Opinion: AIPAC's Hold (The Nation)

[norml]

Opinion
AIPAC's Hold

Ari Berman
Fri Aug 4, 12:00 AM ET

The Nation -- In early March, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) held its forty-seventh annual conference in Washington. AIPAC's executive director spent twenty-seven minutes reading the "roll call" of dignitaries present at the gala dinner, which included a majority of the Senate and a quarter of the House, along with dozens of Administration officials.

As this event illustrates, it's impossible to talk about Congress's relationship to Israel without highlighting AIPAC, the American Jewish community's most important voice on the Hill. The Congressional reaction to Hezbollah's attack on Israel and Israel's retaliatory bombing of Lebanon provide the latest example of why.

On July 18, the Senate unanimously approved a nonbinding resolution "condemning Hamas and Hezbollah and their state sponsors and supporting Israel's exercise of its right to self-defense." After House majority leader John Boehner removed language from the bill urging "all sides to protect innocent civilian life and infrastructure," the House version passed by a landslide, 410 to 8.

AIPAC not only lobbied for the resolution; it had written it. "They were given a resolution by AIPAC," said former Carter Administration National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, who addressed the House Democratic Caucus on July 19. "They didn't prepare one."

AIPAC is the leading player in what is sometimes referred to as "The Israel Lobby"--a coalition that includes major Jewish groups, neoconservative intellectuals and Christian Zionists. With its impressive contacts among Hill staffers, influential grassroots supporters and deep connections to wealthy donors, AIPAC is the lobby's key emissary to Congress. But in many ways, AIPAC has become greater than just another lobby; its work has made unconditional support for Israel an accepted cost of doing business inside the halls of Congress. AIPAC's interest, Israel's interest and America's interest are today perceived by most elected leaders to be one and the same. Christian conservatives increasingly aligned with AIPAC demand unwavering support for Israel from their Republican leaders. (In mid-July, 3,000-plus evangelicals came to town for the first annual "Christian United for Israel" summit.) And Democrats are equally concerned about alienating Jewish voters and Jewish donors--long a cornerstone of their party. Some in Congress are deeply uncomfortable with AIPAC's militant worldview and heavyhanded tactics, but most dare not say so publicly.


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http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20060804/cm_thenation/20060814aipacs_hold

[IndianaGreen]

1. AIPAC and CANF are holding America hostage

by pushing for policies on Israel and Cuba that are harming the interests of the American people.

[Douglas Carpenter]

2. recommended --- a VERY important article

[burythehatchet]

3. Ever notice how the most powerful lobbies

lead to death, destruction and misery?

[Mr_Spock]

4. It's kind of scary actually

Any group that has that much clout with our government make me nervous.

[Phx_Dem]

7. How much clout did aipac have when they tried to stop

the sale of AWACS to the Saudis? I will answer for you: NONE, ZERO, ZIP, NADA.

[Mr_Spock]

8. So that means AIPAC has no clout?

Or that the US feels they can sell AWACS (or other stuff) to other allies in spite of the strong AIPAC influence?

Is Saudi Arabia an ally or foe? We sell lots & lots of high-tech laser guided missiles to Israel - I assume you object to that as well. Where is the Saudi influence against our sale of high-tech weaponry to Israel?

I think you are biased.

[Phx_Dem]

9. Sure aipac has some clout

so do a lot of other pacs and "allies".

I think you are biased as well btw, so I guess we agree on something.

[Mr_Spock]

10. Well, sure - I'm biased against people who only see things one way

I don't have a dog in this fight - I just hate seeing large numbers of innocent children being murdered by the high-tech missles that are US made.

[JohnyCanuck]

5. Some in Congress are deeply uncomfortable with AIPAC's militant worldview

Some in Congress are deeply uncomfortable with AIPAC's militant worldview and heavyhanded tactics, but most dare not say so publicly......Not if they want the campaign contributions to keep rolling in, that is.

The Israel Lobby and the Left: Uneasy Questions
by Jeffrey Blankfort


By Jeffrey Blankfort

SNIP

There are some who believe that Bush Jr. and Presidents before him made statements critical of Israel for appearances only, to convince the world, and the Arab countries in particular, that the US can be an “honest broker” between the Israelis and the Palestinians. But it is difficult to make a case that any of them would put themselves in a position to be humiliated simply as a cover for US policy.

A better explanation was provided by Stephen Green, whose Taking Sides, America’s Secret Relations with Militant Israel, was the first examination of State Department archives concerning US-Israel relations. Since the Eisenhower administration, wrote Green in 1984, “Israel, and friends of Israel in America, have determined the broad outlines of US policy in the region. It has been left to American Presidents to implement that policy, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, and to deal with the tactical issues.”19

A slight exaggeration, perhaps, but former US Senator James Abourezk (D-South Dakota) echoed Green’s words in a speech before the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee last June:

That is the state of American politics today. The Israeli lobby has put together so much money power that we are daily witnessing US senators and representatives bowing down low to Israel and its US lobby.

Make no mistake. The votes and bows have nothing to do with the legislators’ love for Israel. They have everything to do with the money that is fed into their campaigns by members of the Israeli lobby. My estimate is that at least $6 billion flows from the American Treasury to Israel each year. That money, plus the political support the US gives Israel at the United Nations, is what allows Israel to conduct criminal operations in Palestine with impunity.20

http://www.ifamericansknew.org/us_ints/pg-blankfort.html

[Nothing Without Hope]

6. K & R. I'll be back later today and post some links to other articles

on AIPAC and its influence in Washington. They not only give money and political support to politicians who do their bidding, they attack any congressmen who dare to stray from their political policies.

[Tom Joad]

11. gotta stop aipac. Gotta StopAIPAC.org

Various perspectives on this lobby for Israeli militarism/aggression and U.S. support for same.
http://www.stopaipac.org

Tom Hayden essay on why he supported Israel's bloody invasion of Lebanon in 1982. It wasn't because he thought it was the right thing to do. http://www.stopaipac.org/hayden.htm

[chill_wind]

12. Top Congressional Recipients

Lots of data.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/chill_wind

[Baselinereality]

13. When My Child Grows Up I Want Him To Be A Powerful Lobbyist in DC!!

The evidence of AIPAC was apparent from the moment that Israel launched its offensive into Lebanon and not a single American politician opposed it.

Benjamin Netanyahu, (I apologize for any mispelling, which I probably spelled incorrectly--mispelling, I mean, as well as Netanyahu), former prime minister of Israel, in a recent interview with NPR spoke of the American peoples' support of Israel's actions in Lebanon as, umm, what's the word?, "validation" for Israel's actions.

I feel like I'm living in a surreal police state. Everyone that I talk to, conservative and liberal alike, wants there to be a ceasefire in Lebanon. But Netanyahu is talking about overwhelming American support of Israeli action as if it is a driving factor in their behavior. ("Well, we WOULD stop the bombing, but the American people seem to agree with what we're doing, so we're going to keep dropping bombs on houses, thank you very much.")

I'm not surprised that I drink in this day and age.

--Trying to remember what it was like to think that the government was in good hands.