Decent human beings see hypocrisy when current US Foreign policy (CUSFP) stands for rights of refugees from
CUSFP demands Hamas accepts Israel (without defining what that means and if it includes abrogating the Palestinian people’s Internationally recognized rights of return and self-determination), stops all resistance to the illegal occupation (even when this resistance is supported by International law), and accepts all accords signed between the occupying/colonizing government and those representing the occupied and colonized Palestinians (even though it is not the Palestinians who are violating these agreements). By contrast, CUSFP did not demand accept
CUSFP talks "democracy" but only as long as people elect those who will serve elite and special interests. Democratic elections in
The Bush administration issued declarations and supported actions that destroyed much of the protections of International human rights and local civil rights all while claiming rule of law. While the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states such basic rights as refugees being allowed to return to their homes and lands, illegality of land confiscations, rights of individuals to their security and property, Bush “assurances” include Palestinian refugees being denied their return and recognizing that the major land thefts to build colonies on Palestinian lands would be accepted as "demographic realities." Add to that illegal detentions and mistreatments, illegal domestic spying, lies about the war, and attacks on Arab and Muslim Americans.
CUSFP, shaped by strong lobbies, does not want to have nuclear enrichment technologies even though current IAEA rules make this both legal and rightful. signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and fulfills its obligations (e.g. all Iranian nuclear facilities were open to IAEA inspections which found no clandestine program for nuclear weapons or proliferation). Meanwhile, and both have CUSFP support in their nuclear programs even as they refused to sign the non-proliferation treaty and have known stockpiles of nuclear weapons and other WMD.
CUSFP pushes an endless “war on terrorism” as a “war to bring peace”. The statement from Martin Luther King Jr in the 1960s remains valid today: "I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today — my own government." The government defines terrorism as killing or harming civilians to coerce a change in policy. Israeli and US military actions in
CUSFP attacks the use of the Mexican flag in demonstrations for immigrant rights and demands police its border. No CUSFP official complained about Israeli flags in many schools, in many synagogues, and as backdrops to US presidents and high-level officials. CUSFP officials bend over backward to declare allegiance to at events hosted by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (the strongest foreign lobby in
CUSFP encourages sanctions on , , and while they hypocritically support billions of taxpayer money to (one of the most blatant and consistent violator of human rights over the past 58 years). Just this week, CUSFP was silent as evicted Palestinians from their homes in Arab East Jerusalem to join with hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians and millions of refugees. They were also silent as Israelis elected racist parties that consider natives a "demographic threat" with some openly advocating expelling remaining Palestinians (“finishing the job" started in 1947-1948).
Is it any wonder that opinion surveys show that even Europeans view the and as the biggest threats to world peace? With nearly $9 trillion in debt and >$350 billion in trade deficits, a looming environmental calamity, political destabilization, and continuing war crimes, isn’t it madness to continue with these disastrous and anti-American foreign policies?
* Self-syndicated columnist and author of "Sharing the
* A French version is available at http://www.qumsiyeh.org/hypocrisyvsdemocracy
