"Finally, there is Israel's strategic location on the Mediterranean. It provides a port of call for U.S. troops, ships, aircraft, and intelligence sources, and a place where arms, fuel, munitions, and other supplies can be stockpiled and accessed when America needs them in the region. The country also offers access to the Red Sea. One analyst has described Israel as a "strategic aircraft carrier" in a chaotic part of the world."
What is interesting is that this is essentially the same position taken by Chomsky, Zunes, and most recently, Stephen Maher, and yet it is virtually impossible to find anyone outside of the pro-Israel encampment who is qualified to make such judgments who would agree with that statement. Certainly, it is not the opinion of those former CIA analysts Robert Baer, Bill and Kathy Christison, Phil Giraldi, Ray McGovern, and Michael Scheuer, who have spent quite a bit of their lives dealing with the Middle East and are in a better position to assess the Israel-US relationship than any of our left academics. Does the US need Israeli stockpiles to wage its wars or are they their for Israel's use? And does Zuckerman really think that the US needs Israel to have access to the Red Sea?
If Haim Saban buys Newsweek while Zuckerman owns US News, THEN can we say that Jews own the news magazines?
Potsherd,
First I must say I have a ton of respect for your commentary on this blog and my post is in no way meant to insult your intelligence.
Nonetheless, I do not believe its fair to say that the American media is Jewish owned due to the perception that many Jewish people in the United States either own several American media outlets or are high ranking editors in many American newspapers.
What can be said is that people who identify as Jews (and who also tend to identify with Zionism) own many media outlets in the United States (this is indisputable).
However, there’s a large difference between saying that the American media is owned by the Jews and saying that many media outlets in the United States are owned by individual Jews who really don’t consult the wider Jewish community when making decisions.
Why?
Because most Jewish identifying people in the United States don’t have a stake in this ownership. Now, if all the Jews got together and vetted who would run the media, what stories got printed, what editors were “good enough” well then maybe we can make the case that the American media is Jewish owned.
However, that’s not the case and the fact remains that most Jewish identifying people like their American co-patriots have no idea who owns or runs the American media machine.
Its also true that Saban, Zuckerman, and other Jewish identifying people believe that owning American media outlets is good for Jewish people as a whole and good for Israel. However, these people never consulted the wider Jewish community when they made the decision to acquire American media outlets nor were they dispatched by a central Jewish committee to make these acquisitions.
Just like AIPAC and the Neocons do not consult the wider Jewish American population when they make policy decisions, neither do Saban or Zuckerman when they make the same decisions.
Anyway, sorry for the ramble, I hope my point is clear but in summary:
Saban and Zuckerman act as individuals even if they think they’re acting on behalf of a wider community. They make decisions without consulting the wider Jewish community and in the end act in a manner that is selfish and individualistic even if they may think their actions are altruistic. The Jewish community of America has very little say in the business decisions of Saban, Zuckerman, and others and thus it cannot be said that “Jews own the American media” merely because many American media conglomerates are owned by individual Jewish identifying people.
excellent point
ditto colins response here – excellent point james… the same situation exists in canada, perhaps more so…
the saban and zuckermans of the media realm don’t help israel or the jewish people any with their slanted coverage… like a dam that is close to overflowing, many more people will continue to get greater exposure on issues from a more neutral position thanks to the w&m’s, phil weiss’s and etc. etc. of the internet world…. the tide is rising and these folks days of having influence in a propaganda kind of way, are numbered…
OF course you’re right, James, and your point is an important one. The problem is not “Jews”, it is rabid Zionists who are trying to corner the news media for the explicit purpose of Zionist propaganda – particularly preventing the contrary viewpoint from reaching the public.
When Sam Zell bought the Tribune Company, including the superior LA Times, he gutted them, but he did not, as far as I can tell, make the purchase in order to disseminate Zionist views, despite his being a Zionist himself.
But despite my facetiousness, I do think there is a serious problem when we see the monopolization of the news by a particular political position, and because these are individuals, not an organized group, but individuals with a common purpose, there is nothing the law can do to oppose them.
Potsherd, I completely agree with you and realized that the above comment was facetious only now =P
Zionists buying big American news outlets, gutting them, and trying to inject a pro-Israel bias into any news coverage of the Middle East isn’t just bad for the newspaper but for American Democracy as a whole.
