Netanyahu’s deceitfully Anti-American Speech

Netanyahu’s anti-American speech, ironically worshipped by “patriotic” conservative Republicans, intentionally misinterpeted and deceitfully cherry-picked the history of American-Israeli disagreements — falsely and slanderously — to make the US look bad. 

So he could insinuate that Israel was right and America wrong in their disagreements through the history of American-Israeli relations.

Instead of telling the truth:

That mainly–nearly always–America has been right and Israel wrong.

And in doing this Netanyahu denigrated eminent American leaders and policy-makers from George Marshall, whose Marshall Plan saved Post-War Europe — including saved it from Soviet Communism– to his denigration of Republican President Ronald Reagan–and hero of the Republican Congress.

But the ignorant and Netnayahu-besotted Republicans cheered and whooped, without a clue that he was leading them on a leash down an anti-American primrose path.

For: Despite Netanyahu’s superficial rhetoric that claimed the contrary, he gave a very anti-American speech. That the Republicans lapped up.

Netanyahu made it look as if in the  disagreements Israel has been right.

He failed to mention at all the vast majority in which America has been obviously right.

This included foremost America’s bipartisan 58-year disagreement with Israel’s occupation, settlements, and settlement expansionism.

And also, just as examples: America’s disagareements with Menachem Begin’s and Ariel Sharon’s 1970s-1980s high-casualty and hugely costly and vastly destructive invasion and war in Lebanon.

America’s disagreements with the high casualties in the “Cast Lead” bombing war with Gaza in 2008-9.

America’s disagreement with a bombing strategy that caused last summer’s 2,100 Gazans dead including 500 children.

Israel’s crude and rude and sarcastic dismissal and dispatch of Secretary of State John Kerry in last year’s 2014 peace efforts.

America’s disagreements with its harsh occupation rule.

Including the Israeli police harassment and savage beating up of straight-A American citizen and high school student from Tampa, Florida, Tariq Kdheir, whose academic record had won him a trip to see the part of his family still in Palestine.

One of his cousins in the family he visited was Muhammad Kdheir who had recently been burned alive.

And America’s State Department strenuously protested Israel’s beating up of Tariq Kdheir, whose pulverized face appeared all over the media.

Did  Congress see his swollen pulverized face? See our US protest?

Did they know or care? Did they notice the discrepancy between Netanyahu’s list of disagreements and accusations– that pegged Israel as always right — and the full  and comprehensive true range of the history of the disagreements?

That in America’s bipartisan and very rich history of disagreements, America has nearly always been absolutely correct and in the right?

These alleged Republican superpatriots so quick to accept accusations against their own country’s leaders–of both parties?

Again:

The 800,000 settlers over 48 years?

The rampant expansionism?

The destruction of the 2-state solution?

The harsh military rule in the Occupied Territories?

The Israeli police pulverization of the face of Tampa’s Tariq Kdheir?

Did the “superpatriot” Republican Congress consider of any of this?

Or were they too busy hooting and whooping–to think clearly at all?

And American disagreements with many peace peace opportunities Israel has missed. Disagreements coming from many Presidents of both parties — Republican at least as much as Democratic..

And still more:

Even using the anti-American cherry-picked selected examples on Netanyahu’s distorted list: Most US views have been deeply justifiable.

For example:

If Israel had accepted Lyndon Johnson’s urging of pre-war negotiations, the 67 war and the 58-year occupation and settlements, and resulting post-67 resistance and hostility that has overspread to Israel itself,  could have been prevented, and which worryingly continues to this day.

And, without ever any occupation or settlements, there could  have long ago been peace.

With the West Bank still part of King Hussein’s and Abdullah’s Jordan, and Gaza a special district of Sadat’s and Mubarak’s and El-Sisi’s Egypt.

Obviously Netanyahu  manipulatively ignored these inconvenient truths.

Of all the commentary on this speech — about how Netanyahu seemed to make it a Presidential State of the union Speech, about how he seemed to hijack American policy as if he were the President of the United States, about how manipulative and deceitful it was, and made this way right under the noses of the conservative Republicans — in all this essentially correct commentary, I have yet to see anyone mention the following:

That in its interpretation of decades of bi-partisan American history of leaders from both parties, and denigration of American leaders and statesman from George Marshall to Ronald Reagan and beyond,  just how basically it was an Anti-American Speech.

And that the conservative Republican superpatriots whoopingly lapped up —when it came to Israel– Netanyahu’s anti-Americanism.

And worst of all: His Anti-Americanism that was deliberate, manipulative, and profound–and especially intentionally deceitful.

Against our institutions– our leaders of both parties, through history, against not just this President or the Office of the Presidency but also the greatest legislative body in the world, the United States Congress.

And through these many deceits–overt contempt for the United States.