[Editor’s Note: Mr. Warner is the leader of L.A. Jews for Peace.]
[img]2685|right|Jeff Warner||no_popup[/img]Dick Platkin and I gave a talk titled: ” ICAHD’s Reframing of the Israel-Palestine Conflict last Sunday in San Diego at the annual convention of the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.
We started by observing that Israel is building an apartheid Greater Israel as part of an American Empire. But the U.S. Empire is in decline.
We asked what happens when the U.S. no longer can or will support an apartheid Greater Israel. The points below summarize our presentation. The LA Jews for Peace website (www.LAJewsforPeace.org) has entries with copies of our presentation slides and an article describing our ideas.
*Israel is constructing apartheid Greater Israel, and this makes a Palestinian state alongside Israel impossible.
*Greater Israel critically relies on U.S. diplomatic, military and financial support.
*U.S. hegemony in the Middle East that supports Israel is degrading (just like the prior Ottoman and British empires degraded and then disappeared).
*Once the U.S. Empire decays, even AIPAC’s political influence will not be able to maintain American support for an apartheid Greater Israel.
*Evidence of the decline of the U.S. Empire includes its inability to shape the Arab Spring, desperate use of drone attacks, growth of Al Qaeda, Israel’s inability to destroy Hamas, and growth of the Islamic State.
*Too many factors will determine the timing of U.S. decay to predict its timeline.
*The U.S. may respond to its decline by attempts to maintain “stability,” engage in an orderly retreat, or resort to a last violent gasp.
Israel may react peacefully to its loss of U.S. support by:
* Transforming apartheid Greater Israel into a single democratic state.
* Dismantling Greater Israel in favor of a Palestinian state alongside itself.
* Israel may react violently to its loss of U.S. support and pursue regional wars and/or civil war between Israelis and Palestinians
* Civic grassroots efforts can affect how the U.S. deals with its decline, and how that decline affects Israel-Palestine and the region.
Some suggestions include:
* Emphasize sanctions in BDS actions, specifically ending U.S. arms sales the entire Middle East, including Israel.
* Lobby Congress to enforce the Arms Export Control Act and the Foreign Assistance Act, building on Josh Ruebner’s work and the October 2012 Christian Clergy letter to Congress.
* Integrate Israel-Palestine peace activities with broad-based anti-war actions.
* Always emphasize that Israel-Palestine is just one component of a sensible Middle East policy.
Please send your comments to us at info@LAJewsforPeace.org
