Foreign Correspondence

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Ex-U.S.Congressman Criticizes U.S.
Paul Findley, former U.S. Congressman, speaks out against U.S. complicity in Israel's 'sustainted criminal conduct.'
© Sumaira Shaikh

Sep 10, 2006
On the eve of the fifth anniversary of 9/11, ex-U.S. Congressman identifies the reasons for the attack and criticizes his country's involvement in Israel.

Paul Findley, a former Republican U.S. Congressman came to speak at an event held by the Canadian Islamic Congress in Toronto on Sept. 9, and what he said was something not so commonly heard among Americans-especially not Republicans.

Findley spoke about the entire plight in the world and identified America to be suffering from two strong and powerful fears that have taken hold of the country and have been driving its foreign and domestic policy. He said the fear of Israel and the fear of Islam has shaped America's decisions at home and abroad. He said, these fears are responsible for the crippling of freedom of speech, the current crisis of terrorism and the wars in the Middle East.

"We are afraid as a nation. Imagine the superpower of the world being afraid, but we are. We are afraid of Israel, we are afraid of Islam," he said, during an interview.

The strong Israeli lobby in the U.S. he said, controls and manipulates, not only the government, but also the common people of America. He said the reason for this control is underlined in the "kiss of death" label of anti-Semitism.

"Since I am a child I was told that there is not a stain worse then being called anti-Semitic and most of America is like that. We have to get over that because the pro-Israel group has re-defined anti-Semitism as any criticism of Israel, which is not true," he said.

He said America is complicit in the "sustained criminal conduct" of Israel by providing it with all the military equipment, and also by handing it unconditional political support, without which, Findley said, Israel would not be able to continue its criminal activities against the Palestinians.

"Bush ignores history and common sense by ravishing the sword as the principle instrument of presidential policy," he said.

Findley said the U.S. is to be blamed for injustice in Lebanon, by "openly and flagrantly helping Israel cause massacre and massive destruction."

He said the U.S. brings injustice in Palestine by helping Israel make "wreckage of the duly elected Hamas government," and identified Bush as the one, who aims to show himself as the pioneer of democracy, as the one who himself shows contempt for the institutions of democracy and human dignity.

"Bush promotes injustice in Israel, by continuing to pledge unconditional aid, while Israel destroys and humiliates the Palestinian people," he said.

On the eve of the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Findley said if the U.S. really wants to find a solution to terrorism, it must understand its origins and put an end to its blatant and biased support for Israel.

"Our government inevitably must identify clearly the pernicious influence of Israel on foreign policy and must do a study of the motivation of the terrorists. But not one person in public office seems brave enough to take this step, not one," he said.

Findley said America's unconditional support for Israel is the reason for terorrism, a fact his country needs to come to terms with.

"Our heavy bias favouring Israel has led America into one awful mess after another. Step-by-step, this bias has fueled the fury that exploded on 9/11."

Findley, has also written a book, published just a month before 9/11, titled Silent No More, which he said, aims to " dispel the stereotypes about Islam."

He said the bias towards Islam run deep in America, and it was strong even before the 9/11 attacks, which was the reason why he decided to write his book. He also identified the fact that Bush is just another predecessor of biased American foreign policy, but this trend had begun decades ago during the time of President Lyndon Johnson.

Findley said a majority of Americans believe that Muslims are radicals, who abuse women, who oppose the American system of government, who condone terrorism, who worship a strange, vengeful deity. While he said this fear was unwarranted, Findley also said this bias was stronger today than it was ever before.

During his speech, he cited a study conducted by Cornell University in New York, which found that 44 per cent of Americans believe Muslims to be radicals and believe in the need to curtail their civil liberties.

"If nearly half of American people are afraid of Muslims, there is no wonder that our politicians are easy prey for Israel's lobby, as it declares Israel is surrounded by millions of terrorist Muslims in the Middle East," he explained.

But Findley said the solution to this whole mess is for Muslims to speak out and explain their religion, reach out to other communities, get involved in politics, and correct false images in the media and public whenever they appear. Also, he said, for peace to come to the world, foreign policy must take a shift.

"Much of the world now believes that Israel and the U.S. are terrorist states. The American people can never feel secure until we end our pro-Israel bias in foreign policy. Israelis can never feel secure, until Palestinians feel secure in their own independent Palestine. Those facts should be self-evident but they are not and we have to work together to achieve them."

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