About eighty protesters in Portland yet again protested the annual Oregon American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) gathering on April 29th. This year’s event was marked by an even greater amount of paranoia and secrecy by AIPAC: the event was not widely announced, the keynote speakers were not promoted, the media was not invited, people who tried to attend were arbitrarily refused entry, and the guests were subjected to searches of purses and metal detectors after passing checks by police and AIPAC security.

AIPAC is one of the most powerful lobby organizations in the United States and promotes right-wing hard-line policies in support of Israel. Former Israeli Knesset member Avraham Burg described AIPAC as “a kind of a filter which filters only darkness through it, rather than light through it. And I would like to see the alternative American Jewry, which is expressed through the liberalism and humanism and civil rights and a total commitment toward peace, as the one which expresses me.” AIPAC is currently promoting aggressive sanctions and support for military action against Iran.

According to one of the few websites promoting the event, the keynote speaker was Eli Groner, Israel’s Minister for Economic Affairs to the U.S. Eli Groner gave up his U.S. Citizenship to work for his true love, Israel. He is a big supporter of the Bush’s neo-con “war on terror” saying of Bush “here is a man who understands that the price of liberty is, indeed, eternal vigilance.” Groner also lives in Gush Etzion, a block of illegal Israeli settlements that are built on Palestinian land. In short, the perfect poster child for AIPAC: An American born Israel loyalist, in favor of aggressive neo-con ideology, living on stolen Palestinian land.

We were encouraged by the many expressions of support we received from cars passing by. Even a city bus honked in support. The few that cursed us and gave the finger were usually coming into the event.

Many protesters commented that even fewer people and politicians seemed to be attending the AIPAC event. Unfortunately, because the media refuses to cover the event or do any investigative reporting, we will probably never know of all the politicians who attended, what speeches they gave, or what AIPAC was telling them.

We do know that Senator Ron Wyden attended and spoke to the crowd and so did Congresswoman Susan Bonamici. We know that Oregon Secretary State Kate Brown, a regular, also attended. We know that Portland City Commissioner Amanda Fritz attended and so did the Mayor of Beaverton Denny Doyle. We also know that many Oregonians would like to know who else attended and what Wyden and Bonamici said to the audience. Unfortunately, a veil of secrecy hides their remarks.

One visibly angry member of the AIPAC crowd tried to get police to take down our largest “tower of peace” sign which proclaimed “No War On Iran.” He claimed the sign blocked traffic. The police informed him that they had looked at the sign and determined it wasn’t a problem.

The annual AIPAC meeting is a direct expression of what is wrong with powerful special interest lobbies, how politicians fail to meet the real needs of their constituents, and how the media continues to fail to work for the public interest and inform the public on these politically important lobby events.

The protesters also noted the large number of luxury cars with people coming to fete AIPAC: pearlescent Buicks and dark bodied Lexuses. If ever one wanted to get a sense of the 1% working against the legitimate needs and moral compass of the 99%, this event gave it. Why do supposedly progressive

politicians like Kate Brown insist on going to events showcasing right wing ideology? Perhaps that is why American politics keeps drifting right.

References:
Eli Groner, A statement of American values

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?id=243311

Facts on Gush Etzion

http://peacenow.org.il/eng/content/gush-etzion

Amy Goodman interview with Avraham Burg http://www.democracynow.org/2009/2/12/former_speaker_of_the_israeli_parliament

Time for a thought experiment. Imagine that the National Rifle Association (NRA) held a yearly policy event in Oregon that regularly attracted Democrats and Republicans from the entire spectrum of Oregon political life: our Governors, Senators, Representatives, our Attorney General and Secretary of State and many others flocking to show their support. Imagine that the Governor proudly states that support for the NRA is “an article of faith for both political parties” and imagine that an Oregon Member of Congress tells the audience that, when it comes to gun legislation, he goes to the NRA first for all his information. Would you expect the media to cover the event and find out who attended, what was said, and what the NRA was demanding of our leaders? Do you think citizens of Oregon have a compelling interest in learning more about the event?

