American Foreign Policy touched by God … sort of

 

Remember the movie “Exodus” and author Leon Uris who wrote it? Well, let me get this straight …

Recommended reading

Time for an American intifada?
By Jeff Gates
Online Journal Contributing Writer

“Americans are easily swayed by sympathetic portrayals of an enclave granted nation-state recognition by President Harry Truman, a Christian-Zionist. The Missouri Democrat had famously read the Bible cover-to-cover five times by age 15.

Truman was a True Believer in the same way that fundamentalist Christians believe -- truly believe -- that their Messiah will not return until the ‘Israelites’ recover their ancestral home.

… Preying on similar beliefs, Republican George W. Bush, another Christian-Zionist president, was induced with phony intelligence to wage war in Iraq. The false intelligence was traceable to Israelis, pro-Israelis or assets developed for that purpose. That invasion had long been a priority goal of those who believe -- truly believe -- in their right to an expansionist Greater Israel.”

And finally this excerpt:

“Deceit from the outset

A beguiling combination of Hollywood fiction, manipulated beliefs and outright lies remain at the core of this entangled alliance and the U.S.-Israeli ‘special relationship.’

The deceit deployed to advance the hegemonic goals of the Zionist project remains obscured by an undisclosed media bias reinforced by a widespread pro-Israeli influence in popular culture.

As with the 1960 film, the ongoing manipulation of thought and emotion lies at the core of this duplicity a half-century later.

In The Persuasion Explosion (1985), author Art Stevens reports that Exodus was a public relations ploy launched by Edward Gottlieb who sought a novelist to improve Israel’s image in the U.S.

The name Uris originates with Yerushalmi, meaning “man of Jerusalem.” The film rights to Exodus were sold in advance of the book’s publication.

Translated into dozens of languages, this masterpiece of mental and emotional manipulation quickly became a global phenomenon as it created favorable impressions of Israel.

The rewards are real for those who offer aid and comfort to this trans-generational deceit. When Truman’s campaign train traversed the nation as part of a 1948 whistle-stop tour, grateful Jewish nationalists refueled his campaign coffers with a reported $400,000 in cash ($3.6 million in 2010 dollars).

Those funds helped transform his anticipated loss into a victory with support from pro-Israeli editorial boards that -- after recognition -- boosted Truman’s sagging popularity.”