The Jewry is Still Out
Last year during one of my comedy performances, someone asked the Swami, “What do you think about AIPAC?”
The Swami -- being the Swami -- answered, “AIPAC? I don’t know about AIPAC. I’m more into Deepak. And Tupac. Gimme Deepak, Tupac and a six-pack, and you can keep your AIPAC.”
Well, the audience liked the answer, but my serious side wasn’t satisfied. I’d been hearing disparaging remarks about AIPAC, which stands for American Israel Public Affairs Committee, but I had dismissed them as fringy, anti-semitic fulminations. The more I’ve read since then, however, the more I realize that this organization -- supported by many well-meaning Jewish people because it is “pro-Israel” -- is really a neocon front that hardly represents the majority of the Jewish people, let alone the people of Israel.
As the world seems to be hurtling toward that self-fulfilling prophecy called “armageddon,” the forces of fear and destruction seem to be polarizing to either side, each desperately trying to make sure that their evildoers will be able to out evil-do the evildoers on the other side. I like to consider myself a realist. As the old saying goes, “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean there isn’t someone following you.” So -- just because our Middle East policies are fear-driven, greed-driven, misguided, obsolete and dangerous -- doesn’t mean that there aren’t toxic Islamic forces hell-bent on the destruction of Israel.
Try to imagine what it must feel like to know that the enemy that has vowed to destroy you has the power to launch weapons of mass destruction. Feel that, and you can empathize with civilians in Israel -- and Iran.
For in their fear for their own lives and destruction, many Israelis feel resigned to preemptively doing the same to the Iranians. Same old “us or them.”
From M.A.D. to Madder
For nearly 45 years, the Cold War was kept on ice because of an eerie Strangelovian concept called “Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD).” With both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. overarmed to teeth, if any one side pushed the button, both sides would assuredly perish. Whether it was that delicate balance of power and fear or some other form of divine grace, no button was pushed and we are still here to be grateful.
But there is no such balance of power today. As the last superpower standing after the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States has super-abused its superpowers. Instead of following the advice of former Senator Gary Hart and treating terrorist cells like a criminal gang instead of a military force, we have squandered any good will we might have had left and have shown the entire world that we’re not in the Middle East to keep the peace, we’re there to keep the pieces. Of course, this is not the intent of the majority of Americans, nor is it the intent of the majority of Israelis. However with the neocons in control of both countries -- and with AIPAC successfully muzzling most dissent against Israeli policies, or marginalizing it as “anti-semitic” -- our two countries together are drawing the battle lines for an insane and unnecessary world war that will lead to countless deaths, not to mention irreparable ecologic harm.
Here’s how the real balance of power stacks up. On one side, we have the “kill or be killed,” “dominate or be dominated” world view, the one that has persisted for thousands of years and brought the world to the brink of destruction. Everything about this side sounds rational at first hearing because we humans habitually associate “normal” with “sane.” But rationality has been replaced with rationalization, which goes something like this: The world is a bad place. It’s always been that way, and always will be. We have to protect ourselves. We sincerely regret any unnecessary deaths -- of course, we will only do “surgical strikes” designed not to harm civilians, and besides those people hate us anyway.
Under this umbrella of self-protection, any violation of human rights, human decency, rule of law and morality is permitted as long as it can be rationalized as a “necessary evil.” Even better if it can be done in secret and can be officially denied. That way, there can be the illusion of democracy, justice and living by spiritual principles. Of course anything built on a foundation of lies is destined to crumble and that accounts for the disheartenment both in America and Israel. The “self-protection” clause also means you can buddy up with “allies” who violate the very essence of who you are and who you believe yourself to be.
Check out this audio recording featuring Rev. John Hagee’s speech at this spring’s AIPAC conference. In fact, check out all the speeches, but particularly Rev. Hagee’s whose intolerant beliefs are now tolerable because he supports Israel and in fact has asserted that the Book of Esther predicts the very attack on Iran that is soon to be launched. But hey, this is about self-preservation so it really doesn’t matter which devils you sleep with, as long as they’re on your side now.
That’s one world view, the one that is considered “mainstream” in our society, despite any “naive” moral objections the rest of us may have.
There’s a second world view, however, the same one put forth by spiritual teachers from Buddha to Jesus, and is at the bottom of every religion once the bullshit is boiled away. That world view insists that there is such a thing as a common humanity, and we are all in it together. It seems to be contrary to the “evidence,” because if you look at human history -- well, it’s more like inhuman history. However, when you consider how this evidence has been spun and is being spun, and how war is used to justify more war, it’s easier to see how 80% to 90% of us get manipulated by a small group of manipulators who know how to press the buttons marked “fear” “survival” “patriotism” and “tribal loyalty.”
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