This is the exact situation we have in Oregon with respect to the hardline pro-Israel lobby the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Politicians of all stripes, local, state and federal, Democrat and Republican flock to Oregon’s annual AIPAC events to show their support. Former Governor Kulongoski really did say in a speech there that “support for AIPAC is an article of faith for both political parties . . . this is as it should be.” Congressman Kurt Schrader really did say “If I want to learn about the Middle East, I know who to go to, I go to AIPAC.” And AIPAC really is trying to drum up support for military action against Iran.

But does Oregon’s media cover it? Almost not at all. Oregonians are not privy to what goes on there or what politicians say there, or what AIPAC is telling them, because our media simply does not cover it. Last year, the only press coverage was a reporter waiting to see if the beleaguered Congressman David Wu had the temerity to show up. He did. Other than Wu’s attendance, the reporter wasn’t interested in all of the rest: wasn’t interested in the fact that Senators Wyden and Merkley were speaking there, wasn’t interested in what they said, wasn’t interested in what AIPAC was telling its fawning audience.

Oregonians have a compelling need to know what our politicians are doing at these AIPAC events, what speeches they make and what they are told by AIPAC’s keynote speakers. It is the simple, democratically sacred duty of Oregon’s reporters to do their job and report it. Given the incredible power lobbies have in our system of government to influence policy, citizens have a right to know and understand how our politicians are influenced by special interest lobbies. All the more when issues of war, peace, and human rights are at stake.

Infamous former AIPAC official Steve Rosen famously once said that “A lobby is like a night flower. It thrives in darkness and withers in the daylight.” The only reason AIPAC operates in the dark in Oregon is because our media refuses so far to work for the public’s interest.

References

“night flower” quote:
Shocker! Steve Rosen (That Steve Rosen) Backs Bibi, Not POTUS
M.J. Rosenberg, April 5, 2010, http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/04/05/hes_baaaaack_the_gop_embraces_steve_rosen_yes_that_1/

Kulongoski’s quote:

http://archivedwebsites.sos.state.or.us/Governor_Kulongoski_2011/governor.oregon.gov/Gov/speech/speech_043006.shtml

Kurt Schrader quote:
(from audio recording of his speech)

http://oregonprogressivenetwork.org/actions/Protest!-The-Annual-Oregon-AIPAC-Event

Reporting on David Wu’s attendence:
Janie Har, The Oregonian, March 06, 2011,

http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/03/rep_david_wu_attends_annual_ai.html

Coverage of protest outside AIPAC (but not what is happening inside):
Steve Duin, The Oregonian, April 26, 2010,

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/steve_duin/index.ssf/2010/04/the_aipac_protest_alls_quiet_i.html

Portland, Oregon. A coalition of peace, human rights, and Palestine solidarity organizations announced today that they would hold a demonstration outside the annual Oregon fund-raising dinner of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on Sunday, April 29. The demonstration will protest AIPAC’s role in promoting a military attack on Iran’s nuclear energy facilities. The protest is also calling for an end to U.S. military aid to the Israeli apartheid government, which refuses to halt the construction of illegal settlements and routinely violates the human rights of Palestinians living under Occupation. Israel controls the lives of more than 4 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip but denies them the right to vote or to exercise their right to self-determination.

Some Oregon political leaders have regularly attended AIPAC’s annual fundraiser in past years. This year the protesters are asking Oregon’s leaders to represent their constituencies’ opposition to another unjust war in the Middle East by boycotting AIPAC’s gala. Among the groups protesting are Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights (AUPHR), Jewish Voice for Peace – Portland (JVP), Occupy Portland, Peace and Justice Works – Iraq Affinity Group, and Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights (SUPER).

At AIPAC’s recent national convention , Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to justify a military assault on Iran. Such an attack would violate the United Nations Charter, which forbids the use of force except in self-defense. The Iranian government has said that its nuclear energy program is for peaceful purposes. Iran is a signatory to the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) and is under an inspection regime by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Both the IAEA and U.S. intelligence agencies have determined that Iran does not have a nuclear weapons program. Israel, on the other hand, has refused to sign the NPT and is believed to have between 200-400 nuclear weapons.

“AIPAC represents a minority, radically right-wing position in its lobbying for the Netanyahu government,” explained William Seaman, a member of Jewish Voice for Peace. “They do not represent Jewish opinion in the United States or in Israel, which is one reason groups like JVP and other Jewish organizations are challenging their disproportionate influence on our political process.” Polls show that AIPAC does not speak for most American Jews.

