The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is an American special interest group that lobbies the United States Congress and excecutive branch in favor of maintaining a close U.S.-Israel relationship. Describing itself as "America's Pro-Israel Lobby," it is a mass-membership organization including primarily Jews, but also non-Jews, Democrats, Republicans, and independents. AIPAC was formed during the Eisenhower administration, and since then has helped secure American aid and support to Israel. In 1997, Fortune magazine asked Congressmen to rank the "25 most powerful" lobbying organizations in DC. In 2005, the National Journal did the same. Both times, AIPAC came in 2nd - ahead of, for instance, the AFL-CIO and the NRA, but behind the AARP. In 2001, it came in 4th on the Fortune list.
In the greatest service of his long public life, former President Jimmy Carter warns of the grave consequences of America’s phenomenal subservience to Israel. In his latest book and recent lectures, he focuses on how Israel’s cruel occupation, made possible by massive and unconditional U.S. support, has subjected the Palestinian people to terrible suffering for 40 long years.
Beyond that grave human tragedy, candid observers must cite U.S. complicity in Israeli lawlessness as the major factor that prompted the horror of 9/11 and lured America into launching three costly, wrong-headed and failing wars - Afghanistan, Iraq and the war on terror. The linkage is easily identified.
America’s support of Israel’s brutality was the main motivation for 9/11. Nine-eleven would not have happened if any U.S. president in the last 40 years had refused to finance Israel’s humiliation and destruction of Palestine. Michael Scheuer, a former CIA analyst now a consultant to CBS News, recently told a congressional committee that “our unqualified support of Israel” was the main reason for 9/11. Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, President George W. Bush’s first special envoy to the Middle East, has stated that the United States invaded Iraq for Israel and oil.
The U.S. acts of war in Afghanistan and the war on terror were President Bush’s retaliation for 9/11. Israel - and only Israel - urged the United States to invade Iraq. Israel’s lobby in Washington pushed hard and prevailed.
Despite this grim record, U.S. subservience to the wishes of Israel’s leaders does not change. Israel is the only nation urging the United States to attack Iran. The lobby is pushing hard again. If the United States assaults Iran it will be on Israel’s behalf.
Congress, like the rest of America, is totally devoid of debate on the amazing role of this small nation in critical U.S. policy. Members are fulsome in public praise of the Jewish state, but no politician mentions the illegal behavior of Israel or the staggering burden it imposes on our country.
How did Israel gain this influence?
It all started 40 years ago. On June 8, 1967, the U.S. commander in chief, President Lyndon B. Johnson, turned his back on the crew of a U.S. Navy ship, the USS Liberty, despite the fact that the ship was under deadly assault by Israel’s air and sea forces. [color=blue]The Israelis were engaged in an ugly scheme to lure America into their war against Arab states. They tried to destroy the Liberty and its entire crew, then pin the blame on the Arabs. This, they reasoned, would outrage the American people and immediately lead the United States to join Israel’s battle against Arabs.[/color]
The scheme almost worked. It failed because, despite the carefully planned multipronged assault, the Liberty crew managed to broadcast an SOS over a makeshift antenna. When the appeal reached U.S. aircraft carriers nearby, the commanders immediately launched fighter planes to defend the ship. Informed of the launch, President Johnson ordered the rescue planes to turn back immediately.
For the first time in history, forces of the U.S. Navy were denied the right to defend a Navy ship under attack. Johnson said, [color=red]“I don’t care if the ship sinks, I am not going to embarrass an ally.”[/color] Those were his exact words, heard by Navy personnel listening to radio relays.
The ally Johnson refused to embarrass was Israel.
When the SOS reached the top military commanders in Israel, they immediately canceled the assault, claiming it was a case of mistaken identity. At the White House, Johnson accepted Israel’s claim, even though he knew it was a lie. Then Johnson magnified the day’s infamy by ordering a coverup of the truth. Liberty survivors were sworn to secrecy. Even those in hospital beds and badly wounded were threatened with court martial if they told anyone what actually happened. The coverup has been continued by every administration since Johnson’s.
It proved to be a fateful turning point in Israel’s power over U.S. foreign policy. The Liberty experience convinced Israeli officials that they could get by with literally anything - even the murder of U.S. sailors - in their manipulation of the U.S. government. Financial aid to Israel began to pour like a river, all of it with no strings attached. [color=red]According to The Christian Science Monitor, this outpouring has now cost U.S. taxpayers more than $1.4 trillion.[/color]
Costs go far beyond money. Thousands of American families are blighted forever, with America’s once high moral standing in shambles. Because of its unqualified support of Israel, Washington is hated worldwide as never before.
