On May 22, thousands of supporters of America’s most powerful pro-Israel lobbying group, the America-Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, converged on Washington for the group’s annual conference. For two days they watched Democratic and Republican congressional leaders pledge their undivided loyalty to the state of Israel, and by extension, to AIPAC’s legislative agenda. Speeches by President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu highlighted the conference, with Obama attempting to clarify his statement demanding that 1967 borders be the “starting point” for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
I interviewed several AIPAC delegates in the streets outside the conference. While few, if any, of them were able to demonstrate the slightest degree of sophistication in their understanding of the Israel-Palestine crisis, they had been briefed inside on how to respond to critics. No one I spoke to would concede that Israel occupied any part of Palestinian territory; none would concede that Israel had committed acts of indiscriminate violence or that it had transferred Palestinians by force; one interviewee could not distinguish Palestine from Pakistan. With considerable wealth and negligible knowledge — few had spent much time inside Israel — the delegates were easily melded by the cadre of neoconservative and Israeli “experts” appearing in AIPAC’s briefing sessions.
As the day wore on, many delegates waded into confrontations with members of Code Pink and Palestine solidarity demonstrators who had set up a protest camp across the street. With conflict intensifying on the sidewalk, Code Pink’s Medea Benjamin invited AIPAC delegates to express themselves from the protest stage. There, their most visceral feelings and deeply held views about Israel-Palestine crisis were revealed. See it for yourself.
Video and text crossposted @ Max Blumenthal
The most pathetic thing after watching this video is the realization that these are our opponents: a bunch of uneducated morons, who can’t even find Pakistan on the map, who scream and carry on like 6 year olds, who prevaricate and lie to themselves and others without hesitation. These are the people who effectively dictate our foreign policy. It would be hilarious, if so many people hadn’t actually had their lives ruined by it.
Someone should send this to every president and prime minister of every country in the world so they can learn NOT to take anything seriously which the US says on this issue…
If AIPAC’s training sessions were encouraging thuggish behavior, can they be joined as codefendants if Rae Abileah sues the people who assaulted her?
“OUR” “WE” “US”
And yet all of them speak with a fluent American accent. Gee wiz. I don’t suppose any of those little Zionists was actually born in the land of milk and honey.
And let us not forget that’s it’s the חחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחחמאס who is to blame.
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The main difference between the little Apartheid enablers and the older Apartheid enablers seems to be that the older ones are more adept at dodging the questions while the younger Apartheid enablers have yet to acquire a modicum of dignity so as not to embarrass themselves by repeating shameless, empty rhetoric.
You’ve got your “That’s a loaded question” compared with “They’re the KHHHHHHHHHAMAS. They’re Palestinians. No. They’re Ay-rabs, they’re terrorists…”
Oh yeah, I’m convinced that the path to Palestinian statehood or equal human rights will come only through further discussions with this bellicose rabble.
‘One interviewee could not distinguish Palestine from Pakistan.’
Reminds me of a childhood incident, when a minister from central Africa was visiting the U.S. As a recipient of ‘missions’ contributions from our church, he was invited to address our congregation, deep in the piney woods in the land of Jim Crow.
Garbed in the flowing green robes of his native land, he described his efforts to spread the word of the Bible in his impoverished land. The offering plate, it was announced, would be dedicated to his mission.
Afterward, one of the more hardboiled congregants addressed our local minister on his way out the door. ‘G-u-s-s-s-s,’ he said — turning the preacher’s one-syllable name into two or three — ‘I thought you said this feller was visiting from Africa.’
‘He is, he is,’ the reverend averred.
‘Well, he looked like just a regular ol’ nigger to me,’ the member concluded.
And so it is with AIPACers. Pakistanis, Palestinians — what’s the difference? They’s all just regular ol’ Mooslims, ain’t they?
Max man! I could do with some trading with Pakistan too! LOL!!
Now the stupid aipac brigade in (poker-faced) Max’s video, will be meeting up with dumb-assed Americans like these:
link to youtube.com
And then they’ll all together go down to their voting stations in 2012.
