Ayoon wa Azan (Defining high treason)

I hope that readers are patient with me today, because my topic will concern them. I would like to ask about the definition of betraying one's country, or high treason. Perhaps the general definition is that the traitor is someone who hurts his country and people by helping their enemies against his own nation. However, I would like to add today an example that fully explains the concept of treason. At the beginning of the year, as the American financial crisis grew and the country's national debt rose to the astronomical level of $16 trillion, the White House could not agree with the Republican Party on how to deal with the issue. They postponed the solution until the first of this month and the new deadline came without any agreement. This imposed a reduction of the budget of the Pentagon, with the result that the White House cannot send the Dwight D Eisenhower aircraft carrier to the Middle East, while America's poor have lost some of their social and medical benefits. The US is facing a strangling economic crisis that was set in motion by the wars of George W Bush, wars that were totally lost by America. This was followed by a financial crisis in the US, and in the world, a solution to which was fought by the Republicans. First they tried to deprive Barack Obama of a second term as president, and they are now tying his hands and diverting him from achieving any of his goals, including the peace process in the Middle East. What was the reaction of the evil American mafia to the ongoing financial crisis? I say that they committed high treason against "their country. The Israel lobby, or AIPAC, decided to send thousands of its supporters to Capitol Hill to pressure American legislators so that they would not cut back on US aid to Israel, which stands at $3 billion a year. Americans are suffering from the budget reduction, which is hitting at both defense and the country's poor. The Israel lobby and its supporters, who are loyal to a racist, neo-Nazi state that occupies the land of others, are unconcerned if America's national security suffers, or if poor Americans go hungry or are deprived of medical care. The most important thing is that Israel continue to steal form US taxpayers, and that hatred of US policies is spread among Arabs and Muslims, giving inhuman terror and terrorists the excuse to continue to engage in random destruction and murder in their countries. If the above is not enough, members of Congress who have been bought by the lobby and put in its pocket, came up with a non-binding draft resolution that would force the US, if Israel attacks Iran "in self-defense," to join the Israeli attack on that country. This account is based on how things are usually discussed, although this includes the fables that Israel and its mafia repeat, so that the truth is lost in a tsunami of lies. First, annual assistance to Israel exceeds $3 billion. Aid to Egypt is a part of it, and is linked to the continuation of the peace process with Israel. The actual figure of direct aid is $4.3 billion. There are also other, undeclared forms of assistance and tax-free grants, as well as the theft of US military and trade secrets. The actual figure of assistance is $10 billion a year, as 50 million poor Americans continue to suffer. Second, Israel certainly has a nuclear arsenal, while Iran does not. Therefore, Israel threatens Iran, and not vice versa. What Israel truly wants is to involve the US in an unjustified war, whose only certain result will be a rise in hostility toward American and in terror, i.e. severing the remaining relations between America and Arabs and Muslims. Third, moving beyond the paid-for Congress and the traitorous supporters of Israel in and around the lobby, we find that the entire world stands against Israel and its policies. The European Union has threatened the Israeli government if it continues its settlement policy, and in all the American and British universities I know, student groups oppose Israel and call for divestment and punishing the Jewish state. Churches around the world, especially Protestant denominations, are taking a similar stance against Israel and are urging their followers to divest. Then there are the Americans who are committing treason against their country, putting the interests of an occupying country well before the interests of American citizens. They call for US foreign policies that will increase anti-US hostility around the world and are putting all of the country's interests in danger. This is the definition of treason in the dictionary, and in general. --- The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.