Clayton Swisher, who wrote the book, The Truth About Camp David, is now a reporter for Al Jazeera. He filed this stunning report from the AIPAC policy conference, exposing the fact that AIPAC is not really ready for press coverage. When Swisher asked the important question of whether AIPAC is too close to Israel, at a break-out session about Israeli power, the moderator refused to respond, and Swisher says that he was given a "profanity-laced scolding" by the AIPAC press-handler and "asked not to come back." As Swisher points out, the policy conference is not so much a place for debate of important issues, at which reporters are welcome, as it is an extravaganza summoning politicians to repeat the mantra that they love Israel. The gravest problem here is that it takes Al Jazeera (and The American Conservative, which assigned me to the conference) to describe this process. Even the American left wants nothing to do with this important journalistic task. And as for the MSM, forget about it. Swisher himself can be said to represent the long non-Zionist tradition in the American foreign policy establishment. He wrote his important book for Nation Books (and it was edited by the Nation's Roane Carey, who has worked on this issue year after year in a quiet manner). Swisher now works in the Persian Gulf.
P.S. Let me emphasize that as Swisher noted, AIPAC has the right to decide who its guests are at this conference. And I am thankful to the organization for permitting me and Swisher to attend. AIPAC gets props from me for that. Though the Democratic and Republican Party conventions have the same right. And imagine if they refused to answer reporters' questions and asked them to leave…
Also: Jerry Slater points out that Swisher asked about Rosen and Weissman, the ongoing federal case involving AIPAC. Yes, it was provocative, I agree. But shouldn't AIPAC respond to that question, even with the pro forma, "It's an active investigation, we can't comment…" Rather than tossing Swisher out? And hasn't AIPAC run away from Rosen and Weissman like roadkill?
