Electronic Intifada : Israel Lobby Watch

StandWithUs money trail reveals neocon funders

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 07:45:37 PST

WASHINGTON (IPS) - StandWithUs -- an "organization that ensures that Israel's side of the story is told" -- has become increasingly aggressive in challenging the "pro-Israel" credentials of moderate Jewish-American groups, going so far as to suggest that receiving money from Arab donors and supporters of Human Rights Watch undermines a group's commitment to Israel and peace.

"Scare tactic" campaign aims to bring US Jews to Israel

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:23:25 PST

The Israeli government has launched a television and Internet advertising campaign urging Israelis to inform on Jewish friends and relatives abroad who may be in danger of marrying non-Jews. The advertisements, employing what the Israeli media described as "scare tactics," are designed to stop assimilation through intermarriage among young Diaspora Jews by encouraging their move to Israel. Jonathan Cook reports.

Israeli officer promotes war crimes at Harvard

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:35:47 PST

On 9 July Harvard University's Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research invited Colonel Pnina Sharvit-Baruch, former Israeli military legal adviser, to their online Humanitarian Law and Policy Forum. The stated aim was to bring "objective" discussion to the principle of distinction in international humanitarian law. Maryam Monalisa Gharavi and Dr. Anat Matar report for The Electronic Intifada.

Internet users paid to spread Israeli propaganda

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 02:25:36 PST

The passionate support for Israel expressed on talkback and comment sections of websites, internet chat forums, blogs, Twitter and Facebook may not be all that it seems. Israel's foreign ministry is reported to be establishing a special undercover team of paid workers whose job it will be to surf the internet 24 hours a day spreading positive news about Israel. Jonathan Cook reports.

Canadian diplomat honored on confiscated Palestinian land

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:13:34 PST

Canada's chief diplomat in Israel has been honored at an Israeli public park -- built on occupied Palestinian land in violation of international law -- as one of the donors who helped establish the park on the ruins of three Palestinian villages. Jon Allen, Canada's ambassador to Israel, is among several hundred Canadian Jews who have been commemorated at a dedication site. Jonathan Cook comments.

Group linked to Israeli lobby, neocons releases another Islamophobic film

Wed, 20 May 2009 12:16:56 PST

WASHINGTON (IPS) - A new documentary from a shadowy non-profit, the Clarion Fund, has ties to groups widely accused of Islamophobia. The Third Jihad purports to educate US citizens about the threat of a "cultural Jihad" by the country's own Muslim-American population. The film goes to great lengths to define itself as an expose of radical Muslim elements, not the faith at large.

Academic freedom controversy brewing at University of California

Wed, 20 May 2009 11:48:49 PST

A controversy is quickening at the University of California centered around William Robinson, professor of sociology at University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), and a critic of globalization, capitalism and United States imperialism in Latin America. On 19 January, Robinson sent an e-mail message to the students in his Sociology of Globalization class containing some sharply critical commentary on Israel's attack on the Gaza Strip. Max Ajl reports for The Electronic Intifada.

AIPAC conference comes amid turmoil

Tue, 05 May 2009 14:52:31 PST

WASHINGTON (IPS) - The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Washington's powerful and hawkish pro-Israel lobby, kicked off its annual policy conference this weekend during a period of unusual turbulence both for the organization and for the US-Israel relationship. AIPAC won a notable victory on Friday, when prosecutors moved to dismiss charges against two former AIPAC staffers who had been accused of committing espionage violations by passing classified information to the Israeli government and to reporters.

A public stoning in Germany

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 06:00:34 PST

It appears that freedom of speech, supposedly one of the proudest acquisitions of post-Fascist Germany, is readily suppressed when exercised to advocate positive action against the racist, politicidal institutions and actions of the Zionist state. Raymond Deane comments for The Electronic Intifada.

US Jewish "peace" lobby isolated on Gaza

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 13:21:35 PST

WASHINGTON (IPS) - The three-week-old war in Gaza -- halted Saturday by an Israeli ceasefire -- has had a polarizing effect on the United States Jewish community, resulting in a deeper and at times acrimonious split between dovish groups that are skeptical of the Israeli military campaign, and centrist and hawkish groups that have been broadly supportive of it.

