Eric Zuesse, originally posted at strategic-culture.org
A reliable scientific poll of 2,000 Americans, taken during 1-6 November 2017 — just a month before U.S. President Donald Trump announced that America’s Embassy will move to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv — showed that 63% of Americans were opposed to the move, and 31% supported it. Here was the question, as asked:
Q61. Having thought about it, do you support or oppose the United States immediately moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem?
Total Rep Dem Ind
1. Support 31% 49% 15% 28%
2. Oppose 63% 44% 81% 60%
This was the latest “Critical Issues Poll” by the University of Maryland and the Nielsen Scarborough polling organization, and it showed that U.S. President Trump didn’t actually represent the American people when he issued this historic order. He may have represented Israelis, and he may have represented American billionaires, but he represented less than a third of Americans who expressed an opinion about the matter.
As of the morning of December 11th (when this is being written), no poll yet has been published about this question subsequent to Trump’s dictat concerning it. After such polls are published, one can identify to what extent (if any), Trump’s decision has affected American public opinion on the issue. But, as noted, American public opinion wasn’t reflected in it at the time he made this decision. Only the collective opinion of America’s 569 billionaires shaped it (as the evidence to be shown here will indicate); the collective opinion of the American public didn’t matter, and this is normal for decisions and legislation by the U.S. federal Government. This decision by Trump is just another example of that broader phenomenon: only the very richest are actually represented by America’s federal Government; the desires (or even needs) of America’s public are ignored, unless the billionaires happen to want the same governmental policy that the public do. But, regarding the move of America’s embassy to Jerusalem, they didn’t.
Furthermore, no poll has ever been taken (or at least none that is currently on the Web) regarding the two options “should move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem” and “should not move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem”; and, so, it’s unknown whether the majority of Americans ever did actually support ultimately moving the Embassy to Jerusalem in advance of a peace-agreement being signed between the Israelis and the Palestinians — such as previous American Presidents promised, and Trump delivered.
Another interesting finding from this “Critical Issues Poll” was the following:
Q50. Do you view Russia as an ally or foe?
Total Rep Dem Ind
1. Ally 11% 14% 7% 15%
2. Foe 42% 29% 55% 33%
3. Neither 47% 56% 37% 50%
Despite all of the intense propaganda that the mainstream U.S. media (owned and controlled by billionaires) publish alleging that Russia is a ‘foe’ or ‘enemy’ of the American people, only Democrats generally believe it. Perhaps America’s mass of seculars (Democrats being by far the less religious Party) are adopting this belief (associated, as it is, with a belief that Hillary Clinton possibly lost the 2016 election on account of ‘Russia throwing the U.S. election to Trump’, instead of her being a lousy candidate, chosen by her corrupt Party, which she then actually controlled on behalf of her billionaire-backers), as being a canon of secular faith, unchallengeable by the facts — such as by the fact that the U.S. Government’s case for the Democratic Party’s theory is loaded with lies and cover-ups, regardless of whether or not any particular aspect of the Democrats’ case against Russia is true. And, moreover, the U.S. did far worse to Russia, and to other nations, than is even claimed by the Democrats to have been perpetrated by Russia against ‘American democracy’. For example, the Democrats’ own President Barack Obama ran the coup that overthrew and replaced the democratically elected Government of Ukraine in February 2014, right next-door to Russia; and that coup was as bad as if Russia were to have perpetrated a coup overthrowing and replacing the democratically elected Government of Mexico, or of Canada; so, Democrats’ accusations regarding what Russia did or didn’t do concerning America’s 2016 election are, at the very best, throwing stones at Russia from a very hypocritical and fragile glass American house. And, at the worst (and especially because of Obama’s then imposing U.S. anti-Russia sanctions), it’s bullying of Russia, by the U.S. regime, for Russia’s having taken defensive actions against America’s aggressive actions. That coup and bullying, and the billionaires’ press-coverup of them, too, all come from America’s billionaires (who were behind the entire operation), not at all from the U.S. public. Did Obama promise in his campaigns, that he would replace Syria’s Government, and that he would replace Ukraine’s Government? He lied and gave the exact opposite type of impressions to the public, but he won Wall Street’s backing because they knew what he really represented, which was America’s billionaires.
