BBC 090404
- Doha Debate Mch 25, 2009
An often heated discussion at Georgetown University in which a 450-strong mainly student audience voted 63-37 percent in favour of a new Israel policy reflected a sharp mood swing in America, commentators said.
The motion ‘This House believes it’s time for the US administration to get tough on Israel’ was carried convincingly despite passionately-argued support for the status quo from Dore Gold, a former Israeli ambassador to the UN, and Alan Dershowitz, a prominent Harvard law professor. The vote came at a time when President Obama’s administration is seeking to implement fresh initiatives in the Middle East. It delivered a message to Capitol Hill that America may be ready to ditch decades of virtually unqualified support for Israel.
Arguing in favour of the motion, Michael Scheuer, founder and former head of the CIA’s Bin Laden tracking unit, suggested that the present US-Israel relationship undermined national security and Israel should be left to its own devices. He referred to a ‘pro-Israel fifth column of US citizens’ that ‘corrupt US politics’ and subordinate US interests to those of Israel. That support had turned Israel into the most ‘arrogant, avaricious and treacherous American ally’. Mr. Scheuer said America should cut all ties with Israel and the Palestinians, leaving both sides to settle their disputes without support or interference from outside on the principle that ‘no nation has a right to exist and the war’s outcome is irrelevant to America’. Supporting him, Avraham Burg, former speaker of the Israeli Knesset and a senior member of the Labour Party spoke of the ‘cowboy, isolationist, indifferent, arrogant policy’ of the Bush administration which had achieved nothing but a stalemate in the region. Only a ‘dramatic turnaround’ could change the situation. He likened America’s attitude to Israel to that of a ‘bad parent’ who never says ‘no’ to their offspring. ‘If it calls for tougher measures to unlock the locked horns of both sides, then so be it’.
- http://snipurl.com/fc0li
Duration : 0:9:49
[youtube KxYOEdbF1mA]
June 16th, 2010 at 7:58 am
USA shoud stand for …
USA shoud stand for justice not unjustice by supporting Israel
June 16th, 2010 at 7:58 am
@k1a1t1h1y1 i do …
@k1a1t1h1y1 i do not want to change side for LOWER life forms whom invaded the land of israel just like spastic cockroaches and have NO RIGHTS at all to be there!
exterminate is the right decision of israel!
June 16th, 2010 at 7:58 am
i would love to see …
i would love to see norman finkelstien debate these two dusch bags.
June 16th, 2010 at 7:58 am
@BOYCOT4YT I hope …
@BOYCOT4YT I hope that the day comes when you trade places with palestine and we see how fast occupied territory is demanded to become part of isreal.
June 16th, 2010 at 7:58 am
How is Israel an …
How is Israel an ally to the USA?
How is a nation that demands to be known as the Jewish nation and engages in any and all policies to keep the arab population under 20% a democracy?
June 16th, 2010 at 7:58 am
The world needs to …
The world needs to threaten Israel with abandonment. Knowing Jews they will squirm and manipulate and the abandonment will then have to take place. Then, inch by inch change would be possible. If Israel continues as it has, a nuke will be be the result. The world is getting angrier not more peaceful. The 60′s were a long time ago.
June 16th, 2010 at 7:58 am
@BOYCOT4YT
Yeah, …
@BOYCOT4YT
Yeah, life is boring. Let’s see some action [not].
June 16th, 2010 at 7:58 am
i hope israel soon …
i hope israel soon will deliver the nuke goodies to mekka,some spots in iran and couple in irakian backgarden.
June 16th, 2010 at 7:58 am
@jjvanka WHAT …
@jjvanka WHAT HITLER HAS DONE TO THE JEWS, JEWS ARE DOING TO THE PALESTINIANS..
June 16th, 2010 at 7:58 am
….WHAT HITLER HAS …
….WHAT HITLER HAS DONE TO THE JEWS,JEWS ARE DOING TO THE PALESTINIANS.Its a shame of so called modern world.The problem with america is more financial and political.The jews and the israelis hold a strong position in us senate,us economy.But america have to prove that they are brave enough to overcome any hindrance for the wellness of all.
