The Israeli Lobby Strikes Again
Please read this article by Cecilie Surasky, communications director for Jewish Voice for Peace, who will be leading the Oct. 20th & 21st Communications Workshop. The Israel Lobby strikes again!!! This time agaist a fellow Jewish peace activist. In my opinion, this kind of "censorship" is against our American values and is very damaging to both the Jewish community and the general US community.

Please make copies/forward via email of this article and share it with your congregation and friends. The truth must be told!!!

Please don't forget to register for the workshop if you are planning to attend one or both days.

Jim



http://www.star-telegram.com/245/story/255318.html


Dissenting at your own risk

By CECILIE SURASKY

Special to the Star-Telegram


Last year, I agreed to speak to a Jewish youth group about my organization, Jewish Voice for Peace, and our opposition to Israel 's occupation. My talk was to follow one from a member of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which calls itself " America 's pro-Israel Lobby."


A week before, a shaken program leader said the AIPAC staffer had threatened to get the entire youth program's funding canceled if I was allowed in the door. The threat worked, and in disgust, they canceled the whole talk.


Pundits will surely argue for years about professors Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer's explosive new book, The Israel Lobby, which blames poor U.S. policy in the Middle East on a loose network of individuals and pro-Israel advocacy groups.


But the book, and the response to it, opens up another controversy: the stifling of debate about unconditional U.S. support for Israeli policies.


Why is Israel 's increasingly brutal 40-year occupation of Palestinian land regularly debated in the mainstream media abroad, including in Israel , but not here? And why is there an almost total lack of discussion among presidential candidates about the dollars that subsidize this occupation and the American diplomatic support that makes it possible?


In a society built on the free exchange of ideas, as Walt and Mearsheimer point out, one answer can be found by looking at the many self-appointed gatekeepers, such as Abraham Foxman and the Anti-Defamation League, or Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, who use their Jewish identity as both a shield and cudgel. They work diligently to silence those who question ill-conceived policies of the Israeli and U.S. governments.


Non-Jewish critics, even former President Carter, are denounced as anti-Semites. Special ire is reserved for Jewish dissenters, who are branded as "self-hating" or "marginal," while Muslim and Arab-Americans are easily smeared and even criminalized with charges of supporting terrorism.


Stunned by the stifling of dissent, we decided to start a Web site, Muzzlewatch, to track the incidents. Just as we launched, Stanford Middle East Studies Professor Joel Beinin was disinvited from a speaking engagement at a high school with just 24 hours' notice.


After an unprecedented campaign of outside interference waged by Dershowitz, Professor Norman Finkelstein was refused tenure by DePaul University because of his criticism of U.S.-Israeli policy.

Palestinian-American anthropologist Nadia Abu El-Haj is fighting a political campaign to deny her tenure at Barnard.


Even Walt and Mearsheimer, who are getting plenty of exposure, couldn't have asked for better proof of their point that the lobby works to stifle dissent when an embarrassed head of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs told them that their scheduled speech was canceled. (They did speak before the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth on Sept. 17.) This was apparently because Foxman was not available that day to "balance" their talk.


(They had initially been booked by themselves. The talk was not rescheduled.)


Many groups that started with the important work of fighting real anti-Semitism now rely on anti-Semitism to insist that to show one's love of Jews, one must offer uncritical support to Israel . They are especially displeased by Jews who believe that enabling Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights is not good for anyone.


Unless this atmosphere of intimidation is confronted, Americans will continue to lack access to information and perspectives necessary to formulate effective Middle East policies, virtually ensuring that Israel and the United States will be at war for many years to come.