“Zionists buying big American news outlets, gutting them, and trying to inject a pro-Israel bias into any news coverage of the Middle East isn’t just bad for the newspaper but for American Democracy as a whole.”
What do you make of Phil’s view that a Jewish elite has largely taken over from the WASPs in the U.S.? Is this Jewish elite largely supportive of Zionism? Would the U.S. support Israel the way it does without a Jewish elite? How representative of the U.S. Jewish community is the Jewish elite? Is a Jewish or minority elite good for American democracy as a whole?
Potsherd, part of “cornering the news media for the explicit purpose of Zionist propaganda” is propping up Christian Zionists who I feel would never have the influence they have today without elite Jewish patronage. They were always there, every country has them, but their backwardness normally relegates them rightly to the sidelines. Now they are a national force with extremely dire foreign and domestic consequences.
To be honest Todd, I acknowledge that Jewish identifying people are amongst some of the most prosperous and well connected Americans in the Nation today.
This is evident not only in their rate of College Education, level of income level, and other social statistics but also in the type of positions that many Jewish identifying people hold in the administration, the media, and in the Corporate sector.
Whether I agree with the notion that Jewish Americans are the new WASP’s is something I still need more evidence to fully accept as a fact. To say that another group has surpassed the WASP’s is to me a huge statement, and I hope that Phil will continue to expound on the topic as he has insights into the Jewish community that I do not.
However, what I will completely agree on is that many Jewish Americans and Jewish organizations are a significant force amongst the elites of the United States and to understate this reality really does a disservice to anyone interested in domestic politics (and foreign policy as it relates to the ME).
Compare the present day USA with this WASP snapshot from 40 years ago: link to time.com
That is an excellent article Citizen.
I have to also take into consideration that I grew up in an era and location in the United States where the term WASP was never used to describe anyone I knew personally. In fact it wasn’t until I attended University that I began meeting White Protestants.
That said I noticed that the times article makes a very interesting point in that defining a WASP isn’t as clear cut as defining other groups in the United States. Technically the term speaks for itself (White-Anglo-Saxon-Protestant) a person from the British Isles of the Protestant persuasion.
Nonetheless, several people who have been considered WASPs are in fact German, Scandinavian, and other European ethnic groups. To me, from what I’ve read, the term seems to be a euphemism for the old Eastern aristocracy of White Protestants (a diverse group in itself) who controlled the United States before the great wave of European migration to this country in the 1900s from Southern and Eastern Europe which brought various Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Jewish Europeans to the United States.
Nonetheless, I’m not going to deny that there is more diversity in positions of power (albeit still mostly White) but I can’t completely say that Jewish elites have completely supplanted traditional elites in the United States.
As of now, I’m of the opinion that many powerful positions in this countries administration, corporate sector, and media have people who identify with the Jewish faith in one form or another sitting in those positions.
I believe at the moment we can safely conclude Jewish Americans are in a significantly more powerful position in the establishment than they were a generation or two ago. So much so that they can exert tremendous pressure on the Legislative and Executive branches of power in this country.
I suspect Phil tolerates Psychopathic God, the resident antisemite on this forum, because somebody has to do it.
I understand James Bradley’s explanation, and acknowledge James, Colin, and potsherd’s endorsement of it.
But what can a non-Jewish American do or say to sufficiently counter the impact on American life, opinion, foreign policy, and domestic wellbeing that these “few Jewish individuals” but NOT ‘the Jews’ are having on American daily life and our children’s future?
When Muslims were implicated in the destruction of WTC, the nation’s Muslims were expected to — change that: it was demanded of Muslims and their leaders that they apologize, that they denounce the actions. Many Muslim leaders did attempt to apologize to the American people, and to attempt to explain to Americans that Islam does not stand for or endorse or hold as doctrine that such actions are acceptable. What Jewish leaders have apologized to the American people for the reality and the fact that Israel has implicated all American taxpayers in the horror of Israel’s war on Lebanon and on Gaza? How is it that the American taxpayer who is repulsed by actions of Israel and by American foreign policy in the Middle East are relatively powerless in the face of Jewish organizational- and dollar-power in influencing his legislators to act in ways that reflect his American values and interests when they diverge from Israel’s or zionist values and interests?
