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Thursday, January 12, 2012

Will You Occupy AIPAC?

http://www.occupyaipac.org/

Will You Occupy AIPAC?

Dear friends,

We are excited to announce that plans for OCCUPY AIPAC are under way and we hope you will join us March 2-6 in Washington DC.

With the Occupy movement that has swept the country demanding social and economic justice, many have concluded that AIPAC—the powerful pro-Israeli government lobby that distorts U.S. policy in the Middle East— is a mandatory "occupy target". Adbusters, the magazine that issued the initial visionary call for the takeover of Wall St. on September 17th, has declared: "The time has come for the Occupy Movement to demand an end to the Occupation of Palestine… We need a hashtag, #occupyAIPAC" (Kalle Lasn).

Timed to coincide with the annual AIPAC policy conference in March 2012, the Occupy AIPAC summit will be a long weekend of teach-ins, cultural performances, protests and creative direct actions, and a sneak preview of the forthcoming film Roadmap to Apartheid. Our Saturday conference will feature educational panels on Iran, Palestine, the Arab Uprisings and the Occupy Movement (see the list of speakers). Sponsors and endorsers include the Institute of Policy Studies, Just Foreign Policy, Interfaith Peace Builders (IFPB), the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), Jewish Voice for Peace, Students for Justice in Palestine chapters, and over 120 other groups.

Right now AIPAC is trying to drag us into a disastrous war with Iran, just as they pushed the Iraq war. We must show our opposition by exposing AIPAC and standing against a war with Iran. AIPAC's underhanded tactics and their manipulation of our political process destroys the possibility of a just peace for Palestinians and Israelis. Recent public criticisms of the Israel lobby make the call to Occupy AIPAC all the more relevant.

Now is the time to make a large, people-powered push to show our opposition to the stranglehold the Israel lobby continues to hold over our government.

Register for the conference or support this summit with a donation. Your outreach and presence is critical to help us ensure a strong turnout, because now is the time to Occupy AIPAC, not Palestine!

In solidarity,
Medea, Rae, Alli and Sasha
The Occupy AIPAC team
http://occupyaipac.org
@occupyaipac

In addition to peace and justice groups around the country, we are reaching out to Occupy communities for support and participation (see the Occupy AIPAC GA resolution). If your group would like to endorse or join this effort, please email occupyaipac@gmail.com.

Occupy AIPAC to Host a Sneak Preview of 'Roadmap to Apartheid'

Join us on Friday night, March 2nd in Washington DC for a sneak preview of the soon to be released film, Roadmap to Apartheid.

Filmmakers Ana Nogueira and Eron Davidson make a bold and necessary analysis of the current situation in Palestine. Narrated by Alice Walker, Roadmap to Apartheid explores in detail the apartheid comparison as it is used in the enduring Israel-Palestine conflict. Visithttp://roadmaptoapartheid.org/ to learn more or support their work.

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Trita Parsi to Speak on Iran

Dr. Trita Parsi

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Trita Parsi will be joining our conference to speak on the topic of Iran. Dr. Parsi is the current head of the largest Iranian-American organization in the US, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC).

Parsi will also be signing his new book, A Single Roll of the Dice, which will be available for sale at the conference. Read Parsi's recent article in CNN.

Author of Treacherous Alliance – The Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel and the United States, Dr. Trita Parsi is also the recipient of the Council on Foreign Relation's 2008 Arthur Ross Silver Medallion and the 2010 Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order.

General Assembly Resolution: Occupy AIPAC!

As the Occupy Movement articulates demands for social and economic justice in the United States and around the world, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has become a mandatory target.

AIPAC and its dozens of affiliate groups through which it funnels campaign donations have our Congress in their thrall. Not only is this stranglehold unacceptable, but it also endangers our country as many of AIPAC's purported policies are out of alignment with our national security interests.

AIPAC's lobbying has resulted in Israel's receiving 3 billions dollars a year in U.S. military aid. Our tax dollars are used to purchase U.S. weapons, which are used to police a brutal military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza. U.S. made and subsidized helicopters, weaponized bulldozers, and tear gas canisters are used against Palestinian civilians to devastating effect.

Continue reading »

Rae Abileah Invites You to Occupy AIPAC!

New Co-sponsors for Occupy AIPAC Conference

We are excited to announce that the policy panels for the conference portion of our program are being co-sponsored by the Institute for Policy Studies and Just Foreign Policy. Both have a rich history of providing valuable resources and organizing to promote justice.

The Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), Washington's first progressive multi-issue think tank, has served as a policy and research resource for visionary social justice movements for over four decades — from the anti-war and civil rights movements in the 1960s to the peace and global justice movements of the last decade. Some of the greatest progressive minds of the 20th and 21st centuries have found a home at IPS, starting with the organization's founders, Richard Barnet and Marcus Raskin. IPS scholars have included such luminaries as Arthur Waskow, Gar Alperovitz, Saul Landau, Bob Moses, Rita Mae Brown, Barbara Ehrenreich, Roger Wilkins and Orlando Letelier.

