AIPAC violates US law.

 
"Fallout from criminal indictments of AIPAC staffers caught red-handed trafficking classified information in 2004-2005 that were quietly unwound under mysterious judicial rulings and even more DOJ acquiescence in 2009 has put AIPAC’s activities under a new spotlight.  AIPAC briefly considered a media campaign to smear US law-enforcement officials but instead cut its losses by dumping Rosen. This led to Rosen’s $20 million retaliatory defamation lawsuit which opened up shocking new insights about AIPAC.   In 2010, true to form, AIPAC let loose a salvo of pornography and prostitution charges — which succeed more in revealing AIPAC’s decrepit work environment than anything about its former top executive-branch lobbyist. But the secret that AIPAC is an organization that has been breaking US laws since its emergence from the AZC in 1963 is now officially "out of the bag."  The list of US classified documents stolen and misused by AIPAC grew larger in 2010, even as the IRS is again asked to retroactively revoke AIPAC’s tax exemption."

---------------------------

AIPAC should be registered under FARA.  The fact that it is not so registered is a mockery of American law.  If this nonsensical situation is ever to end, it will have to be Jewish Americans who end it.  pl

http://original.antiwar.com/smith-grant/2011/04/27/washington-showdown-with-aipac/

Comments

[The beaver]

Another former insider is spilling his guts:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2011/06/aipac-from-the-inside-1-isolating-iran.html#ixzz1PIWiReah

"The reason why I want to tell this story now is, we may be going down a path, helped along by the American Jewish community, and maybe even Israel, that is going to be worse even than the one we're on now - some sort of military confrontation with Iran. That worries me. Because they will be able to blame [it] on the Jews, to a great extent," says Weissman, who worked at AIPAC from 1993 until 2005, much of that time as the group's deputy director of foreign policy. Though Weissman disagrees sharply with those who say that AIPAC played a critical role in pushing for the 2003 U.S. decision to invade Iraq, he believes a war with Iran -- which he says "would be the stupidest thing I ever heard of" -- might well be blamed on AIPAC's leaders and their constituents . "What the Jews' war will be is Iran," he says. "Not Iraq."

[ex-PFC Chuck]

Lawrence Davidson, a history professor who I infer from the piece is himself Jewish, presents in Counterpunch today a truly grim picture of where he fears Israel may be headed demographically, and thus politically. http://bit.ly/lQxusv The very fact that such a scenario is on the radar screen within the Jewish community itself makes it essential that the USA begin at least partially decoupling the joined-at-the-hip relationship.

[J]

Colonel,

So far the only Jews who are speaking up against the Zionist Israel and its appendages like AIPAC are the Ultra-Orthodox Anti-Zionist Jews. Every time that the Anti-Zionist Jews speak up, the AIPAC tentacles makes sure that they are either muffled/drowned out/made sure that there is no media coverage of their Anti-Zionist-Anti-Israel protests.

Same thing happens on the Christian side as the Zionist Christians like Hagee/Robertson, etc. muffle out any other Christians who dare to speak out against the situation at hand.

The AIPAC crowd also have the U.S. medias and U,S. Federal/State/Local judicial and law enforcement sewn up to ensure that the Anti-Zionist/Anti-Israel/Anti-AIPAC crowd make no traction in the courts/legal avenues.

In short, we the U.S. are screwed, and the only part of our government with the capacity to stand up to Israel and its AIPAC appendages is DoD. Israel's government through their stoolies are working 24/7 to try and make sure that DoD's hands are tied and their complaints muffled.

[cheap jerseys]

Same thing happens on the Christian side as the Zionist Christians like Hagee/Robertson, etc. muffle out any other Christians who dare to speak out against the situation at hand.

[Anna-Marina]

Compare the stories of Pfc. Manning and AIPAC.

Where is our bloodthirsty representatives’ indignation - in their sensitive pockets?

[Charles I]

J, you are part of the government. Stand up outside this forum.

[William R. Cumming]

Once again what are protocols, treaties, agreements between the USA and Israel? Public? Published? Private? Secret?

IS there any consensus on our legal obligations to Israel?

Perhaps AIPAC could provide a list of what they think exists?
My answer is NONE!

[J]

Charles I,

That's the way things are 'supposed' to be, the people are the government. Sad thing is, without 'stroke' (lots of $$$s/moola to grease palms with) in D.C., one doesn't make much headway/traction. My one voice to AIPAC's $$$s is a one-sided affair, the politicos listen to the AIPAC $$$s and 'ignore' ordinary citizenry protests. Like I said earlier, AIPAC (an arm of the Israeli Government) uses their dollars to ensure that U.S. Media keeps a lid on Anti-Israel/Anti-Zionist/Anti-AIPAC protests, they don't want such a potential wildfire getting out of hand (a.k.a. other Americans waking up to the fact that Israel is taking our U.S. for a nefarious ride).

