US Congress controlled by AIPAC

[Charashc Profile]

Tempers flared at the prestigious National Press Club in Washington, DC .


A pro Israeli advocate knocked a camera out of the hands of Alison Weir, President of the Council for the National Interest Foundation. The group just finished their press conference on what they call unjustifiable US Aid to Israel.

The two sides met when the Press Club scheduled a pro Israeli news conference to follow held in the same room. The altercation illustrates heightened tensions on differing views regarding America's relationship with Israel.

The Council for the National Interest Foundation wants Americans to know how much of their tax dollars are going to Israel.

CNIF alleges Israel receives so much aid and special treatment because the US Congress is controlled by AIPAC, America's pro Israel lobby. Executive director Phillip Giraldi says Israel spends a lot of money on U.S. elections.

The Council for the National Interest Foundation says many members of Congress fear, if they don't always side with Israel, that they will face retaliation in their own re-election campaigns.

Giraldi is a former CIA counter terrorism expert. He questions why America gives aid to Israel when Israel conducts more espionage for profit against the US than any other US friendly country.

Retired Lt. Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski worked at the Pentagon and says Israel receives preferential treatment.

Kwiatkowski believes America is beginning to take more interest in US foreign policy in the Middle East in large part due to tough economic times. More and more Americans want to know where their hard earned tax dollars are going and why.

watch video report: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/181400.html

[Keniwaki Profile]

Not just AIPAC! Any large organization can and have influenced politicians in US or any other countries! They r bunch a whores.. Reduce their numbers and their power.

[Godsmaked Profile]

yep yet the sheeple sleep on

obama is just as much their pawn as the rest of his cousins.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oYKMJkatzI

thinking we've ever know a true election sigh cant say I didnt fall for it too.

[Keniwaki Profile]

During the election they will try to sweet talk to us average Joe. Once they are in office they will shake their butt and spread their leggs to large firms with cash! Lobby=Bribe! Get rid of special interest group and lobbying!

[Harbin Profile]

Thank you for making me aware of this site.

http://www.cnionline.org/

Here is a nice article from it.

What Obama Should Have Told AIPAC

The Presidents Speech-Or What Obama Should have said to AIPAC

by Barry Lando, originally published at barrylando.blogspot.com

My fellow Americans, I could say it is an honor to speak again before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. I could also dish out the usual rhetoric you expect from American political leaders of both parties,-—an emotional, iron-clad guarantee to maintain America’s undying support for Israel, the embattled outpost of democracy, and so on and on and on, to great applause..

But —as befits a conversation among long time friends – I’d rather be frank.

As we all know, the reason I’m here is because you are the most powerful lobby in Washington—the mightiest senators and congressmen live in terror of your disapproval. Your decision on who to support will be a key factor in the coming Presidential elections.

That power has brought you innumerable victories. Though Israel is one of the smallest nations, altogether since World War II it has received more foreign aid from the U.S. than any other country. Though we condemn Iran’s nuclear program, we still officially ignore the fact that Israel has had the bomb for more than 40 years.

Our leaders have gone along with the fiction that Israel is somehow a key strategic asset for the U.S. in the Middle East, when, in fact, the opposite is true. Our unwavering support of Israel has won us the hostility of the entire Arab and much of the Moslem world.

