Can the tail wag the dog?
How is it possible for the tiny Israeli state to force the world’s mightiest empire to act against its own interests? How can the tail wag the dog? Petras admits this is a “paradox.” The explanation, he says, “is found in the powerful and influential role of pro-Israeli Jews in strategic sectors of the U.S. economy, political parties, Congress and executive branch.” What is this but a cleaned-up version of the notorious anti-Semitic theory of a world Jewish conspiracy? This conspiracy theory leaves the U.S. capitalist class and the profit system off the hook as the root cause of the ruinous conditions imposed on working people worldwide. And it encourages reactionary U.S. nationalism and hatred of Jews. Surely, there is a rational, obvious explanation for the close U.S. alliance with Israel: Hasn’t Israel proven to be a reliable and an effective defender of U.S. interests in the Mideast? Surely the Iraq war has a more obvious explanation than a Zionist plot: Isn’t it a result of Washin
