Speaking in an exclusive interview with FNA, Jafar Ramini said he believes that
the powerful Zionist lobby controls American politics and consequently the
American support provides the Israeli regime with the feeling of impunity to
continue with its crimes against the Palestinians.
Commenting on the Saudi crown prince’s controversial remarks on formal relations
with Israel, the Palestinian historian said that Mohammad bin Salman’s hunger
for power has made him betray the Palestinian cause and to side with Israel.
Jafar Ramini is a Palestinian historian, writer and analyst on Middle Eastern
affairs living in London. He has also shared his expert comments on many
international news outlets such as Press TV and Radio Sputnik.
FNA has conducted an interview with Jafar Ramini about Trump’s relocation of the
US embassy to Jerusalem Al-Quds and also the recent killings of Palestinian
protesters by Israeli army.
Below you will find the full text of the interview.
Q: Delivering on his campaign promise and in defiance of all global warnings,
Donald Trump moved US embassy to Jerusalem al-Quds. Many believe that this move
by Trump has effectively killed fantasies that Washington is a neutral party in
the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. What do you see as the reasons behind the
embassy move?
A: These are the problems: American elections and Jewish financial contributions
and power. That’s how the Zionist lobby in America got Harry Truman to endorse
their colonial project in Palestine in 1948 and the trend continues. During the
last 70 years we had one honorable exception in the White House who saw the
danger of Zionism to his country and the world and he tried to do something
about it. That was the late President of the United States, John F Kennedy. And
we know what happened to him. Even when Israel deliberately attacked an American
navy ship, USS Liberty in 1967, killing 34 American servicemen and wounding 171
others, not only did America do nothing towards this blatant aggression, but the
Johnson Administration also tried to hide it. Since then the Zionist lobby that
President Kennedy warned about has grown in numbers, power and influence. AIPAC
is so powerful in American politics that any aspiring American politician has to
seek its approval in order to have any chance of being elected. Though Trump
said he did not need Jewish money for his campaign he readily accepted it. As a
reward for his illegal act on Jerusalem, Sheldon Adelson, the Jewish billionaire
gambling magnate, gave the Republican Party $35 million. As the English saying
goes, "If you take the King’s shilling you do the King’s bidding".
Q: Since the beginning of the protests dubbed as the "Great Return March”,
Israeli forces have been killing and injuring many Palestinian civilians,
including the protesters, members of the press and medical workers. It seems as
if the regime in Tel Aviv felt an atmosphere of impunity where it could act
beyond all international laws and conventions. Where do you think this feeling
of immunity comes from?
A: When you have the most powerful empire known to man in your back pocket
naturally you would feel emboldened and immune. This is how Ariel Sharon, ex
Prime Minister of Israel, described the Israeli relationship with America in
2001 when Shimon Peres, the then Foreign Minister, mentioned that if Israel did
not stop attacking Palestinians they might endanger their relationship with the
United States of America. In a fit of anger Sharon said to Peres, "every time we
do something you tell me Americans will do this and will do that. I want to tell
you something very clear, don't worry about American pressure on Israel, we, the
Jewish people control America, and the Americans know it.” The current Israeli
Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu was video recorded saying, in an unguarded
moment with illegal settlers, "The USA is easily moved.” Of course Israel feels
much more than immune, it feels protected and encouraged. The irony here is that
the people of the USA do not realize that they too are occupied.
Q: The US Ambassador to the UN said "no country would act with greater restraint
than Israel” as the world was witnessing the rise in the toll of Palestinian
civilians killed and wounded by Israeli live fire. What do you think about this?
A: Ms. Nikki Haley, American Ambassador to the UN, is a very ambitious woman and
she knows which side her bread is buttered. She will go to any lengths to prove
her credentials to her Zionist benefactors. Her performance at AIPAC last year,
when she pointed to her stiletto heels saying that "these heels are not a
fashion statement but there to kick the butt of anybody who opposes Israel” made
that clear. She went on to boast that she stopped the appointment of Dr Salam
Fayyad, ex Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, to lead a UN Commission
into Libya. Her vulgarity and disdain for the truth and anything pertaining to
Palestine was highlighted when she recently walked out from a UN Security
Council meeting, the moment the Palestinian representative Mr. Riyadh Mansour
arose to speak. As for her statement that the killing of over 120 Palestinian
men, women and children and the wounding of 15000 Palestinians signifies
‘restraint’ on Israel’s part says it all.
Q: Israel has rejected international calls for probes into recent killings and
insisted that its open-fire rules for Gaza will not change. Some Western states,
particularly the US and Britain, who call themselves champions of human rights,
have supported the Israeli crimes against Palestinians. The UN has also failed
to restore the rights of the people. What is your assessment? What role can
nations of the world play in protecting the rights of the oppressed people of
Palestine?
A: Of course Israel rejects the call for a probe and of course the United States
of America agrees. Every time genocide happens around the world and the
international community looks on from afar and does nothing to stop it or bring
the perpetrators to account for their crimes it is a betrayal of humanity, of
justice and of any sense of morality. And when the USA and other western
countries that follow its lead describe the genocidal attacks by Israel on the
Palestinians as ‘self defense’ this sends a clear message that the rule of law
is irrelevant. Only might matters. As Edmund Burke once said, "For evil to
flourish it only takes a few good men to look the other way.” As far is Israel
is concerned the world community has been looking the other way for over a
century.
Q: Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammad bin Salman has recently said that
Israelis "have the right to have their own land” and that formal relations
between Tel Aviv and Riyadh could be mutually beneficial. The Saudi regime once,
at least on the surface, opposed Israel’s right to exist. What do you think has
changed in Riyadh to now come out as an apologist for the Zionist regime and
betray the Palestinian cause? How do you think other fellow Arab and Muslim
nations think of the Kingdom?
A: It’s not surprising that Prince Mohammad bin Salman, an immature 32-year-old
with no diplomatic or political experience to speak of, would say such a thing.
His hunger for power over-rides every other human instinct. You only have to
look at how he treated members of his own clan, under the pretext of fighting
corruption, to understand where he is coming from. I wonder when His Royal
Highness spent over $500 million on a yacht and an equal amount on a Da Vinci
painting and a similar amount on a chateau in the South of France where that
$1.5 billion came from, if not from corruption? He has declared openly his
hostility towards another Muslim country, Iran, siding with Israel and the
United States. He has also declared war on Yemen, on Syria and on Qatar. So
throwing Palestine and the Palestinians under the Israeli/USA juggernaut does
not bother him one bit. Power, after all, is an aphrodisiac.
Source:FarsNews