[Dialogue] AIPAC, Israel, likely war with Iran, etc. Part II

[Jim Rippey]

I’m apologize for having so much trouble getting this Part II sent.

I, Jim Rippey, have been challenged for writing a comment I made in a
previous Dialogue submission.  I said:  “It appears that Obama is thoroughly
under the influence of AIPAC.  Meanwhile, elsewhere, the war with Iran that
the Israeli government and AIPAC seem determined to have looks more and more
inevitable. “  

In Part I of this, I began an extensive discussion of AIPAC, Israel, likely
war with Iran.  Here are additional comments that made the original article
too long for Dialogue. 

------- (Rippey note:  Here’s one that takes a different tack.  This fits
with Karon’s statement earlier that AIPAC “is not a Jewish lobby, but rather
an association of groupings with a right-wing political agenda often at odds
with majority American-Jewish opinion.”)

 “BLAMING THE LOBBY,” Joseph Massad, 3/23/07
    
....  The arguments put forth by these studies would have been more
convincing if the Israel lobby was forcing the United States government to
pursue policies in the Middle East that are inconsistent with its global
policies elsewhere. This, however, is far from what happens. While US
policies in the Middle East may often be an exaggerated form of its
repressive and anti- democratic policies elsewhere in the world, they are
not inconsistent with them. One could easily make the case that the strength
of the pro-Israel lobby is what accounts for this exaggeration, but even
this contention is not entirely persuasive. One could argue (and I have
argued elsewhere) that it is in fact the very centrality of Israel to US
strategy in the Middle East that accounts, in part, for the strength of the
pro-Israel lobby and not the other way around....  The United States has
been able to be Israel's biggest backer and financier, its staunchest
defender and weapon-supplier while maintaining strategic alliances with most
if not all Arab dictatorships, including the Palestinian Authority under
both Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas. Moreover, US companies and American
investments have the largest presence across the Arab world, most
prominently but not exclusively in the oil sector.
• The writer is associate professor of modern Arab politics and intellectual
history at Columbia University. His recent book The Persistence of the
Palestinian Question was published by Routledge. 
                                                
                                                                            
                                                        
“ISRAEL LOBBY NUTJOBS ON THE LOOSE,” By Molly Ivins, AlterNet,
4/26/07                                                       
                                                
     .... Of course there is an Israeli lobby in America -- its leading
working group is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). It
calls itself "America's Pro-Israel Lobby," and it attempts to influence U.S.
legislation and policy.... In the United States, we do not have
full-throated, full-throttle debate about Israel. In Israel, they have it as
a matter of course, but the truth is that the accusation of anti-Semitism is
far too often raised in this country against anyone who criticizes the
government of Israel
.. Jews who criticize Israel are charmingly labeled
"self-hating Jews." As I have often pointed out, that must mean there are a
lot of self-hating Israelis, because those folks raise hell over their own
government's policies all the time.
     .... It seems to me the root of the difficulty has been Israel's
inability first to admit the Palestinians have been treated unfairly and,
second, to figure out what to do about it. Now here goes a big fat
generalization, but I think many Jews are so accustomed (by reality) to
thinking of themselves as victims, it is especially difficult for them to
admit they have victimized others.  But the Mearsheimer-Walt paper is not
about the basic conflict, but rather its effect on American foreign policy,
and it appears to me the authors' arguments are unexceptional. Israel is the
No. 1 recipient of American foreign aid, and it seems an easy case can be
made that the United States has subjugated its own interests to those of
Israel in the past.... To the extent that our interests do differ from those
of Israel, the matter needs to be discussed calmly and fairly.
                                                                            
                    
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“PELOSI’S PRICE IS RIGHT FOR JEWISH COMMUJNITY,, Matthew E. Berger,
International Clearing House (ICH), 9/24/06 
Matthew E. Berger is a reporter for Congressional Quarterly.  (written
before the 2006 election)

        The front of the room is where the action is: Democratic lawmakers
are spouting their pro-Israel credentials and their initiatives for health
care reform; the Jewish donors, who came to Washington for intimate meetings
just like this one, are eating it up word for word.
        In the back stands Reva Price, with a ubiquitous smile, perhaps a
sarcastic word, and a pressing agenda. She is essentially the policy
matchmaker between the Jewish community and Democratic lawmakers — and her
role as an adviser to Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California is about to get a lot
more interesting.
        Ever since she was plucked last year from the Jewish Council for
Public Affairs to serve as the House Democratic leadership’s liaison to the
Jewish community, Price has been pushing the Democratic message to the
Jewish community and the Jewish agenda to the Democratic caucus. Now, with
Pelosi set to become the next speaker of the House, Price has the chance to
bring the Jewish community’s hot topics to the ear of true power. ....
        Price worked hard to counter that perception for this election,
orchestrating an online town hall where congressmen tackled tough questions
from the community head-on. Jewish lawmakers made clear that the Democratic
caucus would support Israel, and those members who were not supportive would
not have influence on foreign affairs. In one exchange, Pelosi said that
former President Jimmy Carter — who has a new book out that harshly
criticizes the government in Jerusalem — “does not speak for the Democratic
Party on Israel.”

------------- (A final Rippey note:  Earlier this year, there was an
appropriations bill before the House that had in it the statement that
Congress would not authorize funds for any new military adventure unless
Congress had voted to declare war.  Then Pelosi said something sympathetic
about Palestinians, was booed by AIPAC and shortly after, the above
statement was removed from the bill.  So much for following the
Constitution, which only gives Congress the power to declare