June 16th, 2010 at 7:58 am
@MendingMedia When …
@MendingMedia When pigs fly.
June 16th, 2010 at 7:58 am
i think this debate …
i think this debate is the epitome of a working democracy and freedom of expression. We should see more of it, not less
June 16th, 2010 at 7:58 am
When are we going …
When are we going to inspect Israel’s nuclear arsenal?
June 16th, 2010 at 7:58 am
Where’s Chomsky or …
Where’s Chomsky or Finkelstein…
More on Finkelstein on my Channel
Dershowitz vs Finkelstein
also just youtube
Chomsky vs Derhowitz
June 16th, 2010 at 7:58 am
Dershowitz uses the …
Dershowitz uses the same logic with Israel he did with his case of Claus von Bülow. Jim Cramer, who helped Dershowitz, called Bülow “supremely guilty”.
Dershowitz is a lying fraud. If Israel would get out of the 4 occupied territories, there would be no conflict.
June 16th, 2010 at 7:58 am
Where’s Professor …
Where’s Professor Noam Chomshy?
June 16th, 2010 at 7:58 am
Read carefully! the …
Read carefully! the reality is israel is backed by the west and they wil destroy any possible threatt from arab world i.e afghanistan, iraq, pakistan and Iran soon!. the biblical expansion of isreal to the end of the red sea so then the false messiah wil return – they think its jesus but not yet. then isreal become the superpower maybe in 2012 & wil opress until the real jesus return to kil the false the messiah. watch ‘ the arrival’ and ‘Sheikh Imran Hosein’ lectures, Israel is an IMPOSTER!
June 16th, 2010 at 7:58 am
the US …
the US administration IS ISREALI! Look beyond the Christian frontmen,.. they are puppets of the zionist appointees in the US GOV.
June 16th, 2010 at 7:58 am
the bottom line is …
the bottom line is this:
they are not wanted by Arabs in the middle east.
They are an aggressive nation who has consistently broken UN mandates, attacked and invaded its neighbours, extended its borders builts walls. They should leave immediately. Isreal is the biggest threat to peace in the middle east.They are a minority in the region. They are like an open sore in a limb that will not heal. Unfortunately, the only solution is to amputate it
June 16th, 2010 at 7:58 am
The Israeli’s keep …
The Israeli’s keep calling themselves Israel, they’re NOT Israel. The Jews were called the House of Judah after their split with the House of Israel after King Solomon. They’re NOT Israel, they’re the House of Judah, read the Bible! And that changes everything!!
June 16th, 2010 at 7:58 am
@reubenbasic
I …
@reubenbasic
I agree, he does seem to be showing a pro-Israel bias. His arguments are the same old tired pro-Israel arguments that every mainstream talking head reiterates but never supports with facts.
June 16th, 2010 at 7:58 am
Good and true …
Good and true points, except for one thing. Israel costs the USA WAY more than 3 billion dollars a year.
Look up Thomas R. Stauffer and his calculation for the estimated costs of America’s support for Israel – by his calculations its a total of 3 trillion over Israel’s existence if you include all of the sorts of aid we give them.
June 16th, 2010 at 7:58 am
@reubenbasic
…
@reubenbasic
Jordan and egypt are richer if they could depend on them selves instead of asking for aid they should ask for US investement funds.
June 16th, 2010 at 7:58 am
no, Jordan and …
no, Jordan and Egypt would not “starve to death” without US aid. things might get a lot shittier for them.. but not that shitty
June 16th, 2010 at 7:58 am
I think he’s a bad …
I think he’s a bad host. He’s arguing with Scheuer, and he brings up idiotic points. A lot of ppl think that US interests and Israeli interests are the same? Well they’re wrong. It has been shown that democracies don’t fight? No, that’s a theory. Prove that Jewish lobbying doesn’t corrupt American politics? How is he going to prove that while sitting in that chair?