Comments on: AIPAC vs J Street & Darcy Burner http://washingtonindependent.com/756/aipac-vs-j-street-darcy-burner National News in Context Thu, 26 Nov 2009 03:17:03 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: morriea http://washingtonindependent.com/756/aipac-vs-j-street-darcy-burner/comment-page-1#comment-92994 morriea Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:56:43 +0000 http://www.washingtonindependent.com.php5-9.websitetestlink.com/?p=756#comment-92994 It's not surprising that AIPAC is exerting political pressure on members of Congress not to attend next week's J Street conference in Washington (Oct. 25-28). AIPAC feels threatened (and rightfully so) by J Street, a pro-peace and alternative pro-Israel lobby that is gaining legitimacy in the nation's capital. <br><br>AIPAC smear campaigns against pro-peace Jewish activists and groups like J Street are nothing new. AIPAC's concerted efforts to discredit Jewish critics of Israeli policies are well documented.<br><br>An August 1992 Village Voice article by journalist Robert I. Friedman revealed that a unit of AIPAC investigated and harassed dovish Jewish groups advocating land for peace. The AIPAC office, known as Policy Analysis, maintained files for the purpose of discrediting pro-peace groups like Americans for Peace Now and the Jewish Peace Lobby.<br><br>A former AIPAC staffer, Gregory Slabodkin, was the source for Friedman's article and provided internal documents to support his charges.<br><br>"The mandate of Policy Analysis (formerly Opposition Research) is to monitor, analyze and respond to anti-Israeli activities in the United States," the head of the office, Michael Lewis, wrote in an internal memo in August 1990. "Arab Americans are by no means our sole concern. New Jewish Agenda, the Jewish Peace Lobby and the Jewish Committee on the Middle East to name but some of the more prominent organizations, were all formed in the past few years."<br><br>J Street is just the latest target for AIPAC's smear tactics. It's not surprising that AIPAC is exerting political pressure on members of Congress not to attend next week's J Street conference in Washington (Oct. 25-28). AIPAC feels threatened (and rightfully so) by J Street, a pro-peace and alternative pro-Israel lobby that is gaining legitimacy in the nation's capital.

AIPAC smear campaigns against pro-peace Jewish activists and groups like J Street are nothing new. AIPAC's concerted efforts to discredit Jewish critics of Israeli policies are well documented.

An August 1992 Village Voice article by journalist Robert I. Friedman revealed that a unit of AIPAC investigated and harassed dovish Jewish groups advocating land for peace. The AIPAC office, known as Policy Analysis, maintained files for the purpose of discrediting pro-peace groups like Americans for Peace Now and the Jewish Peace Lobby.

A former AIPAC staffer, Gregory Slabodkin, was the source for Friedman's article and provided internal documents to support his charges.

“The mandate of Policy Analysis (formerly Opposition Research) is to monitor, analyze and respond to anti-Israeli activities in the United States,” the head of the office, Michael Lewis, wrote in an internal memo in August 1990. “Arab Americans are by no means our sole concern. New Jewish Agenda, the Jewish Peace Lobby and the Jewish Committee on the Middle East to name but some of the more prominent organizations, were all formed in the past few years.”

J Street is just the latest target for AIPAC's smear tactics.

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