{"id":340895,"date":"2017-12-24T09:05:46","date_gmt":"2017-12-24T08:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/when-was-the-us-ever-an-honest-broker\/"},"modified":"2017-12-24T09:05:46","modified_gmt":"2017-12-24T08:05:46","slug":"when-was-the-us-ever-an-honest-broker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/when-was-the-us-ever-an-honest-broker\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018When Was the US Ever an Honest Broker?\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Janine Jackson interviewed Phyllis Bennis about Trump&#8217;s Jerusalem move for the <a href=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/home\/phyllis-bennis-on-jerusalem-move-jeff-cohen-on-all-governments-lie\/\">December 15, 2017, episode<\/a> of <strong>CounterSpin<\/strong>. This is a lightly edited transcript.<\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"wrapperMI_0\" class=\"wrap-mjp  \" style=\"padding:5px 0px 40px 0px;margin:0px;width:100%\">\n<div class=\"Eabove-mjp\" id=\"Eabove-mjp_0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"subwrap-MI\">\n<div class=\"jp-innerwrap\">\n<div class=\"innerx\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"innerleft\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"innerright\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"innertab\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"interface-mjp verdana-mjp\" style=\"height:71px\" id=\"interfaceMI_0\">\n<div class=\"MI-image Himg right-mjp\" id=\"MI_image_0\" style=\"width:auto;height:71px;overflow:hidden\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"T_mp3j_0\" class=\"player-track-title left-mjp norm-mjp plain-mjp childNorm-mjp childPlain-mjp\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"bars_holder\">\n<div class=\"loadMI_mp3j\" id=\"load_mp3j_0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"poscolMI_mp3j\" id=\"poscol_mp3j_0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"posbarMI_mp3j\" id=\"posbar_mp3j_0\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"P-Time-MI_0\" class=\"jp-play-time\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"T-Time-MI_0\" class=\"jp-total-time\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"statusMI_0\" class=\"statusMI\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"transport-MI\">\n<div class=\"play-mjp\" id=\"playpause_mp3j_0\">Play<\/div>\n<div class=\"stop-mjp\" id=\"stop_mp3j_0\">Stop<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"buttons-wrap-mjp\" id=\"buttons-wrap-mjp_0\">\n<div class=\"mp3j-popout-MI\" id=\"lpp_mp3j_0\">pop out<\/div>\n<div id=\"download_mp3j_0\" class=\"dloadmp3-MI\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mjp-volwrap\">\n<div class=\"MIsliderVolume\" id=\"vol_mp3j_0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"innerExt1\" id=\"innerExt1_0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"innerExt2\" id=\"innerExt2_0\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"Ebetween-mjp\" id=\"Ebetween-mjp_0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"listwrap_mp3j\" id=\"L_mp3j_0\">\n<div class=\"wrapper-mjp\">\n<div class=\"playlist-colour\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"wrapper-mjp\">\n<ul class=\"ul-mjp darken1-mjp verdana-mjp med-mjp childNorm-mjp childPlain-mjp left-mjp\" id=\"UL_mp3j_0\">\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div id=\"mp3j_finfo_0\" class=\"mp3j-finfo\">\n<div class=\"mp3j-finfo-sleeve\">\n<div id=\"mp3j_finfo_gif_0\" class=\"mp3j-finfo-gif\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"mp3j_finfo_txt_0\" class=\"mp3j-finfo-txt\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"mp3j-finfo-close\" id=\"mp3j_finfo_close_0\">X<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mp3j_dlf_0\" class=\"mp3j-dlframe\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"mp3j-nosolution\" id=\"mp3j_nosolution_0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"Ebelow-mjp\" id=\"Ebelow-mjp_0\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>MP3jPLAYLISTS.MI_0 = [<br \/>\n\t{ name: &#8220;1. 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Not surprising in that overturning previous policy is Trump\u2019s favorite thing, but perhaps in its potential to stir up questions that US policy and media often artfully avoid.<\/p>\n<p>Here to help us with some context for this recent move is Phyllis Bennis. She directs the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ips-dc.org\/new-internationalism\/\">New Internationalism Project<\/a> at the Institute for Policy Studies; author of many titles, including <i>Understanding the Palestinian\/Israeli Conflict<\/i>, now in its sixth, updated edition. She joins us by phone from Washington, DC. Welcome back to <b>CounterSpin<\/b>, Phyllis Bennis.<\/p>\n<p><b>Phyllis Bennis:<\/b> Good to be with you.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ:<\/b> We know Trump hates to do what previous presidents have done, but previous administrations have managed to maintain utter fealty to Israel, while still avoiding this particular tinderbox, as they say. So why do you think, in general terms, Trump is making this move?<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6067338\" style=\"max-width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-6067338\" src=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Phyllis-Bennis-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Phyllis Bennis\" width=\"350\" height=\"467\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Phyllis Bennis: &#8220;Despite US claims that settlements in Jerusalem, for instance, are an obstacle to peace&#8230;the US has done nothing over the years to prevent settlement construction in Jerusalem, to protect Palestinians living in Jerusalem.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><b>PB:<\/b> I think, first of all, we should recognize that so far, despite the very provocative announcement about the intention of moving the embassy in the future, and right now recognizing Jerusalem, it didn\u2019t actually change anything on the ground.