Two votes in the last few days show that when backed to the wall, the powerful Israel Lobby can become even more powerful when it marshals the resources of the worldwide Jewish Lobby. THe two lobbies went into red alert status over the UN report of well-respected South African judge Richard Goldstone, who is Jewish, a self-described Zionist, and trustee of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, that recommends an independent investigation into Israeli actions in what the report stated amounted to "war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity." Israel's invasion of Gaza, code named "Cast Lead," resulted in the deaths of over 1400 people, many of them children and women.
The reaction of the "twin lobby" to the Goldstone report was quick and fierce. On cue, the Anti-Defamation League's whiny Abe Foxman let loose with a barrage of criticism of Goldstone. From other quarters, Goldstone was accused of being "anti-Semitic" and a "self-hating Jew." The same sort of vitriolic name-calling had been meted out by the Lobby to Mary Robinson, the former Irish President, who served as UN Human Rights Commissioner.
The Israel Lobby, whose political backbone comes from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), had introduced into the House of Representatives resolution H.R. 867, which called on the Obama administration not only to reject the Goldstone report, also known as "Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict," but block any further consideration of it by the United Nations. On November 3, the House resolution passed by a lopsided 344-36 vote.
AIPAC was supported in its last-minute blitzkrieg of the House by like-minded organizations, including the American Jewish Committee, Jewish Federations of North America, Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), and the Zionist Organization of America.
AIPAC, through its power over campaign donations from wealthy Jews in the United States, can ram any legislation through Congress at a moment's notice. And H.R. 867 was time-sensitive. AIPAC and its allies had to send a message to the Obama administration that it and The Lobby expected strong American opposition to the upcoming UN General Assembly vote on accepting the Goldstone report. The UN vote took place two days later and passed 114 to 18, with 44 abstentions and 16 nations not voting.
With the power of the World Jewish Congress, the European Jewish Congress, and other pressure groups arrayed against them, many small countries dependent on World Bank and International Monetary Fund (both controlled by pro-Israelis, Robert Zoellick and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, respectively), were forced to vote against Goldstone, abstain, or simply not vote at all. Israel proclaimed that the 18 nations that voted against Goldstone represented a "moral majority." Israel, headed up by an expansionist and xenophobic government, in which avowed racist and gangster Avigdor Lieberman serves as Foreign Minister, received a seal of approval not only from the Obama administration but US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice, go daughter of former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and Rice's deputy, Alejandro Daniel Wolff, reportedly cajoled various UN delegations to either vote no on Goldstone, abstain, or miss the vote entirely.
However, some countries, like some members of the House, stood up to the immense twin Lobby to vote for Goldstone and reject the threats made by the Lobbies' arm twisters and thumb breakers.
Among those who defied AIPAC and its allies were Representatives Keith Ellison (D-MN), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Ron Paul (R-TX), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Geoff Davis (D-KY), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Charles Boustany (R-LA), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), John Dingell (D-MI), and George Miller (D-CA). Perhaps the greatest courage was shown by Representative Bob Filner (D-CA), who is Jewish, and voted against AIPAC. Previously, Filner admitted the power of AIPAC to punish those members of the House who defied it. Filner cited the electoral losses of Representative Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) and Earl Hilliard (D-AL), who were defeated in their respective Democratic primaries after out-of-state money from wealthy Jewish circles poured into the campaign coffers of their opponents. Representative Donna Edwards (D-MD), who also voted against the AIPAC resolution, faces a similar AIPAC-inspired challenge next year.
The "Brave 36" who stood up to AIPAC on the Goldstone report:
| Baird Baldwin Blumenauer Boustany Capps Carson (IN) Clarke Clay Davis (KY) Dingell Doggett Edwards (MD) | Ellison Filner Grijalva Hinchey Johnson, E. B. Kilpatrick (MI) Kucinich Lee (CA) Lynch McCollum McDermott McGovern | Miller, George Moran (VA) Olver Pastor (AZ) Paul Price (NC) Rahall Snyder Stark Waters Watt Woolsey |
Other House members were able to silently protest by merely voting "Present." They included Hank Johnson, the Democratic primary challenger who beat McKinney in Georgia with the help of out-of-state Jewish campaign funds.
| Becerra Cooper Dahlkemper DeFazio Delahunt Duncan Eshoo Farr | Heinrich Hirono Honda Johnson (GA) Jones Kaptur Loebsack Lofgren, Zoe | Luján Obey Speier Tierney Welch Wu |
Other House members chose not to vote at all. They included Artur Davis, the candidate who defeated Hilliard, again, with out-of-state Jewish campaign funding, and John Conyers (D-MI), who represents the district with the largest percentage of Arab-Americans in the United States and, thus, has drawn a number of pro-Israeli operatives to his congressional and House Judiciary Committee staffs.