The protest will take place outside the Mittelman Jewish Community Center, 6651 SW Capitol Highway in Hillsdale, beginning at 4 p.m. on April 29. Demonstrators are committed to nonviolence and oppose all forms of racism, including racism against Jews. They are asking Oregon residents and political leaders to say No to war on Iran, No to funding Israeli apartheid, and No to AIPAC and the lobbies of the 1%.

For more information, contact: Wael Elasady, 602-446-9444; Peter Miller, 503-358-7475, or Will Seaman, 503-888-7455.

Pink Tank

On Tuesday, March 20, three powerful women—Gloria Steinem, Alice Walker and Eve Ensler—signed onto a statement drafted by CODEPINK opposing an attack on Iran.  The petition implores three powerful American female politicians—Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Ambassador Susan Rice and First Lady Michelle Obama—to use their influence to push for diplomacy, not bombing, in our relations with Iran (See http://j.mp/americanpetition).

CODEPINK launched the petition online, on twitter and facebook, and in a matter of hours received thousands of signers.  The petition launch date was significant: March 20^th marked the 9^th anniversary of the Iraq invasion, and on a happier note, the Iranian New Year, Norooz.  This American petition was created at the request of an Israeli group, the Coalition of Women for Peace, who modeled their own petition after a call to action from a group of women inside Iran.  The Israeli, Iranian and U.S. women plan to do more actions together to oppose war.

A similar cross-border facebook phenomenon that erupted this week is the moving images from Israelis stating “Iranians We Love You. We will never bomb your country.”  Iranians responded with similar messages of love for Israelis, highlighting images of Jewish historic landmarks in Iran, and Iranians who saved Jews during the Holocaust. CODEPINK is using the same “Iranians, We Love You” theme in its campaign.

“Nine years ago, I joined CODEPINK in front of the White House in an act of civil disobedience to try to stop our government from bombing Iraq,” said Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker.  “None of us could live with ourselves if we sat by idly while a country filled with children was blown to bits using money we needed in the United States to build hospitals, housing and schools.  We must not let another tragic war begin.”

“Before the U.S. military attacked Iraq, I joined many activists, writers and artists in signing a call opposing a preemptive military invasion of Iraq,” said author and feminist activist Gloria Steinem. “We feared such a war would increase human suffering, arouse animosity toward our country, damage the economy and undermine our moral standing in the world.  Our fears turned out to be right.  Once again we are calling on people to stop another devastating war, and we’re especially calling on women—as we’ve seen from Ireland to Libya, women often have a peacemaking advantage.  Let’s hope this time our government listens.”

CODEPINK is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end U.S. funded wars and occupations, to challenge militarism globally, and to redirect U.S. resources into health care, education, green jobs and other life-affirming activities.  CODEPINK’s campaign to prevent war on Iran has spanned the past six years and has included the passage of “Peace with Iran” resolutions in over 40 U.S. cities, community education events, a counter-conference and creative protests of the AIPAC Policy Conference, and most recently a full page ad in The Hill newspaper that ran on Super Tuesday, March 6, when the group organized over 150 Congressional office visits to oppose increased sanctions or an attack on Iran.

The American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the most powerful pro-Israel lobby in the US, is holding its biggest annual conference yet with around 13,000 delegates in Washington.

For all those bidding to become the next US president, it has become an essential campaign stop. The group has strong ties to the religious right and evangelical voters. And it is a very influential force in Washington politics.

Demonstrators from the occupy movement held a small protest outside the event urging no war on Iran and no US tax dollars for Israel.

On Sunday, Barack Obama, the US president, took to the stage and told the audience that Israel had never had a better friend in the White House. But he did not support Israeli military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities – at least not yet.

Three of the four Republican candidates bidding to unseat the US president addressed the conference on the biggest day of the nomination battle so far – ‘Super Tuesday’.

Rick Santorum flew in especially for the event before heading back to Ohio, while Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich appeared via satellite link.

A number of Republicans have sought to attack the US president over his administration’s relationship with Israel. And the Republican presidential candidates have all tried to paint Obama as an undependable partner for Israel who is weak on Iran.

