AIPAC
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Ackerman, Pence Deny Calling for Iran Blockade
Thursday, June 26th, 2008
The plot thickens. Politico’s John Bresnahan reports that:
Reps. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) and Mike Pence (R-Ind.) have issued a letter today stating that a non-binding resolution they offered on Iran does not call for a military action against that country…
…While the resolution (I repeat, non-binding) also includes a specific denial that it authorizes use of […]
Parsi: Israel would benefit from U.S. accommodation with Iran
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008Here is a bit of sanity and reason from Trita Parsi. It has been excerpted here and there, but the only way to do it justice is to cut and paste the entire piece from Foreign Policy.
As I’ve noted before, there are perhaps 50 people in the world who have a sufficiently detailed […]
Newsflash: AIPAC (probably) isn’t pushing for an attack on Iran
Thursday, June 12th, 2008I have read even more drivel than usual about AIPAC in the blogosphere these days, and thought I would explain a few things to those who have never attended an AIPAC Policy Conference.
First of all, AIPAC does not appear to be trying to prod the U.S. to bomb Iran. If it is, I have not […]
Obama, AIPAC and why we need a Middle East peace lobby
Thursday, June 5th, 2008Barack Obama had 7,000+ American Jews and non-Jewish friends of Israel eating out of his hand at the AIPAC Policy Conference yesterday morning. There was no political reason for him to disappoint Palestinians, the Arab world and the pro-Israel left by stating his commitment to an “undivided” Jerusalem. I have the highest hopes for […]
From Rabbi Don Quixote: Why the new Middle East peace lobby has a chance
Monday, May 26th, 2008The scoffers are coming out of the woodwork. After all the hoopla over the new J Street project, in separate conversations, two friends have expressed skepticism about the Jewish peace camp’s ability to offer more than token resistance to AIPAC’s lobbying juggernaut.
AIPAC has 100,000 members and its operating budget is somewhere between $40-50 […]
Don’t just sit there and complain about American policy. Help J Street
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008At long last, the urgently-needed “J Street” project has been officially launched. It has generated a great deal of media attention, much of it positive, but the most important story by far was in yesterday’s Washington Post:
Some of the country’s most prominent Jewish liberals are forming a political action committee and lobbying group aimed at […]
AB Yehoshua wants U.S. pressure and denounces the Israel lobby: Anything new here?
Monday, January 21st, 2008Richard Silverstein’s Tikun Olam notes that Israeli novelist A.B. Yehoshua called for removing the U.S. ambassador to Israel and attacked America’s Israel lobby. But he missed a few nuances. I might be the only one in the universe who cares about these nuances, as they touch upon some of the work I’ve tried to […]
Suddenly, the two-state chorus grows louder, more diverse
Tuesday, December 18th, 2007Something seems to be brewing out there, something new. I’ve been doing Middle East peace work, on and off, since the mid-1980s. I have never heard so many people from so many different corners of America defying right-wingers (and ultra-left-wingers) on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and saying the same things at the same time.
What do a […]
The peace process, Iran and the law of unintended consequences
Wednesday, December 12th, 2007At a luncheon panel on Israel and Iran at the Century Foundation yesterday, I was taken aback by some thoughts shared by Trita Parsi, author of the new and highly regarded Dangerous Alliance -The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran and the United States, and Daniel Levy, the former Israeli negotiator who is now Director […]
Are pro-Israel doves part of the “lobby?”
Thursday, November 8th, 2007Apologies for the recent lack of blogging activity. Too many work and family obligations, not enough hours in the day.
Last week, there was a dyspeptic attack on Americans for Peace Now by my friend Philip Weiss on his blog, MondoWeiss. (Check it out at http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2007/11/foreign-affairs.html). It deserves a belated response.
In taking on a […]