So: whereas Republicans are more fascist against Palestinians, Democrats are more fascist against Russians. Each of the billionaires’ two Parties emphasizes different fascist foci, against different foreign nations and nationalities. And the billionaires’ media promote the fascist views in each Party — such as that Israel is a ‘friend’ of the U.S., and that Russia is ‘our number one geopolitical foe’. Regardless whether billionaires actually believe such things, it’s what they constantly promote.
The American Jewish Committee (which is intensely pro-zionist) did a recent poll of 1000 American Jews which found (see question 14 there) America’s Jews to be perhaps even more hostile against moving America’s embassy to Jerusalem, than America’s non-Jews are. On September 13th, the Jerusalem Post headlined “MOST AMERICAN JEWS DO NOT WANT TRUMP TO MOVE US EMBASSY TO JERUSALEM”, and summarized the poll’s findings about this:
“When asked about the embassy, a majority said they oppose moving it. Thirty-six percent responded that they would be in favor of this, but at a later date in conjunction with progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Only 16% believe the embassy should be moved immediately [which the AJC always wanted] and 4% are not sure. Among those who do not want the legation moved, 51% are Democrats and 26% are Republicans.”
So: while Democrats are gullible that Russia is a hostile power, Republicans are gullible that Israel isn’t a hostile power.
Famously, Republican billionaires, such as the Adelsons (who bankrolled Cruz and then Trump) and the Wexners (who bankrolled Kasich) — or at least the ones who care much about the Israel v. Palestinians issue (and none of those who do care are at all pro-Palestinian) — are intensely zionist, and are neoconservatives (supporters of empire) generally. Similarly, Republican billionaires had supported apartheid South Africa. Furthermore, the Republican Jew Dov Zakheim, whom the Republican U.S. President George W. Bush managed to organize and to run the official 9/11 investigation and report, and who rigged it for the President and for the Saud family so as to exclude any blame against the Sauds (whom all evidence showed to have funded and perhaps run the 9/11 attacks and who are allied with Israel’s Government against the United States), was shown on page 13 of the AJC’s 2014 federal tax return to be still working an average of 5 hours per week for the AJC. 8 donors of over a million dollars for that year were indicated on the form, but none of them were named. On page 30 of that form was a description of AJC’s lobbying activities to influence U.S. legislators who are supposed to represent the American not the Israeli citizenry, and here is that description — all-caps as they had printed it:
“DURING 2014, AJC ATTEMPTED TO INFLUENCE STATE, FEDERAL, AND NATIONAL POLICY THROUGH DIRECT CONTACT WITH LEGISLATORS, THEIR STAFF, AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AT THE STATE AND FEDERAL LEVEL. AJC STAFF AND LAY LEADERS HELD MEETINGS ON A REGULAR BASIS WITH THESE INDIVIDUALS. IN ADDITION TO CONTACTING FEDERAL AND STATE AGENCY OFFICIALS REGARDING EXISTING OR PENDING LEGISLATION, AJC’S ACTIVITIES FOCUSED PRINCIPALLY ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS LEGISLATION (INCREASED SANCTIONS ON IRAN AND SUPPORT FOR U.S.-ISRAEL COOPERATION), IMMIGRATION REFORM (SUPPORT OF COMPREHENSIVE REFORM), AMERICAN ENERGY SECURITY, CIVIL RIGHTS, CIVIL LIBERTIES, AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.”
Other U.S. taxpayers must pay the taxes that ‘charities’ such as that lobbying organization don’t. (Or, otherwise, the resulting tax-shortfall if the general public don’t pay it gets added to the federal debt and thus burdens the next generation of Americans to pay it, thus transferring that billionaires’ portion of the tax-burden from those ‘philanthropists’ onto the general public and everyone’s children.) U.S. taxpayers thus subsidize, by our taxes, this Israeli propaganda that fools ourselves and other Americans to respect and support the apartheid racist Government of Israel. Only in this way is it acceptable to the American public that we donate $3.8 billion per year to Israel’s Government.