Olmert's claims revive specter of "Israel Lobby"

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:18:10 PST

WASHINGTON (IPS) - The US State Department fiercely denied claims made by Ehud Olmert about his influence over President Bush, in an incident that has stirred up old debates about the role of the Israeli government and the so-called "Israel lobby" in formulating Middle East policy in Washington. On Monday, Olmert claimed that he demanded and received an immediate conversation with President Bush, during which he convinced the president to overrule the wishes of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and abstain from a United Nations resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Israel's fabricated rocket crisis

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:28:57 PST

We have heard, and we will continue to hear, a droning litany of "Qassams! Qassams! Qassams!" The repetition will be difficult to resist, but for all of us who remember the reiterated US lies about Iraq of 2002-2003, whether with pride for our skepticism or shame for our credulity, a good first step might be for us to think "WMDs!" every time they say "Qassams!" Like the US Coalition of the Willing, Israel's Operation Cast Lead has not let the absence of actual provocation get in the way of a good bloodbath. Jim Holstun and Joanna Tinker analyze for The Electronic Intifada.

Jewish "refugee" lobby seeks to eclipse Palestinian losses

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:01:07 PST

A broad coalition of Jewish lobby groups has made a series of breakthroughs this year in its campaign to link the question of justice for millions of Palestinian refugees with justice for Jews who left Arab states in the wake of Israel's establishment 60 years ago. Referring to these Jews as the "forgotten refugees" and claiming that their plight is worse than that of exiled Palestinians, the campaign has scored political successes in recent months in Washington, London and Brussels. Jonathan Cook reports.

Obama adviser Dennis Ross's dodgy record

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 10:28:39 PST

GENEVA (IPS) - With the 2008 presidential campaign at its end, pundits have begun to discuss in earnest what expected winner Barack Obama's administration might look like. An important piece of evidence is Obama's campaign team, which largely escaped the harsh scrutiny that his opponent's lobbyist-laden team received.

Iran resolution shelved in rare defeat for "Israel Lobby"

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:05:33 PST

WASHINGTON (IPS) - In a significant and highly unusual defeat for the so-called "Israel Lobby," the Democratic leadership of the US House of Representatives has decided to shelve a long-pending, albeit non-binding, resolution that called for President George W. Bush to launch what critics called a blockade against Iran.

Neo-cons, ex-Israeli diplomats push Islamophobic video

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:36:51 PST

WASHINGTON (IPS) - A group of hard-line United States neo-conservatives and former Israeli diplomats, among others, are behind the mass distribution, ahead of the November US presidential election, of a controversial DVD that critics have denounced as Islamophobic. The group, the Endowment for Middle East Truth, is working with another organization called the Clarion Fund, which produced the 60-minute video and is itself tied closely to an Israeli organization called Aish Hatorah.

Neocon flap highlights Jewish divide

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 13:02:50 PST

WASHINGTON (IPS) - A mushrooming media controversy pitting neoconservatives against a prominent Jewish-American political commentator could mark a new stage in the growing battle over who speaks for the US Jewish community on foreign policy issues, particularly regarding the Middle East.

US hawks belie Iran's "existential threat" to Israel

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 06:34:39 PST

WASHINGTON (IPS) - New arguments by analysts close to Israeli thinking in favor of US strikes against Iran cite evidence of Iranian military weakness in relation to the US and Israel and even raise doubts that Iran is rushing to obtain such weapons at all. The new arguments contradict Israel's official argument that it faces an "existential threat" from an Islamic extremist Iranian regime determined to get nuclear weapons.

Christian Zionist gathering mired in controversy

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:14:33 PST

OAKLAND, California (IPS) - The battle lines over Pastor John Hagee have been drawn, redrawn, and are no doubt being drawn again as this is being written. The San Antonio, Texas-based mega-preacher with the multi-million-dollar empire has always been controversial, but these days, the pastor is a lightning rod for critics.

Pledging allegiance to AIPAC

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:39:46 PST

WASHINGTON, 9 June (IPS) - With the Iranian nuclear "threat" in the crosshairs, discussion of Palestinians or a Syrian-Israeli detente was virtually non-existent. But then again, one should not expect many overtures for peace when attending the annual policy conference for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).