The day-long conference April 10 featured two dozen panelists who took, “an unprecedented, frank and overdue look at the power of the Israel Lobby in the United States,” the organizers declared. “But just how powerful are they? How many are there, and what do they really do? Are they good for the U.S.? Are they good for Israel?”
Dr. Rothchild, who is defamed as a “self-hating Jew,” rather than as an “anti-Semite,” because of her views, has been on the medical staff of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston since, 1978, was for a decade an assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology on the faculty of medicine at Harvard University; but the harassment she’s endured has been withering.
4/28/2015 The National: Israel uses Hollywood's power to promote its own agenda
Film critics were silent about the Israeli connection. Which leads me to this interesting thought experiment: What if two Arab film makers called Huneidi and Hishmeh had created Cannon Films. What if, under the Cannon label, they released dozens of movies that dehumanised Jews and Israelis in the same manner that Golan and Globus dehumanised Arabs? How would the press and the industry react?
The Israeli television presence on American TV is even more damaging. As I stated in a previous column, back in 2006 CBS-TV’s NCIS series began featuring an Israeli heroine – a Mossad agent called Zeva David. For nine years, this tough and sexy Israeli Jew and her American colleagues beat the tar out of Arab and Muslim bad guys. David’s “cheerleading role” helped promote strong, positive ties between the US and Israel. More
4/28/2015 al-Araby: Pro-Israel lobby has distorted US democracy
...AIPAC enabled the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, to give a speech to a joint session of Congress, without the US president's approval. It also appears that AIPAC played a key role in encouraging Tom Cotton and 46 other Republican senators to send an open letter directly to Iranian leaders warning them that any nuclear deal must be approved by Congress.
"Middle East policy in the US is determined by the highest bidder," said MJ Rosenberg, a former senior AIPAC staffer, at a recent conference in Washington called The Israel Lobby: Is it good for the US? Is it good for Israel?
"The highest bidder is AIPAC. What that means is that democracy in the US is itself a myth." More
4/22/2015 Gulf News: US media's baffling silence on Mideast meet
A well-attended conference was held earlier this month at the prestigious National Press Club in Washington, one block from the White House, featuring 15 prominent speakers — among them American Arabs, American Jews and Israelis, who discussed ‘The Israel lobby: Is it good for the US? Is it good for Israel?’ The last panel of three speakers focused on: ‘Is there an Iraq-Iran continuum?’
But the nine-hour session was not — repeat — not reported in the US media, including the Washington Post, New York Times or any other national newspaper as well as the television network known as C-Span — a private, non-profit cable network, despite the fact that several prominent journalists and former Congressmen and United Nations officials were participating. More
04/20/2015 Counterpunch: The Press Blackout at the Press Club - The Conference on the Israel Lobby
So, where were the reporters of the mainstream media? Where was C-SPAN during a week when Congress was on a holiday and their cameras were not preoccupied by Capitol Hill activities—its foremost priority? Apparently, the American people were only to see and hear the extreme views of AIPAC that do not even command the support of a majority of American Jews who do favor a two-state solution, along with a majority of Arab-Americans.
It is true that a few members of the mainstream media RSVP’d to attend this conference, but they did not show up or write anything about it before or after. More
4/17/2015 Baltimore Jewish Times: Taking On the "Israel Lobby"
...When not listening to the speeches inside the conference room, guests mingled with their ideological heroes in the hallway. Those heroes included Richard Falk, professor emeritus at Princeton University and former holder ofthe politically charged title of United Nations special rapporteur on “the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967”; radical left-wing writer Gareth Porter; and Paul Pillar, Georgetown University nonresidentfellow, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and CIA veteran. More
4/12/2015 Haaretz: The beginning of the American Spring
Paul R. Pillar, formerly a senior member of the U.S. intelligence community, explained in a brilliant lecture the advantages of the nuclear agreement with Iran, and argued that Israel’s opposition to it stemmed from the fear that, in its wake, the occupation would become the main issue.
Is this the beginning of a beautiful friendship, in which the United States will finally dare to criticize and put pressure on Israel? It’s too soon to tell. In the meantime, the American Spring is making the cherry trees bloom. More
4/10/2015 PR Newswire: Israel Lobby Conference Internet live stream from the National Press Club on April 10
WASHINGTON, April
10, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/
-- The following is being released by the Institute for Research:
Middle Eastern Policy:
The April 10 conference "The Israel Lobby: Is It Good for the US? Is It Good for Israel?" at the National Press Club will be live streamed over YouTube at https://youtu.be/c1IIrHsO4fw
The full program may also be viewed from the following websites:
http://www.IsraelLobbyUS.org, http://www.WRMEA.org and http://www.IRmep.org
Tweet questions to panelists @IsraelLobbyUS or email to conference@IsraelLobby.org
More3/24/2015 PR Newswire: Conference Program to Scrutinize the Israel Lobby on April 10 at the National Press Club
Washington, DC-- The April 10 conference “The
Israel Lobby: Is It Good for the US? Is It Good for Israel?” at the
National Press Club will present the following panels:
