[wvns] Flesh for War Fantasies
Flesh for War Fantasies
William Grigg
http://muckrakerreport.com/id448.html
June 30, 2007 -- To my considerable shame, I just realized that it had
been a long time since I had thought of Angola. In fact, it occurs to
me that I really don't have a feeling toward that country one way or
another.
How utterly scandalous this is. I obviously suffer from a severely
parochial worldview, if not outright bigotry. All decent people are
required to take an interest in Angolan affairs, and to work on behalf
of that nation's survival.
Whoops – I made a mistake. It was Austria I had forgotten, not Angola
– an easy mistake, I suppose, given that the names of those countries
are similar, if little else about them is. Austria is the nation that
is supposed to hold captive all of my waking thoughts, and dominate
the dreams that come once my eyes surrender to weariness at day's end.
Oh. Sorry. My bag.
It turns out that the small foreign country I'm morally obliged to
care about is Guatemala, where I lived for a little more than a year
in the 1980s.
Now, this has become simply obnoxious. Sierra Leone, that tragic land,
scene of some of the most horrific atrocities in recent memory, is the
country that should always be uppermost in my thoughts, lest I be
accused of indifference to genocide.
Admittedly, it's difficult to keep track of which distant, unfamiliar
country should be the focus of my concerns – to such an extent that I
would be willing to surrender the blood of my children in its defense.
Perhaps the issue could be clarified if the regime running that
country could stage a PR campaign in which its government shamelessly
pimps several young female military veterans by having them pose in
borderline pornographic photo spreads for Maxim magazine.
Former Miss Israel Gal Gadot
We have a winner! The nation in question is, of course, Israel.
Like much of the evil done in this world, the idea of a Maxim photo
feature on Israeli women (starring former Miss Israel Gal Gadot)
originated in New York, more specifically at the Israeli consulate,
"where research showed that Israel meant little to young American men"
in the all-important 18–35 demographic, reports the AP.
"Males that age have no feeling toward Israel one way or another, and
we view that as a problem, so we came up with an idea that would be
appealing to them," explains an Israeli government media adviser named
David Dorfman. Thus Maxim was contacted by the Israeli consulate and
asked to take part in "reshaping Israel's public image."
What neither the Dorfster nor any of his allies in this effort would
explain is this: Why is it obligatory for American males of any age –
let alone those in an age bracket targeted for military recruitment –
to have feelings of any sort about a country to which they have no
organic connection or moral responsibility?
Israel can expect the allegiance of its citizens, and for
understandable reasons Jews in every nation take an interest in its
survival. But I cannot think of a compelling reason why the typical
American should take a greater interest in Israel than he does in
Angola, Austria, Guatemala, or Sierra Leone.
Ecclesio-Leninists of John Hagee's ilk would insist that Christians
have a God-prescribed duty to support the Israeli government, to the
point of mass bloodshed, if necessary. Since Hagee considers it just
to kill on Israel's behalf, I wonder if he would consider it
appropriate to peddle quasi-porn, and consume the same, in that cause.
(I'm suddenly afflicted with a mental image of Hagee pouring over the
pages of the July installment of Maxim, his wattles quivering and his
eyes distended as he succumbs to a combination of sanctimony and
salacity).
Hagee is precisely the kind of "friend to Israel" whose preferred
policies would kill a lot of Israelis and other innocent people. He
really should pause and ask himself if a government that would exploit
prurient interests in this fashion (not to mention sponsoring "Gay
Pride" parades) is really the Zion longed for by prophets and saints
of ages past. From where I sit, that government appears no better or
worse than any of a dozen others I could name, our own most definitely
included.
John Hagee
While the Israeli consulate in New York prepares to fire the Maxim gun
in its propaganda arsenal, the War Party is pursuing a somewhat
subtler approach in preparing the public for a US/Israeli attack on
Iran. On June 20th the House of Representatives passed a resolution
demanding that the UN Security Council "charge Iranian President
Maumoud Ahmadinejad with violating the 1948 Convention on the
Prevention of the Crime of Genocide," and that the Council consider
unspecified "measures" to "prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear
weapons...."
