AIPAC's New Political Action Committees: Implications for America - Walter Hixson, Janet McMahon and Grant F. Smith

Expert analysis of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's (AIPAC) interaction with political action committees (PACs). We also explored what factors may be driving AIPAC to be more interested in tightly coordinating campaign spending. Finally, discussed what impact this may have on Americans and take questions from participants.

Janet McMahon, Founding Managing Editor at the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs

Dr. Walter L. Hixson, Distinguished Historian and Author and Columnist, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and author of the new book Architects of Repression: How Israel and Its Lobby Put Racism, Violence and Injustice at the Center of US Middle East Policy

Grant F. Smith, Director of Research at IRmep and author of numerous books about AIPAC and the Israel lobby.

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As'ad AbuKhalil is a professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus. He is the author of Historical Dictionary of Lebanon (1998), Bin Laden, Islam, and America's New 'War on Terrorism' (2002) and The Battle for Saudi Arabia: Royalty, Fundamentalism, and Global Power (2003).

The Israel lobby and U.S. mainstream media both hail the recent "normalization" between Israel, the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan as major accomplishments. Not so, says Professor AbuKhalil. Sudan, "long a battleground for Cold War intrigues," agreed to recognize Israel in return for Washington lifting debilitating sanctions. Key regional powers, such as Saudi Arabia with its 2002 peace plan, long demanded that Israel withdraw from Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem in return for full normalization. Now that the Kushner "deal of the century" has failed, the "alternative was a quick scheme to bolster the sagging fortunes of the Trump" administration with "normalization." The real architect of normalization, AbulKhalil argues, was none other than Binyamin Netanyahu.

But what about public opinion in Arab countries? Does it favor normalization before justice for Palestinians? Will a Biden administration continue the policy of coerced normalization? Would the promised "economic relief" to Arab countries signing recognition deals with Israel ever arrive? Will burgeoning U.S. arms shipments pave the way for a new arms race in the region?

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American journalist Ali Abunimah is co-founder of the Electronic Intifada and author of "One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israel-Palestine Impasse'' and "The Battle for Justice in Palestine." He discussed post-election administration policy on key issues. Will the administration demand any pause to illegal Israeli settlements? Will Israel be successful in continuing to use the coercive power of the U.S. State Department and other key agencies to demand Arab nations establish formal ties with Israel? Will the drive to label human rights organizations as "anti-Semitic” prevail?

Abunimah also discussed growing social media censorship of Palestinians and their allies. Facebook has repeatedly shut down the Gaza Health Ministry even as the COVID-19 pandemic began taking its toll. In addition, Facebook colludes with the Israeli occupation authorities—including appointing an Israeli government spokesperson to its "oversight board"—to shut down the accounts of dozens of Palestinian publications and journalists "on the Israeli-supplied pretext that criticism of Israel and its crimes against Palestinians constitute ‘incitement.’”

Meanwhile, Facebook has given free reign to Israel lobby influence and disinformation campaigns across its platform. But Americans can successfully fight back. Abunimah discusses his own winning tactics and strategies for pushing back against censorship by American social media giants, and takes questions from webinar attendees.

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Grant F. Smith is the author of seven books about the Israel lobby, and research director of IRmep. His most recent books are "Big Israel: How Israel's Lobby Moves America" (2016) and "The Israel Lobby Enters State Government: Rise of the Virginia Israel Advisory Board" (2019).

Continuing an election year tradition, Smith presented his most recent research findings about Israel affinity organization legislative, executive agency and state government lobbying initiatives. He discussed in depth the trajectory, roles and relative importance of Jewish establishment lobbying (such as AIPAC and the Zionist Organization of America) vs. relatively more recent Christian Zionist lobbying.

Smith also explored the Israel lobby's latest major program—importing and subsidizing Israeli companies to compete with domestic U.S. companies. As a case study, Smith gave an update on recent initiatives and the cloud of corruption enveloping the Virginia Israel Advisory Board.

Smith's 2016 election year roundup has more than 37,000 YouTube views. A presentation of key findings from his book "Big Israel" is now approaching 100,000 YouTube views.

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Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, an organizer with Jewish Voice for Peace, described Jewish Zionism as a failing ideology for many younger American Jews who reject Israel’s oppressive occupation policies and bellicose actions toward Iran, as well as the relationship between U.S. and Israeli militarism. But how will this impact their future as activists in electoral politics? Will they remain mostly captive to the Democratic Party, voicing opposition while accepting candidates captured and mentored by AIPAC?

Allan C. Brownfeld, American Council for Judaism, discussed the growing disillusionment of American Jews, and some Israelis, with the Jewish state and Zionism. Young American Jews who champion civil rights at home, including the right to vote, freedom of movement, due process and equality, realize that Israel is denying those same basic rights to Palestinians. Peter Beinart, Seth Rogen, Marc Maron and other Jewish Americans who are urging Israel to dismantle its apartheid policies face bitter attacks from the Israel lobby and Jewish Establishment organizations, charging they’ve “crossed a line.” Brownfeld offered some suggestions about how progressive Jewish voters can influence both the Democratic and Republican parties.

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University of Massachusetts Professor Emeritus Sut Jhally presented key findings from, and comments on, select clips shown from his 2016 documentary, "The Occupation of the American Mind," which analyzes pro-Israel public relations efforts within the U.S. Featuring leading observers of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and U.S. media, the film explores how the pro-Israel lobby shapes American media coverage of the conflict in Israel's favor. From the U.S.-based public relations campaigns that emerged in the 1980s to today, the film provides a sweeping analysis of Israel’s decades-long battle for the hearts, minds, and tax dollars of the American people in the face of widening international condemnation of Israel's human rights violations and military occupation. Jhally also analyzed whether the news media have been getting better—or worse—since the documentary was produced, and whether election-season news coverage is likely to cover—or cover up—growing challenges to standard pro-Israel narratives and politics.

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