Who Directs our Mideast Policies?

Salem News
Rod Driver

I have written to both my US senators asking them what terrible fate they believe would befall them if they ever disobeyed an order from AIPAC.

(RICHMOND, R.I.) - The civilized world was horrified in January 2009 as Israel attacked 1.5 million Palestinian men, women and children in Gaza. The borders of that small strip of land were (and still are) fenced and guarded by Israelis so that residents could not escape the bombardment.

Israeli tanks, planes, helicopters and drones dropped white phosphorus, cluster bombs and other US -supplied terror weapons on the helpless people. Some 1400 Palestinians were killed, including nearly 400 children. Entire families died in their homes or while trying to leave carrying white flags. Hospitals, ambulances, schools, food supplies, water reservoirs and crops were destroyed.

A UN four-member international fact-finding commission, chaired by Richard Goldstone, produced a report on the war crimes committed.

This report infuriated Zionists. Judge Goldstone himself came under intense attack from Benjamin Netanyahu, AIPAC (the Zionist lobby in America), Alan Dershowitz and other Zionist agents. At one point, it is reported, that Goldstone was told he might be denied the right to attend his grandson’s Bar Mitzvah.

Poor Mr. Goldstone could not withstand the attacks. So he wrote an op-ed seeking to discredit the report, saying that he no longer believed that Israel had deliberately targeted civilians in Gaza.

But the report was not Goldstone’s to repudiate. The other three members of the commission – Hina Jilani, Christine Chinkin and Desmond Travers – reaffirmed everything in the report. And reports by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, B’Tselem and others had raised similar concerns about the Israeli attack on Gaza.

Nevertheless, on August 14 on instruction from AIPAC, the US Senate without debate unanimously passed a resolution calling for rejection of the report.

I have written to both my US senators asking them what terrible fate they believe would befall them if they ever disobeyed an order from AIPAC.

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Rod Driver studied engineering and mathematics at the University of Minnesota, receiving a Ph.D. in mathematics in 1960. He worked at Sandia Laboratories in Albuquerque for six years before taking a teaching position at the University of Rhode Island for 30 years. Rod says he became a 'peacenik' in 1951 (thanks to a few weeks on Paris Island). He became particularly active in opposition to U.S. wars in Indochina and U.S. involvement in overthrowing governments and supporting dictators in Latin America and Iran. As the Vietnam war was winding down Rod began paying attention to the abuse of Palestinians - enabled with U.S. weapons and dollars, which has never stopped. Rod is the founder and president of the non-profit Justice First Foundation.

In Rhode Island Rod was an elected delegate to the state constitutional convention of 1986, Then I was elected a state representative for 10 years. At this time he is not in office. You can write to Rod Driver at this address: rod@roddriver.com