| Abercrombie Ackerman Bachmann Barrett (SC) Boucher Brady (PA) Capuano Conyers Davis (AL) Davis (TN) | Deal (GA) Gordon (TN) Gutierrez Hall (NY) Holt Meeks (NY) Murphy, Patrick Nunes Pallone Pascrell | Payne Pingree (ME) Price (GA) Sánchez, Linda T. Sires Souder Stupak Towns Velázquez Wamp |
AIPAC and its other Lobby allies were ensured the votes of 344 House members. They are:
| Aderholt Adler (NJ) Akin Alexander Altmire Andrews Arcuri Austria Baca Bachus Barrow Bartlett Barton (TX) Bean Berkley Berman Berry Biggert Bilbray Bilirakis Bishop (GA) Bishop (NY) Bishop (UT) Blackburn Blunt Boccieri Boehner Bonner Bono Mack Boozman Boren Boswell Boyd Brady (TX) Braley (IA) Bright Broun (GA) Brown (SC) Brown, Corrine Brown-Waite, Ginny Buchanan Burgess Burton (IN) Butterfield Buyer Calvert Camp Campbell Cantor Cao Capito Cardoza Carnahan Carney Carter Cassidy Castle Castor (FL) Chaffetz Chandler Childers Chu Cleaver Clyburn Coble Coffman (CO) Cohen Cole Conaway Connolly (VA) Costa Costello Courtney Crenshaw Crowley Cuellar Culberson Cummings Davis (CA) Davis (IL) DeGette DeLauro Dent Diaz-Balart, L. Diaz-Balart, M. Dicks Donnelly (IN) Doyle Dreier Driehaus Edwards (TX) Ehlers Ellsworth Emerson Engel Etheridge Fallin Fattah Flake Fleming Forbes Fortenberry Foster Foxx Frank (MA) Franks (AZ) Frelinghuysen Fudge Gallegly Garrett (NJ) Gerlach Giffords Gingrey (GA) Gohmert Gonzalez | Goodlatte Granger Graves Grayson Green, Al Green, Gene Griffith Guthrie Hall (TX) Halvorson Hare Harman Harper Hastings (FL) Hastings (WA) Heller Hensarling Herger Herseth Sandlin Higgins Hill Himes Hinojosa Hodes Hoekstra Holden Hoyer Hunter Inglis Inslee Israel Issa Jackson (IL) Jackson-Lee (TX) Jenkins Johnson (IL) Johnson, Sam Jordan (OH) Kagen Kanjorski Kennedy Kildee Kilroy Kind King (IA) King (NY) Kingston Kirk Kirkpatrick (AZ) Kissell Klein (FL) Kline (MN) Kosmas Kratovil Lamborn Lance Langevin Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) Latham LaTourette Latta Lee (NY) Levin Lewis (CA) Lewis (GA) Linder Lipinski LoBiondo Lowey Lucas Luetkemeyer Lummis Lungren, Daniel E. Mack Maffei Maloney Manzullo Marchant Markey (CO) Markey (MA) Marshall Massa Matheson Matsui McCarthy (CA) McCarthy (NY) McCaul McClintock McCotter McHenry McIntyre McKeon McMahon McMorris Rodgers McNerney Meek (FL) Melancon Mica Michaud Miller (FL) Miller (MI) Miller (NC) Miller, Gary Minnick Mitchell Mollohan Moore (KS) Moore (WI) Moran (KS) Murphy (CT) Murphy (NY) Murphy, Tim Murtha Myrick | Nadler (NY) Napolitano Neal (MA) Neugebauer Nye Oberstar Olson Ortiz Paulsen Pence Perlmutter Perriello Peters Peterson Petri Pitts Platts Poe (TX) Polis (CO) Pomeroy Posey Putnam Quigley Radanovich Rangel Rehberg Reichert Reyes Richardson Rodriguez Roe (TN) Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Rogers (MI) Rohrabacher Rooney Ros-Lehtinen Roskam Ross Rothman (NJ) Roybal-Allard Royce Ruppersberger Rush Ryan (OH) Ryan (WI) Salazar Sanchez, Loretta Sarbanes Scalise Schakowsky Schauer Schiff Schmidt Schock Schrader Schwartz Scott (GA) Scott (VA) Sensenbrenner Serrano Sessions Sestak Shadegg Shea-Porter Sherman Shimkus Shuler Shuster Simpson Skelton Slaughter Smith (NE) Smith (NJ) Smith (TX) Smith (WA) Space Spratt Stearns Sullivan Sutton Tanner Taylor Teague Terry Thompson (CA) Thompson (MS) Thompson (PA) Thornberry Tiahrt Tiberi Titus Tonko Tsongas Turner Upton Van Hollen Visclosky Walden Walz Wasserman Schultz Watson Waxman Weiner Westmoreland Wexler Whitfield Wilson (OH) Wilson (SC) Wittman Wolf Yarmuth Young (AK) Young (FL) |
The 114 countries that voted to support the Goldstone report in the UN General Assembly were:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Comoros, Congo, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Those who voted to support Israeli genocide and reject Goldstone were:
Israel, United States, Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Netherlands, Palau, Panama, Poland, Slovakia, Macedonia, and Ukraine.
Countries that abstained were:
Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Samoa, San Marino, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Tonga, Uganda, United Kingdom, and Uruguay.
Countries not voting were:
Bhutan, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Honduras, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Madagascar, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Togo, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
Not only is the power of the loan-wielding World Bank and IMF seen in the decision of some countries to abstain or not vote, but the influence-peddling of George Soros, himself a Hungarian Jew by birth, can be seen in the "no" votes of the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine, Macedonia and the abstention and not voting positions of Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Moldova, Romania, Kyrggyzstan, and Turkmenistan, nations were Soros's Open Society Institute maintains political sway.
Russia's abstention likely arose from fears that a UN precedent on Israel might be set for other war crimes investigations and Chechnya weighs heavily on Moscow in that respect.
Even with the full-court press by the Israel and Jewish Lobbies, aided by Rice and Wolff at the UN, the yes votes included those of major Latin American nations, including Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Peru, Chile, and Venezuela, as well as countries that will undoubtedly feel the punch of Jewish Lobby's threats to their tourist industries, including Bahamas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Dominica, Antigua, Belize, Jamaica, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Slovenia, Portugal, Singapore, Malta, Cyprus, Ireland, and Grenada.
