The presidential foreign policy debate was dominated by one single issue: Whether Mitt Romney or Barack Obama would do the most for Israel.
As Stephen Colbert commented the next day, “I was playing a drinking game last night where I took a shot of Manischevitz every time someone said Israel, and by the end of the debate I was totally diabetic.”
So today we offer videos offering alternative views on that most contentious of issues.
How We Can Solve The Palestinian Israeli Problem
Sami Moukaddem, a writer and musician born in Lebanon and trained in psychology at Trinity College Dublin, writes that “In 2009 I bought a video camera with no training in film making and embarked upon making a documentary on the Palestinian/Israel problem.”
From the film’s website:
This film is about equality, which makes me on everybody’s side. It’s my belief that oppression harms the humanity of the oppressed as well as the humanity of the oppressor. While this happens in different ways, ultimately, I believe we’re all in this together.
While emotionally I resonate more with the oppressed, my aim is to find ways to empower the oppressed, and also inspire both societies of the oppressor and colluding societies, so that all are moving towards equality.
Among the interviewees are Denis J. Halliday [former United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq], British journalist Jonathan Cooke, Palestinian activist Omar Barghouti, Israeli economist Shir Hever, Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire, Noam Chomsky, former British intelligence [MI6] officer Alastair Crooke, Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, and Holocaust survivor Hajo Meyer [who draws some ominous historical parallels].
It’s a warm, poignant, and ultimately hopeful story, and well worth your time.
H/T to Moussequetaire.
America’s Secretary of State, Benjamin Netanyahu?
A remarkable video featuring University of Chicago political scientist and international relations expert John J. Mearsheimer examining the sad subservience of Barack Obama to the agenda set by the Israeli prime minister.
The talk was delivered earlier this month at Koç University in Istanbul.
It’s a stunning and informative talk, revealing the extent of a foreign power’s control over the American foreign policy agenda, and the abject surrender of the national political establishment.
H/T to Pulse.
Mearsheimer also delivered a second address at the university, “Realism and the Rise of China,” which can be viewed here.
And a bonus video. . .
Here’s a White House video from May, 2011, of Obama and Netayahu illustrating Mearsheimer’s remarks. Pay close attention to the body language, both postures and gestures.
