Totalitarian
23rd April 2003, 11:23
1) National Capital Insiders Vote AIPAC, Israel's American Lobby, Second Most Powerful Interest Group in Washington
By Nathan Jones
http://www.washington-report.org/ba...198/9801065.htm
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"A forthcoming edition of Fortune magazine ranks the American Israel Public Affairs Committee as the second most powerful interest group in Washington...The pro-Israel lobby, which the magazine called 'calculatedly quiet,' has for years been successful in encouraging members of Congress and the administration to support U.S. foreign aid to Israel and other issues related to the U.S.-Israel relationship." --Daniel Kurtzman, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, December 1997.
For two generations American diplomats in the Middle East have listened to the same complaint. "How is it possible for a lobby, based upon only two percent of the American population, to take over U.S. Middle East policy completely and also to have a strong and sometimes decisive influence on U.S. foreign policy in the rest of the world?"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2) Capitol Hill is `In Our Hands'
JOSEPH SOBRAN
http://abbc.com/historia/ihr/janfeb99/sobran.htm
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One isn't supposed to say this, but many people believe that Israel now holds the White House, the Senate, and much of the American media in its hands. This is what is known as an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory.
The odd thing is that it is held by many Israelis. In an essay reprinted in the May 27 [1996] issue of the New York Times Ari Shavit, an Israeli columnist, reflected sorrowfully on the wanton Israeli killing of more than a hundred Lebanese civilians in April. "We killed them out of a certain naive hubris. Believing with absolute certitude that now, with the White House, the Senate, and much of the American media in our hands, the lives of others do not count as much as our own ..."
In a single phrase - "in our hands" - Mr. Shavit has lit up the American political landscape like a flash of lightning.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3) Pro-Israel lobby sways U.S. policy: Group turns opinions into political power
New York Times News Service
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHil.../aipac_NYT.html
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WASHINGTON -- After several decades of growth in size and sophistication, the leading pro-Israel Lobby in Washington, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, has become a major force in shaping United States policy in the Middle-East.
Operating from tightly guarded offices just north of the Capitol, the organization has gained the power to influence a presidential candidate's choice of staff, to block practically any arms sale to an Arab country, and to serve as a catalyst for intimate military relations between the Pentagon and the Israeli army. Its leading officials are consulted by State Department and White House policy makers, by senators, and generals.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4) Lobby's influence on Israeli policy due to skill in Congress
New York Times News Service
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHil.../aipac_NYT.html
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The AIPAC lobby is a well-oiled machine, a model for other lobbies in a technological age, and there is no evidence to suggest that its effectiveness has been diminished by the disclosure of Israel's role in either the Iran-Contra affair or the case of Jonathan Jay Pollard, the Washington intelligence analyst convicted last year of spying for Israel.
According to members of Congress, AIPAC is one of the most successful lobbies on Capitol Hill for these reasons: It has a simple, coherent message and is motivated by single minded devotion to a cause. Unlike business lobbies, the AIPAC lobbyists are not seeking financial benefits for their members.
Though AIPAC does not endorse or give money to candidates, it is perceived as influencing many campaign contributions. Israel's friends in Congress are often rewarded with such contributions from individual AIPAC members and from pro-Israel political action committees.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5) Israel's Friends Go to The Hill to Speed Up Foreign Aid
By Richard H. Curtiss
http://www.washington-report.org/ba...96/9601042.html
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Israeli Ambassador Itamar Rabinovich met with House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and made no secret of why the Israeli government is getting so impatient. Unlike any other foreign aid recipient, or any domestic recipient, Israel does not get its aid in four quarterly installments throughout the fiscal year. (The U.S. government makes its payments in this manner in order to reduce its own interest payments on the money it must borrow via U.S. government bonds to pay its obligations.) Instead, the U.S. gives Israel the entire amount during the first month of each new fiscal year. This enables the Israeli government to invest the money and thus earn the interest that otherwise would go to the U.S. treasury. Israel is upset, Rabinovich said, because it is losing the millions of dollars in interest it normally earns in this manner. "The longer we have the money, the more interest we earn," Rabinovitch explained to the Speaker. For his part, Gingrich told the Israeli ambassador he would try to resolve the issue by Dec. 15. In this Congress, what Israel wants, Israel gets—and generally when Israel wants it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6) Pro-Israeli Lobby a Force to Be Reckoned With
By Kelley Beaucar Vlahos
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,53785,00.html
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DeLay's strong response was one of many expressions of support coming from congressional members, who repeatedly remind voters of the strong U.S.-Israel alliance dating back to Israel's 1948 foundation.