Iyyakaramba!
Holy cow.
I saw ignorance, thugs, people with anger management problems .
Really unbelievable how stupid these peope are.
Seriously, some of them interviewed makes you ask if they even know where they are or what they attending.
The black guy sounded like he signed on for free trips and something he hopes will advance some kind of job for him.
Stunning News which I have to share.
MARK LAVIE 05/25/11
CAIRO — Egypt’s decision Wednesday to end its blockade of Gaza by opening the only crossing to the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory this weekend could ease the isolation of 1.4 million Palestinians there. It also puts the new Egyptian regime at odds with Israel, which insists on careful monitoring of people and goods entering Gaza for security reasons.
The Rafah crossing will be open permanently starting Saturday, Egypt’s official Middle East News Agency announced. That would provide Gaza Palestinians their first open border to the world in four years, since Egypt and Israel slammed their crossings shut after the Islamic militant Hamas overran the Gaza Strip in 2007.
. . .
link to huffingtonpost.com
Once again Max Blumenthal has proven that Zionism and mental acuity cannot coexist together in the same human being
Max,
You da Man. Such a deft touch.
Thanks. -N49.
“what they have chosen” “not under occupation” “what about all the Jews thrown out of other Arab countries
I talked with at least 20 people attending the Aipac conference. Lots of the same responses
“no suffering, they have their rights, Jews were thrown out of so many other Arab nations should they get to go back? (heard that one a lot). When Patricia (from Charleston South Carolina) and I were talking to two young ladies from the Aipac conference Elona, Elana (I have a daughter named Alana) they were about the same age of my youngest 24. They could not admit that Israel had done one thing wrong. Nothing. Nada. O When Patricia and I brought up the way the Palestinian Knesset member had been treated in the Knesset I asked them did they think this was wrong? We pushed and pushed finally the one young lady said “yes it was wrong’ after I had clearly explained that if this type of aggression had been directed towards a Jewish member of the Knesset that I absolutely think that would be wrong. One of the Elana’s finally gave in.
The ‘recovering Zionist” said he had not been cursed at and given the finger so many times in a very long time. The aggression, anger, and violent language that came out of the Aipac crowd was once again alarming.
The Aipac attendees directed so much anger and hatred towards the Hasidic Jews I really thought the police would have intervened more. They took some serious hatred coming at them
Nothing has changed…. they’ve always been that way.
From the national archives:
January 1946, British Consul, New York reporting a mass demonstration for Jewish freedom put on by the New Zionist Organization of America. “It was constantly patrolled by the Betarim, the new Jewish Youth Army, attired in a Hebrew version of the old Nazi Bund uniform.” “Great Britain was public enemy no. 1 of the Jewish people, more dangerous and shrewder than the Nazis…”
[8.65] February 1946, formation of B´rith Trumpeldor of America or Betar, affiliated with the NZO. “there is noticeable similarity in the organisation´s character, structure and aims to those of the Hitler Youth…”, reported by British Embassy, Washington
This is hilarious. Those rednecks who desperately attach themselves to a bunch of bullies in order to gain some status demonstrate they have no idea what they are talking about, as they attempt to repeat what they have been told to say, and get it mixed up. These are the idiots who would tell us what to think. Like unhooding a KKK member and finding a gibbering idiot unable to hold a rational conversation, their only resort is to violence and abuse. Pathetic, just like the internet trolls who have no real arguments but robotic repetitions of the party line. No wonder they are all terrified of a mainstream discussion of what Israel is and what it does to defenceless ordinary people, and thus go to extraordinary lengths to close it down. And they talk of patriotism! HA HA, just unbelievable numbskulls.
thanks max, as usual YOU ROCK!
propaganda works… that is the sad conclusion i come to watching this… this must also be one of the main reasons for the aipac meeting too… promote all your propaganda and make a news event out of pure hasbara…
Wondering if Grant Smith will do a post about the protest at the Dept of Justice on Monday. Good crowd, marched all the way back to Mt Vernon Square and into NPR shouting “NPR cover this” the Move over Aipac gathering etc.
