Racism: The Arab Mind

The “Arab Mind”

“Both U.S. and Israeli elites have always believed that the Arabs need to be kept subordinate. However, once the U.S. solidified its alliance with Israel after June 1967, it began to look at Israelis ­ and Israelis projected themselves ­ as experts on the “Arab mind.” Accordingly, the alliance with Israel has abetted the most truculent U.S. policies, Israelis believing that “Arabs only understand the language of force” and every few years this or that Arab country needs to be smashed up. The spectrum of U.S. policy differences might be narrow, but in terms of impact on the real lives of real people in the Arab world these differences are probably meaningful, the Israeli influence making things worse.” Norman Finkelstein

The above Finkelstein quote makes reference to a book called “the arab mind” the Guardian has an article on this titled “its best use is as a doorstop”

Labour Friends of Israel in the House

Muhammad Idrees Ahmad, March 21, 2005

The Labour Friends of Israel has become a powerful lobbyist for Zionist and Israeli interests in the UK. This article is an introduction to the new Spinwatch Profile, telling a hidden story of power and influence. The OrganizationLabour Friends of Israel (LFI) is a Westminister based pro-Israel lobby group working within the British Labour party. It is considered one of the most prestigious groupings in the party and is seen as a stepping stone to ministerial ranks by Labour MPs. LFI boasts some of the wealthiest supporters of the party, and some of its most generous donors, such as Lord Sainsbury of Turville, Michael Levy, Sir Trevor Chinn and Sir Emmanuel Kaye[1]. The committee wields considerable influence in Westminster and is also consulted routinely by the Foreign Office and Downing Street on matters relating to the Middle East. Tony Blair is known to consult its members over Middle East policy[2]. The body also has Tory and Liberal Democrat sister organizations. Labour MP Gwyneth Dunwoody, chairman of the Commons transport select committee, is the life president of LFI, while David Mencer is its current director.

Franklin Lamb: Driving Miss Condi

It was one of those bleak, wet and cold London mornings back on January 18, 1990 when this observer exited the Marks and Spencer’s store on Oxford Street, having purchased a Scottish Shetland wool cardigan for protection against the damp chill. As he walked to the Underground he noticed that some of the London street corner tabloids were running full page photos of his former boss, the Mayor of Washington DC.

The police photo showed Marion Shepilov Barry, Jr. finally caught in a police sting after a decade of government attempts, pulling hard on a hit of crack cocaine after complaining to his sister, Ms. Hazel ‘Rasheeda’ Moore that she was taking too long in the Vista Hotel bathroom and her presence would be appreciated in the bedroom.

BBC covers the Israel Lobby debate

• US storm over book on the Israel Lobby
• Text: Mearsheimer and Walt interview

The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy

Walt and Mearsheimer’s book on the Israel Lobby has now been published.  For anyone thats not read it yet, I recommend their article “The Israel lobby,” then I’m sure you’ll have to get the book.

 Mondoweiss wrote a good review of it that mentions its relevence to Lebanon –

I realize I have not mentioned one fact from the book. Let me do that. I will pick out one story that tells it all.
Halfway through the 2006 Lebanon War, Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen–having heroically knocked off a Republican in 2004 over the incumbent’s Iraq War vote–wrote a sharp letter to Condoleezza Rice urging the U.S. to pressure Israel to cease fire. Israel had caused “large loss of civilian life, and produced over 750,000 refugees.” It had weakened the Lebanese government and strengthened Hezbollah.  “We have squandered an opportunity to isolate Hezbollah…” Etc.

The bravery of Van Hollen’s letter was that an antiwar congressman was speaking the truth at a moment it needed to be spoken. If America could have served any purpose in that war, it should have been to hold Israel back, or say, This is not good. Van Hollen was stomped on. Right after the letter, Schmuel Rosner clucked in Haaretz that Van Hollen was to meet with AIPAC and “he will hear that this was an unacceptable move.” An unacceptable move for a U.S. Congressman to open his mouth against an Israeli war, having gained his seat by opposing the Iraq War. Then Van Hollen issued an apology. This wasn’t enough. The Jewish Community Relations Council of Washington said he had to reach out to the Jewish community to undo the damage. The ADL said the apology wasn’t convincing in light of the anti-Israel character of the letter. After the war, Van Hollen duly went to Israel on a special AIPAC-affiliated junket, to learn the error of his ways.