Today the Institute's work is organized into more than a dozen projects, reflecting our public scholars' diverse areas of expertise. In practice, these projects collaborate strategically to pursue three overarching policy goals: Peace, Justice and Environment. Read more about the history of IPS.

Just Foreign Policy is an independent and non-partisan membership organization dedicated to reforming U.S. foreign policy by mobilizing and organizing the broad majority of Americans who want a foreign policy based on diplomacy, law and cooperation. Read more about Just Foreign Policy.

Suad Amiry to Join Occupy AIPAC

We are pleased to announce that Suad Amiry will be joining our cultural event ensemble on Saturday night, the 3rd of March 2012!

Suad Amiry is a comedian and author of the bestselling book, Sharon and My Mother-in-Law. Suad, an architect by training, is also the director and founder of the Riwaq Centre for Architectural Conservation. The center was founded in 1991 and is the first of its kind to work on the rehabilitation and protection of architectural heritage in Palestine.

Save the Date: Occupy AIPAC, Not Palestine!

Save the Date

Join us in Washington D.C. March 3-5, 2012 for Move Over AIPAC: Time for a New Middle East Policy!
This not-to-miss weekend will include panel discussions, cultural events, music and poetry, creative protests, Congressional visits, and more!

We will have three exciting plenaries on Palestine, the Arab Spring, and Iran, with a focus on the impact of the Israel lobby in shaping US policy towards the Middle East.

Come join in creative direct action and protest outside the annual AIPAC Policy Conference to show our Congress and President Obama that we do not support the AIPAC stranglehold over US foreign policy.

We will also be hosting a cultural night on Saturday, March 3rd, devoted to the poets, musicians and comedians of Palestine. Performances will include author of Sharon and My Mother-in-Law Suad Amiry, Palestinian-American poet Remi Kanazi and many more.

It's time to #Occupy AIPAC, not Palestine!
Stay tuned as we develop our program for this exciting weekend gathering.

Brought to you by CODEPINK.  To endorse or join the organizing team, email occupyaipac[at]gmail.com.

Visiting the Office of Congressional Ethics About AIPAC Junkets to Israel

By Medea Benjamin

Two members of CODEPINK, Tighe Barry and myself, along with Grant Smith from IRmep had a meeting with three lawyers from the Office Of Congressional Ethics (including the OCE's director) about the complaint we submitted regarding AIEF/AIPAC trips to Israel. We walked them through our complaint, including the growing body of evidence that AIEF functions more as a lobbying slush fund than a legitimate charitable nonprofit.

OCE explained the rules from their more narrow perspective. They said that while AIPAC might be taking advantage of every loophole, the trips may not be illegal. OCE explained that without documentable "factual evidence" of wrongdoing, they won't initiate an investigation— and that it is up to us to provide that evidence.

Such evidence could include proof of AIPAC lobbyists contacting members to arrange the trips, AIPAC lobbyists traveling with members on the same jet liner, or AIEF "retaining or employing a lobbyist." The OCE's definition of a lobbyist is extremely narrow—and AIPAC claims to employ only nine such individuals on its domestic disclosures.

While OCE agreed that AIPAC may quite likely have had a hand in these trips, and may even be overstepping the lines of legality, we simply need more proof to trigger OCE action.

When we revealed the fact that AIEF has no employees, that 66% of its board are also AIPAC directors, and that the trips were organized by AIPAC staff, OCE claimed that was not illegal. Employees, if they are not registered lobbyists but simply "work for" a lobbyist group, are allowed to "volunteer their time" to work for AIEF. We were told that it is also legal for the executive director of AIEF to have his salary paid by AIPAC (which is the case now), because he is not a registered lobbyist. If any of the AIPAC lobbyists were involved in any aspect of the trip, that would be illegal, but this would also be pretty much impossible for us to prove. (And OCE clarified that if any proof were obtained illegally/or involved attorney/client privileged information, they would not be allowed to accept it as evidence.)

Continue reading »

Congress Sees Middle East Through AIPAC-Colored Glasses

During August recess this year, 81 members of Congress went on a junket to Israel funded by the Israel lobby group AIPAC (well, funded by the American Israel Education Fund, but they are really one and the same) to "learn first-hand about one of our closest friends and allies." While the representatives insist they got a balanced view, their itinerary belies that claim: 95% of their time was spent hearing the Israeli government point of view, with only one token meeting with Palestinian reps.

CODEPINK has filed a complaint with the Congressional Ethics Committee stating that these trips—and the upcoming ones scheduled for December–violate the Congressional prohibition on traveling with a lobby group. We feel these Potemkin voyages are part of AIPAC's grand plan to control and monopolize Congress, which is not just unethical, but dangerous. Their bias reinforces a disastrous U.S. policy of unconditional support for Israel that obstructs peace and runs counter to our national interests.

At a recent Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, entitled "Promoting Peace? Reexamining US Aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA)", we got a glimpse of what happens when Congress views the Middle East through AIPAC-colored glasses. Here are a few of examples of their tunnel vision:

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