|
1.0 What Is the Israel Lobby and How Does It Work? 9:00 AM |
|
Grant Smith: How big is the Lobby and what does it do? An
overview of the 501(c) universe. |
|
Seth Morrison: From the Jewish National Fund to Jewish Voice
for Peace and BDS. |
|
Jeffrey Blankfort: The ADL: Covert action, censure, and
courting law-enforcement. |
|
2.0 Are Critical Voices Silenced? 10:10 AM |
|
Prof. Richard Falk: Weakening and discrediting the UN: The
work of pro-Israel NGOs. |
|
Dr. Alice Rothchild: Silencing voices that question Israeli
actions. |
|
Dr. Jack Shaheen: The use of cultural stereotypes to shape
policy. |
|
3.0 Is Freedom of Speech Encouraged on American Campuses?
11:35 AM |
|
Amani Al-Khatahtbeh: Daring to speak out on campus. |
|
Dima Khalidi: Pressures on universities to discipline and
punish students and faculty for speech activities. |
|
Ahmad Saadaldin: Overcoming obstacles: SJP successes. |
|
4.0 Is the Lobby Good for Israel? 1:15 PM |
|
Miko Peled: How the Lobby enables Israeli policy: Views of
an Israeli in America. |
|
Gideon Levy: Does unconditional support for Israel endanger
Israeli voices? |
|
Huwaida Arraf: The situation of Arab citizens of Israel:
Views of an Arab citizen of Israel. |
|
5.0 How Does the Lobby Influence Congress? 2:25 PM |
|
Former AIPAC employee MJ Rosenberg: Is it all about the
money? |
|
Former Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV): My experience with the
Israel Lobby; The use of dark money. |
|
Former Rep. Paul Findley (R-IL): What I should have done,
and what Congress can do today. |
|
6.0 Is There an Iraq-Iran Continuum? 3:50 PM |
|
Gareth Porter: The push for war on Iran. |
|
Reza Marashi: The Iran nuclear deal. |
|
Paul Pillar: AIPAC/Netanyahu objectives and the American
interest. |
3/10/2015 PR Newsire:Leading Experts to Analyze the Israel Lobby at the National Press Club on April 10
03/10/2015
PR Newswire
Washington, DC -- The April 10 conference “The Israel
Lobby: Is It Good for the US? Is It Good for Israel?” at the
National Press Club will present the following e
xperts:
Amani Alkhatahtbeh
is the founding editor-in-chief of
MuslimGirl.net, a blog aimed at eliminating stereotypes surrounding
Islam and promoting the place of Muslim women in Western societies.
She ran into trouble with
The Daily Targum, Rutgers University’s daily newspaper, and trustees, which decided criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic. In
June 2014, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee named
Alkhat its media relations specialist.
Jeffrey
Blankfort is a photographer, journalist and radio programmer.
His articles have appeared in
CounterPunch, Dissident Voice, Mondoweiss, Pulse Media, Left Curve,
the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and the
Encyclopedia of the
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. He currently hosts a twice-monthly
international affairs program for public radio station KZYX in
Northern California’s Mendocino County, where he now lives.
Blankfort was a founding member of the November 29th
Committee on Palestine, a co-founder of the Labor Committee on the
Middle East and editor of its publication,
The Middle East Labor Bulletin (1988-95).
Richard
Falk is professor emeritus of international law at Princeton
University. In 2008, the United Nations Human Rights Council
appointed Falk to a six-year term as a United Nations Special
Rapporteur on “the situation of human rights in the Palestinian
territories occupied since 1967.” He is author of the recently
released book Palestine: The
Legitimacy of Hope.
Washington, DC - Register today online for “The Israel Lobby” conference at http://IsraelLobbyUS.org
“The Israel Lobby” is an all-day conference which will take place April 10 in the National Press Club ballroom in Washington, DC. In addition to posing the question, “Is It Good for the US?” Israeli and American speakers will also ask, “Is It Good for Israel?”
Questions to be addressed by expert speakers include:
1. Does its US lobby make it possible for Israel to avoid achieving peace with its neighbors, including Palestinians?
2. Is Israel’s lack of regional economic integration sustainable over coming decades?
3. Is the Iranian nuclear program the existential threat for Israel and the West it is portrayed to be in the US?
4. Do American Israel lobby donors who fund Israeli and US political campaigns and media outlets promote extremism?
5. Why does the lobby constantly conflate Judaism and Israel?
6. Why is criticism of Israeli policies acceptable in Israel but shut down on American college campuses and in the mainstream media and arts?
More
Washington - Register online for "The Israel Lobby: Is It Good
for the US?" today at
http://IsraelLobbyUS.org
"The
Israel Lobby: Is It Good for the US?" is
an all-day conference
which will take place April 10 in the National Press Club ballroom
in Washington, DC.
Questions will be addressed by experts of all ages and backgrounds
from academia, government, independent research organizations and
alternative news media shut out of public discourse.
The conference is co-sponsored by the American Educational
Trust’s publication
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
(WRMEA) and the Institute
for Research: Middle Eastern Policy, Inc (IRmep).