And meanwhile, AIPAC’s president crowed in a letter to supporters:  “Look what you’ve done!… Only ONE nation in the world came out and flatly declared: Let Israel finish the job. That nation is the United States… and the reason it had such a clear, unambiguous view of the situation is YOU and the rest of American Jewry.”

Look what they’d done. The Lebanon war stopped two weeks later, and we all know now what had taken place: a disaster. Something like 50 Israelis killed and 1000 Lebanese, the southern Lebanese infrastructure destroyed, including hospitals and stores and bridges–for what, for nothing. As Van Hollen understood, Hezbollah was empowered. Nasrallah became a hero. The IDF hostages weren’t released. And Israel has since experienced a sense of desperate waste. The Israeli army chief of staff, who called in his stock sales just before the war began, was dismissed. And southern Lebanon was strewn with illegal cluster bombs, so that Lebanese children are dismembered to this day.

Badruddin Khan: AIPAC Intervenes on Iran

It has happened again, and in the open. The American Israeli Political Action Committee (AIPAC) which heads a network of pro-Israeli lobbies, persuaded Congress to drop a provision which would have required President Bush to ask for Congressional approval prior to attacking Iran.

As reported in the May 16, 2007 issue of The Hill:

“The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), an influential group that advocates strong U.S. ties with Israel, lobbied heavily to remove the Iran provision in the supplemental, arguing that the measure would weaken President Bush’s attempts to dissuade Iran from developing nuclear weapons.”

This intervention by AIPAC to permit President Bush to act without Congressional debate was widely reported, as was AIPAC’s earlier intervention with a supplemental budget bill.

In other words, a Democratic Congress elected to end the Iraq war has willingly given up its right (and responsibility) to engage in public debate prior to a new act of war against Iran, a sovereign nation. By voting to look the other way, Congress has left this war decision to the discretion of an unpopular president, who has already failed once.

read the rest: Badruddin Khan: AIPAC Intervenes on Iran

Know your enemy – Frances FM Kouchner

Kouchner, a former French minister of humanitarian affairs, last went to Lebanon in an official capacity during the civil war.

“You know how much I feel personally attached to Lebanon,” he said.

French FM pledges support for Lebanon government | Ya Libnan | Lebanon News Live from Beirut

So what makes Kouchner so much more appealing to Israel?

Kouchner, who was born to a Jewish father and a Protestant mother, is close to right-wing Jewish MP Pierre Lellouche, who advises Sarkozy on international issues. And Kouchner received an honorary degree from Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba at the height of the second intifada…

Kouchner at the diplomatic helm, coupled with the new American-style National Security Adviser Jean-David Levitte – former French ambassador to Washington – Sarkozy is making good on his pledge of support to his American friends.

Kouchner and Levitte broke ranks with the French government in 2003, refusing to oppose the invasion of Iraq. Kouchner published an article in Le Monde arguing the positives in toppling Saddam Hussein.

Meanwhile in Israel, some have already registered their satisfaction:

Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu has said that with the coming to power of his friend Sarkozy, he expects French Middle East policy “will no longer be characterized by reflective anti-Israelism.”

For the full article see the Fanonites site –

Bernard Kouchner: Israel Got Lucky « The Fanonite

Oxford Union: Israel Lobby Stifling Debate

The motion: This house believes the pro-Israel lobby has successfully stifled Western debate about Israel’s actions. Debaters: Norman Finkelstein, Andrew Cockburn, Martin Indyk, David Aaronovitch

The Oxford Union passed a motion this week blaming a pro-Israeli lobby for limiting the West’s capacity for free debate about the Middle East.

Two-thirds of the student audience voted that “This house believes the pro-Israeli lobby has successfully stifled Western debate about Israel’s actions.”

The debate was organised by Qatar-organization promoting free speech in the Arab world, Doha Debate, whose previous debates on the role of Hizbollah, the importance of Middle East oil and the impact of Iran on global security have earned international recognition.

