Descriptions of the lobby’s power and methods are becoming more and more explicit now that the wheels are falling off the hasbara cart.
The International Herald Tribune today gave space to Mustafa Barghouthi to make an argument that used to be dismissed as anti-Semitic conspiracy theory–
It is with deepening concern that I recognize the Obama administration is not yet capable of standing up to Israel and the pro-Israel lobby…
Meantime, Ynet, Israel’s biggest newssite, publishes an "I-am-lobby/hear-me-roar" threat from an American-Israeli named Michael Fenenbock (who’s a hardcase.) Fenebock wants to destroy the political career of the Swedish Prime Minister because he urged the division of Jerusalem under the EU resolution. Fenenbock has a plan involving pricey political consultants and Swedish stoolies (emphasis mine):
European Union (EU) foreign ministers have, with some modifications, rubber stamped a Swedish proposal to recognize east Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. The Swedish EU initiative provides the framework for international recognition of a soon to be unilaterally declared Palestinian State.
The raw political truth behind the Swedish EU Jerusalem initiative is that Prime Minister Fredrick Reinfeldt’s government gets away with it because there is no political price to pay in Sweden.
The Swedes hold a general election on September 19, 2010. All 349 seats in the Riksdag are up. Reinfeldt’s tenuous coalition government is in deep political trouble. Recent polling has Reinfeldt’s government at 44% and the opposition at 50%. His party risks defeat in September….
If Reinfeldt’s “hammer the Jews” gambit succeeds every politician in Europe will copy the formula. If we do not fight back, if we do not cause Reinfeldt and Bildt to suffer political consequences in Sweden, it will have a bandwagon effect all across European politics.
All Europe is watching and learning. The stakes are nothing less than Jerusalem.
With all due respect for my friends who have passionately made the Hasbara argument to Europe over the years, I cast my vote for fighting.
September 19, 2010, that’s the target. Send the best political campaign professionals in the world into Sweden’s national elections. Make Reinfeldt and Bildt pay a price. That’s where I’d make my stand.
An independent campaign, run by Swedes, centered on the consequences for Sweden resulting from the Reinfeldt government’s EU Jerusalem initiative, with pro-bono assistance provided by the very best political campaign professionals in the world is a rational and potentially very effective fight back strategy.
Sweden is a test case. If we make Reinfeldt and Bildt pay a political price in Sweden, the message it sends will resonate all over Europe.
Are you in?
