Phil Weiss: Freeman would actually take on the occupation, and that's why he's being attacked

[laststeamtrain]

The good fight: Freeman would actually take on the occupation, and that's why he's being attacked

Paul Woodward at War in Context has a good rundown of all the Chas Freeman attacks and of Freeman's defenders too. It is a great battle--a test of the power of the Israel lobby. The Saudi Arabia money is a smokescreen--Bill Clinton was said to have gotten tons of Saudi money at his library and where is Hillary today? Freeman's crime is that he believes in the Israel lobby idea. He is said to have been the first in the U.S. to publish the Walt-Mearsheimer paper that appeared 3 years ago in the London Review of Books, doing so proudly at the Middle East Policy Council. Woodward:

"Evidence that the lobby’s message is resonating in the desired way can be seen in the fact that there are only a handful of bloggers who are giving this serious coverage and even worse they include some who are already willing to raise the white flag.

"Matthew Yglesias writes: “I’m not thrilled to see things take this turn, but at the same time I don’t think this is the hill I want to die on.”

"That’s exactly what the lobby wants to hear."

Woodward is right. This is an important test and no one should shy away from it. MJ Rosenberg has done yeoman work here, so has Steve Walt. Both of them understand what is at stake.

<snip>

So: Ten months pass, there is no bluntness, no one takes on the lobby, the two-state solution is sliding out of reach, and Israel announces plans to knock down 88 Palestinian homes in annexed East Jerusalem right under Hillary Clinton's nose. It does so because it has the American political system wired. This colonial activity is destroying what Chas Freeman has said is right now the world's consensus on a solution to this mess; and you can't take on Israel's behavior without taking on the enabler of that behavior, the lobby. Freeman would do that. This is an essential task for the Middle East, for American foreign policy, and for any prayer of justice in Palestine. Fighting for Freeman is a good fight.

<more>

http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/03/the-good-fight-freeman-would-be-the-most-prominent-official-to-endorse-israel-lobby-critique-and-tha.html

[FLAprogressive]

1. the fact that one of the biggest AIPAC whores in the house, neocon "Dem" Steve Israel is against

this is telling.