Sunday Oregonian's Article by Mearsheimer and Walt

John Mearsheimer, professor at U. of Chicago, and Stephen Walt, professor at Harvard, wrote a lengthy article in today's paper called Israel's False friends Candidates' unconditional support isn't right for Jewish state. I believe they have influenced the Bush Administration.

They write about presidential candidates giving their support for Israel, and how wrong this is. According to them a genuine friend would tell Israel that it was acting foolishly and would do whatever possible to get Israel to change its misguided behavior.

Again, they criticize AIPAC, Israel's only lobby. According to them, the less than 1% of Jews in the United States control money given to candidates to support Israel. I wish I were one of those people so well endowed with capital that I could donate money. I don't believe we few are that wealthy or large enough in numbers to sway candidates.

Their use of words is very damaging. They write: The key issue here is the future of Gaza and the West Bank, which Israel conquered in 1967 and still controls.

Israel was attacked in 1967 and won that war. They defended themselves and were not conquerers. It was the Arabs who were trying to conquer Israel. They haven't stopped yet!

Bush must be acting under the influence of these two writers, as he just went to Israel and demanded that Israel should end the occupation that began in 1967 and must make the most important concessions.

Israel didn't go out at attack and occupy. They suddenly found themselves responsible for a lot of land and have done the best they could with it considering the attacks really haven't stopped against Israel. Israel's security is completely overlooked by these three, but has been considered by US involvement since 1967 when it was a recognized fact that Israel needed security lines. Now Bush has stopped treating Israel as an ally, which it has been since 1948.

Now Israel has no partner for peace, though it hasn't occurred to Olmert as yet. Abbas has not recognized Israel as a Jewish state and has done nothing to stop all the terrorist bombings from Gaza, and now from Lebanon. Idealistically, Abbas and Palestine should be workable, but realistically, it hasn't happened. The one element needed is to recognize Israel as a Jewish State and accept her as a good neighbor, and the Palestinians are centuries away from that goal. Each American president would like to be known as the savior who brought peace to the Middle East, and Bush will go down with the distinction of being the one who really turned against Israel.

I just hope that the presidential candidates are more informed about Israel's history and struggles and what it has done for the United States than Bush has been. According to the two professors, the candidates who do give support for Israel are no friends of Israel. I don't think we need friends like Mersheimer and Walt. If they had their way, Israel would have been wiped off the map long ago, which is what the Arab nations have been trying to do.

References: Oregonian Newspaper 1/13/08 page E6

The Israel Lobby and US foreign Policy Authors in Portland

We've only been waiting for 2,000 years for the rebirth of Israel after most Jews were taken as slaves in 70AD by the Romans after they burned our Jerusalem. Though Israel was reborn in 1948, it has taken American Jews many years to have an Israel Lobby in Washington D.C.

Often I have criticized our propaganda machine, if there exists any, as all I ever hear in the newspapers, TV and radio are articles denouncing Israel regardless of what it does. I've thought, "why can't there be any articles of a positive nature about Israel?" I wasn't even aware that we had an Israel Lobby machine. It can't be very big as there aren't that many of us available or knowedgable.

Jews are less than 1% of the population in the states, but suddenly John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt have attacked our little lobby as being too powerful. I'd like to know what power we have over the stubborn politicians in Washington.

I don't think it's the Israel Lobby that has been so successful in persuading President Bush to be supportive. I think it's his own personal feelings about Israel. Right now there are many Christians on the right of political pursuasion who have claimed that Israel is a part of their revelation that has to do with bringing about their savior in the very near future. Iran and other nations have possible atomic weapons that they could use to attack Israel first and then the United States. Times are scary right now, and prophecies seems to be coming true. The Israel Lobby is a scapegoat for frightened people who can't understand why anyone would want to support Israel.

The very existence of Israel has been threatened and attacked since its inception, but the little country has prevailed, shocking everyone. Threats only get worse. Every president of the United States has proclaimed support for Israel, and a few have actually helped. That is supposed to be the stand the United States has taken since it voted for Israel's birth in the U.N.

The Israel Lobby has little power. They don't even tempt politicians with money or food. They only have truth on their side, and that truth is that Israel has a right to exist. There it is. Somehow, they have managed to get politicians to listen to some of their facts. Perhaps they are good speakers. John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt have written a tome of misinformation about them that lazy people have gobbled up as factual because they haven't the ability to read carefully and their mindset is also against Israel. I find that this tome is just sloppy writing that isn't even factual. It's poor writing for someone with the credentials that these two men have.

These two Phd's, one from Harvard and the other from Cornell spoke to a huge crowd at the Hilton Hotel Grand Ballroom on October 24. So many people were so eager to bash Israel that they had to find this immense room to hold them all. Unfortunately, they probably made a lot of money selling their book. Bashing Israel sells. This teaches me that though someone is very well educated and comes from outstanding schools, it doesn't mean that their views are correct. We must all check out information before swallowing it. We must find ulterior motives for their actions.


"As HASHEM lives, Who brought up and brought back the offspring of the House of Israel from the land of the North and from all the lands wherein He had dispersed them; and they will dwell in their own land."