This event was the group’s first conference outside Qatar, and participants included prominent journalists and academics from the West, including host and former BBC presenter Tim Sebastian.

The Israel Factor: Ranking the Presidential Candidates

A review to see who is kissing the most ass. Seems like they’re all in the race for the “best for Israel” prize with some doing better than others.

Haaretz: The Israel Factor Ranking US Presidentail Candidates

“I don’t think there is any nation that would not have reacted the way Israel did after two soldiers had been snatched. I support Israel’s response to take some action in protecting themselves.” (August 22, 2006) Barak Obama

“I don’t fault Israel for wanting to rid their border with Lebanon from those Katyusha missiles that can fire in and harm Israeli citizens, so I think that any cease fire would have to be premised on the removal of those missiles.” (July 2006)  Barak Obama

With Barack Obama getting a score of 3.88 out of 10 ( ten is “best for Israel”, one is “worst for Israel”) now up to 5.13 following his policy speech to AIPAC, the Israel lobby group, we can only imagine what you have to say to be getting scores like  Hilary Clintons 7.5

A few other quotes from the site

 The Senator for New York and former First Lady supports moving the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.  [Jerusalem was origionally to be internationalised in UN resolution 181 belonging to neither side as its to significant, in the 67 war Israel also occupied more of the city and is called on to withdraw from these sections in UN resolution 242, so this is a very bias statement]

“The security and freedom of Israel must be decisive and remain at the core of any American approach to the Middle East. This has been a hallmark of American foreign policy for more than 50 years and we must not – dare not – waver from this commitment.”

Hilary Clinton

“The people of Jerusalem and the people of New York City are shoulder-to-shoulder; and the people of America and the people of Israel are shoulder-to-shoulder in the fight against terrorism.” (Jerusalem, December 2001)

In 1995, Giuliani had late Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat ejected from a concert at the Lincoln Center in New York

Rudy Giuliani, Republican

The former Vice President attended the celebrations in Jerusalem to mark the State of Israel’s 50th anniversary.

“This is our responsibility: to safeguard Israel and to do the work of building peace with security.” (AIPAC conference, May 2000)

Al Gore

The Rats in Israel’s Cellar: Gulf Sheikhs and the ADC

More from “The Fanonite” 

As I had pointed out in an earlier post, the history of Arab betrayal of the Palestinian cause is about as old as the issue itself. No one — not even the otherwise sympathetic Nasser — dared to intervene to end Israel’s brutalities as they peaked. Hizbullah’s intervention last year was unique in this regard. It drew Israel out in order to ease the pressure off the defenceless Palestinian population as it was being bludgeoned in Gaza. No wonder then that all the Arab states that have long failed the Palestinians feel insecure under present conditions. In order to mask their failures they have instead embarked on a campaign to undermine Hizbullah and defame Iran, the only state that offered monitary relief to the beleaguered Palestinians, when the rest of the Arab world was carrying out Israel’s edict in strangling them for voting according to their own – as opposed to Israel’s — wishes in the last election.

Israel’s escalating assault on the Palestinians has apparently impressed Gulf Arabs. Since last year’s war, the Gulf Arabs, Jordan and Egypt have had increasing contact with the Israelis and there appears an imminent thaw in relations. Even before the Lebanon war, Robert Fisk wrote:

Self-deception is one of the characteristics of the Middle East narrative. Whenever wars and political upheavals tear the region apart, someone will claim that life is improving, that peace may yet be discovered. And so it is today. As Iraq collapses deeper into anarchy, the US has been trying to push the Arab Gulf states into opening relations with Israel.

Qatar did that long ago and has agreed to expand its trade. But Kuwaitis are now talking openly of ties with Israel and of ending their long-standing trade embargo. Bahrain, home to the US Seventh Fleet, has already lifted its trade sanctions as part of a recent free-trade agreement with the US. Beyond the Gulf, Tunisia’s foreign minister has held talks with Israel’s foreign minister, Silvan Shalom.

It isn’t much of a surprise then that Bahrain should not only host members of AJC, the foreign policy arm of the Israel Lobby, but also defend them as justified. AJC, of course, is delighted.