O.K. But that’s the past. Today the U.S. and Israel face huge new challenges in the Middle East. And I have decided that provoking your disapproval is a risk I must take…for the sake of America—as well as Israel..
We can no longer afford to confuse supporting the State of Israel, with supporting the policies of the leaders who control the Israeli government at a particular time. The interests of the two are not necessarily the same. Particularly when, in my view—and the view of many Israelis as well—those policies undermine the long-term security of the Israel.
As President of the United States, I was elected to serve the interests of all 300 million Americans——not a tiny minority, numbering just 2.2% of our population. Of course, we value your great contributions to all facets of our society and our culture, but that does translate into continuing to give AIPAC the right to call the shots on a key element of our Middle Eastern Policy.
Indeed, within the American Jewish community itself, there are new lobbying groups, such as JPAC, who are highly critical of Israel’s current leaders, and make it clear that AIPAC may not represent the consensus of American Jews.
As I have said, the government of Israel can no longer put off serious negotiations with the Palestinians. Population growth and the current uprisings sweeping the region are certain to work against Israel’s long-run security.
Unfortunately, Prime Minister Netanyahu, has made it more than clear that his government has no real interest in taking the steps needed to convince the Palestinians that negotiations would be worth their while. This is not just me saying this. The Prime Minister’s political opponents and important Israeli commentators are saying it as well.
Therefore, as President of the United States—of all Americans —I am today announcing a change in policy towards the Middle East. I have decided that we will no longer stand in the way of the Palestinian drive for a United Nations resolution next September to recognize the existence of a Palestinian State. I realize that resolution will not actually create a state —but it may be the best way to start the process going.
I am also calling once again on the government of Israel to cease the construction of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. I made that same request a few years ago, but backed down when Prime Minister Netanyahu refused. I was wrong to back down. It will not happen again.
The Israeli government charges that Hamas is a terrorist organization. It is, and we have labeled it as such. I call upon Hamas to reconsider its aims if it truly wants to achieve a settlement with Israel.
On the other hand, many violent groups once labeled terrorist organizations—such as the IRA –changed their tactics with the lure of peace negotiations. Indeed, at one time in their careers two of Israel’s most renowned leaders—Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir– were condemned as terrorists themselves.
I realize this new policy may well subject me to a barrage of the most virulent political attacks–from right wing TV talk shows to lurid ads filling our media, to congressional resolutions. It will be charged that all along I—Barrack Hussein Obama– have been secretly plotting with radical Islam to destroy Israel. And after Israel, the United States.
They will say of course, that I am anti-Semitic—a charge that is leveled these days against any prominent individual who criticizes the current government of Israel. An irony, since—as I’ve said–some of the strongest attacks on Israeli’s current policies come from Israeli Jewish commentators and politicians themselves.
I understand the emotional storm that is roiling this audience right now—I can hear the boos and catcalls. I can feel your enormous upset. But I ask you members of AIPAC –before you and your allies unleash an attack against me in the media and in the Congress and local communities across the country–I ask you, by unleashing such a massive campaign—if in the end, isn’t there a danger that such a massive campaign may demonstrate to the American people –to all the American people—exactly the point I have been making in this speech? That is– the extent to which your lobby has distorted the workings of our democratic system.
In short, in the end, your attempt to defeat my desire to pursue a policy that is in the interests of all Americans—as well as the State of Israel– could lead to your own downfall.
Think about it. And thanks for letting me talk.

[Charashc Profile]

Americans protest AIPAC conference

Protesters have gathered in Washington, DC, as US President Barack Obama delivered his speech at the annual American Israel Public Affairs Policy Committee (AIPAC) conference.


Anti-AIPAC protesters gathered to express their opposition with Obama's affirmation of the United States' “unbreakable” ties with Israel.

“These are just lobbyists that are coming today, for more and more money. We need the money here in our own country. Plus they're using it for guns and weapons to destroy the Palestinian people,” a protester told Press TV.

An Israeli activist said an Israeli-Palestinian peace process did not exist, blaming it on the US, “because if it decided to stop providing the immense diplomatic and economic support of Israel, things would change.”

Religious leaders were among those protesting the AIPAC conference.

Saint Luke's Episconal Church's Reverend Cotton Fite blames Christian Zionism for being “a very destructive force in supporting the occupation and building the settlements.”

“We've seen this in our state in Massachusetts, where we just elected a state treasurer who is pretty high up in AIPAC, and now our governor has just gone to Israel and brought back contracts. So this has a large effect on what goes on in our country,” anti-war group Code Pink's Priscilla Lynch said.

Some protesters dressed as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stress the impact of their decisions on the Palestinain people.

Protests began Friday upon the arrival of Netanyahu to Washington and will continue until Tuesday.

video: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/181306.html