- Note - Responses are welcome
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- One of the major issues of the American-Israeli
Jewish dialogue has always been whether it is permissible for American
Jews to intervene in domestic Israeli political matters. American Jews
have always claimed that since they have stuck their neck out for Israel
by urging its government to support and defend the State of Israel, and
thus this entitles them to "be involved" in Israeli domestic
issues - whether the issue be about whether Israel should relinquish strategic
territories or if non-orthodox streams of Judaism should be deemed equal
to orthodoxy.
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- Never, but never, have Israeli Jews ever
given their opinion on American Jews and the way American Jewry involves
itself in Israeli affairs. Until now. As an Israeli Jew, I abhor the interference
that American Jewish organizations such as AIPAC have in Israeli affairs.
It is not good for Israel, for American Jews, nor for the average American
citizen.
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- When AIPAC sets out its goal to defeat
American senators and congressman based on nothing more than on their views
of the Middle East and how "friendly they are towards Israel"
it is stacking the deck. It is not fair to any American citizen running
for office to be disqualified (which is what AIPAC does; disqualifies legitimate
politicians based strictly on their "view of Israel") according
to on what AIPAC decides. This is fundamentally undemocratic as AIPAC has
rigged the game by only giving the American voter those candidates who
have "clean Israeli views" records.
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- American citizens may be denied good
politicians to serve them because of these politicians' attitude towards
Israel. This is wrong.
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- As an Israeli, it matters not the least
to me whether a particular politician has an "anti-Israel bias."
I don't want AIPAC to censure these people. I want to hear what they have
to say and engage them. They have no real power to harm Israel, so why
should Israel and American Jews be afraid of some American politicians
who may not be so nice to Israel? I want to know the reasons why people
don't approve of Israel's policies.
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- I don't want AIPAC disqualifying those
candidates based on "what's good for Israel." Who gave AIPAC
the right to speak on Israeli Jewry's behalf? The Israeli public never
approved of such power for American Jewry. By telling American citizens
"we, not the Israeli government, will decide who is able to serve
in your halls of democracy" this organization has become so powerful
that it is beyond the control of the Israeli government.
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- There shouldn't be any representative
of the Israeli people in America other than the Israeli government. Israel,
as a foreign country, has every right to lobby the US government, to try
and influence congressmen and senators to "see things their way"
and to do everything in their power to safeguard Israel's interests. This
is legitimate and to be expected of the Israeli government. However American
Jews are not representatives of the Israeli government and have no right
to speak on behalf of Israel - whatever the situation.
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- If American Jews disengaged hemselves
from Israel by liquidating AIPAC, they would no longer be burdened by accusations
of "dual loyalty" and not be held responsible for every act of
the Israeli government. When Israeli policies come under attack in the
US it shouldn't be the responsibility of AIPAC to answer the charges, but
solely representatives of the Israeli government.
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- Israel doesn't need AIPAC to represent
it. If Israel has a problem it can turn directly to the US government.
If it wants military or economic aid it doesn't need AIPAC to make these
requests. It doesn't need AIPAC for anything. There is no American Turkey
Political Action Committee, or American Greek Political Action Committee.
Why then must there be an American Israel Political Action Committee? As
an Israeli citizen I hereby declare to the American Jew to get the H...
out of my conflict and stop representing the Israeli state. Nobody elected
or empowered AIPAC to do the things they do.
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- I don't care if anti-Semites say about
how this statement, coming from a Jew, is harmful. I am not talking to
them. I am talking to my dear American co-religionists and pleading with
them to take a closer look at their entire relationship with Israel. Look
at how reserved British Jews are when it comes to Israel. There is no British
Jewish organization that goes around England and ensures that any politician
with anti-Israel views, will not get elected. Yet that is exactly what
the Jews in America, through the organization of AIPAC, do. They raise
the odds in their favor. Censure and burial of opposition to Israel is
bad for Israel. We need to know exactly who is against Israel, and why.
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- Even if a politician is against Israeli
policies, that shouldn't mean he is not allowed to run for office or face
defeat. Yet that is exactly what AIPAC does - it ensures that politicians
with anti-Israel views are either disqualified from running for office
or removed from office. This is wrong and needs to be stopped.
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- What would change tomorrow if AIPAC disappeared?
Israel would suffer no real loss if she was denied "American Jewish
support" or "American government support." The threat to
Israel of such a possibility is highly overstated. Israel is strong because
its people have a will to survive and an army to back it up. Nothing American
Jews do, with all of their money and influence, really matters in the long
run to Israel's survival. If AIPAC disappeared tomorrow and anti-Israel
candidates suddenly appeared in public office, nothing would fundamentally
change in Israel's strategic position. Israel will not be weakened due
to the appearance of a bunch of anti-Israel American politicians. Israel
still deservedly enjoys major support amongst a vast cross-section of the
American public.
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- The only difference would be would be
that "Israeli policies" would be discussed in more seminars and
lectures and a lot of these speakers would be anti-Israel. Big deal. A
bunch of people 10,000 miles away from the conflict, pontificating what
they think Israel should do to solve her political conflict with the Palestinians
is meaningless anyway.
