Contributed by Joe Montero

Right now, Israel continues its assault on Lebanon. Sadly, federal and state governments across Australia, Labor, and the opposition, follow the Israeli propaganda lead that this is a war against Hezbollah. Just like the so-called war against Hamas in Gaza, this characterization obscures the fact that this is principally a military attack on a civilian population.

The mischaracterisation is a means to cover the fact of support for Israel’s actions. This is why the handful of governments defending Israel continue to supply arms, munitions, and other supplies to its war machine.

Perhaps these governments can’t be accused of directly supporting the supremacist foundation of Zionist ideology. But it has proved to be a useful tool to push geopolitical ambitions in the part of the world where the Israeli entity exists. To understand why Australia’s political elite are part of this, it’s essential to realise a few things about the nature of the relationship between Australia and the United States.

Professor Avi Shlaim answers question about whether Zionism is a racist ideology

Video from Middle East Eye

This was neatly summed up in WikiLeaks’ exposure of cables from the United Sates embassy in Canberra. They showed the conga line of those seeking to lead Labor or Liberals and become the Prime Minister, going there, and asking for approval before their parties and Australia know about it. This underlines a master-servant relationship.

United States based corporations dominate key sectors of the Australian economy, and this extends to shareholdings across many other corporate sectors. Whether we consider banking, mining, energy, and even media, for example, Wall Street shareholders stand at the head. This economic clout means influence in politics. It means money going into political parties and individual election campaigns. Getting elected and staying in office often requires the patronage of those with the money and access to media. They call the tune, and the benefactor must dance to it.

Wal Street’s control of Washington means that it is a vehicle for global business. The American state is used to further global expansion. The gateway to Asia, here Israel is situated, is an immensely important strategic place, giving access to Europe and Asia, as well as providing massive reserves of oil.

Israel serves as a useful client state to be used as a proxy for Wall Street’s ambitions. This is a foothold for Wall Street in the region. This is why any atrocity it commits is supported, or at least tolerated.

Photo from Reuters: Wall Street and Israel are closely tied. Israel’s flag flies on the stock exchange

This relationship between Isarael and Washington meets with the strategy of the faction led by current Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, which relies on drawing in United States ground troops. The timing of the attack on Lebanon is designed to force this, as an answer for the failure to tame Gaza sand Israel’s exposed military weakness on the ground. Israel cannot defeat Hezbollah without this support. The Netanyahu faction seeks war between the United States and Iran and is prepared to extend this into a dangerous global conflict.

It should be no surprise when the political establishment ignores the slaughter of women and children, when it contributes to the dehumanisation of the Palestinian population and is quick to label anyone questioning this as antisemitic. nor should be no surprise that they ignore the risk of an expanded conflict.

Right now, the political establishment is justifying the attack on Lebanon and helping to prepare for a ground invasion. If this does happen, they will find excuses for it. No matter what the cost. They ignore the fact that suburbs of Beirut and other cities are being destroyed by American made and supplied bombs, including cluster bunker bombs, mostly targeting, and destroying residential areas. They ignore the mounting death toll and the prospect of another Gaza style killing spree.

The political establishment ignore that the Zionist ideology incorporates the ambition of a greater Israel. One which includes the elimination of the Palestinian population and the incorporation of Lebanon and other places into its preferred map of Israel.

Map from the Brit-Am organisation, which is closely tied to the Israeli State presents this map of the ambition for a greater Israel encroaching on lands of other nations, including the hole of Lebanon

An expanded Israel coincides with the ambition of Wall Street and its political agents in Washington. Their Australian puppets follow, just as their equivalents in New Zealand, Great Britain, Canada, and a few other places do.

But everything isn’t going their way. Australia has witnessed a massive history making movement of support for the Palestinians. In Melbourne for instance, the turnout of huge numbers every Sunday for a year is unprecedented. Public opinion is on its side the polls tell us. Support for Israel mingles with other policy failures to undermine support for the major parties. This drives the search for scapegoats and a tendency towards repression at home. Those turning against the political establishment are vilified and line up as targets.

Now there is an outcry over a few people carrying Hezbollah flags at the Melbourne and Sydney marches. This should be viewed in its true perspective. Hezbollah is a real political entity with the support of the Palestinian population in Lebanon, part of the Lebanese government and regarded by the Lebanese population as its defender. It’s not surprising that some people in Australia share this recognition.

Hezbollah was labelled a terrorist organisation by Washington and Canberra followed. The hypocrisy is stark. It’s convenient to use this term on Hezbollah but inconvenient to use it on the slaughterer of tens of thousands of unarmed civilians, of women and children, because they happen to be of the wrong ethnicity. It’s inconvenient to use the term terrorism on the planned starvation and denial of lifesaving water and medicine to an entire population.

Should this scale of slaughter reach Lebanon, not doubt the same political establishment will extend their excuses to cover their covert support for this new centre of slaughter.

Photo from the United Nations: Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is defiant at the United Nations but never so isolated from the nations of the world.

Their weakness is that they are on the wrong side of history. The resistance to the surrogate Israeli state entity has grown within the occupied territories, the surrounding nations, and across the planet. It can no longer be silenced.

Bringing about change in Australia’s position at government level, means confronting the nature of Australia’s unhealthy relationship with Washington and the Wall Street power behind it. It means confronting their imperialist ambitions and freeing Australia from their clutch. It means the exposure and defeat their Australian puppets. This has begun.