Monday, July 07, 2014

The US and the absence of freedom of speech for its enemies: what if we apply reciprocity?

I was thinking about that while swimming.  Since the mid-1970s, and in a secret agreement with Israel regarding non-recognition of the PLO that Henry Kissinger came up with, the Zionist lobby has succeeded in making the US adopt all the enemies of Israel and to declare every one of them a "terrorist" or "a state sponsoring terrorism".  And it is up to Israel, and not the US government, to decide when to lift the ban on an organization. Thus, when the Fath movement became a collaborationist tool of the Israeli occupation, it suddenly was no more labeled as "terrorist" and its past "terrorist" deeds were forgiven including the assassination of the US ambassador in Khartoum (although the US Congress used to state that they will never forgive Fath for that one).  But what if we apply US standards on the Arab world? As you all know, overwhelmingly most Arabs regard the US as a terrorist state or a state that sponsors terrorism in the region. What if the Arabs ban American universities (would the US allow Hizbullah or Hamas to open a university in the US)?  And the US ban even all publications or media of all the various groups that Israel regards as "terrorist": people can go to jail in the US if they even carry on a cable company Al-Manar broadcast, and anyone who is caught distributing books or publications by Hizbullah or Hamas will go to jail. And we know the case of the Palestinians in California who were prosecuted and persecuted for attending a hafli (party) for the PFLP? What if Arabs were to ban all American TV broadcasts? And what if they ban American propaganda outlets like Sawa radio or Hurrah TV? And what if they also ban American cultural events in the region? Can you imagine the fake advocates of freedom of speech here how they will react?  This idea of reciprocity is now far fetched given the nature of Arab government but it will come one day when Arabs become able to select their own governments.