Some observers think of Capitol Hill as Israeli-occupied territory, and with good reason. The unquestioning support of the House of Representatives and the Senate of Israel was evident as Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke to Congress last week. Congressmen interrupted Netanyahu with frequent applause, offering him 25 or more standing ovations. A mythological hero saving humanity from annihilation couldn't have been received with more warmth. The fact that Netanyahu failed, through his dogged extremism, to support the cause of peace didn't seem to deter the backing he was offered. In a speech fraught with racist and fascist overtones, Netanyahu repeated the worn out cliché that Israel is an oasis of democracy in the Middle East. The region is home to 300 million Arabs, but only half a million of them live freely -- in Israel, as he put it. Islam represses women and Muslims persecute Christians and want to get rid of the Jews, Netanyahu said. He made no mention, of course, of the massacres of Palestinians at Deir Yassin or more recently in Gaza. Shedding crocodile tears over the lost peace in the Middle East, the Israeli prime minister claimed that Hizbullah and Hamas were the main sources of instability in the region. Arguing that the Palestinians would have no chance of a decent life unless they do exactly what the Israelis tell them to do, Netanyahu advised President Mahmoud Abbas to scrap the reconciliation agreement with Hamas, recognise the Jewishness of the state of Israel, and give up the rights of the Palestinian people. Only then may Israel consider giving the Palestinians a state that is disarmed and only vaguely sovereign. His words of praise for the revolution of the Arab nations against despotic leaders had an insincere ring, for Israel has been a staunch supporter of tyrants in this region. Take, for example, Sudan's Jaafar Al-Nomeiri, who helped Israel in flying Falasha Jews from Ethiopia; or Egypt's Hosni Mubarak who Israel considered an irreplaceable asset; or former Tunisian president Zein Al-Abidine bin Ali, who leaked information to Israel about the date of the 1973 War. Netanyahu promised that Israel would never withdraw to the 1967 borders or allow Jerusalem to be partitioned. But in the eyes of US legislators he'll always be a man of peace. The fact that he's holding on to Israeli settlements and refusing to honour the rights of Palestinian refugees does not seem to undermine his standing on Capitol Hill. Netanyahu offered nothing in the way of peace, and yet he wants President Abbas to sell him his soul. His offer, like that of Mephistopheles in Goethe's Faust, is ridiculous. And yet on Capitol Hill it got him a standing ovation.
