Opinion Editorials, September 2013

ADL Denies that Zionists Wanted US War on Syria. Really?

By Rev Ted Pike

Al-Jazeerah, CCUN, September 30, 2013

Soon after news of the gassing of over a thousand Syrian civilians, the Anti-Defamation League’s Abe Foxman publicly called for a US attack on Syria. He summoned the image of Jews gassed by Nazis to say it is intolerable for the government of Syria to remain unpunished. The September 3rd press release said “ADL expresses strong support for President Obama’s decision to deploy US military force against Syria.”

But now that the political winds have shifted and both the American people and Congress are making it clear they oppose war, and approve Russian President Putin’s ostensible persuasion of Syrian President Assad to destroy his chemical weapons, Foxman is furiously backpedalling. Realizing that he and the Jewish lobby grossly underestimated America’s aversion to yet another Mideast conflict for the benefit of Israel, Foxman is now trying to divert Americans from remembering the Jewish lobby’s war-making zeal.

Never one to assume personal blame, but a master of scape-goating the right, Foxman has found his predictable villain. He says, “Fringe extremists and anti-Semites have taken to the internet to promote outrageous claims that behind-the-scenes Jews and Israel are manipulating governments and the media to push for war.”(See ADL press release: "ADL: Conspiracy Theorists Blame Jews for Events in Syria")

My recent article, “Putin Outfoxed the Jewish Lobby,” discusses how Israel’s Ha’aretz newspaper confirms what really went on behind the scenes. Here is its description of the feverish yet highly organized and focused efforts of the US Jewish community to push America into war again.

Jewish groups were hesitant initially to support Obama’s push to strike following an attack that is said to have killed more than 1,400 Syrian civilians, including several hundred children. But the reluctance all but evaporated after top Obama advisors outlined the administration’s proposed legislation in a conference call last week with Jewish leaders. The next day, September 3, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee mobilized its grass roots to call members of Congress. On Tuesday 250 of its top members held one-on-one meetings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill…. AIPAC’s support is joined by other leading American Jewish groups, including the Anti-Defamation League, the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. Notably, both partisan Jewish organizations—the Republican Jewish Coalition and the National Jewish Democratic Council—are backing Obama.

...The New York Times reported Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reaching out personally to some congressional leaders at Obama’s urging…In the wake of the chemical attack, Israel has grown more vocal in supporting a response that would degrade Assad’s unconventional weapons capability. (See Ha'aretz article “AIPAC makes big push on Syria military action”)

Are conspiracy theorists of the far right really responsible for an image of the Jewish lobby pushing for war? Anti-Zionists may affirm the truth of that fact. But it’s the highly respected Jewish newspaper Ha’aretz that documents it.

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Rev. Ted Pike is director of the National Prayer Network, a Christian/conservative watchdog organization.

To contact Rev. Ted Pike call (503) 631-3808.

NATIONAL PRAYER NETWORK, P.O. Box 828, Clackamas, OR 97015
www.truthtellers.org

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