Tariq A. Al-Maeena
The United States of America is up for sale or so it would seem from the pandering of the current list of individuals hoping to be seated in the White House next January. From bigots and racists to individuals motivated by dubious agendas, all are making their feverish pitch for the 2016 general elections as the primaries slide into full gear. Candidates from both the Democratic and Republican parties have been fueled by the dollars provided by special interest groups and powerful lobbies, and some of these potential victors are in the process of selling out their country.
Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state, is one such candidate. She has been literally pandering for dollars from deep-pocketed American Jews and Zionist sympathizers. Well aware of the economic muscle of the Israeli lobby, Hillary has aligned herself with billionaire Haim Saban, a man known to spend lavishly on political figures for favors in return.
Saban who is an Israeli-American and a staunch Zionist had always stated that his "greatest concern is to protect Israel." No, it wasn’t to protect the US from where he derived all his wealth, but Israel on whom the US spends a fortune of its tax dollars annually. And he’s not shy about sharing his game plan to achieve his objective. His three ways to influence American politics are to “make donations to political parties, establish think tanks, and control media outlets.”
Hillary asked for his input on how to fight the BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement that is gaining ground on US campuses and among those contemplating and doing business with Israel. This is part of a global response against the illegal Israeli occupation and annexation of Palestinian land.
The BDS is also asking for full equality and freedom for Palestinians in Israel who are currently treated as second-class citizens. It also demands the right of return for those who fled during Israeli atrocities over the years. One would think that such democratic principles that the US is founded on would ring a bell and find favor with Hillary Clinton, but sadly, she’s too busy pandering to those with money.
In the letter to the wealthy Zionist, Hillary asked Saban for his advice “on how leaders and communities across America can work together to counter BDS.” She stresses the need to contest the BDS campaign “with information and advocacy and fight back further attempts to delegitimize Israel.” In her spiel, she also adds that “from Congress and state legislature to boardrooms and classrooms, we need to engage all people of good faith in order to explain why the BDS campaign is counterproductive to the pursuit of peace and harmful to Israelis and Palestinians alike.”
But her pandering for Zionist favor and dollars doesn’t simply end there. The two-page letter she wrote to Saban demonstrates the level the former US secretary of state has stooped to. She is very alarmed she says at such movements which are anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist. She is concerned about the "murderous attacks on French Jews", forgetting the hundreds of thousands of innocent Palestinians killed by Israeli bullets. “We need to repudiate forceful efforts to malign and undermine Israel and the Jewish people,” she writes while ignoring the crimes committed every day against the hapless Palestinians by these very Israelis.
Clinton has definitely chosen to forget democratic principle and take the side where her bread is buttered instead. She boasts of her record as a US senator and secretary of state on Israeli issues, stating that she had opposed dozens of anti-Israel resolutions at the UN and writes "that the Palestinians cannot unilaterally declare a state, and no one can impose a solution on Israel." She reminds Saban that she supported Israel after the “biased” Goldstone Report. She concludes with “time after time I have made it clear that America will always stand up for Israel, and that's what I'll always do as president.”
This subservient stance by a candidate running for the office of the most powerful position in the world should be indeed alarming to those who believe in justice and equality. Israel continues to imprison and murder Palestinian men, women and specially children, while US politicians continue to pander for Zionist dollars to protect the status quo. As one European remarked, "For the love of God, Americans, please don’t vote for Hillary Clinton. The world has suffered enough. She’s a bigger neocon than most Republicans and will drag your country into unnecessary and unpopular wars.” That would align her with the Israeli master plan.
The founding principles of the United States of America are what has elevated that country to be the beacon of a free world. Unfortunately, the light from that beacon is being dimmed by politicians all too eager to prostitute their country for personal gain.
— The author can be reached at talmaeena@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @talmaeena