The principal source of Israel’s influence is the fear it seems to instill in every sector of our society. The most effective instrument of intimidation employed by its lobby is the reckless accusation of anti-Semitism, often leveled at anyone criticizing any aspect of Israeli behavior. I can personally certify that for many years it has cast a blanket of fear over Capitol Hill and blocked any semblance of debate.
I unintentionally contributed to that fear in 1985 when my book, “They Dare to Speak Out: People and Institutions Confront Israel’s lobby,” was published. It reports in detail the efficiency of Israel’s U.S. lobby, its history and tactics.
My book became a bestseller. I hoped it would inspire public officials and other citizens to revolt against the lobby’s influence on U.S. policy, but several of my former colleagues told me it had the opposite effect. One said, “After what AIPAC did to you and (Charles) Percy, I vote with the lobby every time.”
Israel’s grip on America seems impervious. Two distinguished political scientists, John Mearshiemer of the University of Chicago and Stephen Walt of Harvard, strode resolutely into the Middle East minefield a year ago by co-authoring a paper on Israel’s lobby. More recently, “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,” a book written by former President Carter, revered worldwide for his effective work on international conflict resolution, was published.
With few exceptions, America’s major editors, producers, commentators, academics and politicians have given these courageous initiatives the silent treatment. Nationwide, the lobby’s influence is pervasive, sustained and deep, a phenomenon unprecedented in U.S. history. It is impossible to explain the silence except as a reflection of profound fear.
The situation is highly dangerous. America has already paid a towering price for our subservience to Israel, and great additional burdens seem inevitable. If the United States is involved in acts of war against Iran, anti-American protest will rise to new heights, especially throughout the Islamic world. It will inevitably deepen the widely held belief among Muslims that America seeks to undermine Islam.
The outlook for reform is grim. Elected officials of both major political parties in Washington seem hopelessly captured by Israel’s agents. So does every serious candidate for the presidency in 2008. All U.S. citizens must accept a measure of responsibility for Israel’s grip on America. Those of us who knew what was happening did not protest with sufficient force and clarity. Those who did not know should have taken their responsibility as citizens more seriously. They should have informed themselves.
The scene is likely to improve only if U.S. elected officials are criticized so forthrightly from home that they fear a constituent revolt more than they fear Israel’s lobby. This, of course, will not happen until the countryside benefits from a rigorous and edifying public debate about Israel’s role in our national life.
Paul Findley, a U.S. representative from Illinois from 1961-83, lives in Jacksonville. He is the author of five books, including the Washington Post seven-week bestseller, “They Dare to Speak Out: People and Institutions Confront Israel’s Lobby,” Chicago Review Press.
As soon as the Jewish state was established some fifty years ago with the help of Jewish bankers (the Rothchilds), all nations in the Middle East who had been living over there for thousands of years turned into... "terrorists".
How could it be?...
ISRAELIS vs ARABS WHO ARE THE REAL TERRORISTS? By: Hal Turner
May 1, 2002 — For years, we in America have supported Israel both financially and militarily because we perceived they were the innocent victims of hostile and violent neighbors. The US media has, for years, provided extensive coverage of every incident involving Arab-against-Israeli violence. From shootings, to car bombs to suicide bombers, we in America have seen it all. Or have we?
Why would rational human beings, given a choice, choose to attack their neighbors rather than live together in peace? More pertinent, why would a rational human being choose to blow himself up rather than live? The Israelis, the US media and our politicians would have us believe that the Arabs are simply not rational. They routinely tell us that Arabs are "religious fanatics" who "hate freedom" or "hate our way of life" to quote George W. Bush. These arguments are fallacious and intellectually bankrupt. The reason for Arab against Israeli violence is simple: The Israelis have been systematically repressing and brutalizing hundreds of thousands of Arabs on a scale unparalleled since World War 2. I have the proof. Below are photographs of the victims of Israeli violence. They depict brutal, violent death, horrific personal injury and devastation of property which is simply unfathomable. ALL of it was perpetrated by Israelis against Arabs. ALL of the victims are civilians. As you view these pictures ask yourself this question: What would YOU or YOUR LOVED ONES do in retaliation for these things?
They drag pre-teens to arrest.
They brutally arrest little children.
Mom shot dead in front of child
The High Cost of US Subservience to Israel
Financial aid to Israel began to pour like a river, all of it with no strings attached. [color=red]According to The Christian Science Monitor, this outpouring has now cost U.S. taxpayers more than $1.4 trillion.[/color]
June 3 - Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says clock is ticking on the Jewish state's destruction.