“Even though AJC members are part of the Israeli lobby in the States, we need to interact with them. They are very powerful and influential at all levels in America and dealing with them is a necessity. Only now are Arabs trying to build ties with them in order to understand them. If you want to win people over, you do not fight them,” [Foreign Minister Khalid Bin Ahmad al-Khalifa] said.

Meanwhile Syria was recently graced by the presence of AIPAC’s own Nancy Pelosi and Tom Lantos (along with Keith “Uncle Tom” Ellison). The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee — believe it or not — wants you to thank  her for this, even though while she has said she won’t rest until the Israeli soldiers in Hizbullah custody are released, she hasn’t had a word to say about the Palestinians.

Jeffrey Blankfort writes:

Once again, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee has released a bewildering statement that reflects, on the part of the writer, a myopic view of US foreign policy and the role that the Zionist lobby plays in its formation. While it is no doubt better that American politicians visit Syria rather than bomb or invade it, this statement totally ignores the acknowledged admission by Pelosi, a long-time lobby lackey, that she was carrying Israel’s water to Damascus as much as she was carrying that of the US or Congress. This included requests for Syria to pressure Hizbollah to release the two Israeli soldiers captured in Lebanon, for Hamas to release the Israeli soldier captured on the Gaza border, as well as for Syria to stop supporting both Hizbollah and Hamas and to cut off its ties to Iran. Pelosi has never once mentioned the suffering of the Palestinian or Lebanese people caused by Israel over the past five decades nor expressed any concern for the thousands that Israeli has imprisoned in contravention of international law over the years.

I seriously doubt whether this is the viewpoint of the membership of ADC which deserves better at this critical moment. I would expect such a statement from Jim Zogby’s American Arab Inst. which has a long history of making “nice-nice” with the Democrats, but not from the ADC. I have sent a copy of this message to christine@adc.org, the apparent author of this statement. I would suggest that you do that, too. -JB

PACing in the Marionettes: AIPAC In the Spotlight

March 17th, 2007

Gregory Levey, a former speech writer for past Israeli governments, brings some interesting stories from inside the annual AIPAC conference ranging from the outrageous to hilarious, which highlight the almost total grip of the Israel Lobby on US foreign policy. 

To begin with, there is the conservative Christian couple from eastern Tennessee whose son decided to join the Israeli army; they were there because “We just love God, and we just love Israel.”

Amid the “energized and at times almost circuslike atmosphere”, Levey writes, everyone shared ”two main preoccupations: the 2008 U.S. presidential election and confronting Iran.” 

“For those feeling apocalyptic about the turmoil in the Middle East” he writes, “ pastor John Hagee was there to greet them”.

“The sleeping giant of Christian Zionism has awoken!” Hagee proclaimed…The electrified crowd — most of it Jewish — roared in support, pounding on the tables. Hagee went on to declare the United Nations a “political brothel” and asserted that Israel must never give up land…granting part of Jerusalem to the Palestinians would be “tantamount to turning it over to the Taliban.” And, after rebuking Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he led the crowd in a chant of “Israel lives!” urging them to “shout it from the mountaintops!”

Hagee reportedly got one of the most enthusiastic receptions — one AIPAC delegate was moved to declare, “I’m going to vote for him instead of McCain.”

Target Iran

Many rank-and-file members of AIPAC seemed to be spoiling for military action against Iran — “We have to do to them what we did to Saddam,” one delegate told me — but AIPAC’s leadership remained strikingly circumspect about it…At times this put them at odds with the grass-roots delegates; Marvin Feuer, AIPAC’s director of policy and government affairs, was verbally attacked by a conference attendee as “weak” when he downplayed military options against Iran during a Q&A session.

But AIPAC leaders are pushing for a different kind of offensive against Iran: a new program of sanctions much harsher than any prior one imposed through the United Nations. The plan, which one panelist called a “quiet campaign” to strike at Iran on the financial battlefield, would include increased pressures on foreign allies who do business with Iran, a U.S.-wide campaign of divestment, and other measures intended to put crippling economic pressure on the Islamic republic…on Tuesday, the organization deployed its army of lobbyists to push for new sanctions against Iran, which are contained in a new bill called the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act, introduced by Democrat Tom Lantos and Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs… [More on the two warmongers here]

Modus Operandi

When the thousands of lobbyists descended on Capitol Hill, they were greeted by nearly every U.S. senator and more than half the members of the House of Representatives — approximately 500 meetings were held between AIPAC representatives and members of Congress on Tuesday alone. In addition to pushing for the sanctions plan, the goal was to showcase the strength of AIPAC and establish more ties for future communication and lobbying.