<\/p>\n<p>Despite US claims that settlements in Jerusalem, for instance, are an obstacle to peace, something like that, the US has done nothing over the years to prevent settlement construction in Jerusalem, to protect Palestinians living in Jerusalem, who, of course, are not considered citizens of Israel. They can vote only in municipal elections, not in national elections; they don&#8217;t have the rights of citizenship.<\/p>\n<p>So it\u2019s not as much of a diversion from earlier US policy as one might think. It is, of course, very provocative, and I think the immediate reason for it had to do with the deadline that came up last week. Every six months, by law, the US president is required to either move the embassy, or certify to Congress that they are not moving the embassy because it\u2019s not in the US national interest. When Congress passed the law back in 1995, they basically gave the president an out, because even these hard-core Israel supporters in the US Congress recognized that this was a really stupid thing to do.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ:<\/b> Right.<\/p>\n<p><b>PB:<\/b> It would be really provocative in the region, in the world, it would isolate the US, all those reasons. So they wrote into the law a way out. They wrote in a waiver that every six months, the president can simply sign off and say, I support this, this is great, but I\u2019m not going to do it, because it\u2019s not good for US national security.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ:<\/b> Right.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6066304\" style=\"max-width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-6066304\" src=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Sheldon-Adelson-731x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Sheldon Adelson (cc photo: Bectrigger\/Wikimedia)\" width=\"350\" height=\"490\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Top Trump funder Sheldon Adelson (cc photo: Bectrigger\/<strong>Wikimedia<\/strong>)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><b>PB:<\/b> Trump did that six months ago, signed the waiver. And in fact, this time around he did also, saying that it will take years to build a new, great embassy, an embassy that\u2019s going to make us great again. Right? So in that context, it wasn\u2019t such a huge deal, but he had to do something that week. That was the deadline.<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s where you get to the question of his relationship to his base, which includes a very big component of right-wing Christian Zionists, Evangelical Christian Zionists, who have been pushing for a long time for this symbolic claim, for the US to give Jerusalem to Israel, or as the Evangelicals would see it, give Jerusalem to the Jews. That was really what was at stake here for Trump, was that part of his political base.<\/p>\n<p>And there was always the matter of Sheldon Adelson, his top funder, top supporter, a longtime supporter of Israel, very supportive of the right wing within Israel, supportive of the settler movement, and he was also getting very impatient with Trump, and putting the squeeze on and saying, when are you going to do this? You promised to do this, you said in your campaign you\u2019re going to do this; it\u2019s about time, you should do this.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ:<\/b> Right.<\/p>\n<p><b>PB:<\/b> So all of that was in play when this deadline came up. It took place, though\u2014and this is what I think is a little trickier, Janine, because there\u2019s a part of it that is kind of counterintuitive. It took place in a moment when there was this regional realignment going on, and that\u2019s what makes this a little bit harder to figure out, a little bit harder to understand, unless we take the position, as many do, that there is no strategic approach in this White House, and they\u2019re just lashing out and taking positions without much consideration of the aftermath, which may well be the case.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ:<\/b> Right.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6066729\" style=\"max-width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-6066729\" src=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Jared-Kushner-670x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Jared Kushner (photo: Dominique A. Pineiro\/DoD)\" width=\"350\" height=\"535\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Jared Kushner (photo: Dominique A. Pineiro\/DoD)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><b>PB:<\/b> Because what we\u2019re looking at in the region is this situation where the US interest, led by Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of Trump, who\u2019s been leading this so-called Middle East initiative, his big regional initiative is to build a coalition against Iran, and his co-conspirator in that effort is the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, who\u2019s widely known as MBS. So the two crown princes, if you will, they\u2019ve established this little bromance. Jared\u2019s been running off to Saudi Arabia several times, he\u2019s been there I think four times in the last few months, spending a lot of time with the prince. They\u2019ve closeted themselves out in some ranch to talk until four in the morning, figuring out strategy, and what they\u2019re trying to do is figure out a way to bring Saudi Arabia and Israel together to lead this anti-Iran coalition.<\/p>\n<p>That would be really hard for Saudi Arabia, because they\u2019ve kind of claimed their political legitimacy partly by opposing Israel. So it\u2019s never been real, the government in Saudi Arabia has wanted for a long time to normalize relations with Tel Aviv, but they couldn\u2019t ever be public about it. So the goal, part of the reason they wanted to have an Israeli\/Palestinian peace process underway, was precisely so they could tell the population of Saudi Arabia: You see, everything\u2019s OK now. The Palestinians aren\u2019t being oppressed anymore, we don\u2019t have to worry about the Palestinians now, they\u2019re all OK, we can go on to the big target, which is Iran. And we\u2019ll get Israel in there with us.