Ajit Randeniya

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), with a budget of $65 million and over 100,000 members, is the main Zionist lobby group in America that influences the US-Israel relationship. Though described as a lobby group, AIPAC often goes beyond simple lobbying, and with the assistance of a large network of White House, Pentagon, State Department and other bureaucracies, they orchestrate conspiracies designed, among other things, to bring down non compliant politicians. The Monica Lewinsky scandal that nearly led to Bill Clinton’s impeachment was one such set up.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ AIPAC also trains US journalists and other Zionist volunteers on pro-Israel propaganda: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”The Israel Project,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ a PR operation based in Washington, hired a Republican consultant to produce a 117-page public-relations ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”playbookƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ for this purpose. The playbook advises what to say on pro-peace-process arguments. For example, if someone makes a negative comment about settlements in the West Bank, the book instructs to change the subject and claim Obama is imposing ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”ethnic cleansingƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ of Jews from the West Bank!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ These are some of the reasons why the just completed (March 21-23) AIPAC annual policy conference, normally attended by almost the entire Congress, Israel’s political and defence force leadership, whoƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s who of Wall Street, corporate media, and the weapons industry is crucially important for gaining an understanding of current geopolitics.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Usually the US President attends, but this year Barack Obama was too busy with his campaigning on the Health Bill and a planned trip to Indonesia (which did not eventuate). Hilary Clinton attended. This writer wishes to humbly report success in efforts to secure an ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”invitationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ to be amongst over 8,000 participants including several thousands of Evangelical Christians.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The conference this year was going to be particularly interesting due to the problems the Obama administration has been experiencing with the Likud Party government of Israel led by the Lithuanian extremist Binyamin Netanyahu.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In fact, just the week before the conference, Netanyahu had annoyed and deliberately insulted Vice President Joe Biden, probably the one American politician who is not frightened of calling a spade a spade, during his Israel visit: in a bizarre attempt to insult Biden, as well as to win sympathy, Netanyahu presented Biden a glass-framed document honouring BidenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s late mother, said to have been a strong supporter of Israel. However, the glass was shattered. According to reports, Netanyahu told Biden, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”I have one thing to offer you right now and its broken glass.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The point had not been lost on BidenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s entourage and other Americans who are well versed with Jewish traditions and the importance of symbolism in Israeli society; the broken glass was meant to be a subtle reminder of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”KristallnachtƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ that refers to the shattered glass from the broken windows of Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues, at the beginning of the Holocaust in Nazi Germany in 1938. Washington interpreted the incident as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”plannedƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ by Netanyahu as a warning to Biden and Obama.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Also, Israel caused great embarrassment to Joe Biden by announcing, when he was about to sit down for dinner with Netanyahu, that they will build 1,600 new homes for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem. The US used strong diplomatic rhetoric to express indignation over the announcement.The Americans were waiting for the Washington visit of Netanyahu, invited him to the White House and retaliated with a few insults of their own!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ From the Zionist view, the AIPAC main game this year was going to be, almost solely, on lobbying members of Congress to pass ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”cripplingƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ Iran sanctions, with some attention to underlying factors such as signing petitions addressed to Hilary Clinton regarding the importance of the US-Israel relationship, with a view to influence the tough stance on the peace process.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The petition started thus: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”We write to urge you to do everything possible to ensure that the recent tensions between the U.S. and Israel over the untimely announcement of future housing construction in East Jerusalem do not derail Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations or harm U.S.-Israel relations.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ It goes on to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”tell onƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ the Palestinians: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Despite your best efforts, Israeli-Palestinian negotiations have been frozen over the past year. Indeed, in a reversal of 16 years of policy, Palestinian leaders are refusing to enter into direct negotiations with Israel. Instead, they have put forward a growing list of unprecedented preconditions. By contrast, Israel’s prime minister has stated categorically that he is eager to begin unconditional peace negotiations with the Palestinians.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ Enough said?

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The letter dovetails closely with the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”talking points memoƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ on the topic, titled ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Close US-Israel Ties Key to Forging Middle East PeaceƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ which asserts explicitly that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”the United States and Israel should work out differences privately.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ The memo went on to criticise the Obama Administration’s reaction to the Biden Incident, and argued that such criticism against Israel is not only inappropriate but counterproductive. AIPAC also decided to post a list of statements by Members of Congress Reaffirming the U.S.-Israel Alliance (with hyperlinks) to Members who have made adverse statement in the wake of the Biden Incident in Jerusalem.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The main game of Iran sanctions was enforced by asking for ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”cripplingƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ Iran sanctions ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”needed to prevent nuclear IranƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, and pressed for better enforcement of existing sanctions. At the climax of the conference, participants were deployed to Capitol Hill to lobby for AIPAC’s top policy priority, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”the Iranian threatƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. AIPAC asserted that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”American and international sanctions on Iran must be immediate, broad and overwhelming in order to force the regime to confront the choice between abandoning its pursuit of nuclear weapons or facing crippling sanctions,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and also wants the US ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”to lead the international community in imposing crippling sanctions on Iran without delay.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ Subtly and ominously, AIPAC noted that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”tough sanctions that are strictly enforced still remain the best option ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”at this timeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ to persuade Iran’s leaders to alter their courseƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ There are several reasons for the heightened AIPAC focus this year on pushing the Obama Administration into a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”war footingƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ with Iran. But the idea that an Iran capable of enriching uranium, or even with nuclear weapons capability is an ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”existential threatƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ to Israel is not one of them: it clearly came out during closed-door sessions that the Israeli objective primarily, is to preserve the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”status quoƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ of regional power balance that is strongly in their favor. They fear that the emergence of a stronger Iran might begin to constrain Israel’s capacity to use military force unilaterally at any time and for any purpose that it chooses.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Binyamin Netanyahu reminded during his speech, in his usual arrogant fashion, that Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill were two of history’s greatest leaders, but ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”the future of the Jewish state can never depend on the goodwill of even the greatest of menƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. He went on to issue a threat to the US regarding Iran when he said that: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Israel expects the international community to act swiftly and decisively to thwart this danger. But we will always reserve the right to defend ourselves.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It became clear as the proceedings went on, that keeping America focused on Iran as an urgent threat is really a diversion, aimed at preventing Washington from putting pressure on Israel to make peace with the Palestinians. Such a diversion will also undermine Obama AdministrationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s argument that resolving the Palestinian issue would marginalise Iran.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ But there was some relief from the conspiracies that were being hatched: in a case of supreme irony, a Jewish women’s peace group – Code Pink – issued a hoax press release calling for an Israeli settlement freeze in the West bank and Jerusalem. Americans Zionists who were not at the conference went mad!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Apart from that, people with a conscience felt as if they were in the middle of a sea of almost incurable levels of intransigence, fanaticism and zealotry, that signify troubled times tfor the world to continue for quite a while. It was a relief to escape a group of misguided people who are leading the entire world to disaster!