The AIPAC activists were aided in their mission by some members of Congress themselves, who advised them how to reach out to their colleagues.

“Our commitment to Israel defines us as a nation,” said Republican Norm Coleman of Minnesota, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, adding that the AIPAC lobbyists “help make sure that we don’t forget.”

Strategic Asset?

For a long time, we have heard from Noam Chomsky and legions of others who parrot his every word that Israel is a “strategic asset”. If that is so, then should there be a need to keep stressing this point? 

Nita Lowey, a Democratic representative from New York, said the best strategy toward that goal was to keep pointing out to lawmakers that the relationship with Israel “is in the U.S. interest.”

Is It Effective?

While AIPAC itself has never been modest about its power, some, like As’ad AbuKhalil have suggested that like any other lobby they have an interest in exaggerating their power. Is that really so? 

“I don’t sit behind my desk and come up with this stuff,” Coleman said, stressing that he often consulted AIPAC executive director Howard Kohr for policy advice. Barbara Mikulski, a Democrat from Maryland, said that she, too, often spoke to Kohr and others in the AIPAC leadership. “They’re like daily phone calls,” she said, as other Democratic and Republican members of Congress onstage nodded in agreement…

Even if Democrats and Republicans bicker on every other issue, AIPAC leaders seemed constantly eager to stress that one thing on which the parties can come together is unswerving devotion to Israel. Tuesday morning…for example, Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Republican Minority Leader John Boehner each addressed the delegates, assuring them of a staunch commitment to Israel’s security…Boehner…got a standing ovation, after saying, “Who does not believe that failure in Iraq is not a direct threat to the state of Israel?”…

Tha Marionettes

The closing gala dinner on Monday night was attended by a who’s who of Washington’s A-list. At that event, AIPAC’s executive members…read what they excitedly referred to as “the roll call” of those in attendance. It took 13 minutes and included the bulk of Congress, as well as high-ranking officials from the White House, the State Department and the National Security Council. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert…waded into America’s debate over Iraq in a manner that the Israeli leadership has avoided until now. He openly urged AIPAC delegates to push Congress to support the Bush administration’s current strategy in Iraq…

Joe Biden made sure his presence was registered. “Hi, I’m Joe Biden!” he said repeatedly, adding several times, “I’ve been hanging out with AIPAC for years!” …

Clinton and Obama held competing dessert receptions in the conference center…both eager to highlight their pro-Israel credentials… “I can’t decide,” one AIPAC delegate said. “I’d really like to see Obama in person, but Hillary is better for Israel”…

Obama had recently said, “Nobody is suffering more than the Palestinian people” at a recent event in Iowa — a statement that served to anger some AIPAC delegates. 

Whose President?

Bush’s popularity ratings have recently dropped to record lows. The overwhelming majority of Americans seem to detest him. Is there anyone who still supports this man?

During the opening night’s events, large video screens behind the speaker’s podium showed a chronological slide show of U.S. presidents and their Israeli prime minister contemporaries, and when the display eventually reached George W. Bush, the room erupted into applause — far more applause than the crowd had given for Reagan, Kennedy or even Truman. And when Cheney first appeared on the stage on Monday morning, the crowd immediately rose to its feet and filled the room with loud applause…It seemed a remarkable contrast to the currently dismal public opinion polls regarding Bush and Cheney. As one delegate standing nearby commented during the vice president’s speech, “This has got to be the last crowd that still greets him this way.”

The Levee Breaks

Kudos to Mearsheimer & Walt for finally making discussion of the Israel Lobby’s inordinate influence over US foreign policy part of the mainstream debate. In “Taming Leviathan“, the Economist has a surprisingly critical look at the Lobby’s influence.

These are both the best of times and the worst of times for the American-Jewish lobby

THIS week saw yet another reminder of the awesome power of “the lobby”. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) brought more than 6,000 activists to Washington for its annual policy conference. And they proceeded to live up to their critics’ darkest fears.

