Israel Lobby Watch

Alan Dershowitz either cannot or refuses to understand why there is a controversy surrounding The Case for Israel. Perhaps Norman Finkelstein can enlighten him. Quite simply, the book he claims to have written is a hoax: (1) substantial swatches are lifted from another notorious hoax on the Israel-Palestine conflict, (2) it is replete with egregious falsifications, and (3) the few scholarly sources actually cited are mangled beyond recognition.

Harvard’s university paper The Harvard Crimson reports about Norman Finkelstein’s charge of Alan M. Dershowitz’ commitment of plagiarism in his recent book The Case for Israel.

On MSNBC’s Scarborough Country on Sept. 8 2003, renowned appellate lawyer, Harvard Law professor and author Alan Dershowitz says: “I will give $10,000 to the PLO…if you can find a historical fact in my book that you can prove to be false.” The book Dershowitz refers to is his latest work The Case For Israel. Professor Norman Finkelstein takes him on by charging that Dershowitz makes numerous factual errors in his book.

According to the Dutch daily De Volkskrant, the Jewish Defence League was established this summer in Holland. For the first time this Sunday they demonstrated in the Hague in front of the American and Israeli embassies. Although banned in Israel, JDL-Holland is free to intimidate.

In the rare event of articles critical of Israel breaking into the mainstream US media, a flood of denunciations from letter writers and Zionist lobby groups usually follows. Editors insist that their coverage is not affected by such tactics. But the truth is that these well-financed groups believe it is worth investing huge amounts of time, energy, and money in organising these campaigns. On 27 May 2003, a commentary piece by British journalist Jonathan Cook, entitled “A cage for Palestinians: A 1,000-kilometer fence preempts the road map”, was published in the International Herald Tribune. EI’s Nigel Parry looks at one instance of the lobby in action.

”I’m an Israeli at heart,” U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay told the Israeli Knesset in a recent address. DeLay made his trip just as the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers were in Washington to meet with President Bush. DeLay took with him a message of total opposition to Bush’s road map and to a two-state solution. Calling on Israel to ignore the ceasefire that has brought calm to Israel’s streets for the first time in years, DeLay urged Israel to continue killing Palestinians. EI’s Ali Abunimah takes a look at DeLay’s visit, the Christian Zionist movement he represents, and how they work against peace for Israelis and Palestinians.

Today after a contentious executive session of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on the nomination of Daniel Pipes to the board of the U.S. Institute for Peace, the Committee lost a working quorum. Based on an AAI initiative, organizations present agreed that they would send a joint letter to the White House asking that the President withdraw this nominee from consideration. During the Committee’s discussion of the Pipes nomination, it became clear that many of the Senators had questions and concerns regarding whether or not Pipes should serve on the Board of the United States Institute of Peace. The ranking Democratic member, Senator Edward Kennedy, noted his dismay regarding Pipes offensive and alarmist quotes about “brown-skinned” immigrants. Arab American Intitute Communications Director Jennifer Salan reports.

The American Association for Palestinian Equal Rights (AAPER) is one of the newest organizations in Washington, DC. Launched this week as America’s pro-Palestine, pro-peace, pro-human rights lobby, AAPER’s mission is to educate the American public about Palestinians’ human and national rights, as well as the US government’s role in the Arab-Israeli relationship. Electronic Intifada co-founder Laurie King-Irani recently interviewed AAPER’s founder, George Naggiar, about his formative influences, guiding visions, and ultimate goals for this new and unique lobbying organization.