The truth of Israel's founding at the expense of ethnically cleansing the Palestinians from their historical land and homes to accommodate Europe's Jewish victims of pogroms and the Holocaust has been deliberately omitted, manipulated, revised, and hidden from the Israeli and American public. Zionists and their supporters in the media, along with messianic Christian Fundamentalists, undertook an elaborate public relations campaign in Israel, Europe, and America, to portray Israel as a democratic, enterprising nation that is fulfilling biblical prophecy. Meanwhile, their Muslim and Arab neighbors are portrayed as inherently violent and anti-Semitic, a portrait that continues today.

This successful dehumanization of a people, the Palestinians, and of a faith, Islam, forged a marriage of convenience and strategic alliance with America's foreign policy, our media, Hollywood, our religious institutions, and ultimately indoctrinated the uninformed American public that is distracted by its material "pursuit of happiness" leaving a vacuum in domestic and foreign policy for the dedicated, organized special interest groups.

Israel and America are thus desensitized to the suffering and death of Palestinians carried out by a powerful occupying force and religiously fanatical settlers. There are no microphones or video cameras to record their beatings or deaths. That is why the death of 12 year-old Muhammad al-Dura's is so shockingly special. For the first time the world saw what Amnesty International has been saying for years. "That Israel is killing civilians unlawfully by firing at them during demonstrations and riots.... Indiscriminately and with excessive force.... often against civilians seeking safety." During this latest conflict, Israel even killed six of its own Arab citizens who were protesting in solidarity with their brethren as well as their decades of enduring prejudice and discrimination simply because they are "non-Jews". Arabs are dirty, they are snakes, and they can't be trusted; a mantra that rings from the Knesset to our Congress. The world's silence toward Palestinian deaths and the denigration of holy sites, including the shameful silence of Arab and Islamic governments is outrageous. Such silence occurred in Germany when the confluence of government, the military, and media propaganda led to the Holocaust of Jews, and the deaths of many children, very much like Muhammad al-Dura.

Does our American media through omission or commission tilt their reporting to favor Israel in this conflict? Do our government officials from the President to Congress react differently to Palestinian deaths versus Israeli deaths? I think so. There too numerous examples to support the thesis that indeed our government and media are heavily tilted toward Israel.

For example, when Israeli forces deliberately attacked a U.N. camp in southern Lebanon in the city of Qana killing 106 civilians our government and media laid the blame on Hizbullah despite the official U.N. investigation that squarely blamed Israel. Also, during a recent U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss the violence in the Occupied Territories, the U.S. rejected a draft that condemns Israel for violating the Fourth Geneva Convention that simply demands protecting civilians during conflict. And while our government and media chastised Iran for trying 13 Iranian Jews under "secret evidence", there is much less concern for the detaining of mostly Arabs/Muslims in this country under the use of so-called "secret evidence".

Our government since 1949 has given Israel, the world's seventeenth richest nation, about $150 Billion. The U.S. also provides Israel with the latest weapons, the most lucrative trade status, support within the U.N., and a solid partnership in the peace process that ensures its objectives are achieved at the expense of the Palestinians. Israel in turn takes our tax dollars and subsidizes Orthodox schools, settling of Russian immigrants and builds hundreds of settlements illegally in the occupied territories. In effect, our welfare money to Israel is directly contributing to the very death of the peace process that we allegedly seek by supporting such activities. So while our government has cut America's welfare rolls to poor families and children, our Congress annually increases the welfare support of Israel. No more blatant example of Israel's influence on our Congress than the congressional subsidy to the Holocaust museum in Washington D.C. to the tune of tens of millions annually. Meanwhile, funds are being denied to the WWII Veterans memorial.

The American people should demand and deserve an open and honest debate and accounting of our "special" relationship with Israel from Congress. Israel has been our burden in world affairs far too long. It's time for peace and justice in the Holy Land for the three faiths--Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

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Dr. Mohamed Khodr is a physician and Muslim activist in the Washington, D.C. area.