The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has contributed to a disastrous American course in the Middle East and will be back at it this week in Washington, D.C. Self-described as a "pro-Israel lobby" whose goal is to "enact public policy that enhances the U.S.-Israel relationship," the organization has enhanced this relationship while simultaneously making the region far more dangerous. More than ever in this election year with Republicans calling for the bombing of Iran and candidate Newt Gingrich claiming Palestinians are an "invented" people, AIPAC has the US Congress and presidential candidates in its thrall. Yet this year's AIPAC policy conference in Washington, D.C. is more controversial than ever as Occupy activists seek to highlight the role of big-money lobbyists in elections while standing in solidarity with the global 99% opposed to Israel's violations of human rights and international law.
Each year at AIPAC's policy conference in Washington, D.C., the president, powerful senators and members of Congress parade across the stage in order to prove their loyalty to the Israeli government. AIPAC's outsized influence on U.S. foreign policy can be linked to the disastrous war in Iraq, as well as to the current push for an attack on Iran. AIPAC is also known for drafting extreme anti-Palestinian, anti-human rights legislation that it then funnels into Congress. AIPAC Director Howard Kohr will likely appear on stage this March at the 2012 AIPAC conference to make the annual roll call, rattling off the names of congressional representatives, diplomats and dignitaries present in the room as if he is the auctioneer at an estate sale. And in a way, he is.
And AIPAC is not alone, though it is certainly the most prominent part of the Israel lobby. The University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism reports, "Since 1990, the whole of the pro-Israel lobby has given almost $96 million in congressional campaign contributions and funnels a lot of the money through local political action committees, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks money in politics." AIPAC claims not to be involved in the political contribution business, but it is widely recognized that its leadership helps direct such donations and influences who gets elected and how the elected behave.
Thanks to Citizens United, AIPAC executive committee member and casino mogul Sheldon Adelson (the 8th wealthiest person in America) and his wife forked over $10 million dollars to Newt Gingrich's super PAC in January, single-handedly keeping him in the race, and recently hinted at a potential $100 million dollar future contribution to the campaign. Gingrich has admitted that Adelson's main interest in his candidacy is because of his stance on Israel. And Adelson added, "Read the history of those who call themselves Palestinians and you will hear why Gingrich said recently that the Palestinians are an invented people." This infamous and dishonest comment from Gingrich on the campaign trail has pushed the discourse on Israel and Palestine further toward the racist extreme of American discourse.
With the rise of the Occupy movement, which focuses public ire on the role of large corporations and powerful special interest groups in determining U.S. domestic and foreign policy that increasingly benefits the wealthy few, AIPAC's hold on U.S. Middle East policy is being challenged as never before. The power of the Occupy movement has pushed issues of wealth disparity and corporate corruption into the mainstream media's headlines.
Global justice is increasingly a focus of the Occupy movement, as U.S. protesters make metaphorical and virtual connections with activists from Barcelona to Cairo to Athens. But when Occupy members have held signs saying, "Occupy Wall Street, not Palestine," the right-wing Israel lobby has accused the movement of anti-Semitism. Standing up for human rights, and standing up for the Palestinian right to self-determination, justice and dignity in the face of a decades-long occupation and a system of discrimination in the state of Israel, is not anti-Semitic. This tired insult is losing its power as Americans become more aware of the Palestinians' situation and that of other colonized people around the world.
Adbusters editor Kalle Lasn pushed back in an interview when he asserted, "It's time to stop the bully... I'm hoping that a lot of people of like mind from this Occupy movement... will be as aggressive as AIPAC, as aggressive as some of these neocons have been, and fight back against them. What I'm saying is... we need a hashtag, #occupyAIPAC."
The role of Occupy isn't to resolve this 64-year-old conflict but to focus attention on the way that AIPAC and the Israel lobby distort our political process. The strength of Occupy has been the grassroots organizing, the mass numbers, and the ability to change the discourse as a result of unwavering action against the companies, organizations, and individuals buying and selling our politicians.
