[Marxism] AIPAC leader fears sanctions effort is helping "delegitimize" Israel

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This is a comment on a speech made by a top AIPAC leader at the recent
meeting of the quite powerful lobby sponsored by both the Israeli government
and the US top political elite.

Frankly, this seems to me to have been an excellent and thoughtful political
speech. In contrast to the bullying rants more often favored by the AIPAC
"rank and file", if you will excuse such a designation for the activists
(far from all and probably today not even mostly Jewish, and certainly way
far from accurately representative of sentiment in the Jewish Community) of
such an elite and self-consciously elitist outfit.

I was particularly struck by the basic accuracy of his appeal to the US
government and ruling class to remember the importance of Israel as an
outpost of the "West" in the Middle East to US interests, and especially as
a warlike outpost armed to the teeth against all foes of the common
interests of imperialist power and its dependent "outpost."

This is basically true, and that is why today there is NO SECTION of the US
ruling class which advocates a complete break with and abandonment of the
state of Israel. The whole debate in the elite circles is about how to
preserve the Israeli state in a way that can strengthen the hand of US
imperialism in advancing its interests in the Middle East. From the US point
of view, defense of Israel is part of this effort, but the part and the
whole are not the same thing.

I agree with the author of the comments on the speech, that the AIPAC
probably hits the panic button a bit on the current success of the sanctions
campaign (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions). But there is no question that
it is making dents, including in the trade union field.

And primitive apolitical arguments against the boycott (such as that it is
awful to prevent scientists from getting together, or how can you boycott an
Israeli athletic team when the kids "just want to play basketball"), such as
were used against South Africa will fall flat in the end. I can understand
the scientists wanting to meet with others, or the youth wanting to play
basketball, but this is an argument for them to start trying to change the
character of their repellent state, not an effective political argument
against the boycott.

I was impressed with the AIPAC leader's awareness that the boycott has to be
responded to at least in part with political arguments. An opposition that
responds simply by screaming that it is a "cover" for anti-Semitism or
spreading around accusations of Jew-hatred like dust in a Kansas tornado
will tend to run out of steam in the long run.
Fred Feldman



May 07, 2009
AIPAC ED fears the growing movement to sanction Israel could fundamentally
change US policy towards Israel. He's right. 

One of the most interesting speeches given at the AIPAC Policy Conference
was one that received the least media attention. AIPAC Executive Director
Howard Kohr addressed the capacity crowd Sunday night before Newt Gingrich,
and he came with a stern and clear warning - there is a growing movement to
de-legitimize Israel in the eyes of its allies. He warned it's growing, it's
successful and it's coming to the US. In a conference full of fire and
brimstone bluster about Iran and the omnipresent threat of annihilation,
when it came to this speech Kohr was exactly on the mark. 

Kohr moved beyond simply focusing on the familiar bogeymen of Ahmadinejad,
Hugo Chavez and the Durban II conference, and took on what is clearly viewed
as a grave threat - the growing movement for boycott, divestment and
sanctions against Israel. During his rundown of the gathering storm he
included "400 British academics demanded that Britain's Science Museum
cancel an event highlighting the work of Israeli scientists" and an Italian
"trade union calls for a boycott of Israeli products." He also included the
increasing comparisons between Israel and apartheid South Africa. As part of
this trend he mentioned Israel Apartheid Week (twice) which he
explained,"Its aim, to build boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaigns as
part of a growing global movement." He's right. 

More impressively, he gave real attention to this movement. Rather than
attempting to simply de-legitimatize it with charges of anti-Semitism, he
recognized its true motivation: "This is more than the simple spewing of
hatred. This is a conscious campaign to shift policy, to transform the way
Israel is treated by its friends to a state that deserves not our support,
but our contempt; not our protection, but pressured to change its essential
nature." And even more, he knows the movement is building steam:

"No longer is this campaign confined to the ravings of the political far
left or far right, but increasingly it is entering the American mainstream:
an ordinary political discourse on our T.V. and radio talk shows; in the
pages of our major newspapers and in countless blogs, in town hall meetings,
on campuses and city squares . . . 

"And I want to be clearly understood here. I'm not saying that these
allegations have become accepted. But they have become acceptable. More and
more they are invading the mainstream discourse, becoming part of the
constant and unrelenting drumbeat against Israel. These voices are laying
the predicate for a abandonment."

Finally, Kohr threw down the gauntlet:

"There is a battle for basic perception underway, a fight to focus the lens
through which our policy makers will receive and perceive all events in
Israel and the broader Middle East. And the stakes in that battle are
nothing less than the survival of Israel, linked inexorably to the
relationship between Israel and the United States. In this battle we are the
firewall, the last rampart."

Kohr said, "in the moment - we find our mission." And in many ways the
threat Kohr identified was an undercurrent throughout the conference. This
was seen in the effort by AIPAC to co-opt the divestment mantle by pushing
divestment from Iran. Not only is this a focus in Congress, but on campuses
and in municipalities as well. After Kohr's speech it was difficult to see
these as anything but a diversionary tactic to keep attention on the real
movement for divestment Kohr outlined growing across the world. 

As with almost everything at the AIPAC convention, Kohr's speech was one
part theater, one part policy. I do think his presentation was a bit
overblown in an effort to light a fire under his troops as they headed into
battle. But he could have chosen many other topics to do that with. Kohr
understands that the fight is over themes and frames and that regardless of
the millions put into the AIPAC convention or the thousands of lobbyists
that head off for the Hill, once the discourse shifts and Israel is a
pariah, the battle is lost. He explained to the crowd:

"You know, we've all heard many times Israel accused of being a Western
outpost in the Middle East. To those who make that accusation I say you are
right. Israel is the only democratic country in the region that looks West,
that looks to the values and the vision we share of what our society, our
country should aim at and aspire to. If that foundation of shared values is
shaken, the  rationale for the policies we pursue today will be stripped
away. The reasons the United States would continue to invest nearly $3
billion in Israel's security; the willingness to stand with Israel, even
alone if need be; the readiness to defend Israel's very existence,all are
undermined and undone if Israel is seen to be unjust and unworthy. . .

"Yes, we must lobby for the particulars --Iran sanctions, peace process
principles, foreign aid --but our mission now is to do more than work our
talking points. We must add context and foundational arguments that help
America's leaders understand the rightness of our cause." 

That is the fight at hand, and it's a fight that AIPAC and others have been
incredibly good at fighting. But Kohr can see the ground is shifting. And in
the end, the influence AIPAC holds over the US policy towards
Israel/Palestine may end up disintegrating as the myth of shared values is
revealed, and more people realize that funding a "Western outpost in the
Middle East" is not only no longer in our interest, but is not in the
interests of Israelis and Palestinians as well. 

Posted by Adam Horowitz at 12:41 PM in Adam Horowitz, AIPAC 2009, BDS,
Israel Lobby, Israel/Palestine, U.S. Policy in the Mideast | Permalink 

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