'The Israel Lobby'


A podcast of Walt and Mearsheimer's presentation is available at http://podcast.dfwworld.org/2007_09-17_The_Israel_Lobby.MP3

Free Congressional Trips to Israel Costly
from a peace activist friend of mine



Date:
Sat, 27 Jan 2007 00:37:32 -0500
From:
APeace activist friend of mine.
Subject:
The hidden cost of free congressional trips to Israel - AIPAC Strikes Again!!!
To:
The hidden cost of free congressional trips to IsraelBranded as 'educational’, these trips offer Israeli propagandists anopportunity to expose members of Congress to only their side of the story.by Senator Jim Abourezk Christian Science Monitor26 January 2007http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0126/p09s01-coop.htmlSIOUX FALL, S.D. - Democrats in Congress have moved quickly - and commendably - to strengthen ethics rules. But truly groundbreaking reformwas prevented, in part, because of the efforts of the pro-Israel lobby topreserve one of its most critical functions: taking members of Congress onfree "educational" trips to Israel .The pro-Israel lobby does most of its work without publicity. But everymember of Congress and every would-be candidate for Congress comes toquickly understand a basic lesson. Money needed to run for office can comewith great ease from supporters of Israel , provided that the candidate makescertain promises, in writing, to vote favorably on issues consideredimportant to Israel . What drives much of congressional support for Israel is fear - fear that the pro-Israel lobby will either withhold campaigncontributions or give money to one's opponent.In my own experience as a US senator in the 1970s, I saw how the lobby triesto humiliate or embarrass members who do not toe the line.Pro-Israel groups worked vigorously to ensure that the new reforms wouldallow them to keep hosting members of Congress on trips to Israel . Accordingto the Jewish Daily Forward newspaper, congressional filings show Israel asthe top foreign destination for privately sponsored trips. Nearly 10 percentof overseas congressional trips taken between 2000 and 2005 were to Israel .Most are paid for by the American Israel Education Foundation, a sisterorganization of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the majorpro-Israel lobby group.New rules require all trips to be pre-approved by the House EthicsCommittee, but Rep. Barney Frank (D) of Massachusetts says this setup willguarantee that tours of Israel continue. Ron Kampeas of the JewishTelegraphic Agency reported consensus among Jewish groups that "the newlegislation would be an inconvenience, but wouldn't seriously hamper thetrips to Israel that are considered a critical component of congressionalsupport for Israel ."These trips are defended as "educational." In reality, as I know from mymany colleagues in the House and Senate who participated in them, they offerIsraeli propagandists an opportunity to expose members of Congress to onlytheir side of the story. The Israeli narrative of how the nation wascreated, and Israeli justifications for its brutal policies omit importanttruths about the Israeli takeover and occupation of the Palestinianterritories.What the pro-Israel lobby reaps for its investment in these tours iscongressional support for Israeli desires. For years, Israel has relied onbillions of dollars in US taxpayer money. Shutting off this governmentfunding would seriously impair Israel 's harsh occupation.One wonders what policies Congress might support toward Israel and thePalestinians absent the distorting influence of these Israel trips - or ifmore members toured Palestinian lands. America sent troops to Europe toprevent the killing of civilians in the former Yugoslavia . But when it comesto flagrant human rights violations committed by Israel , the US sends moremoney and shields Israel from criticism.Congress regularly passes resolutions lauding Israel , even when its actionsare deplorable, providing it political cover. Meanwhile, polls suggest mostAmericans want the Bush administration to steer a middle course in workingfor peace between Israelis and the Palestinians.Consider, too, how the Israel lobby twists US foreign policy into adangerous double standard regarding nuclear issues. The US rattles itssabers at Iran for its nuclear energy ambitions - and alleged pursuit ofnuclear arms - while remaining silent about Israel 's nuclear-weaponsarsenal.Members of Congress may not be aware just how damaging their automaticsupport for Israel is to America 's interest. At a minimum, US policiestoward Israel have cost it valuable allies in the Middle East and otherparts of the Muslim world.If Congress is serious about ethics reform, it should not protect the Israellobby from the consequences. A totally taxpayer-funded travel budget formembers to take foreign fact-finding trips, with authorization to be made bycommittee heads, would be an important first step toward a foreign policythat genuinely serves America .____________________________________________________Jim Abourezk is a former Democratic senator from South Dakota .