The Power of Israel in the United States - Softcover

James Petras

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0932863515 ISBN 13: 9780932863515

Publisher: Clarity Press, Inc., 2006

Synopsis

This book is a chapter-by-chapter analysis and documentation of the power of Israel via the Israeli, Jewish or Pro-Zionist Lobby on US Middle East policy. It raises serious questions as to the primary beneficiary of US policy, and its destructive results for the United States. The extraordinary extent of US political, economic, military and diplomatic support for the state of Israel is explored, along with the means whereby such support is generated and consolidated. Contending that Zionist power in America ensured unconditional US backing for Israeli colonization of Palestine and its massive uprooting of Palestinians, it views the interests of Israel rather than those of Big Oil as the primary cause of the disastrous US wars against Iraq and threats of war against Iran and Syria. It demonstrates and condemns US imitation of Israeli practice as it relates to conduct of the war on terrorism and torture. It sheds light on the AIPAC spying scandal and other Israeli espionage against America; the fraudulent and complicit role of America’s academic “terrorist experts” in furthering criminal government policies, and the orchestration of the Danish cartoons to foment antipathy between Muslims and the West. It questions the inability in America to sustain or even formulate a discourse related to the subject of Israeli influence on the United States. It calls for a review of American Mid East policy with a view to reclaiming US independence of action based upon enlightened self-interest and progressive principles.

About this title

From the Publisher:

Publication of "The Israeli Lobby" in The London Review by two distinguished American academics, Mearsheimer (University of Chicago) and Walt (former dean, John F. Kennedy School of Government,Harvard), opened the door to discussion of the extent of Israeli influence upon American decision-making, and the means and processes whereby this occurs. The catastrophic Israeli assault on Lebanon, the war in Iraq, and threat of deepening US descent into the quagmire by an attack on Iran--with all that this portends for the well being of Americans and the American infrastructure--has heightened public interest in US Middle East policy, and readiness to question received norms. A CBS poll finds that 80 percent of Democrats believe the United States should have stayed out of Iraq, and more than 60 percent want US troops home as soon as possible. As for Lebanon, there is a widening consensus that Israel has blundered. The time is ripe for a re-assessment of American Middle East policy.

Despite academic awareness of the influence of Israel and the "Jewish" lobby (so-designated by Israeli politicians) in America, there are surprisingly few scholarly works addressing this particular topic. This book is highly documented and rigorously argued. The author has eminent standing in the progressive/left community, with long involvement in social justice struggles in Latin America. He is among the few American academics who enjoy an iconic status among progressives similar to that of Noam Chomsky. Petras challenges Noam Chomsky concerning his treatment and interpretation of Israel's influence in the U.S. This will spark a major debate among progressives, given the stature of both parties.

About the Author:

James Petras is a Bartle Professor (Emeritus) of Sociology at Binghamton University, New York. He is the author of 64 books published in 29 languages, and over 560 articles in professional journals, including the American Sociological Review, British Journal of Sociology, Social Research, Journal of Contemporary Asia, and Journal of Peasant Studies. He has published over 2000 articles in nonprofessional journals such as the New York Times, the Guardian, the Nation, Christian Science Monitor, Foreign Policy, New Left Review, Partisan Review, Temps Moderne, Le Monde Diplomatique, and his commentary is widely carried on the internet. His publishers have included Random House, John Wiley, Westview, Routledge, Macmillan, Verso, Zed Books and Pluto Books. He is winner of the Life Time Career Award, Marxist Section, of the American Sociology Association, the Robert Kenny Award for Best Book, 2002, and the Best Dissertation, Western Political Science Association in 1968. Some recent titles include Unmasking Globalization: Imperialism of the Twenty-First Century (2001); co-author The Dynamics of Social Change in Latin America (2000), Unmasking Globalisation (2001), System in Crisis (2003), co-author Social Movements and State Power (2003), co-author Empire With Imperialism (2005), co-author) Multinationals on Trial (2006). His most recent titles, The Power of Israel in the United States and Rulers and Ruled in the United States (Clarity Press, Inc. 2006), have been acquired for Japanese, German, Italian, Indonesian and Arabic editions. He has a long history of commitment to social justice, working in particular with the Brazilian Landless Workers Movement for 11 years. In 1973- 76 he was a member of the Bertrand Russell Tribunal on Repression in Latin America. He writes a monthly column for the Mexican newspaper, Le Jornada, and previously, for the Spanish daily, El Mundo. He received his B.A. from Boston University and Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.

About this edition

• Publisher: Clarity Press, Inc.
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0932863515
• ISBN 13: 9780932863515
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 191