They heard from the four most powerful people on Capitol Hill—Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner from the House, Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell from the Senate—as well as the vice-president (who called his talk “The United States and Israel: United We Stand”) and sundry other power-brokers…The display of muscle was almost equalled by the display of unnerving efficiency…The only discordant note was sounded by a group of a dozen protesters—Orthodox Jews in beards, side-curls and heavy black coats—holding up signs saying “Stop AIPAC”, “Torah forbids Jews dictating foreign policy”, and “Judaism rejects the state of Israel”.

The lobbyists had every reason to feel proud of their work. Congress has more Jewish members than ever before: 30 in the House and a remarkable 13 in the Senate…Both parties are competing with each other to be the “soundest” on Israel. About two-thirds of Americans hold a favourable view of the place.

Yet they have reason to feel a bit nervous, too. The Iraq debacle has produced a fierce backlash against pro-war hawks, of which AIPAC was certainly one. It has also encouraged serious people to ask awkward questions about America’s alliance with Israel. And a growing number of people want to push against AIPAC. One pressure group, the Council for the National Interest—run by two retired congressmen, Paul Findley, a Republican, and James Abourezk, a Democrat—even bills itself as the anti-AIPAC. The Leviathan may be mightier than ever, but there are more and more Captain Ahabs trying to get their harpoons in…

But so far their performance has been unimpressive…Between 1990 and 2004 Arab-Americans donated $788,968 to candidates and parties, compared with $56.8m from pro-Israeli groups…

Dissenting voices

An even bigger threat to AIPAC comes from the general climate of opinion. It is suddenly becoming possible for serious people—politicians and policymakers as well as academics—to ask hard questions about America’s relationship with Israel…

Zbigniew Brzezinski, a former national security adviser, worries that America is seen in the Middle East as “acting increasingly on behalf of Israel”. Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, has compared the situation in Palestine to segregation, and argued that there could “be no greater legacy for America than to help bring into being a Palestinian state”. Philip Zelikow, her former counsellor, argues, in diplomatic language, that the only way to create a viable coalition against terrorists that includes Europeans, moderate Arabs and Israelis, is a “sense that Arab-Israeli issues are being addressed”.

SOURCE

2008 Memo: Don’t Mess With Israel

Did John Edwards risk the implosion of his 2008 presidential campaign by stating that Israel is the biggest threat to world peace? His staff just sent me an email rejecting the charge, a sure sign they are very worried it could spread.

John Edwards may have made a damaging gaffe

One of the most striking differences between the UK and US is the staunch backing here for Israel among Democrats and Republicans alike. Pro-Israel groups are highly influential. Many of the biggest US campaign contributors are Jewish-Americans in Manhattan and Hollywood. Unequivocal support for Israel is a virtual sine qua non for being elected nationally.

Would Edwards be that foolish? What did he say? It’s not yet clear and even in this YouTube age, there might be no video clip because the offending words were allegedly uttered at a private event. If things were as they have been portrayed, then he’s in deep doo doo – even if it wasn’t exactly a Mel Gibson moment.

In classic 21st Century fashion, the claim spread like wildfire via the Internet. First, it was buried in indirect speech and in the 5th paragraph of a Variety column.

Peter Bart, the Variety columnist, referred to a fundraiser for Edwards held by Adam Venit, a partner at the agency Endeavor along with Ari Emanuel, a Barack Obama supporter whose brother Congressman Rahm Emanuel is a prominent Hillary Clinton ally (for now at least).

Hollywood, you see, is divided over who to support in 2008 (this was the subject of the column). A few are even considering voting for – gasp – a Republican – most notably Rudy Giuliani, who is set to be endorsed by Brad Grey, of Sopranos fame.

But I digress. The key Variety paragraph read: “The aggressively photogenic John Edwards was cruising along, detailing his litany of liberal causes last week until, during question time, he invoked the “I” word – Israel. Perhaps the greatest short-term threat to world peace, Edwards remarked, was the possibility that Israel would bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities. As a chill descended on the gathering, the Edwards event was brought to a polite close.”

