Public relations mogul Ronn D. Torossian is a friend of nearly everyone who’s anyone in Washington; in this thorough article, Politico calls him ‘perhaps the most prominent practitioner of a brass-knuckled form of public relations.’ While Torossian is in PR by trade, Israel is his first love: many of his clients and acquaintances are serious players in the ascendency of Israel.
The Israel lobby is one of the most powerful and pervasive special interest groups in the U.S. It consists of a multitude of institutions and individuals that work to influence Congress, the president, academia, the media, religious institutions, and American public opinion on behalf of Israel. View the list…
How can American Jews endorse the strangulation of 2 million human beings in Gaza? Because Jewish leaders, in both Israel and the United States, encase Israel’s actions in a fog of euphemism and lies.The organized American Jewish community doesn’t only conceal the truth about Gaza from itself. It lobbies American politicians to do the same. The three main talking points: that Israel “withdrew” from Gaza, that its actions are decreed by a need for “security,” and that “Hamas” is to blame. Let’s look at the real facts:
South Carolina is poised to be the first state to pass legislation to adopt an Israel-centric definition for “anti-Semitism.” This will then apply to the state’s campuses, potentially limiting discussion of Israel-Palestine to one-sided information that fosters U.S. policies that provide Israel $10 million per day. The bill has been heralded in Israel as a “a landmark bill” that will lead change across the U.S. and the world, while South Carolina lawmakers appear to have let it through in the belief that it isn’t significant legislation.
Richard Falk discusses critical Middle East topics, including the legality of Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem, Iran and Trump’s “special relationships” with Israel and Saudi Arabia, the future of Syria, and hope for justice in Israel-Palestine.
The slogan “BDS – now also against motorsports” seems to be gaining traction, as a motorcycle race slated to take place in a West Bank settlement was cancelled. “Hosting a race in an illegal Israeli settlement…constitutes complicity in a war crime, no less.”
Investigative journalist Gareth Porter reports that in 2007 Israel sold the CIA on a dubious claim about a North Korean nuclear reactor in the Syrian desert. In joining Israel and the White House in selling military intervention in Syria – long a target of Israel – the CIA and international inspectors hid key evidence that would undermine the case…
JTA and the Forward report on a Congressional Judiciary Committee hearing about adopting a new, Israel-centric definition of antisemitism. (This is part of an international campaign on behalf of Israel). Five witnesses were for it, four against…
In violation of the international boycott of Israel over its human rights abuses, which have caused stunting of Gazan children, Trader Joe’s is promoting Bamba, an Israeli-made snack. Meanwhile, the company is part of a project against hunger in New England. The Osem Group, which produces Bamba, includes Nestlé, which is being boycotted for practices that cause infant malnutrition….
Israel is well-known for its potent U.S. lobby that not only influences Congress and the mainstream media but intimidates Americans who dare criticize its policies toward the Palestinians, as Dennis J Bernstein describes.