By: Janet Alawi
We recently celebrated our 249th Independence Day, the first one was on July 4th, 1776, when the American Army, led by George Washington defeated the occupying English Army and sent the latter packing.
What does independence mean? It means being free, under no one’s control, free to do whatever we choose, hopefully the right thing, allowing no one to dictate their wishes or policy on us.
Having said that, are we really free? Can we really claim to be independent? Are we under no one’s control? If you ask the common people these questions, they’ll say, of course we are free and independent, we have the best weapons, a very strong army, no one tells us what to do, we actually tell other countries what to do and if they don’t we’ll bomb them.
The truth of the matter is, we have a very corrupt system. We claim that we have democracy but actually we don’t. We claim that we’re in charge of our destiny but we are actually controlled by one of the smallest countries in the world called Israel. The Israelis figured out how to manipulate us and keep the noose on our necks to tighten whenever they please. The sad thing is … we let them.
Their method of control and manipulation is simple and can be summarized in two words, bribery and intimidation. They formed an organization called AIPAC, American Israeli Political Action Committee, which I call, the most dangerous organization in the country. Their mission is to lobby the American government, the Congress and the White House to cater to the Israeli’s needs. Whatever Israel wants, Israel gets. Whether its money, weapons, favor at the United Nations or anything else, they get it. While our country has a $34 trillion deficit, we send to Israel $3.8 billion per year “officially”, plus billions upon billions of dollars in cash and weapons whenever they ask for it.
And then came Donald Trump. He announced, even before he became a president for the second time that he doesn’t like wars and pressured Israel to withdraw from GAZA and insisted on peace talks with Hamas. The Israelis didn’t like that and wanted to make sure that he eats his words and reverses his position. They wanted to make sure that the swallow goes down smooth and easy, to the tune of “$100 million” in his pocket. This method worked like a charm, he not only reversed his stance but now, he’s eager to please the Israelis in any way he can, $100 million worth. He sent them more bombs and more money to finish their ethnic cleansing in Gaza. He’s extorting big universities and colleges for a “made up charge” of “anti-Semitism” When asked if Israel is going to occupy Gaza, he said, it’s up to the Israelis. He’s the only one in the world who can pressure Israel to withdraw from Gaza, instead, he chose to sit on the side line and watch the people in the strip getting starved and killed on daily bases. He even decided to bomb the nuclear Iranian facilities, just to please Israel. He said something that’s funny and sad at the same time, he called Netanyahu, a war hero, he also called himself a war hero too. How’s the worst war criminal, Netanyahu get to be called hero? I wonder how much did that cost Israel!! and how did Donald Trump, the draft dodger, have the audacity to call himself a war hero?
This is a “good news-bad news” scenario. The bad news is that the Israelis and their supporters in the United States are controlling every aspect of our lives from government to economy to freedom of speech to “show business” to …., the good news is that the people in this country, especially the younger generation are waking up to the bitter reality and are trying to change it.
We can’t and shouldn’t call ourselves free and live in a democratic country as long as the Israelis and AIPAC are controlling our lives.