But widespread congressional support is rooted in more than just a long-term relationship. It is traced to the power of the collective Jewish or pro-Israeli lobby, a well-organized, well-funded, extremely active, and extraordinarily connected group, according to political analysts.
"They are very savvy and sophisticated," said Richard Semiatin, a political science professor at American University. "They are extremely knowledgeable and some of the best lobbyists in the country when they get into congressional offices."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7) Lobbying pays off as U.S. promises Israel $4 billion in aid
By Nitzan Horowitz, Ha'aretz Correspondent
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHil...2isrl_1199.html
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WASHINGTON - The U.S. budget of $1.8 trillion, which was approved at the weekend following a lengthy battle between President Bill Clinton and Congress, earmarks more than $4 billion for Israel.
Israel will receive $1.92 billion in military aid, $1.2 billion for implementing the Wye accord and $900,000 in civilian aid. All told, 26 percent of all U.S. foreign aid will go to Israel.
Intensive lobbying in the Senate by Israel paid off: Israel was able to effect a significant change in the foreign aid law which will enable it to go on receiving the majority of the military aid funds in an advance allocation, as in past years.
In the course of the attempts to find a solution to the financing of the aid package promised Israel for signing the Wye agreement, Prime Minister Ehud Barak agreed to forgo the early transfer of the military aid funds and thus save the U.S. government hundreds of millions of dollars in interest.
However, in the wake of the fierce criticism this approach drew from the defense establishment in Israel, Israeli officials, backed by the Jewish lobby, endeavored to get Congress to change the terms of the concession and enable Israel to get most of the money already at the beginning of the fiscal year.
In the past few days their efforts proved successful: about three-quarters of the military aid funds will be transferred to Israel in an advance allocation
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOW HAVE AMERICAN LEADERS RESPONDED TO THIS LOBBY?!
1) Daschle: U.S. Must Support Israel
By Ben Barber
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20020423-99885272.htm
2) AIPAC mounts new offensive to display support of Congress
By Matthew E. Berger
http://www.jta.org/page_view_story....intcategoryid=3
3) With Diversity on Dais, Republican Convention Gives Key Role to Jews
By RACHEL DONADIO
http://www.amenusa.org/aipac7.htm
4) Why Republicans Have Put Cuts In Aid To Israel "Off the Table"
By Ruth E. Steele
http://www.washington-report.org/ba...495/9504041.htm
5) Congress's Multibillion Dollar Arms Sale Blundering
By Dennis J. Wamsted
http://www.washington-report.org/ba...888/8808012.htm
6) Arab Groups Demand Armey Apology for Remarks About Palestinians
By Jim Burns
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics...L20020503b.html
What a nice little alliance FOR ISRAEL!…besides $1.6 Trillion since 1973 Israel has cost America a lot more, here are two examples:
U.S.S. Liberty
http://www.ussliberty.org
World Trade Centers
"Why do they hate us?,"
...asked the apathetic, uninformed American public on September 11th. Israel's spokesmen in the US, aka the government and mainstream media, responded with the ludicrous notion that we were attacked because the terrorists hate democracy and freedom, and absolutely, positively NOT because of anything to do with Israel. (You must be an anti-Semite for even thinking that!) Judge for yourself:
http://www.amenusa.org/words.htm
Americans have lost a lot for Israel...what has Israel given America in return for its generosity and loyalty?
Is Israel Really America's Friend?
By Hal Turner
10-12-2
http://www.rense.com/general30/isis.htm
Elsewhere on this website, I have collected many articles by Western journalists, Jews and Israelis, and human rights organizations all of whom condemn Israel's policies in Palestine. I have also provided evidence that Israel is an apartheid state. I believe that all of this should be sufficient reason for America to stop supporting Israel - we should stand up for justice. But even if you don't find this a compelling argument, we can look at whether Israel has really been a loyal ally to the U.S., or whether the U.S.-Israeli relationship is costing America. Is Israel really America's friend? Examine the evidence.
A friend wouldn't:
* spy on America
* sell American military secrets to America's enemies
* pirate America's technology
* stockpile weapons of mass destruction
* attack an American naval vessel in international waters
* stand by and let Americans be killed
Israel has done all of these and continues to do them. This is not "Muslim propaganda". All reports are taken from American or Israeli news sources and journalists.