The resolution regurgitates the claim, which has been canonized
through repetition although patently and demonstrably false, that
Ahmadinejad "called for Israel to be 'wiped off the map'." While the
Iranian president is a certifiable maniac guilty of many crimes
against decency, that phrase was not uttered by him: He was, in fact,
calling for what is now "regime change" by calling for an end to the
Israeli government, not the annihilation of the Israeli people. If
calling for "regime change" is now to be considered an incitement to
genocide, the entire staff of the American Enterprise Institute should
be seized and extradited to stand trial before the UN International
Criminal Court in The Hague.
Only two congressmen, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Rep. Dennis Kucinich
(D-Ohio), voted against the resolution. Kucinich "attempted to have
read into the record alternate translations of Ahmadinejad's remarks
that suggest the Iranian leader was calling Israel to come to an end
through democratic means, and not through violence," reported the
Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
While describing himself as "unequivocal in my support for the
security and survival of Israel" and possessed of "serious concerns
with the remarks made by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad," Kucinich denounced the
resolution, correctly describing it as an attempt to "lay the
groundwork for an offensive, unprovoked war" – one in which Israelis,
as well as Americans and Iranians, would be killed, and that will
probably ignite a broader conflict lasting for years or even decades.
And that is an obscenity far greater than anything available in the
pages of Maxim.
To comment or request reprint permission, please contact William N.
Grigg via e-mail, here. To learn more about William Grigg, please
visit Pro Liberate.
===
Maxim Features Models From Israeli Army;
Many in Israel Call It Inappropriate
By MATTI FRIEDMAN, JERUSALEM
Jun 20, 2007 (AP)
http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3297502
Maxim
Ambassador Arye Mekel (L), Consul General of Israel in New York, and
2004 Miss Israel winner Gal Gadot attends Maxim's "Women of the
Israeli Defense Forces" Celebration at Marquee June 19, 2007 in New
York City. (Ray Tamarra/Getty )
A new public relations effort by Israel's New York consulate wants the
country known less for its conflict with the Palestinians or for its
myriad holy sites than for its beautiful women in uniform. Or, more
accurately, out of uniform.
A spread in the upcoming July issue of Maxim features a roster of
Israeli models, all ex-soldiers, photographed wearing very little in
the cause of their country. Headlined "Women of the Israel Defense
Forces," the campaign has already been criticized as inappropriate in
Israel.
The Maxim shoot presents Israeli models including Nivit Bash, who
served in military intelligence though the only remnant of an army
career evident in her photograph on the magazine's Web site is a
military-style black cap that matches a minimal swimsuit.
Gal Gadot, a former Miss Israel and army fitness instructor, appears
in a bikini and high heels sprawled provocatively on the ledge of a
Tel Aviv high-rise. The photo also landed her on the cover of the New
York Post below an equally provocative headline, "Piece in the Mideast."
The idea originated in the media office at Israel's consulate in New
York, where research showed that Israel meant little to young American
men.
"Males that age have no feeling toward Israel one way or another, and
we view that as a problem, so we came up with an idea that would be
appealing to them," said David Dorfman, a media adviser at the consulate.
Maxim's popularity with that demographic led to the partnership.
"Maxim was approached by the Israeli consulate to be a part of
reshaping Israel's public image, specifically because of our unmatched
mainstream reach to men aged 18 to 35," the magazine said in a
statement. "We are pleased with the result of our work together."
The consulate and Maxim were set to launch the Israel-themed photo
shoot at a glitzy event in Manhattan on Tuesday night.
But in Israel, the campaign drew an angry reaction from lawmaker
Colette Avital, a former diplomat who served as Israel's
consul-general in New York in the 1990s.
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