Bush at AIPAC

Personal note: Title edited to fit in the title box. Mods may change the title as they see fit.

According to wire service reports, the AIPAC gathering in DC often resembled a Republican Party stump rally—long before Bush even arrived, whenever his name was mentioned there were roaring standing ovations in support of his foreign policy in general and his support for Sharon in particular.

This group, which claims to represent American Jews, is that completely out of touch with the perspective of the majority of American Jews (at least 70% of whom say they will not vote for Bush—a far higher percentage than any other ethnic group except African Americans). And out of touch with most Americans, a majority of whom believe (this week) that the war in Iraq was a mistake and believe that President Bush is NOT doing a good job as president. AIPAC people don't seem to be much disturbed by the prison scandal or by any other proof of denial of human rights that has accompanied the U.S. invasion, any more than they are bothered by the denial of rights by Israel of the Palestinians whose cities it occupies.

So how do people who are so out of step with the rest of the Jewish people and the American poeple, get to be the focus of so much power that ordinary Congresspeople told us, when we met with them in April, that they feared even talking about criticisms of America's support for Sharon lest AIPAC take them on and defeat them. Over the years, several sitting Congresspeople have lost their seats when they earned the ire of AIPAC-influenced fundraisers and political operatives. So today it is considered a risky act of courage for a Congressperson to publicly criticize Israel's building of the Wall or its killings in Rafah refugee camp in order to expand its presence in southern Gaza (remember that it was supposed to be leaving Gaza?)

The answer? AIPAC has a core of thousands of dedicated activists who are willing to call media daily, call Congressional offices daily, raise money to support AIPAC initiatives, come to DC once a year for this AIPAC gathering, and write op-eds and angry letters to the editor insisting that their position is the only legitimate one and that nayone who disagrees is likely anti-Israel. Over 30 years of battering with that message, and AIPAC has become a significant force, not only in shaping policy but in convincing media to knee-jerk to the notion that the pro-Sharon forces are the ones who deserve to be called "pro-Israel" in contrast with the rest of us who know that Sharon's policies are actually destructive to the best interests of the Jewish people. And, of course, AIPAC gets the big money donations, whereas Tikkun supporters tend to divide up their financial donations among many many competing social change interests....

http://www.tikkun.org/index.cfm/action/current/article/238.html

snip

Just as the previous poster has done, this paragraph will be emphasized - just in case it gets "lost" in the debate..

One final caveat: There are many decent people who are part of AIPAC and who are not really intending to support the most right-wing perspectives, but rather just want to make sure that Israel is strong and survives, and who have never ever been exposed to a coherent presentation of the Middle Path as an alternative and better way to achieve peace and security. When attacking AIPAC as an organization, we have to be careful not to demean these decent people who are part of it and who might actually be open to a different way of thinking. We want to bless their good intentions, even as we attempt to win them away from those in AIPAC who are willing to denounce anyone who criticizes current Israeli policy and label us mistakenly as anti-Israel or even as 'self-hating Jews" or "anti-Semites." We need to always approach our efforts with a sense of urgency (read the stories below) but also a sense of compassion for the limitations of eveyrone (ourselves included). It is this spirit of compassion that is, in the long run, the most effective way to build peace.