Here's a wonderful event. Wayne Gilchrest, former congressman from Maryland, holds forth two days ago, at a forum on Capitol Hill, about the Israel lobby's role in blocking a "more objective" policy in the Middle East. Watch this video and you'll see a sober, thoughtful 62-year-old public servant and Vietnam vet laying it on the line about the corruption of our foreign policy by a special interest group. (Update: I'm told Gilchrest was sponsored by Paul Findley's group, the Council for the National Interest.)
Gilchrest: In 2007, a House committee voted to add an amendment to an appropriations bills saying that the President could not go to war with Iran without congressional approval. "Between the Rules Committee and the House floor, that amendment was pulled with no explanation."
Some congresspeople also wanted to reach out to the Iranian parliament, the majlis, to have dialogue with legislators in Iran. Gilchrest couldn't get signatures. "I can't do that because I would be crushed like a walnut if my name appeared on the letter," he was told by fellow members, including from fellow Repubicans who said they wanted to sign.
Other amendments called for White House overtures to Iran, or the reappointment of a U.S. ambasador to Syria. Trying to get these amendments put forward was "like pulling teeth from a rhinocerous without any anesthesia." And this was true whether the leadership was Republican or Democrat.
Gilchrest goes on, "There is a hold on the U.S. Congress by a number of different groups" that say our only ally in the Middle East is Israel.
And "if I spoke like this while I was a member of Congress," he'd have lost his seat. Maybe why he did lose his seat, he says.
Note that in the end, Gilchrest is talking about the press too. A congressman can't come out for a more evenhanded policy because he can't explain that to his constituents; they don't know better. The press has failed to inform them. Americans know nothing of the history and little of the American interest here.
And where is the press coverage of Gilchrest? It ain't. I complain about this all the time. But that failure has made this website.
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History is changing and tortuous and Wayne Gilchrest's testimony may be a forerunner of similar narratives.
Why does the US voter have such a blinkered view of the activities of pro Israel lobbyists?
Phil is right in indicating that it lies with the press. A lazy media leads to tyranny.
Mondoweissers, notice that he is a FORMER congressman, if he was still congressman, he wouldn't come out and blast the lobby like this. Too little too late if you ask me.
This video needs to go viral. It should be headlined with his Republican ID as well.
I agree with John: "A lazy media leads to tyranny."
i think it is more then a lazy media.. it is a media in cahoots with an agenda that favours israeli unquestioningly…
Disagree.
In the US, we have lousy media coverage of Israel-Palestine, yet half the Jews here are against Israel.
In israel, the press routinely reports about Israel's abominations in the occupied territories. The public is VERY well informed, yet they are almost 100% Nazi and back their disgusting Nazi state far more rabidly and unconditionally than their brainwashed counterparts in the US.
Anothe routine settler/soldier riot:
Sixteen Palestinians were wounded, one seriously, and one Israeli was lightly hurt by a stone.
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The violence erupted following a prayer service in memory of the boy, Shlomo Nativ, which drew hundreds of mourners. After the service, some participants headed toward the neighboring village of Safa, smashing car windows and damaging homes, residents and medics said. They were accompanied by Israeli troops.
Safa village residents said about 200 people, some of them carrying weapons, entered the village.
The settlers and Palestinians threw stones at each other.
The soldiers fired rubber bullets, live bullets and tear gas grenades at the Palestinians, injuring 16. One was seriously injured and taken to hospital in Hebron. One Israeli was hurt lightly by a stone.
There was no report of any arrests of Israelis.
An IDF spokeswoman said the Palestinians had sparked the violence by throwing stones at the settlers
As Kurt Vonnegut wrote "so it goes."
The victims are demonized by the perpetrators and supported by power and that is an ongoing story.
Israel is looking more and more like an Apartheid phenomenon.
I looked at the original YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzbh4_FBImw
to see if it was still up. One of the comments said that the Views number is being manipulated, diminished…that the number went from 1,711 to 1,311. Go and see for yourself. See if your going there alters the "Views" number.
What happened to all the Jewish Internet Defense Force people?
This is such an important question: And where is the press coverage of Gilchrest?
Obstruction of justice is a crime. People have served serious jail time for it.
Here we have a former member of Congress describe Obstruction of Congress….
MRW
The "VIEWS" number on YouTube a minute ago was 1,319.
It was up to 1326 about a half hour ago.
Gilchrest lossed his seat after 18 years. He was a maverick. He said if Bush attacked Iran he would personally rush in and file impeachment proceedings ASAP. During his last campaign trail he praised Parsi's book on the Iran-Israel-USA history. The book details how much Iran helped us
in Afghanistan after 9/11, and how it offered to curtail Hamas and Hezbullah, but Chaney and
Rummy thanked Iran by having Bush regime reject the generous offer by naming Iran part of
the Axis Of Evil and saying we don't talk to those guys. Also that the USA was told by Israel
to ignore hot talk coming from Iran while Israel was selling Iran weapons to defend itself against
the American sponsored Iraqi war on Iran, but ten years later Israel reversed itself, telling the USA to condemn loudly Iran hot talk against Israel, and to demonize Israel at every opportunity.
Here's a couple historical items, showing what Gilchrest says about the Lobby in the video clip
goes way back:
Former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles was quoted in Donald Neff's book "Fallen Pillars" in February 1957:
"I am aware how almost impossible it is in this country to carry out a foreign policy [in the Middle East] not approved by the Jews….. Terrific control the Jews have over the news media and the barrage the Jews have built up on congressmen…. I am very much concerned over the fact that the Jewish influence here is completely dominating the scene and making it almost impossible to get congress to do anything they don't approve of. The Israeli embassy is practically dictating to the congress through influential Jewish people in the country"
In October 1973, Senator Fullbright, then Chair of Senate Foreign Relations Committee said: "The
Israelis control the policy in the congress and the senate." on CBS' "Face the Nation".
Gilchrest has had a few congressional forebearers, Percy and Findley among them.
Mondoweissers, what ever that means, note that the ex congressman's utterances were apparently sponsored by Paul Findley, yet another ex Congressman who has been peddling this crap since he lost HIS seat because he was a lousy congressman.
Gilchrest a lousy congressman? That's not what I hear from people in his district.
But I guess, for Israel Firsters, being wrong on their one issue is enough to make a congressman lousy.
Oops: "and to demonize Israel at every opportunity" =to demonize Iran at every opportunity.
Sorry.
Check out Gilchrest's and Findley's record–they were superior congressmen, much more proactive than the usual congress person in advancing the interests of ALL Americans.
You can read Findley's book and watch and listen to his video clips on YouTube–when you do, you will quickly see Barry's pissed at both of them for one reason–they never conflated American interests with Israeli interests as a knee jerk reaction. Barry is loyal only to Israel right or wrong.
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