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- How many Israeli Jews even care that
these American politicians are "upset with their politicians"
and give a damn what these people think. It is only AIPAC which are telling
us these people are "grave threats to Israel" and need to be
stopped. They are not and all the money that is spend defeating these politicians
is a huge waste of American Jewish funds which should go towards Jewish
education and not towards media campaigns against politicians who may hold
anti-Israel views.
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- There are many Israeli politicians who
are "anti-American" and resent American politicians for waving
fingers of disapproval at Israeli leaders and for approving pro-Arab policies.
So what! This doesn't threaten the welfare of American citizens. Why is
it any different when it comes to American politicians' views about Israel?
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- Let's assume that as a result of more
"anti-Israeli" politicians being in power in the US, US administration
policy or the Congress or Senate's view of Israel, becomes negative. Again,
so what! So the US government won't be our great friend and Israel will
have to get along fighting its own battles and cosy up to other western
countries for friendship. So Israel will have to learn how to balance her
state budget and not expect a yearly stipend from the US taxpayer. Such
changes may be the best thing that could have happened to this country.
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- Here is the message for my dear American
bretheren. Stop wasting your time and money on defeating your politicians
based on what their view of Israel is. Let Israelis deal with that. Only
representatives of the Israeli government, have the right to defend themselves
against political opponents. If these politicians want to come to Israel
to rabblerouse, the Israeli government can refuse them entry. End of story.
There is no need for AIPAC.
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- While this may be none of my business,
I would also recommend you rethink about the purpose of another one of
your Jewish organizations, the ADL. Like AIPAC, the ADL disqualifies people
based on their views. If the ADL decides that a certain writer or speaker
is "anti-semitic," the goal is to completely deligitimize and
disqualify that person from giving their views. This is undemocratic. Speaking
as a former American Jew, when I lived in the US, I couldn't give a hoot
whether a person was an anti-semite. Anti-semites rarely cause any serious
physical damage to Jews. I don't want the ADL telling me that I can't listen
to this person's views on Jews. As a Jew, I want to know exactly why this
person is offended by my people. Perhaps they are ill-informed. Perhaps
they believe things that aren't true. Whatever the reason, I want to know
it. I don't want ADL to censure these people so I am not able to hear their
opinions. This is wrong. The ADL does to "accused" anti-semites
what AIPAC does to "accused" anti-Israelites.
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- Regardless of what ADL says, being anti-Israel
doesn't necessarily make one anti-semitic. Most ultimately are, but it
isn't necessarily so. People should be "allowed" to be anti-Israel
just like they should be "allowed" to be anti-Jewish. If American
Jews are offended by what some Americans think of Jews, they should confront
them, not deligitimize them and malign their characters. Yet this is exactly
what ADL does. The goal of the organization is to destroy the reputations
of those it deems to be anti-semitic.
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- A good example is what the ADL did to
the John Birch organization in the early l960's. Because of the opposition
this organization had to Henry Kissinger, the ADL attacked it as being
anti-Semitic. I for one have personal knowledge of this organization and
its leadership, I have friends at the highest level of the John Birch Society
and they are definitely not anti-Jewish. In fact, they are strong supporters
of Israel. In the 20 years I have been associated with this organization
I have never, ever, experienced even a hint of anti-Jewish sentiments.
Yet because the ADL "shmutzed" this organization more than 30
years ago, it has unjustly been labeled as being "anti-semitic."
Such is the power of ADL.
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- This isn't to say that there aren't real
anti-Semites in America. But so what if they are. How much harm can they
do? ADL spends vast fortunes to try and convince American Jews and the
American public in general, that anti-semitism is rampant in America and
a real threat to the established order. It isn't. Whatever real anti-Jewish
sentiment there is, is quite marginalized and harmless. When was the last
time a Jew died in America as a result of an anti-Semitic attack?
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- Where is this big threat of anti-Semitism
that ADL has been telling us for years exists? If there is a threat of
anti-Semitic violence against Jews, local and national law enforcement
agencies can certainly deal with these hate crimes.
-
- What ADL is responsible for is equating
anti-semitism with racism, and racism with anti-semitism. Racism in America,
black versus white, is a far bigger problem to contend with than anti-semitism.
What ADL does, however, is put the two together diluting racism by combining
it with anti-semitism and making racism a "Jewish issue."
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- While there is certainly room in America
for a Jewish organization to ensure that Jews are not discriminated against,
to monitor anti-Semitic actions and report them to the proper law enforcement
agencies, there is no room for an organization like ADL which takes it
upon itself to smear certain individuals and organizations, and to whip
up paranoia about how anti-semitism in America is rampant and poses a mortal
threat to American Jews.
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- Like AIPAC, American Jewry would be a
lot better off without an ADL.
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- [NOTE: For your information - and further
research - see AIPAC (American Israeli Public Affairs Committee) www.aipac.org
ADL (Anti-Defamation League) www.adl.org .....Dot Bibee]
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- CONNECT THE DOTS Dot Bibee (DotHB@aol.com)
Knoxville, TN Ph/FAX (423) 577-7011
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- JOIN THE CONSTITUTION COALITION Write
to: ConstCoal@aol.com "To Deny the Constitution is to Provoke Revolution"
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