No section of the form listed donors to AJC or the amounts donated; but whomever did donate to it received tax-deductions for their donations, which thus add still further to the financial drain that must be filled by the people whom America’s legislators are supposed to be representing (while they instead represent Israel).
The AJC’s 2008 Annual Report quoted the Republican billionaire Rupert Murdoch as saying, “The American Jewish Committee has become one of the world’s most influential organizations.” It’s a tax-exempt international lobbying organization — one of many such. Americans actually pay to be deceived.
Another such is the more-famous Israeli one, AIPAC, which on its 2009 U.S. federal tax return listed one unnamed donor of $48,542,187, and another unnamed donor of $13,503,473, and all the other donors were unidentified not only by name but also by the amount of their donation. At the “Open Secrets” site, the list of AIPAC’s “Top Contributors, 2017-2018” are organizations all of which represent only wealthy conservatives and almost only Republicans. Unlike donations to the tax-exempt AJC, the donations to the tax-exempt AIPAC aren’t tax-exempt; so, AIPAC harms U.S. taxpayers only one way, not two (as AJC does). Many of the billionaires who demand that America’s embassy be transferred to Jerusalem are fundamentalist Christians, such as the Wilks family of Texas, which early in the 2016 election-year (when donations count the most) was the largest donor of all to U.S. politics, and which is intensely Christian — definitely not Jews at all. Open Secrets headlined on 25 March 2016 “Big money — if not the GOP establishment — has been with Ted Cruz from the start” and reported that:
Keep the Promise III, tasked largely with digital organizing though it was recently spending money on robocalls in Michigan, similarly received 98 percent of its funds — $15 million — from four members of the Texan Wilks family and has $9.4 million left. Brothers Dan and Farris Wilks became billionaires when they sold their business providing trucks and other equipment to frackers; Farris Wilks is pastor of a fundamentalist church in rural central Texas.
The intensely Christian Cruz (his father is a fundamentalist pastor) is an intense supporter of moving the embassy to Jerusalem; Trump wants all of those fundamentalist donors to Cruz’s campaign to donate to Trump’s re-election campaign. But, of course, all Republican Presidential candidates constantly climb over each other to praise Israel the highest, and Trump’s announcement that the embassy will be moved to Jerusalem is another of his many bids for those billionaires’ support, in preparation for re-election in 2020.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has said, of America’s political system:
“Now it’s just an oligarchy with unlimited political bribery being the essence of getting the nominations for president or being elected president. And the same thing applies to governors, and U.S. Senators and congress members. So, now we’ve just seen a subversion of our political system as a payoff to major contributors, who want and expect, and sometimes get, favors for themselves after the election is over. … At the present time the incumbents, Democrats and Republicans, look upon this unlimited money as a great benefit to themselves. Somebody that is already in Congress has a great deal more to sell.”
Many anti-Semites blame “the Jews” for Trump’s moving America’s embassy to Jerusalem, but that’s a factually false allegation; it is instead only billionaires who are responsible for it, and especially Republican billionaires, including many who aren’t even Jews at all.
Whereas the Democratic Party’s billionaires don’t generally care intensely about the oil-producing regions of the world, other than to support the Sauds in their centuries-old war against Shia and especially against Iran (which obsession they share with Republican billionaires), Republican ones do, both for financial and for religious reasons. Both political categories of America’s billionaires are united together in their hatreds both of Russians and of Shia. The global empire they seek is to be both American and Saudi; Israel is a hanger-on to both, against Shia. However, Israel and the Saud family control the U.S. Government; the U.S. Government don’t control either of them. The real hostile powers against the American public are Israel and especially the Sauds. But America’s billionaires are strongly allied with both. Consequently, America’s taxpayers donate annually to the Israeli Government — via taxes paid to the U.S. Government — $3.8 billion annually; and the U.S. Government blames Iran instead of the Sauds for the 9/11 attacks.
As the methods and technologies of mass-deception continue to increase, so does fascism, since it’s built on lies.
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Investigative historian Eric Zuesse is the author, most recently, of They’re Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010, and of CHRIST’S VENTRILOQUISTS: The Event that Created Christianity.