Wrote letters demanding that Aipac sign up under the Foreign Agents Registration Act
Max rocks!
I think the “recovering Zionist” has the right idea. He made me laugh and smile. I’d like to see more recovering Zionists parade in front of Aipac. It really bothers those Zionists to no end that recovery is possible, I mean the poor guy was alone and took so much abuse from them. I believe he was even more effective than Code Pink and I’m convinced those afflicted Zionists wouldn’t hurl as much abuse if they saw many recovering Zionists banding together. Next time, I hope this is catchy and there’s dozens, nay, hundreds of recovering Zionists. Zionism is after all an affliction brought on by paranoia and supremacist delusion which should be pitied and abhorred. But that recovering Zionist gives me hope. He really does!
Brilliant Max! Once again thanks for showing me how people are so easily able to shoot themselves in the foot!. Give’em enough rope…….
Who are these people? Not Israelis for the most part. What a bunch of hopeless idiots.
Great job on the video finding a bunch of dumb Americans willing to talk on camera. For your next video could you sail out to sea and try to find some water?
Fortunately no one has ever been captured on video saying horrible racist, ignorant things about Israel or Jews because that would mean everyone’s dumb and not just the people you hate, right?
link to youtube.com
link to youtube.com
link to youtube.com;
As usual, the fact that both you — an Englishman — and the people in the video above keep referring to themselves and Israelis as one collective — “we”, “us”, “our land” — is lost on you.
You want to have your cake and eat it. You’re all Zionists when it suits you and when it doesn’t, you distance yourself from them and proclaim, “not Israelis for the most part” (For the most part, eh? You can’t quite tell, because you yourself are an Englishman calling himself an Israeli. So, one could never be too certain, right?)
So childish and pathetic.
As usual, Avi, your bitterness has rendered you incomprehensible.
I have absolutely no idea what your point was.
I am an Israeli citizen. I know this to be true because it says so on my passport. I am also a British citizen, although I am considering not renewing this passport and instead taking citizenship of the country of my parents’ birth. One thing I am not is an Englishman.
I am a Zionist, but that hardly means I agree with all Zionists or that I can’t identify a stupid Zionist when I see one.
When I wrote “for the most part” it was to cover that one idiot boy who said he was an Israeli as he listed his two Arab Facebook friends.
You made (yet another) unfounded assumption about what I meant. How boring of you.
There must be words to describe someone who stalks people on a board like this to constantly deride them and call them things like “childish and pathetic”, but I am far too polite to use them.
It’s hard to sympathize with a pompous self-appointed victim, if you know what I mean GF.
O00h boohoo poor you: no one on mondo ‘understands’ you, right? Well at least that’s ALWAYS your preferred comeback.
Really, in all honesty: you’re the bore here on mondo cuz we’ve seen your movie before hundreds of times already – starring a bevy of other narcissistic ‘liberal’ zioz with ‘dual’ citizenship and smartypants pseudonyms.
Nothing you say here can ever forgive the fact that you live on stolen land as I type this post.
Oh believe me, you’re UNDERSTOOD only too well my dear GF. And this indeed seems to be the root of your problem.
These people are gross. it’s a reminder of what reflective values this country has with this rotten religious state, claiming true democracy.
We’re essentially the same with our foreign policy objectives.
Oneday Washington will be hit with a massive earthquake and swallow all of the senators. I pray it’s when Netanyahu and his pseudo-religious lackeys are here as well.
Thanks Max for putting the mirror up to society, to see it’s reflection.
GF
You have an israeli, a british and in the future also a passport of “the country of your parents` birth.”
It seems to you loyalty to your nation and citizenship is like an underwear to other people, change them at will, (or need?).
“It seems to you loyalty to your nation and citizenship is like an underwear to other people, change them at will, (or need?).”
You say that like it’s a bad thing.
I was born in England to immigrants. I have a British passport. I made Aliyah. I have an Israeli passport. For the sake of convenience, I may give up my British passport and get a different one to which I’m entitled under the laws of that country. So what?
Who is the magnificent lady at 8.54 ?