The sources of power held by Jewish persons is far broader than just Mort Zuckerman and Haim Saban (though its hard to know why any group should need even greater levers of power than Saban exercises over the US Secretary of State). Jewish organizations such as UJF have influence both nationwide and internationally. Specifically, UJF spearheads a campaign to divest state employees and teachers’ pensions funds from corporations UJF doesn’t like and DID coerce a number of states to comply with their agenda — to the peril of pensioners in those funds. Internationally, UJF has coalesced with several extremist groups — John Hagee’s CUFI, Michael Ledeen’s FDD, and the like — to force London-based financial entities (KPMG) to either cut its ties to Iran businesses or face fines or other punishments from the US. This is not in the best interests of American taxpayers; moreover, I, as an American don’t recall having been given the opportunity to vote on whether UJF should be granted the ability to represent me in the international community, much less with my state teachers’ pension fund.
I resent the influence of Jewish organizations such as UJF to bully and overwhelm the political process and bureaucratic institutions in order to enforce their pro-Israel agenda.
My resentment, however, is but a fart in a windstorm; who cares.
Here’s why you should care, however: A few days ago we had quite a heated discussion about the extent to which Jewish people did things that so enraged Germans that German people reacted with hideous violence. I would hazard the suggestion that, in Germany over a 40-year period leading up the final violence of the holocaust, “a few Jewish elites” did things that enraged the German people. Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, over the span of about 25 years, numerous efforts were made by German leaders and even by Hitler and the National Socialist party to defuse and dispel the expressions of rage against Jews that arose from among the people. Anti-Jewish acts started at the grassroots level; it was not a top-down phenomenon. Mobs cannot and do not discriminate between the few Jewish elites who are working the levers of power, and the Jewish family who is your neighbor, your co-worker, your friend. All that an angered mob can see is that Jewish people seem to be immune to the economic difficulties that you are experiencing. It may be unjust that Jews who had no part in the actions of a few Jewish elites should fall prey to a mob’s anger; it IS unjust. It is also a reaction that should be expected. A wise government and a respectful and prudent group would be aware of the lessons of history and seek to prevent their repetition, HOWEVER unjust.
When Americans observe that 15 rabbis held two meetings with Jewish individuals who are closer to the seat of American power than any other person in the nation, and that the outcome of those meetings was a grant of $205 million for Israel to purchase yet more weaponry, and when those same Americans observe that less than one-fourth of that amount, only $50 million, is committed to help the 90,000 American soldiers who return from war with debilitating PTSD, how do you suppose Americans will react? Do you think they will be favorably disposed towards Jews? Do you think a soldier, an individual who is, by definition, trained to destroy and kill, and who suffering from PTSD, will be kindly disposed towards Jews when he can’t get help for his suffering but 15 rabbis get US taxpayer money for Israeli weapons? Will he be able to make the important distinctions that James Bradley defined, between a few Jewish elites and Jews?
I agree that the lack of ability of Gentiles to distinguish between Jews and a minority of Jewish radicals is a dangerous long-term threat. I also think mainstream Jewish inability to publicly separate themselves from them is, to borrow a neo-liberal Zionist phrase oft used by HR Clinton to describe overly-loud Israeli bragging about their ethnic cleansing and colonization, ‘not helpful.’ It’s not fair that they should have to, but life isn’t fair, and when radicals act in one’s name, it is in one’s self-interest to stand up and say no.
Is it smart to stand idly by and let someone steal one’s identity and commit crimes for which others may think one is responsible? It’s not fair that one would have to waste time and resources doing so, but it would be stupid not to.
For me, the issue of the damage that Israel does to our image far outweighs any strategic advantage it may provide. By “our image,” I don’t mean merely our image to others, but also to ourselves. How can Americans maintain an integrated sense of moral integrity while tolerating Israel persecution of an innocent population? Moreover, I suspect that Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Egypt would let us use their bases in an emergency. So long as we indirectly support a repressive and illegal occupation/ colonization), we are rightfully seen as hypocritical and quite willing to sacrifice human rights and the rule of law for our own (and Israel’s) selfish ends. The Great United States of America, whose elected representatives can be bought for a few thousand in campaign contributions…
Our politicians depend on favorable publicity in our Israel Lobby media whether that be NPR, the New York Times, CNN, or Zuckerman’s US News. It is truly worth billions and goes unrecognized for being the camera/microphone/journal of the Israel Lobby in the US.
Les, I agree. We Americans pride ourselves in having refined democracy to levels never dreamed of before. Instead, we have only taken betrayal of the public trust and manipulation of public opinion to levels Machiavelli would have admired.