This was picked up by National Review Online and cited as a “little gem” (http://hillaryspot.nationalreview.com/) . Next, boom – the megasite Drudge Report  saw it and linked with a headline: “Edwards: Israel greatest short-term threat to world peace.”

The Edwards campaign email, sent out within an hour or so of the item appearing on Drudge, stated that Variety “inaccurately quotes Senator John Edwards”. Of course, it didn’t quote him – it reported his speech. And accusing someone of misquoting is dangerous when you aren’t prepared to produce the real quote yourself.

Jonathan Prince, Edwards’s press secretary, said in the email: “The January 19th Variety article is erroneous. Senator Edwards did not say nor does he believe that the greatest short-term threat to world peace is the possibility that Israel would bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities. Senator Edwards said, as he has in the past, that Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon is one of the greatest short-term threats to world peace.”

This may well not lay the matter to rest because it did not include Edwards’s words, which his staff presumably taped.

I’m currently reading Paul Taylor’s superb “See How They Run”, about the 1988 US election campaign. In it, he reminds the reader of the old adage that you don’t issue a denial of a rumour or an erroneous story because that gives the press the hook to write about it.

That that no longer holds true – partly because of the internet but also because the 1992 Clinton campaign “war room” and New Labour’s subsequent “rapid rebuttal unit” in the 1997 election showed that striking back swiftly and fiercely pays dividends.

But to kill a rumour rather than give it more legs, the rebuttal needs to be comprehensive and persuasive. Has Edwards achieved that? Perhaps not.

New Pro Israel Lobby will be created in Europe

Elders of Zion to Meet in Brussels Graveyard

New Pro Israel Lobby will be created in Europe

09.07.2006 | Israel Today
by Staff Writer

A gala event in Brussels next week will celebrate the creation of a new pro-Israel lobby in Europe, similar to the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) operating in the United States.

The organization, “European Friends of Israel,” already has 150 members from the European Parliament. The body is backed financially by Jewish businessmen. Lobby members decided to make their activities as a pan-European lobby official and to network Israel supporters among members of the European Parliament and in national parliaments where no such lobby currently exists. The organization also aims to strengthen ties between existing pro-Israel groups across the continent and to help to improve Israel’s image in Europe.

The opening event will host Knesset members from Israel. The Israeli Foreign Ministry gave its blessing to the formation of the organization and instructed its European embassies to assist and cooperate with it. Officials in the Foreign Ministry said that it is an important initiative in light of the current relationship between Israel and the European Union.

Michel Gur-Ari, head of the organization, said that the lobby intends to help transform Europe into an ally of Israel.

Gala launches ‘European Friends of Israel’

Hundreds of European and Israeli politicians, parliament members, other senior officials attend formal induction in Brussels of new organization of European supporters of Israel. EFI rep: Aim is to unite supporters of Israel into political force that will aid political-diplomatic arena, commerce

09.14.2006 | YnetNews.com
by Ronny Sofer

During the induction ceremony of a new organization of European Friends of Israel (EFI) at the European parliament in Brussels, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert noted that Europe had a key role in building the diplomatic process in the Middle East. Olmert made the comments in a pre-filmed address broadcast at the formal launch party.

Olmert further reiterated that he was willing to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas without preconditions

The gala event to launch the pan-European pro-Israel body, which unites hundreds of EU parliament members, was attended by a number of Knesset members including Limor Livnat, Danny Yatom, Amira Dotan and Avshalom Vilan.

Knesset Chairman Dalia Itzik and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who is currently on a diplomatic visit in New York, also sent missives to the participants in the event.

Some 200 European parliament members attended the launch, which was held in Brussels, Belgium. Likewise, representatives of the Israeli aerial industry, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, the Technion and other Israeli bodies also attended. Special displays on Israel were presented in the reception hall.

Representative of EFI in Israel, Yehoshua Mor Yosef, said that this was the first time an effort was being made to join forces among European supporters of Israel.

“The aim is to unite all supporters of Israel to a political force that will aid not only in the political-diplomatic arena but also in the issue of trade in Europe. The even was held with the blessing of the Israeli Foreign Ministry and it will help publicize Israel in this area. I see great importance in this development and in Europe’s continued support of Israel,” Mor Yosef said.