Israel's battered image and the International Jewish Lobby

California, Crescent-online March 10, 2010, 11:00 am PST Israel is attempting to refurbish its tattered image after a number of credibility-eroding incidents. The European Jewish lobby has blocked the EU Congress from implementing the Goldstone Report, fueling international outrage. In addition, Dubai has announced that they have uncovered more evidence that Israel is forging European passports. The European Jewish Congress, the European version of AIPAC, has pressured European politicians against implementing the Goldstone Report. That report, prepared by Dr Richard Goldstone, a respected South African jurist and a self-confessed zionist, chronicled Israels massacres in Gaza, unhesitatingly declaring that its actions against Gaza civilians "amount to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity." Since the Goldstone Report was released, Israel has launched a political and diplomatic offensive to contain its disastrous impact. If the EU had adopted the Report's recommendations, Israeli politicians and military commanders would have faced trial at the International Criminal Court. Moshe Kantor, President of the European Jewish Congress, warned that implementing it would gravely damage EU-Israel relations. However, while Israel may have been able to evade legislative action, the news has stirred worldwide public indignation, fueling rather than abating perceptions of Israel as a rogue state. The news has confirmed perceptions that Israels power rests on its influence on powerful countries through its Diaspora lobbies, rather than on its much vaunted democratic institutions and military. Gaza provided incontrovertible proof of Israels brutality despite its well-oiled PR machine. Israeli officials touring universities have been shouted down by students, while Muslims, leftists, and people of conscience from all backgrounds have united in staging protests and demonstrations. Meanwhile, Dubais announcement that Israel is regularly forging European passports has embarrassed European countries standing behind Israel in the Goldstone incident. Dubai Chief of Police Dahi Khalfan declared to the AFP: I ring alarm bells. Israel is forging Western passports on a large scale. We discover forged passports on a daily basis. After Mossads exposure in the murder of Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhuh in Dubai, the spy agencys illegal tracks over the Middle East are becoming increasingly visible. European allies of Israel have been discomfited by the emerging evidence that Israel is flouting their countries laws through such forgeries. Israel has been lobbying for years to be admitted to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), founded in 1961 for wealthy industrialized democracies to meet and co-ordinate their programs. It includes the US and most of Europe. While Israel has been told that its membership is certain, its tarnished reputation is affecting the legitimacy of regimes collaborating with it.

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Israel's battered image and the International Jewish Lobby

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