on Israeli antipersonnel artillery shells during
Lebanon campaign; 2006)
If you don't believe the Israelis have a powerful lobby in America - to the extent that they influence foreign policy and Federal aid to that country -- guess again.
The actions of the Israeli government in Gaza a few months ago during their self-styled "Operation Cast Lead" isn't open to controversy. While the mainstream-media ignored the real story, the Israelis were busy violating several points of international law by using white-phosphorus on civilians and bombing residential districts with no military value.
While the Palestinians in Gaza were denied medical care and humanitarian aid due to an Israeli blockade, the rest of the world ignored the problem.Well, most of them, anyway.
This organization, The Coalition To Stop 30 Billion To Israel, put up several billboards around the country as part of its outreach to average Americans, letting them know that they were complicit in Israel's war crimes by way of their tax dollars.
This didn't sit too well with several groups supporting Israel, which put pressure on the advertising company which owned the billboards to remove the billboard images.
Cancelling the group's contract, Lamar Advertising removed the billboards recently, three weeks into an eight-week campaign.
Meanwhile, apart from grassroots campaigns like this one (which comprise local chapters of Amnesty International and Veterans for Peace - hardly 'extremist' groups), it appears the Israelis are going to skate past their actions in Gaza with not even a hand-slap.
Thirty billion dollars.
That's what you're being charged, every year, to support Israeli war crimes.
That's $157.00, each second.
(If you care about this at all, go here - look up your representative, and start writing emails. Plenty of them. Mention, among other things, the fact that Israel is in violation of the Arms Control Export Act; that their use of white-phosphorus on civilians is in violation of international law, and that their recent incursion into Gaza involved the deliberate targeting of civilian centers. Until we call these people out for exactly what they are - lawless thugs, masquerading as a legitimate government - this will never stop. Israel absolutely depends on an ocean of American money to stay afloat. It's time to end that.)