<\/p>\n<p>By taking this position on Jerusalem, they made that much, much harder. It\u2019s going to be almost impossible, right now at least, for the government in Saudi Arabia to convince its population that there\u2019s a peace process underway that\u2019s serious, that the Palestinians are doing fine, that the Palestinians support this. It\u2019s going to make that almost impossible. So that\u2019s the part that doesn\u2019t have a real answer, about how did the timing of this play out.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ:<\/b> Right.<\/p>\n<p><b>PB:<\/b> It\u2019s become much more complicated than it might have been.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ:<\/b> It\u2019s also hard to understand, just from the perspective of citizen media-consumer, because there are so many kind of scrims of reality.<\/p>\n<p><b>PB:<\/b> Exactly.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ:<\/b> There are things that we say we\u2019re doing, but we\u2019re not really doing. Well, one thing, in terms of just the way media construct the story, you and others have suggested that if this, minimally, does in the idea of the US as the \u201chonest broker,\u201d that that might be not for the worst.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6068653\" style=\"max-width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-6068653\" src=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Aaron-David-Miller.jpg\" alt=\"Aaron David Miller\" width=\"350\" height=\"583\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aaron David Miller<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><b>PB:<\/b> Yeah, that\u2019s an interesting part of it. You do hear this all the time, even from commentators and journalists who absolutely know better, but they fall into this trap somehow of saying, \u201cWell, this is the end of the US role as the honest broker.\u201d You want to shake them and say, when was the US ever an honest broker?<\/p>\n<p>I mean\u2014and this isn\u2019t just my opinion, as a critic of US foreign policy or a critic of Israel. Aaron David Miller, one of the long-time negotiators from the State Department, who was part of these various failed negotiation processes for 25 years, who\u2019s basically\u2014his credential now, he\u2019s on TV all the time, his credential is, I\u2019ve been part of these negotiations for 25 years. You want to say well, yeah, but you failed for 25 years, why are you still talking?<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ:<\/b> Right.<\/p>\n<p><b>PB:<\/b> But he wrote in <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=s-LonszmTwIC&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;dq=Aaron+David+Miller+The+Much+Too+Promised+Land:&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiV_JX7h5nYAhUHRN8KHenPAPQQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&amp;q=Aaron%20David%20Miller%20The%20Much%20Too%20Promised%20Land%3A&amp;f=false\">his book<\/a> about how the US team always acted as, quote, &#8220;Israel\u2019s lawyers.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>That was his words, not mine.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ:<\/b> Right.<\/p>\n<p><b>PB:<\/b> So \u2014 and that\u2019s not exactly secret, he\u2019s one of the most popular, sought-after pundits in DC. So what does it mean that people still keep saying, \u201cThe US is an honest broker, but this puts that at risk\u201d? Well, the US wasn\u2019t an honest broker, so there\u2019s nothing at risk here. And you\u2019re right that if this leads to a recognition among parts of the press that were never willing to acknowledge it before that, no, the US is not an honest broker, that\u2019s not a bad thing for people to start recognizing.<\/p>\n<p>I think, unfortunately, there are an awful lot of people in this country who kind of equate the idea that the US calls the meetings, the US decides who to invite, who gets to sit at the table, the shape of the table, all those things. That gets equated with being a, quote, \u201chonest broker,\u201d which people somehow seem to think means being evenhanded, supporting equality between the two sides. And it doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>I mean, on one level you can say, yeah, the US is an honest broker, the way a real estate broker is an honest broker working for one side.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ:<\/b> Right.<\/p>\n<p><b>PB:<\/b> They may be honest, but they\u2019re working for one side, just like the US.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ:<\/b> We\u2019ve been speaking with Phyllis Bennis. She directs the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ips-dc.org\/new-internationalism\/\">New Internationalism Project<\/a> at the Institute for Policy Studies. Her article, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/views\/2017\/12\/06\/no-peace-process-exists-destroy-trumps-jerusalem-decision-dangerous-hell\">\u201cThe Far-Reaching Risks of Trump\u2019s Jerusalem Decision,\u201d<\/a> can be found on <b>Common Dreams<\/b>. Phyllis Bennis, thank you so much for joining us this week on <b>CounterSpin<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p><b>PB:<\/b> Thank you, Janine. It\u2019s been a pleasure.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"et_bloom_bottom_trigger\"><\/span><br \/>\nThis piece was reprinted by <a href=\"http:\/\/rinf.com\">RINF Alternative News<\/a> with permission from <a href=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/home\/when-was-the-us-ever-an-honest-broker\/\">FAIR<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Janine Jackson interviewed Phyllis Bennis about Trump&#8217;s Jerusalem move for the December 15, 2017, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. Play Stop pop out X MP3jPLAYLISTS.MI_0 = [ { name: &#8220;1. 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