Mitt Romney said: “We’ve heard a lot of words from the administration. Its clear message has been to warn Israel to consider the costs of military action against Iran. I don’t believe we should be issuing public warnings.”

And Newt Gingrich said: “If an Israeli prime minister decides that he has to avoid the threat of a second holocaust through pre-emptive measures that I would require no advance notice to understand why I would support the right of Israel to survive in a dangerous world.”

So what role do pro-Israel lobby groups, and AIPAC in particular, play in the US election and why are they courted by those competing to be the next US president? How do Barack Obama’s dealings with Israel compare with those of his predecessors, including Republicans?

To discuss these issues presenter Anand Naidoo is joined by: John Mearsheimer, the co-author of The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy; Larry Greenfield from the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs; and Hillary Mann Leverett, a former White House and US state department official.

“It’s critically important for any US contender for the presidency to go to AIPAC, to interact with the Israel lobby in a favourable way, because it enables that candidate to show that that candidate is strong, that the candidate believes in US exceptionalism, US preeminence in the world, that the US is still very much the indispensable nation in the world; the US has decisive influence in the Middle East and the US is not going to let that influence go as manifesting any kind of threat – real or perceived – against Israel. It allows a candidate to really demonstrate that and that’s in addition to all of the tactical things here in the US in terms of getting votes, financing ….”
– Hillary Mann Leverett, former White House official

AIPAC FACTS:

AIPAC is described as one of the most powerful US interest groups
AIPAC lobbied the US government last year on 23 congressional bills regarding issues such as sanctions on Iran
Former AIPAC employees say the group influences pro-Israel campaign cash
The pro-Israel lobby helps ensure candidates get some financial backing from members
In 2008, pro-Israel political action committees gave $3mn to congressional and presidential candidates
Pro-Israel groups donated more to Democrats than to Republicans in 2008
Republican candidate Newt Gingrich has benefitted from a very large donation from billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson who has pledged up to $100mn – and support for Israel is the single biggest issue for Adelson
Obama spoke at the 2012 AIPAC conference and urged AIPAC members to support an agenda of peace
Obama said the US commitment to Israel’s security is “iron clad”
Many Republicans have criticised Obama’s relationship with Israel

Click here to view the embedded video.

Washington, DC—On Tuesday, March 6, during Senator Carl Levin’s address to AIPAC, an activist with Occupy Wall Street and CODEPINK unfurled a large “Don’t Bomb Iran” banner and shouted “Don’t bomb Iran; Equal rights for Palestinians.” Responding to the theme of the 2012 AIPAC Policy Conference–Shared Values–the activist proclaimed, “Nonviolence is a shared value!” She was grabbed by security and escorted out of the building. The protesters were Katie Falkenberg and Paul Talbot from New York City, who have been dedicated Occupy Wall Street activists and are members of the Revolutionary Games Collective. They worked with CODEPINK and Occupy AIPAC to coordinate the action.

As head of the Senate Arms Services Committee, Carl Levin has been pushing for every war in the last 10 years, while his constituents in Detroit are suffering from lack of funds for social services, and high unemployment. Levin has supported crippling sanctions that only hurt the Iranian people instead of listening to the military leaders who have cautioned against war on Iran. Senator Carl Levin is fiddling with war while Detroit is burning.

Today’s action was part of a week-long effort of Occupy AIPAC, a coalition of over 130 organizations, initiated by CODEPINK, that aims to highlight the destructive and undemocratic practices of AIPAC. On Monday, an AIPAC Conference panel on Iran featuring Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Israeli Ambassador Jeremy Issacharoff was mike checked by Occupy activists who said, “We are the 99%; War benefits the 1%; Use diplomacy not bombs.” (see: http://www.occupyaipac.org/?p=2805).

Occupy AIPAC urges Obama to reject the Israeli administration’s push for war on Iran and insist on respect for Palestinian rights. This week’s actions have drawn attention to the dangerous role of AIPAC as a special interest lobby that maintains a stranglehold over US policies. As the Occupy Movement has focused public ire on the role of large corporations and powerful lobby groups, hundreds have gathered in DC to protest AIPAC’s push for war.