See If You Can Guess Why This Story Was Spiked In The US

2011's largest international story has been the "Arab Spring" with countries across the Middle East and North Africa throwing off the shackles of their oppressive governments.  Millions have protested across dozens of countries over basic living conditions: food, water, shelter, and security.  Libya's Qadaffi is the latest to fall.

But did you know that similar protests have been going on for months now in Israel?  Massive protests have been going on for the last eight weeks or so across that country, and American news organizations have all but ignored the story. Hundreds of thousands of regular, middle-class Israelis took to the streets to protest the Netanyahu government this weekend in the latest round of demonstrations.

Hundreds of thousands marched Saturday for lower living costs in the largest such rally in Israel's history, bolstering a social change movement and mounting pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take on economic reform.

Protest leaders called it "the moment of truth" for the grassroots movement that has swollen since July from a cluster of student tent-squatters into a countrywide mobilization of Israel's middle class.

"An entire generation wants a future," read one banner as demonstrators flooded the streets of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and cities throughout Israel, shouting "the people demand social justice."

Netanyahu has warned he would not be able to satisfy all the protesters' demands, ranging from tax cuts, to expansion of free education and bigger government housing budgets.

Organizers said over 450,000 people took part in the demonstrations. Police put the number at least 300,000.

Protests on that scale in Israel, with a population of 7.7 million, are usually held over issues of war and peace.

"Tonight is the pinnacle moment of a historic protest," Amir Rochman, 30, an activist from Israel's Green Party said.

"Israel will no longer be the same," Itzik Shmuli, head of the National Student Union and one of the protest leaders said at the rally. "Our new Israel demands real change in the priorities of its government."

But this story has been spiked by our media and completely ignored by conservatives.  After all, when a full six percent of the population protests the government of "America's closest ally in the Middle East" you'd expect some notice.  Here in the US, a fraction of a percent at a rally commands international attention...as long as the protestors are a couple thousand Tea Party members.  When the Israeli equivalent of 18.75 million Americans shows up at rallies across the country in Israel to protest the Nethanyahu government and their policies, it's a non-story.

The notion that Benjamin Nethanyahu could possibly be considered in the same category as Hosni Mubarak, Moammar Qaddafi or Bashar Al-Assad is something that the American media won't touch.  Americans must never find out that Israel's middle class is being squeezed dry by the growing costs of the perpetual war machine over there.  We must never find out that there are Israelis that don't want to wipe all Muslims off the map and are willing to protest their own government over the treatment of Palestinians.  Americans must never find out that Israeli corporations are running all aspects of the country and are making the middle-class there pay the bulk of taxes.

Why, we might get ideas or something.  Meanwhile, we can ignore Israel and beg Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to please, please, please, continue not to be free while we "sort this out."

The administration has made it clear to Mr. Abbas that it will veto any request presented to the United Nations Security Council to make a Palestinian state a new member outright. 

Let freedom ring in the Middle East...unless it involves Palestinians or the Israeli middle class, I guess.