It is only appropriate that we stand in solidarity with the Arab demonstrators who risked their lives to demand the ouster of their dictators. AIPAC stood on former Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak's side for years and is now using its power to encourage support in Congress for war with Iran. AIPAC's preferred policies support the current right-wing Israeli government and go directly against the American people's interests. And AIPAC has a reputation of bullying those who support real diplomacy. Last year an alleged member of AIPAC physically assaulted and injured me when I interrupted Prime Minister Netanyahu's misrepresentations to Congress. Thomas Friedman was altogether right when he noted late last year in the New York Times that Netanyahu should understand that "the standing ovation he got in Congress... was not for his politics. That ovation was bought and paid for by the Israel lobby." It was a pathetic and abject display by the US Congress, but it is the reality Americans face as war with Iran looms on the horizon.
This week, over 10,000 citizen lobbyists with AIPAC will push the country in the dangerous direction of war with Iran and ongoing occupation of Palestine. Activists will stage "Occupy AIPAC" -- a counter-conference along with creative protests outside the AIPAC convention, in opposition to these policies. Millions of Americans hopeful of emerging from the recent recession must push back against another Middle East war promoted by many of the same people and organizations that brought us the catastrophic consequences of the war with Iraq.
Get a job, hippie!
Even Mitchell Plitnick, Director of Education and Policy, Jewish Voice for Peace stated, "Israel’s lobbyists here in the US were UNDERSTATED in their support for the war, POSSIBLY because they knew it would go through WITHOUT MUCH EFFORT ON THEIR PART, "the major or decisive factor is enormously out of line with the evidence. Iraq was a war for American interests as perceived by those who have the power to make those decisions. It was not a “war for Israel".
AIPAC is also known for drafting extreme anti-Palestinian, anti-human rights legislation that it then funnels into Congress.
Links Please?
Now many Jews have equal rights in Palestine?
Nice usurping of OWC vernacular, however that sly deceptive out of context concept is bereft of reality. Fact: Israel is the only Country in the entire M.E. that is rated FREE by Freedom House.
http://proisraelbaybloggers.blogspot.com/2011/01/freedom-house-israel-is-only-free.html
Now for the reality of worst of the worst human rights and Int'l Law Violators.
http://www.freedomhouse.org/article/freedom-house-exposes-worlds-worst-human-rights-abusers
"Nine countries and one territory are judged to have the worst human rights conditions, receiving the lowest possible score of 7 (based on a 1 to 7 scale, with 1 representing the most free and 7 representing the least free) on both political rights and civil liberties: Burma, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Tibet, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/04/worlds-worst-human-rights_n_600611.html
Best and Worst Countries for Woman. from 165 Countries: Israel 51st, Jordan 110, Turkey 114, Egypt 120, Lebanon 121, Iran 125, Syria 130, S. Arabia 147.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/content/dailybeast/articles/2011/09/20/best-and-worst-countries-for-women-the-full-list.html
Don't be fooled!!!
Arab - Muslims controls NINETY NINE POINT FIVE PERCENT of the ME
And yet still took much for Palestiinian über left supporters
Sad eh?
Theyre Jordanians and have no distinction what so ever from the mass 400m Arabs in the region
Consider:"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct 'Palestinian people' to oppose Zionism for tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa. While as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan." Member of P.L.O. leadership, Zahir Muhsein
Israel was and always will be the good guys and no amount of bullying from the arabs will make us shut up and die. Never again. A million dies in darfur and you bully Israel. A million die in Rwanda and you bully iSrael. Syria kills thousands of it's own people and there are zero UN resolutions but 3 against Israel. Every time an Arab needs to kill someone they blame Israel. Seven out of ten woman in parts od Africa are mutilated in their genitals by muslims and you blame Israel. Stop using Israel as an excuse for murder, rape, persecution, and theocracy in 99% of the middle east controlled by the 1% who have the oil.
Anytime someone wants to get away with something awful, they blame the Jews and folks like Rae line up to defend them.
Yet both Code Pink and JVP are virtually silent on Syria. Is it only dictators that have peace treaties with Israel that are unacceptable ?
But you ALWAYS spell Palestine with a capital P, and Syria with a capital S.
Any particular reason for this discrepancy?
And DO you have an opinion about the daily mass murder of innocent civilians in Syria?