As Jeffrey Blankfort pointed out in the article, former employees of the US government found no shred of evidence to support the claim that is repeatedly advanced by those in the academia. I’d be hard pressed if you could find one CIA officer, analyst or a high ranking military officer who could point to the alleged significance of Israel to US interests.
The above is pure nonsense. Whoever attempts to sell his listeners/readers such lies, might as well sell them medication for Restless Leg Syndrome or some newfangled car wax that’ll turn this to this.
Sure, the US Navy’s Six Fleet does park in in Haifa from time to time, but that doesn’t mean that US troops are allowed to set foot on Israeli soil. Nor does it mean that US aircraft can or do use Israel’s airfields and airports for their needs, nor does it mean that intelligence sharing between Israel and the US is as intimate as one’s relationship with his/her spouse. Certainly, the Israeli spies that have littered the US intelligence landscape over the years are proof positive that such claims are lacking.
In fact, the vast majority of Arab states in the region provide the US with far more access and logistical support than does Israel. There are US military bases in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, most of the Persian Gulf states and Iraq. There is no US military base in Israel.
As for those stockpiles of weapons, the only entity to benefit from them has been Israel as it tapped those reservoirs a few times in the past until the US rushed a shipment of more weapons from Ramstein, Germany.
So, when do US troops set foot in Israel? Back in 1991 during the Gulf War US forces manned Patriot Missile batteries to protect Israel from Scuds.
Zucherman should know that I have some 200 acres of good residential land in the Florida Everglades National Park which I’d like to sell him. Don’t mind the guard at the entrance, it’s a…..ummm gated community. Very upscale.
“As for those stockpiles of weapons, the only entity to benefit from them has been Israel as it tapped those reservoirs a few times in the past until the US rushed a shipment of more weapons from Ramstein, Germany.”
As for stockpiles :
Who are these for? The US? Israel? Or eventually for Fatah, in order to ward off Hamas?
And this :
link to truthout.org
James Bradley wrote:
“Saban and Zuckerman act as individuals even if they think they’re acting on behalf of a wider community. They make decisions without consulting the wider Jewish community and in the end act in a manner that is selfish and individualistic even if they may think their actions are altruistic. The Jewish community of America has very little say in the business decisions of Saban, Zuckerman, and others and thus it cannot be said that “Jews own the American media” merely because many American media conglomerates are owned by individual Jewish identifying people.”
I see your point, James–but as you know–the evidence suggests that the American media strongly favors the Israeli over the Palestinian position and tends to minimize or even not to report news that presents Israel in an unflattering manner. The fact is that many of these media are Jewish-owned and hold Israel and its wishes in high regard–as Walt & Mearsheimer and many others have pointed out. I have read somewhere (maybe Jerry Slater?) that the NYT is flooded by mostly Jewish complaints whenever a story appears that seems to favor the Palestinians. The NYT is a business, and must show consideration for its readership. In this sense and in at least some locales, some individual Jews acting independently appear to be influencing the news. Others have noted that publishing unflattering material about Israel can result in very real financial hazards (such as losing ad revenues). So, even gentile media owners are being pressured to not tell all sides of the story…
Lobewyper,
Thank your for the response, and I completely agree with your assertions.
However, I was not arguing that the American media is not biased in favor of Israel due to the prominence of pro-Israeli (particularly Zionists) in high positions throughout the American MSM.
What I’m arguing against is the notion that the American media is “controlled by the Jews.” To make such a statement would imply that a vast majority of the Jews in America have setup a system in which Jews as a collective are all involved in what Saban, Brommer, Zuckerberg and others do.
Most American Jews have no say in Saban or Zuckerberg’s media acquisitions. Many Jewish people may support the news coverage coming from these outlets but they still don’t have much of a say in how its done.
Thus the Jewish community in America does not own the US Media.
However, what can be said is that several prominent Zionists own several Media conglomerates in the United States and use their platforms to ensure that the American media maintains a heavy bias in favor of Israel.
If the Jews owned the media they’d all be share holders in Saban’s Media Empire, however, most Jewish Americans probably don’t know who Saban is and most certainly don’t have any say in how Saban conducts his business (even if many of them may agree with his viewpoints).
Nonetheless, as you’ve stated, pro-Israel groups have done a lot to put pressure on the American media to report what happens in Palestine from a very heavily biased position that is completely in favor of Israel (despite the fact that Israel is the occupier engaged in apartheid, ethnic cleansing, mass murder etc). This however does not mean the Jews “own” the media.