Think about it America!
By Nathan Jones
http://www.washington-report.org/ba...198/9801065.htm
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"A forthcoming edition of Fortune magazine ranks the American Israel Public Affairs Committee as the second most powerful interest group in Washington...The pro-Israel lobby, which the magazine called 'calculatedly quiet,' has for years been successful in encouraging members of Congress and the administration to support U.S. foreign aid to Israel and other issues related to the U.S.-Israel relationship." --Daniel Kurtzman, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, December 1997.
For two generations American diplomats in the Middle East have listened to the same complaint. "How is it possible for a lobby, based upon only two percent of the American population, to take over U.S. Middle East policy completely and also to have a strong and sometimes decisive influence on U.S. foreign policy in the rest of the world?"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2) Capitol Hill is `In Our Hands'
JOSEPH SOBRAN
http://abbc.com/historia/ihr/janfeb99/sobran.htm
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One isn't supposed to say this, but many people believe that Israel now holds the White House, the Senate, and much of the American media in its hands. This is what is known as an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory.
The odd thing is that it is held by many Israelis. In an essay reprinted in the May 27 [1996] issue of the New York Times Ari Shavit, an Israeli columnist, reflected sorrowfully on the wanton Israeli killing of more than a hundred Lebanese civilians in April. "We killed them out of a certain naive hubris. Believing with absolute certitude that now, with the White House, the Senate, and much of the American media in our hands, the lives of others do not count as much as our own ..."
In a single phrase - "in our hands" - Mr. Shavit has lit up the American political landscape like a flash of lightning.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3) Pro-Israel lobby sways U.S. policy: Group turns opinions into political power
New York Times News Service
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHil.../aipac_NYT.html
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WASHINGTON -- After several decades of growth in size and sophistication, the leading pro-Israel Lobby in Washington, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, has become a major force in shaping United States policy in the Middle-East.
Operating from tightly guarded offices just north of the Capitol, the organization has gained the power to influence a presidential candidate's choice of staff, to block practically any arms sale to an Arab country, and to serve as a catalyst for intimate military relations between the Pentagon and the Israeli army. Its leading officials are consulted by State Department and White House policy makers, by senators, and generals.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4) Lobby's influence on Israeli policy due to skill in Congress
New York Times News Service
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHil.../aipac_NYT.html
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The AIPAC lobby is a well-oiled machine, a model for other lobbies in a technological age, and there is no evidence to suggest that its effectiveness has been diminished by the disclosure of Israel's role in either the Iran-Contra affair or the case of Jonathan Jay Pollard, the Washington intelligence analyst convicted last year of spying for Israel.
According to members of Congress, AIPAC is one of the most successful lobbies on Capitol Hill for these reasons: It has a simple, coherent message and is motivated by single minded devotion to a cause. Unlike business lobbies, the AIPAC lobbyists are not seeking financial benefits for their members.
Though AIPAC does not endorse or give money to candidates, it is perceived as influencing many campaign contributions. Israel's friends in Congress are often rewarded with such contributions from individual AIPAC members and from pro-Israel political action committees.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5) Israel's Friends Go to The Hill to Speed Up Foreign Aid
By Richard H. Curtiss
http://www.washington-report.org/ba...96/9601042.html
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Israeli Ambassador Itamar Rabinovich met with House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and made no secret of why the Israeli government is getting so impatient. Unlike any other foreign aid recipient, or any domestic recipient, Israel does not get its aid in four quarterly installments throughout the fiscal year. (The U.S. government makes its payments in this manner in order to reduce its own interest payments on the money it must borrow via U.S. government bonds to pay its obligations.) Instead, the U.S. gives Israel the entire amount during the first month of each new fiscal year. This enables the Israeli government to invest the money and thus earn the interest that otherwise would go to the U.S. treasury. Israel is upset, Rabinovich said, because it is losing the millions of dollars in interest it normally earns in this manner. "The longer we have the money, the more interest we earn," Rabinovitch explained to the Speaker. For his part, Gingrich told the Israeli ambassador he would try to resolve the issue by Dec. 15. In this Congress, what Israel wants, Israel gets—and generally when Israel wants it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6) Pro-Israeli Lobby a Force to Be Reckoned With
By Kelley Beaucar Vlahos
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,53785,00.html
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DeLay's strong response was one of many expressions of support coming from congressional members, who repeatedly remind voters of the strong U.S.-Israel alliance dating back to Israel's 1948 foundation.
