind their own business.
This situation is so completely reversed from what it
ought to be, you refuse to believe it unless you are shown a real example.
Well, it so happens that a real example was produced recently in the form of an
article that came under the title: “Do We Pay Too Much or Too Little Attention
to ‘The Squad?’” It was written by Jonathan S. Tobin, and published on February
20, 2022 in the Jewish News Syndicate. The following is a condensed version of
how Tobin introduced the subject he is discussing:
“It was a great day for the US-Israel
alliance. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led a delegation on a visit to Israel
where she sounded the right notes. She knew what her hosts and her party’s
Jewish donors wanted to hear, and she laid it on thick. It was in contrast to
the broadside about Israel from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), the leader
of the congressional ‘Squad’”.
With this, Tobin is saying that there is a visible rift
in the Democratic Party between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on one side, and
AOC, the leader of the ‘Squad,’ on the other side. Tobin goes on to explain
that aging Nancy Pelosi and the other old timers continue to support Israel no
matter what it does, whereas AOC and her young colleagues want to hold Israel
to account for what it does that’s contrary to American values.
Whereas the rift between the two women and their
respective companions, is a matter that concerns only the Democratic Party, it
means a great deal more to Jonathan Tobin and his Judeo-Israeli comrades. That’s
because even though the Democrats and the Republicans are at war against each
other in America, the two parties continue to work together, in a bipartisan
way, to benefit Israel at the expense of America and everyone else. This
situation looks so absurd and so insulting to America’s sense of self-respect,
AOC and her Squad companions seek to change it. According to Tobin, time is on
their side because it won’t be long before the aging defenders of anachronism
will be out of the way, leaving the reins of power and decision making in the
hands of AOC and her team.
But even before the transfer of power from the old guard
to the rising young leaders of the Democratic Party, is complete, Jonathan
Tobin sees that things have changed somewhat from the way they used to be when
bipartisanship made the interests of Israel, priority number one … well ahead
of America’s interests. To prove it, Tobin cites the example of the Iran
nuclear deal which is unanimously rejected by the Republicans but rejected by
only a handful of Democrats.
In the quest to prevent the further erosion of America’s
usefulness to the needs of Israel, Jonathan Tobin is suggesting two things.
First, he wants Nancy Pelosi to push back against what the members of the Squad
say that sheds light on Israeli crimes. He even wants Pelosi to punish the
Squad members for harming Israel by spreading the truth about it. Second, Tobin
sees that contrary to popular belief, what needs to be done, is for the media
to throw more light on the doings of the Squad members, but do so to emphasize
the negative side of their pronouncements and their activities. Here, in
condensed form, is how Tobin explained his point of view:
“Pelosi remains willing to tolerate AOC and other Squad members despite
their support of the antisemitic BDS movement. That’s because she’s shown at
times that she’s afraid of them and for good reason: They have the support of
the party’s activist base. The critique of the press that holds that we’re
paying too much attention to backbench House members while not appreciating the
importance of what the leadership is doing has it backwards. We’re not
over-covering AOC and The Squad. What we’re doing is not focusing enough on the
threat they pose to take over one of America’s two major parties. And when they
do, even the theoretical hope for reviving a bipartisan consensus on Israel
will go out the window”.