OH crap, I got the rusty car and boat links mixed up. OK
Here’s what the end product was supposed to be in that analogy:
link to charterworld.com
There. In trying to make a point, I killed the analogy. Raspberries.
Avi – your analogy gave me a good laugh though I’m not sure the average American consumer of wonder car waxes is quite stupid enough to believe that transformation.
It was meant to be hyperbolic, to make a point. I’ll do better next time ;)
I’ve just bought Gregory Harms’ ‘Straight Power Concepts in the Middle East’ (Pluto Press, 2010). It was on sale at the bookshop of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, which usually selects stuff of some academic repute. It’s a useful summary of some events, including the various peace proposals over the decades, and makes some interesting points, such as that Jimmy Carter as President gave no support to the idea of a Palestinian State.
On the other hand it strongly supports the Chomsky/Zunes line according to which Israel is very much a tail wagged by the big American imperialist dog and the related Zuckerman line in which Israel is very much an objective asset to the West. I need to re-read the argument if I’m to be fair to it. But you can see that this line of thought emerges from the ‘Marxist’ (maybe not Marx’s) view in which Western or Anglo-American capitalism has been on the rampage for centuries, is very cunning and is certainly not available for manipulation by some mere ethnic minority or client state. From this point of view the idea of ‘a great imperialist power that can be manipulated’ is a contradiction in terms.
don’t forget Charles
Freeman: Israel is useless to US power projection
Gotta say–I could not care less whether Israel is a strategic asset or not. We shouldn’t be supporting their human rights violations whether they are or are not.
Mort Zuckerman would know — real estate magnate and owner of an obedient rag for American business. Perfect qualifications for evaluating global strategic issues.
So, having lambasted Zuckerman for having ZERO qualification, I — with ZERO qualification — will add my two bits. Israel has ZERO strategic value. It is in a lousy location. No good harbor. Not strategically located except for proximity. Geography, etc., does not offer any natural defense.
One of the reasons Israeli governments are so paranoid is that they are well-aware of their strategic liabilities. They have also fostered a culture of paranoia, perpetual victimhood, etc., but that does not mean they do not have genuine security concerns, many of which are born of the fact that any serious enemy could march across the entire country in a couple of hours.
Israel is a liability to the US both for political reasons (namely, the glaring US support for uninterrupted Israeli war crimes) and for the strategic reason that it is devoid of any natural defenses or natural advantages.
Zuckerman is talkin’ out his arse. He might as well suggest that Delaware or Rhode Island are strategically essential to the US (and, in fact, a better case could be made for either than for Israel).
James,
Thanks for your comments. I might add that many American Jews (especially, younger) seem almost indifferent to Israel based upon surveys. So, I agree that in your sense of the term “ownership,” “the Jews” don’t own the US media. As you note, some Jews (and gentiles) do own important media outlets and allow their pro-Israeli bias to affect their reporting and hence, public opinion. (There are also many Zionists who abhor the Israeli government’s policies. For example, one Judge Richard Goldstone.)
Lobewyper,
Thanks for the reply and again I’m in complete agreement with you.
The “Jews” don’t own the media, but several people who identify as Jewish Americans own several American media outlets and use their privileges to insert pro-Israeli bias into media reporting.
There was actually a rather interesting article about this in the LA Times:
link to articles.latimes.com
James,
Thanks for the link to Joel Stein’s article. He seems to me to be saying, “Of course Jews run things [i.e., are over-represented] in Hollywood. So what? Jews are over-represented in lots of creative endeavors, one of which happens to be the movie industry. They’re also over-represented in cancer research.” O.K., he’s talking about the movie industry, and not the news media. (BTW I believe a case could be made that American movies very frequently present Jewish characters in a favorable light. I also think that WASPs as well as Arabs and Germans are disproportionately shown in an unfavorable manner, but that’s merely my opinion.)
Back to the news media. Stein might say the same thing about this: “Sure Jews are disproportionately represented and hold powerful positions in the MSM. We’re good at that sort of thing.” But you and I know that the facts seem to indicate that Israel is portrayed far more favorably than is justfiable than the facts on the ground suggest. And innocent Palestinians (as well as some guilty ones) are and have been seriously suffering due to Israeli human rights violations and territorial seizures. And the MSM media is substantially responsible for this suffering by its failure to tell the American people the truth. What do you think Mr. Stein have to say about that?