AIPAC, is it a threat to Peace?
May 10th, 2009
On the eve of the annual American Pro Israeli convention, the Justice Department dropped a controversial prosecution of two pro-Israel lobbyists for illegally soliciting and disclosing classified information. In a brief dismissal motion filed Friday in federal court in Alexandria, Va., government prosecutors said legal rulings had diminished the chances of winning convictions of two former employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman. The two were convicted of disclosing military information to the state of Israel.
No one can deny how influential the Israeli Lobby in the US is. AIPAC that started in the 1950’s have evolved and shaped US politics in the Middle East for the past 50 years. The lobby is very influential in Washington DC in particular and has further influence on American media and the movie industry. To name a few, FOX News and News Corp that owns more than 50% of Radio stations in North America which successfully sends negative messages and miss conceptions about Arabs and Muslims to the American people.
AIPAC and the war Lobbies united in push for $200 MILLION campaign for a war against Iran. And just before the last election a notorious ad in the Boston Globe, cheering on the Israeli bombing of Lebanon, was engineered by the Jewish Community Relations Council, an arm of AIPAC. Every major political figure in the state of Massachusetts signed the ad, including “liberal” governor, Deval Patrick.
AIPAC also promoted the U.S. support for Israel’s War against Lebanon and Gaza, and pushed for the “Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006″ in the congress which restricted humanitarian aid to Gaza.
And recently, the UK’s Guradian published this article about AIPAC attempts to stop shift in White House Middle East policy Article Here A clear sign that President Obama and his new administration play a major threat for AIPAC. But Obama, and before him Bill Clinton and GW Bush and many more endorsed AIPAC as a strategic partner.
AIPAC is not just an issue for Jewish Americans or the Jewish wing of the peace movement like Jewish Voice for Peace; it is a major force, although not the only one, driving the U.S. to wars in the Middle East. AIPAC is no less a force for war than is the Republican National Committee. In fact it is worse, because it sinks its teeth into the foreign policy establishment of both parties, perhaps the Democrats more so than the Republicans. If the peace movement is to be worth its salt, then it must take action against AIPAC.
But why does it matter for Jewish and non Jewish Americans to support the little state of Israel that is as small as Long Island. The US provides annual financial Aid to Israel on an average of 5 Billion dollars of US tax payer’s money, while the US Economy, Education system, Health care and more than 50 million uninsured Americans are suffering the most. Today a study has found that 17% of US children under the age of 5 may face hunger.
At a glance, it may seems that Israel is protecting US interests in the region, but I find it more compelling that the power of AIPAC lays on making sure Israel survives as a country. And since Israel was formed on Zionism methodologies that were considered a few years ago by the UN as a terrorist movement, Israel was created on the ruins of a whole nation and its people who lived in Peace on their own land. AIPAC methodology is that Israel must survive.
Some see AIPAC as a powerful rich force in US politics but I see it differently. I see AIPAC as a movement that is unease with the continuation existence of an odd state in the Middle East. I see AIPAC as a threat to the Peace process, the Palestinians, the Jews and most importantly a threat to US interests.
Some references:
The Israel Lobby? by Noam Chomsky
The Israel Lobby by Stephen Walt
Who’s the dog? Who’s the tail? by Uri Avnery
wrmea.com
globalexchange.org
alawda.rso.wisc.edu
wikipedia.org
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Important Documentary about AIPAC and the Israeli Lobby in the US:
In March 2006 the American political scientists John Mearsheimer (University of Chicago) and Steve Walt (Harvard) published the controversial article ‘The Israel Lobby and US foreign policy’. In it they state that it is not, or no longer, expedient for the US to support and protect present-day Israel. The documentary sheds light on both parties involved in the discussion: those who wish to maintain the strong tie between the US and Israel, and those who were critical of it and not infrequently became ‘victims’ of the lobby.
The question arises to what extent the pro-Israel lobby ultimately determines the military and political importance of Israel itself. Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson (Colin Powell’s former chief-of-staff) explains how the lobby’s influence affects the decision-making structure in the White House.
With political scientist John Mearsheimer, neocon Richard Perle, lobby organization AIPAC, televangelist John Hagee, historian Tony Judt, Human Rights Watch director Kenneth Roth, colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, Democrat Earl Hilliard, Israeli peace negotiator Daniel Levy and investigative journalist Michael Massing.
Research: William de Bruijn
Director: Marije Meerman
http://www.vpro.nl/programma/tegenlicht/afleveringen/34338524/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N294FMDok98