Without Arab World action, Kerry’s truths mean nothing
US Secretary of State John Kerry has once again exposed Israel’s rightwing government as the true obstacle to peace in the Middle East. As secretary of state, his words have true meaning. But his indictment of Israel’s failure to support peace means nothing unless the Arab World does something to stand up to Israel
For the Arab News Newspaper Jan. 5, 2017
By Ray Hanania
Although you have to tip your hat to Barack Obama for at least trying to expose the lies of the Government of Israel, the real hero in his fast ending presidency is Secretary of State John Kerry.
Kerry is an American hero in every sense of the word.
Kerry was a military hero whose record was trashed by high financed propaganda when he decided to run for president in 2004 against President George W. Bush.
The irony is that while Kerry put his life on the life to defend America during the Vietnam War, fighting on the frontlines and risking his life everyday, Bush avoided active duty using his father’s clout.
Instead of serving on the frontlines during the Vietnam War, Bush was allowed to “serve” in a military reserve unit stateside, far away from the risks to his life. In fact, the assignment was so cushy – his father, George H.W. Bush was both a former President and former U.S. Senator – the younger Bush didn’t even have to show up for reserve duty.
CBS “60 Minutes” journalist Dan Rather tried to expose this irony but was tripped up because much of the original documents were destroyed and the veracity of some of documents Rather used were in question.
But protecting Bush wasn’t enough for Kerry’s enemies. They made vicious accusations that challenged Kerry’s military service, claiming his heroism was exaggerated.
That’s when I recognized that politics in America isn’t about truth, justice or honesty. Politics in America isn’t about truth, it is about who spends the most money to spin a good story because the American people are the easiest people to manipulate on this planet. You can easily buy their minds.
The American people see the world through fictionalized television and movie dramas scripted by highly financed political propagandists in Washington D.C. and New York.
In other words, if you have the money you can easily buy the morality of the American people.
I am always amazed how this reality of the American public doesn’t benefit the Arab people, who are among the wealthiest people in the world.
The TV shows and the Hollywood movies cast Israel as the victim and the Palestinians as the vicious terrorists. And the production of these hate-driven television series and films is non-stop.
Unlike the Arabs, Israel understands this reality and spends millions every year not only to influence the American news media, but to produce through their surrogates TV shows and movies that portray the Arabs are vicious criminals and Israel and the innocent victims.
So why don’t the Arabs invest their money in trying to influence the American public to see the truth through Israel’s lies?
That’s why I just shook my head when Kerry did what a noble and righteous person would do when confronted with a challenge.
Last week, Kerry for the second time, told the American people that the real obstacle to peace in the Middle East is Israel, not the Palestinians.
His words were powerful, and this proven military veteran didn’t shy away from taking on Israel’s rightwing extremists, calling out both the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s fanatic UN Ambassador Danny Danon who openly opposes peace and rejects the “Two State” solution.
“The Two-State solution is the only way to achieve a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians,” Kerry said. “It is the only way to ensure Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state, living in peace and security with its neighbors. It is the only way to ensure a future of freedom and dignity for the Palestinian people. And it is an important way of advancing United States interests in the region.”
Kerry added, “that future is now in jeopardy.”
He also explained why the United States “could not, in good conscience, stand in the way of a resolution at the United Nations that makes clear that both sides must act now to preserve the possibility of peace.”
Kerry called for an “honest, clear-eyed conversation about the uncomfortable truths and difficult choices, because the alternative that is fast becoming the reality on the ground is in nobody’s interest – not the Israelis, not the Palestinians, not the region – and not the United States.”
We are not going to get an “honest, clear-eyed conversation” about the Middle East until the Arab people step up to the plate and invest the money that is needed to re-educate the feeble-minded American public which is spoon-fed fantasies and lies by Israel everyday.
Apparently, money is more important than the status of Jerusalem, the Holy Land, or the sanctity of our Arab heritage and culture. Because so far, the Arab World, one of the wealthiest people in the world, can’t seem to invest anything in the truth.
So, because we are cheap, the truth is portrayed as the terrorists and the lie is dressed up as the heroic victims.
I don’t care how many John Kerry’s courageously champion justice in this world, calling out Israel as the true obstacle to Middle East peace. They won’t be able to achieve anything as long as the Arab World continues to sit back and do nothing themselves.
(Ray Hanania is a political columnist and a former award winning Palestinian American journalist. Reach him at rghanania@gmail.com.)
Ray Hanania is an award winning political and humor columnist who analyzes American and Middle East politics, and life in general. He is an author of several books.
Hanania covered Chicago Politics and Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992. He began writing in 1975 publishing The Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago (1975-1977). He later published “The National Arab American Times” newspaper (2004-2007).
Hanania writes weekly columns on Middle East and American Arab issues as Special US Correspondent for the Arab News ArabNews.com, at TheArabDailyNews.com, and at SuburbanChicagoland.com. He has published weekly columns in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, YNetNews.com, Newsday, the Orlando Sentinel, Houston Chronical, and Arlington Heights Daily Herald.
Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media. In 2009, Hanania received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the recipient of the MT Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. He was honored for his writing skills with two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild. In 1990, Hanania was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times editors for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.
His writings have also been honored by two national Awards from ADC for his writing, and from the National Arab American Journalists Association.
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