Monday 2 July 2012

America’s Obsession

Palestinian protesters are seen through smoke from tyres set on fire during clashes with Israeli security forces at a protest against the nearby Jewish settlement of Kdumim, in the West Bank village of Kfar Kadum, near Nablus 29 June 2012. (Photo: Reuters - Ammar Awad)
Published Sunday, July 1, 2012

What does America want from the Arabs? The answer is simple: oil, economy, and Palestine.

Oil because so far humans have not been able to find an alternative to traditional energy sources. Anyone who has any doubt about this just has to look at what happened recently at the Rio conference on the environment.

Governments strove to void it of its civil society content for the benefit of the mega corporations which inhale oil.

America wants Palestine — all of Palestine — to give as a gift to the Zionists. If anyone has any doubts, all they have to do is follow the American elections, and note the servility and prostration to the Israeli lobby that go hand in hand with the campaigns.

On economy — always a mechanism to control nations materially and culturally — the US has been fighting social justice and human socialism since the Cold War.

They champion capitalism, the free market, and extreme neoliberal principles.

Anyone who doubts this should browse through some of the contents of Wikileaks, which revealed the role of US ambassadors in supporting transnational companies by dealing directly with the stalwarts of the rotten regimes.

Tunisia before the revolution is simply one example.

America tries to impose its policies by using “the carrot and the stick” with the wealthy ruling classes. And it has to be said that the rich and ruling elite do love carrots.

This is why you find them compliant and yielding, kowtowing to any representative of the West who might bestow upon them the adjective “civilized” and award them a certificate of good behavior.

For all these reasons, the new Egyptian president will face his biggest challenge in the next few days, when Hillary Clinton visits him to hear it from his own lips whether he prefers the carrot or the stick.

The Israeli ambassador to Egypt has already arrived in Cairo ahead of her, safely back in place.

Mohammed Mursi will soon realize that the difficult part is not winning the elections, it is holding on to power, torn between SCAF — who are loyal to America — and the Egyptian people — who have tasted freedom and will not give up their revolution.

Rami Zurayk is Al-Akhbar's environment columnist and author of the blog Land and People.

The views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect Al-Akhbar's editorial policy.

This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.

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The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!

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