Dutch MP's Bibi handshake snub shows integrity: Activist

Press TV has conducted an interview with Ken O’Keefe, a peace activist and former US Marine, about Dutch Muslim lawmaker Tunahan Kuzu refusing to shake the outstretched hand of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the latter’s visit to the European country.

Here is a rough transcription of the interview:

Press TV: We have seen more and more countries and politicians speaking out against Israel’s illegal occupation and brutal treatment of Palestinians, your thoughts on this gesture of refusing to shake the Israeli Premier’s hand?

O’Keefe: Well it is good to see that there is at least some level of honor within Western governments but the real powerful message here is that the vast majority of our so-called representatives in these Western democratic societies of ours, all of the politicians that we have, almost to entirety, are subservient to Israel to such disgusting levels that of course we in the United States have been the major, major funders of the insanity which the Palestinians have been enduring now for many, many decades.

Most of the politicians are openly, disgustingly subservient to Israel. The best example of that is Netanyahu’s visits to the US Congress. He has received as many as 29 standing ovations in one go. It is an embarrassing display of civility from a supposedly sovereign nation – the United States – a nation which is supposed to be the most powerful in the world, if we’re to believe that, and ultimately this is the kind of pattern that we speak throughout Western governments.

So it is positive to see at least one person in the Dutch government has some integrity but that is an exception for sure. 

Press TV: Israel and its extremely far right cabinet today have escalated tensions with Palestinians, including passing more and more repressive and oppressive measures, steaming straight ahead with settlement construction which is illegal under international law and the jailing of thousands of Palestinians, yet through most of the media you only hear about the response from the Palestinians, rarely do you hear about the exploitation, the systemic abuse by Tel Aviv, your take on that.

O’Keefe: Well that has been the story from the beginning, hasn’t it? I mean the whole argument that Israel has is that it is only defending itself when in fact it was the original aggressor. It came and stole Palestinian land with the support of the British and the United Nations and the United States and of course other Western governments and it never would have been created had it not been for many historical falsehoods and ultimately the creation of Israel should never happened and if there was anything akin to international law, we would see that Israel would have been never formed in the first place but in the world we are living in where say for instance the United Nations is formed in the aftermath of World War II because the whole world knew we cannot experience the Third World War, Hiroshima and Nagasaki made that clear., so there was the United Nations born.

Its job was to resolve conflict non-violently, effectively and ultimately one of its first acts was to create the Jewish state of Israel, to support the creation of the Jewish state of Israel and allocating the vast majority of land to a tiny minority of people who had not even been there for very long at all.

So the bottom line is that this entire premise that Israel is defending itself has been false from the beginning and it is time that we dispense with that nonsense. The Palestinians have every right to defend themselves and to use whatever means possible to be able to affect justice and they are in fact fighting one of the greatest militaries, most powerful militaries in the world. What other types of weapons can one use against such formidable foe?

So there is no defensive action on Israel. Its pure agenda and its existence is based on aggression.

Press TV: And as far as the public in the West goes, how much do they really know about the way Tel Aviv treats the Palestinians through Western media?

O’Keefe: Well in United States it is really quite obscene and grotesque. While there have been major improvements in terms of people’s understanding within the United States especially over the last five, ten years there is still pervasive ignorance and a tremendous amount of false sympathy for Israel because of the indoctrination of so many. The Christian Zionists are perfect example of brainwashed people who number in the tens of millions who believe that they should be supporting Israel no matter what the cost.

They seemingly forget the fact that Jesus Christ himself being born in that region is arguably a Palestinian himself and that the Christian Palestinians of today are being slaughtered by this monstrosity known as the Jewish state of Israel.

These are things that still remain quite pervasive, Europe is also affected by this but clearly we see a tremendous upsurge in awareness about Palestine. The real question here is are we going to translate that to something meaningful for the Palestinians on the ground?  

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