{"id":649,"date":"2009-01-08T23:14:49","date_gmt":"2009-01-09T04:14:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?p=649"},"modified":"2009-01-08T23:14:49","modified_gmt":"2009-01-09T04:14:49","slug":"nitwit-senate-resolution-on-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/08\/nitwit-senate-resolution-on-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"Nitwit Senate Resolution on Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>So the U.S. Senate on Thursday passed by voice vote a <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/aipac.org\/Publications\/SourceMaterialsCongressionalAction\/SenateRes.pdf\">resolution <\/a><\/strong>blindly supporting Israeli attacks on Gaza and heaping derision on Hamas.<\/p>\n<p>This craven display should awaken anyone who sanguinely assumed that &#8220;everything changed&#8221; on November 4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The resolution contained numerous twists of history, but\u00a0the most glaring absurdity is the following:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<em>Whereas Hamas was founded with the stated goal of\u00a0destroying Israel&#8230;&#8221;<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the senators were\u00a0in a rush to collect campaign contributions, so they did not have time to\u00a0glance at the history of how Hamas arose to power.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Hamas was created with massive aid from the Israeli government.\u00a0 Following is an excerpt from\u00a0 my <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Terrorism-Tyranny-Trampling-Freedom-Justice\/dp\/1403966826\/ref=ed_oe_p\">Terrorism &amp; Tyranny<\/a><\/strong> (2003):<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the single largest mistake in the history of the Israeli government\u2019s long war on terrorism was its covert financing, cosseting, and arming of Hamas, the Islamic resistance movement. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon denounced Hamas as \u201cthe deadliest terrorist group that we have ever had to face.\u201d But the Israeli government is reticent about admitting its role in creating this Frankenstein.<\/p>\n<p>Beginning in the 1970s Israel began pouring money into Islamic organizations \u2014especially the Moslem Brotherhood\u2014hoping that religion would distract the Palestinians from political activism and the radical left-wing Palestinian Liberation Organization. Hamas was a late offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood. Prior to 1988 Moslem Brotherhood activists \u201chad refrained from openly anti-Israel activities.\u201d But with the outbreak of the first Intifada (uprising) in late 1987, the Israeli government was stunned to see how fast Hamas became the primary source of deadly attacks against Israelis.<\/p>\n<p>Anthony Cordesman, a former State Department and Defense Department intelligence officer and currently a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, stated that the Israeli government \u201caided Hamas directly\u2014the Israelis wanted to use it as a counterbalance to the PLO.\u201d A United Press International analysis reported, \u201cAccording to several current and former U.S. intelligence officials, beginning in the late 1970s, Tel Aviv gave direct and indirect financial aid to Hamas over a period of years.\u201d UPI noted that, according to documents provided by Israeli terrorism experts, \u201cHamas was legally registered in Israel in 1978 by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the movement\u2019s spiritual leader, as an Islamic Association by the name Al-Mujamma al Islami.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Jerusalem Post reported on May 29, 1989, that, until the late 1980s, the Moslem Brotherhood \u201corganizations in Gaza and the Islamic University received much encouragement from the [Israeli] military government. . . . The military government believed that their activity would undermine the power of the PLO and of leftist organizations in Gaza. They even supplied some of their activists with weapons, for their protection.\u201d During the first Intifada (uprising), the PLO and Hamas openly clashed over how to resist the Israeli occupation. The Jerusalem Post noted: \u201cThe [Israeli] security forces greeted this tension [between Palestinian groups] with satisfaction, in line with the principle of divide and conquer.\u00a0 In several cases, Palestinians noticed that troops stood by quietly during Hamas street activity, but did interfere when PLO activists engaged in the same activity.\u201d The Israeli government assumed that if the PLO could be thwarted, the Palestinian problem would be solved. But Hamas was far more bloodthirsty and radical than the PLO. The PLO effectively recognized Israel\u2019s right to exist in 1988, while Hamas devoted itself to seizing all of Palestine for an Islamic state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So the U.S. Senate on Thursday passed by voice vote a resolution blindly supporting Israeli attacks on Gaza and heaping derision on Hamas. This craven display should awaken anyone who sanguinely assumed that &#8220;everything changed&#8221; on November 4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The resolution contained numerous twists of history, but\u00a0the most glaring absurdity is the following: &#8220;Whereas Hamas was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Nitwit Senate Resolution on Gaza - James Bovard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/08\/nitwit-senate-resolution-on-gaza\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nitwit Senate Resolution on Gaza - James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"So the U.S. Senate on Thursday passed by voice vote a resolution blindly supporting Israeli attacks on Gaza and heaping derision on Hamas. This craven display should awaken anyone who sanguinely assumed that &#8220;everything changed&#8221; on November 4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The resolution contained numerous twists of history, but\u00a0the most glaring absurdity is the following: &#8220;Whereas Hamas was [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/08\/nitwit-senate-resolution-on-gaza\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-01-09T04:14:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@jimbovard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/08\\\/nitwit-senate-resolution-on-gaza\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/08\\\/nitwit-senate-resolution-on-gaza\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jim\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"headline\":\"Nitwit Senate Resolution on Gaza\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-01-09T04:14:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/08\\\/nitwit-senate-resolution-on-gaza\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":559,\"commentCount\":13,\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/08\\\/nitwit-senate-resolution-on-gaza\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/08\\\/nitwit-senate-resolution-on-gaza\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/08\\\/nitwit-senate-resolution-on-gaza\\\/\",\"name\":\"Nitwit Senate Resolution on Gaza - James Bovard\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-01-09T04:14:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/08\\\/nitwit-senate-resolution-on-gaza\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/08\\\/nitwit-senate-resolution-on-gaza\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/01\\\/08\\\/nitwit-senate-resolution-on-gaza\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Nitwit Senate Resolution on Gaza\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"James Bovard\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\",\"name\":\"Jim\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Jim\"},\"description\":\"Bovard's homepage is at http:\\\/\\\/www.jimbovard.com He can be contacted at jim@jimbovard.com James Bovard is the author of ten books. The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \\\"the roving inspector general of the modern state\\\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \\\"one-man truth squad.\\\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism &amp; Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \\\"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\\\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.jimbovard.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/jim.bovard\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/jimbovard\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Nitwit Senate Resolution on Gaza - James Bovard","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/08\/nitwit-senate-resolution-on-gaza\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nitwit Senate Resolution on Gaza - James Bovard","og_description":"So the U.S. Senate on Thursday passed by voice vote a resolution blindly supporting Israeli attacks on Gaza and heaping derision on Hamas. 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The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \"the roving inspector general of the modern state\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \"one-man truth squad.\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism &amp; Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. 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