But widespread congressional support is rooted in more than just a long-term relationship. It is traced to the power of the collective Jewish or pro-Israeli lobby, a well-organized, well-funded, extremely active, and extraordinarily connected group, according to political analysts.
"They are very savvy and sophisticated," said Richard Semiatin, a political science professor at American University. "They are extremely knowledgeable and some of the best lobbyists in the country when they get into congressional offices."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7) Lobbying pays off as U.S. promises Israel $4 billion in aid
By Nitzan Horowitz, Ha'aretz Correspondent
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHil...2isrl_1199.html
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WASHINGTON - The U.S. budget of $1.8 trillion, which was approved at the weekend following a lengthy battle between President Bill Clinton and Congress, earmarks more than $4 billion for Israel.
Israel will receive $1.92 billion in military aid, $1.2 billion for implementing the Wye accord and $900,000 in civilian aid. All told, 26 percent of all U.S. foreign aid will go to Israel.
Intensive lobbying in the Senate by Israel paid off: Israel was able to effect a significant change in the foreign aid law which will enable it to go on receiving the majority of the military aid funds in an advance allocation, as in past years.
In the course of the attempts to find a solution to the financing of the aid package promised Israel for signing the Wye agreement, Prime Minister Ehud Barak agreed to forgo the early transfer of the military aid funds and thus save the U.S. government hundreds of millions of dollars in interest.
However, in the wake of the fierce criticism this approach drew from the defense establishment in Israel, Israeli officials, backed by the Jewish lobby, endeavored to get Congress to change the terms of the concession and enable Israel to get most of the money already at the beginning of the fiscal year.
In the past few days their efforts proved successful: about three-quarters of the military aid funds will be transferred to Israel in an advance allocation
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOW HAVE AMERICAN LEADERS RESPONDED TO THIS LOBBY?!
1) Daschle: U.S. Must Support Israel
By Ben Barber
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20020423-99885272.htm
2) AIPAC mounts new offensive to display support of Congress
By Matthew E. Berger
http://www.jta.org/page_view_story....intcategoryid=3
3) With Diversity on Dais, Republican Convention Gives Key Role to Jews
By RACHEL DONADIO
http://www.amenusa.org/aipac7.htm
4) Why Republicans Have Put Cuts In Aid To Israel "Off the Table"
By Ruth E. Steele
http://www.washington-report.org/ba...495/9504041.htm
5) Congress's Multibillion Dollar Arms Sale Blundering
By Dennis J. Wamsted
http://www.washington-report.org/ba...888/8808012.htm
6) Arab Groups Demand Armey Apology for Remarks About Palestinians
By Jim Burns
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics...L20020503b.html
What a nice little alliance FOR ISRAEL!…besides $1.6 Trillion since 1973 Israel has cost America a lot more, here are two examples:
U.S.S. Liberty
http://www.ussliberty.org
World Trade Centers
"Why do they hate us?,"
...asked the apathetic, uninformed American public on September 11th. Israel's spokesmen in the US, aka the government and mainstream media, responded with the ludicrous notion that we were attacked because the terrorists hate democracy and freedom, and absolutely, positively NOT because of anything to do with Israel. (You must be an anti-Semite for even thinking that!) Judge for yourself:
http://www.amenusa.org/words.htm
Americans have lost a lot for Israel...what has Israel given America in return for its generosity and loyalty?
Is Israel Really America's Friend?
By Hal Turner
10-12-2
http://www.rense.com/general30/isis.htm
Elsewhere on this website, I have collected many articles by Western journalists, Jews and Israelis, and human rights organizations all of whom condemn Israel's policies in Palestine. I have also provided evidence that Israel is an apartheid state. I believe that all of this should be sufficient reason for America to stop supporting Israel - we should stand up for justice. But even if you don't find this a compelling argument, we can look at whether Israel has really been a loyal ally to the U.S., or whether the U.S.-Israeli relationship is costing America. Is Israel really America's friend? Examine the evidence.
A friend wouldn't:
* spy on America
* sell American military secrets to America's enemies
* pirate America's technology
* stockpile weapons of mass destruction
* attack an American naval vessel in international waters
* stand by and let Americans be killed
Israel has done all of these and continues to do them. This is not "Muslim propaganda". All reports are taken from American or Israeli news sources and journalists.
Think about it America!