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(Pete Souza / White House Photo)

Israel Lobby Watch

"This House believes that Zionism is a danger to the Jewish people"

Ben White
20 February 2006

In a full chamber, the Cambridge Union last Thursday hosted the motion ‘This House believes that Zionism is a danger to the Jewish people”, an event labelled a “Jewish blood sport” by participant Ned Temko. The motion, which was carried by a small margin, was a good chance for Zionist apologists and their critics to showcase the best of their arguments. Brian Klug, speaking in favour of the motion alongside Israeli journalist Daphna Baram and Chair of Jews for Justice for Palestinians Richard Kuper, opened the proceedings. One of the recurrent themes of the evening were the repeated attempts to specify what this debate was not, with Klug pointing out that specific historical narratives, or potential future solutions, were not on the agenda.

CNI calls on U.S. to deal with new democratic forces in Middle East

13 February 2006

A delegation from the Council for the National Interest that participated as international observers to the recent Palestinian elections and met with government and opposition figures in six Middle East countries called yesterday on President Bush and his administration to deal honestly and openly with the new Islamist opposition that has been brought to power by democratic means in several Middle East countries. The members of the delegation, including two ambassadors, were among the firstAmericanretired foreign service officers to meet with Hamas leaders Mahmoud al-Zahar and Khaled Meshaal, whom they described as eager to talk to American officials ,and even to reach a peace with Israel. “There seems to be a lack of dialogue with leaders in the Middle East,” said CNI President Eugene Bird in a public hearing on Capitol Hill Thursday morning. “Many U.S. diplomats are not talking to people they should be, and this has been shocking for us to see this.”

European Jews say current silencing of criticism of the occupation is "totally unacceptable"

30 January 2006

The current campaign being waged in Germany and Austria by Jewish and other groups against people, whether of Jewish or other backgrounds, who have stated their legitimate criticism of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, is totally unacceptable. Israel is no more immune to criticism than any other country which violates human rights. Individuals and peace groups based in Israel itself recognize this as do many others around the world. If intellectuals of the countries who were most closely associated with crimes of genocide are forced into silence by pressure being put on them, or those inviting them to speak out, we fear that future generations will rightly accuse ours of compliance with this pressure because of silence about the war crimes in Palestine.

Herzliya Conference reveals Israeli plans after disengagement

Jonathan Cook
27 January 2006

Acres of analysis will be dedicated over the coming days to the significance of this week’s Palestinain general election and what it heralds for the Middle East conflict. But that spectacle and Hamas’ starring role in it have overshadowed a far more important drama playing out in the wings. Barely anyone has remarked on the unfolding events at the Herzliya Conference, Israel’s most important annual policy-making jamboree. This week Israeli elites converged in Herzliya, to share their thoughts on the country’s central concern. It will matter little whether Hamas or Fatah are heading the Palestinian Authority. Israel made up its mind long ago about how best to protect its interests.

EU and US disrupt Palestinian elections

Arjan El Fassed
4 January 2006

The word democracy originates from the Greek demokratia: the components of the word being aredemos (the people), kratein (to rule), and the suffix ia. The term means “rule by the people”. In other words, democracy in its ideal sense is the notion that “the people” — in this instance, the Palestinian people - should have control of the government ruling over them. Recent moves by the EU and the US to interfere with and influence the outcome of the upcoming Palestinian elections are counterproductive and an insult to large segments of Palestinian society. Moreover, statements made by the US and EU are inconsistent and tend to promote violations of basic human rights.

Solana exposes European bias towards Israel once again

Arjan El Fassed
18 December 2005

The European Union threatened today to curb aid to the Palestinian Authority if Hamas wins next month’s Palestinian Legislative Council elections. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, following his recent shelving of a report critical of Israeli policies in Jerusalem, said during a visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories that if Hamas won the elections, it would be “very difficult that the help and the money that goes to… the Palestinian Authority will continue to flow”. Relations between Israel and the EU have warmed recently, with Israel agreeing to allow EU representatives to monitor the crucial Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.

Letter: EU's Solana pushes cover-up of Jerusalem report

Ali Abunimah
13 December 2005

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana successfully lobbied EU foreign ministers to suppress a report documenting the devastating effects of Israel’s separation wall and colonies in Occupied East Jerusalem. Solana argued that publishing the report would hurt Israeli sensitivities and would cause the EU to lose influence. Electronic Intifada co-founder, in a letter to Solana, argues that EU indulgence of Israel is like the action of “a person who provides an alcoholic with money for booze and a car to drive while drunk while saying that to do otherwise would offend the sensitivities of someone who is a great danger to himself and others.”

EI EXCLUSIVE: Did UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw help sell out Jerusalem?

Ali Abunimah
28 November 2005

New documents obtained by EI under the UK’s Freedom of Information Act (2000) indicate that Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was asked to personally lobby Israeli officials on behalf of a UK company whose work helps extend Israel’s administrative and legal structures into Occupied East Jerusalem in violation of international law and long-standing UK policy. The new documents indicate not only the high importance the British government attached to the contract, but that British officials dismissed concerns that the company’s work could violate British policy on the status of Jerusalem. EI co-founder Ali Abunimah reports this exclusive.

EU diplomats slam Israel's policies in occupied Jerusalem

Arjan El Fassed
24 November 2005

A draft report by the Jerusalem and Ramallah heads of missions, representatives of the EU member states, to their foreign ministers, was leaked to the media. In the report the diplomats recommend a more critical approach toward Israeli policies in East Jerusalem. The diplomats want clear statements by the EU and the Middle East Quartet that Jerusalem remains “an issue for negotiation by the two sides,” and that the EU should call on Israel to desist from “all measures designed to pre-empt such negotiations.” The diplomats want the EU to request Israel “to halt discriminatory treatment of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, especially concerning working permits, building permits, house demolitions, taxation and expenditure.”

AIPAC Defense Attorneys Strike Back

Eugene Bird
8 November 2005

The presiding judge in the AIPAC espionage case has ruled in a hearing on pre-trial motions that the prosecution can withold certain evidence from defense attorneys because it is in the national interest to do so. The evidence is reported to include hundreds of hours of wiretaps taken over the course of the six year investigation of the Israel lobby. U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis said that he will decide which prosecution evidence the defense should be given access to, and since that is likely to be a lengthy process, he has delayed the trial’s start date from January 2nd to April 25th. U.S. foreign policy on the Middle East has become a revolving door between the lobby and the three major policymakers, the Pentagon, the Department of State, and the national security council.

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