Standing Fast

I found a good piece at Salon about the recent conference of America's most powerful foreign policy lobbying organization; the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Two striking things. First the strong contingent of right-wing Christian fundamentalists, who are not only allowed to participate but seem to play a major role in the event.

"Of the many prominent speakers at the conference, (pastor John)Hagee got one of the most
enthusiastic receptions. The sleeping giant of Christian Zionism has awoken!" Hagee proclaimed, taking the microphone at the opening dinner reception on Sunday. The electrified
crowd -- most of it Jewish -- roared in support, pounding on the tables. Hagee went on to declare the United Nations a "political brothel" and asserted that Israel must never
give up land. He agreed with Israeli writer Dore Gold that granting part of
Jerusalem to the Palestinians would be "tantamount to turning it over to the
Taliban." And, after rebuking Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he led the
crowd in a chant of "Israel lives!" urging them to "shout it from the
mountaintops!"

Then there is the Christian fundamentalist couple from Tennessee who were gushing about their son joining the Israeli military.

The other notable thing is the still strong support for Bush and Cheney(who spoke the conference). The Iraq war may be unpopular among almost every sector of American life, including Jews, but among the rank and file of AIPAC it still generated intense enthusiasm.


"During the opening night's events, large video screens behind the speaker's
podium showed a chronological slide show of U.S. presidents and their Israeli
prime minister contemporaries, and when the display eventually reached George W.
Bush, the room erupted into applause -- far more applause than the crowd had
given for Reagan, Kennedy or even Truman(whose support was vital to the
establishment of Israel-Gang of One note). And when Cheney first appeared on the
stage on Monday morning, the crowd immediately rose to its feet and filled the
room with loud applause, which continued intermittently through his predictably
hawkish speech.

It seemed a remarkable contrast to the currently dismal public opinion polls regarding Bush and Cheney. As one delegate standing nearby commented during the vice president's speech, "This has got to be the last crowd that still greets him this way.""


This group was so gung-ho that Speaker Nancy Pelosi was actually booed for criticizing the Iraq war. This is probably the only place in America outside the editorial offices of the Weekly Standard that you receive such a reception in 2007 for saying something bad about the war.

Of course most major Presidential candidates showed up and tried their best to sweet talk the crowd. Sen. Barack Obama gets some credit for at least mentioning the suffering of the Palestinian people, but that's not enough. AIPAC represents a destructive and disorientating foreign policy that has failed us and failed the cause of peace in the Middle East. Our next President will need to start to get some better advice than that provided by the extremists at AIPAC if we still desire to play any kind of role in the Middle East beside that of a resented and hated superpower.

The Council for the National Interest is one group trying to play the role as a sort of "anti-AIPAC' and trying to restore some kind of balance to our approach to the region and the Israeli/Palestine conflict. Started by former Congressman Paul Findley (R-IL), CNI is still struggling compared to massive resources of AIPAC but the clear failures of US foreign policy in Middle east and war in the Iraq may finally force politicians to start reevaluating our whole approach to the region.

Labels: AIPAC