The Iranian leader said the Lebanese and Palestinians have pressed a "countdown button" to bring an end to Israel. Ahmadinejad was speaking to foreign guests who have gathered in Tehran for the 18th anniversary of the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic.
Paul Findley (born June 23 1921) is a former Republican United States Representative from Illinois, representing its 20th District. He was first elected in 1961. Findley lost his seat in 1982 to current United States Senator Dick Durbin. He is a cofounder of the Council for the National Interest, a Washington advocacy group. He resides in Jacksonville, Illinois.
Paul Findley is a frequent critic of U.S. foreign policy regarding Israel.
In 1989, Findley wrote the best selling book "They Dare to Speak Out: People and Institutions Confront Israel's Lobby" in which he claims that the pro-Israel lobby, notably AIPAC, has vast undue influence over the United States Congress. [color=blue]He refers to the lobby as "the 700-pound gorilla in Washington".[/color] The Washington Post said "former congressman Paul Findley's message is straightforward and valid: Israeli influence in the United States, including in the inner sanctums of government, is very strong." The New York Times described the book as "an angry, one-sided book that seems often to be little more than a stringing together of stray incidents".
A year after the September 11 attack, Findley published an article saying that this attack would never have occurred were it not for uncritical U.S. support of Israel. In that same article, he wrote that "U.S. policy on the Mideast is made in Israel, not in Washington," and that "once beloved worldwide, the U.S. government finds itself reviled in most countries because it provides unconditional support of Israeli violations of the United Nations Charter, international law, and the precepts of all major religious faiths."
Findley blames the Israeli lobby for contributing to his defeat in 1982 : "But, in seeking gains for Israel, they rigorously stifled dissent and intimidated the entire Congress. They still do. They defeat legislators who criticize Israel. Senators Adlai Stevenson and Charles Percy, and Reps. Pete McCloskey, Cynthia McKinney, Earl F. Hilliard, and myself were defeated at the polls by candidates heavily financed by pro-Israel forces. McKinney alone was able to regain her seat in Congress."
Findley has claimed that the 2003 invasion of Iraq was launched primarily to benefit Israel, at the behest of pro-Israeli U.S. interest groups.
Findley spoke to NPR about the publication of Mearsheimer and Walt's controversial 2006 working paper, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy : "You can't imagine how pleased I was [...] I think I can pose as a foremost expert on the lobby for Israel, because I was the target the last three years I was in Congress."
Findley has supported the efforts of CAIR, the Council on American Islamic Relations to improve the image of Muslims in America.
The Israel Lobby John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt For the past several decades, and especially since the Six-Day War in 1967, the centrepiece of US Middle Eastern policy has been its relationship with Israel. The combination of unwavering support for Israel and the related effort to spread ‘democracy’ throughout the region has inflamed Arab and Islamic opinion and jeopardised not only US security but that of much of the rest of the world. This situation has no equal in American political history. Why has the US been willing to set aside its own security and that of many of its allies in order to advance the interests of another state? One might assume that the bond between the two countries was based on shared strategic interests or compelling moral imperatives, but neither explanation can account for the remarkable level of material and diplomatic support that the US provides.
Instead, the thrust of US policy in the region derives almost entirely from domestic politics, and especially the activities of the ‘Israel Lobby’. Other special-interest groups have managed to skew foreign policy, but no lobby has managed to divert it as far from what the national interest would suggest, while simultaneously convincing Americans that US interests and those of the other country – in this case, Israel – are essentially identical.
Since the October War in 1973, Washington has provided Israel with a level of support dwarfing that given to any other state. It has been the largest annual recipient of direct economic and military assistance since 1976, and is the largest recipient in total since World War Two, to the tune of well over $140 billion (in 2004 dollars). Israel receives about $3 billion in direct assistance each year, roughly one-fifth of the foreign aid budget, and worth about $500 a year for every Israeli. This largesse is especially striking since Israel is now a wealthy industrial state with a per capita income roughly equal to that of South Korea or Spain.
Other recipients get their money in quarterly installments, but Israel receives its entire appropriation at the beginning of each fiscal year and can thus earn interest on it. Most recipients of aid given for military purposes are required to spend all of it in the US, but Israel is allowed to use roughly 25 per cent of its allocation to subsidise its own defence industry. It is the only recipient that does not have to account for how the aid is spent, which makes it virtually impossible to prevent the money from being used for purposes the US opposes, such as building settlements on the West Bank. Moreover, the US has provided Israel with nearly $3 billion to develop weapons systems, and given it access to such top-drawer weaponry as Blackhawk helicopters and F-16 jets. Finally, the US gives Israel access to intelligence it denies to its Nato allies and has turned a blind eye to Israel’s acquisition of nuclear weapons.
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