The Lobby

The trials of Arthur Topham, Canadian journalist and publisher of Radical Press, for “hate crime” (2007) and “hate propaganda” (2012) under new Criminal Code “Hate Propaganda” legislation, have resulted in exactly the opposite of what the prosecution, B’Nai Brith, wanted. Instead of quietly muzzling the gadfly critic, the result has been the highlighting of past Jewish hate crimes, and the increasing control by Zionist groups of Canadian politics to promote Israel and censor anti-Zionist criticism.

Deir Yassin Remembered, a not-for-profit organization of Jews and non-Jews working for the human rights of Palestinians, rented a billboard in Detroit. The message was simple: “America first, not Israel.”

The mega billboard company, Lamar, designed the message and produced the 14’ x 48’ vinyl for $700. It charged an additional $3,000 to display it for four weeks and agreed to ship the vinyl to the next location at the end of the rental period.

Over the past 15 years the US has been engaged in a series of wars, which has led many writers to refer to the ‘rise of militarism’ – the growth of an empire, built primarily by and for the projection of military power – and only secondarily to advance economic imperialism.
The rise of a military-based empire, however, does not preclude the emergence of competing, conflicting, and convergent power configurations within the imperial state. These factions of the Washington elite define the objectives and targets of imperialist warfare, often on their own terms.

I was happy to learn that Professor Steven Salaita reached a $600,000 settlement (plus $275,000 in attorney fees) yesterday in his lawsuit against the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).  As others, including Steven Salaita, himself, have said, universities may now think twice before violating freedom of speech rights of faculty in order to satisfy wealthy Jewish donors. 

The following is  the index  I submitted to the British Columbia Supreme Court in relation to Arthur Topham’s trial. This text may help activists and anti imperialist commentators in their future  battles with Israel’s supporters,  Hasbara merchants and  Sayanim in general.
        Jewish Symbols
        Zionism
        Semitism
        The Holocaust
        Germany Must Perish/Israel Must Perish
        The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
        The Jewish Religion: Its Influence Today

The first to die will be US troops. Russians will be made to appear as the killers, but the agents will probably be ISIS, Al-Qaeda (aka al-Nusra), Turks, or the Americans themselves. I’m not ruling out that the Russians might actually do the job, especially if the Americans order their 50 soldiers to the most likely Russian bombing targets and then dare the Russians to hit them. But most likely, the US will do the job itself and not take a chance that the Russians might miss.

For years Israel and its lobby around the world have been trying to normalise their relations with Arabs and Muslims without solving the Palestine Question.

Most pundits predict that Obama will have enough votes to push through the Iran nuclear deal. An AIPAC-driven Congress will oppose it, but Obama will use his veto power to overcome the opposition. At the end of the day, optimists forecast, the president will receive the requisite support in Congress to prevent a veto override.

Prologue

No one can claim that President Obama was not transparent in this masterful press conference. He answered every question, and even extended the press conference to answer more. It may take a sledgehammer to get the Republicans to take their fingers out of their ears and hear the clear facts the President laid out in the plainest terms.