What's a lone voice to do? Soapbox? You write/call/fax Members of Congress deriding the way Israel/AIPAC (remember that -IPAC (the a doesn't really exist) [IS AN ARM OF THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT -- GOVERNMENT--ISRAELI GOVERNMENT] shafts U.S. interests and U.S. foreign policy, and such protests get the file-13 treatment by the -IPAC-bought-n-paid-for-U.S.-Member-of-Congress.

Like the Colonel has said on a repetative basis, -IPAC needs to be registered as a AGENT FOR A FOREIGN GOVERNMENT, but the sad thing is that U.S. Justice personas think more of their personal pocketbooks and DOJ careers than they care about U.S. National Security/U.S. National Interests (with a capital 'I'). Guess they're too stupid to realize that by acting in such fashion, DOJ member are committing 'treason' with a capital 'T' against our U.S..

[J]

Colonel,

I have a humble request -- in all future writings concerning the 'AIPAC', kindly refer to them as "(the a is really silent)-IPAC".

-IPAC is a skunk in the hen-house that really needs to be taken out back and its -IPAC cranium dismembered from its stinky -IPAC body.

Thank you in advance for all consideration in this matter. Cheers.

[Info]

This video covers a May, 2011 public protest at the Justice Department demanding the foreign agent registration of AIPAC.

http://vimeo.com/24499734

Retired Colonel Ann Wright talked about why AIPAC should register.

[Charles I]

J, I write about 10 short letters a week. Politicians and editors. I harangue my friends until I can make them morally uncomfortable enough to refuse to support, and some, tolerate, utter bullshit without a response...

We just had a federal election here and a recount confirmed a 17 vote victory. I have 18 friends and acquaintances, and I have changed many an ignorant, misinformed voter.

President Obama, as did our new majority Conservative government, raised ALL ITS MONEY, MANY TIMES MORE THAN THE LOSERS, FROM INDIVIDUAL DONATIONS channeled through the web and various private organizatons' contact lists.

So I donate to politicians and organizations I support. Organizations that leverage the individual and modest donor. If you are on the donor list, no politician will block your email, and they tend to answer the phone and count your hard copy mail, plus you get a Christmas card.

One such organization, AVAAZ, recently reversed a decision made under hasbara pressure to bar notorious self-hating terrorist Norman Finklestein from appearing in two differnent venues. Cancellations were made after ORGANIZED campaigns induced spurious security concerns, requests for expensive security personnel, deposits, etc, etc. An ORGANIZED counter-campaign quickly put paid to that bullshit, and the presentations went off, nary a suicide bomber in sight.

All I did was click a petion link, paste a few emails, and phone my MP. I do donate to AVAAZ.

If my cohort was as discouraged and resigned as you appear to be, I'd give up and start drinking again.

We are one. We can be many. We can make incremental individual change, and even one individual can tip a situation. One individual bothering to bother their cohort may become two or three.

So: write, donate, protest, phone, and discuss.

Stand up outside this forum. Once, on one issue. What's to lose?

[J]

Charles I,

You are mistaken, I am not discouraged, nor am I resigned. I was just stating the way it currently is in D.C.. Our U.S. Congress is '-IPAC/IOF [Israeli Occupation Force] 'occupied territory', and short of physically pulling 'occupied' Members of Congress's heads from their backsides, nothing is going to change. -IPAC unfortunately has our D.C. 'sewn up' so to speak.

Now on the flip-side, 'if' I or others managed to persuade a Member of Congress to think rationally on behalf of U.S. policy for a change, presuming they want to be re-elected the next election cycle would face the 'wall of $$$' that -IPAC has set aside specifically to make sure such 'awakened' Members of Congress do not 'return' to the Congress their next re-election cycle.

Charles, also from the look of things from this 'down under' vantage point, it appears that your Ottawa is also 'occupied' by the same Zionist/Israeli black-cloud that is occupying my D.C..

[PS]

On a tangential note, did people see the NYT piece about how the GWB team asked the CIA to work up a file on Juan Cole? Has Col. Lang received the same treatment?

[Patrick Lang]

PS

Send me the pictures on me. I would like to post some. My crimes are largely undetected as yet, so they should have a go at it. As described in my CV (posted here) I was registered for a few years as the personal rep under FARA of an individual Lebanese for whom I worked both in his biusiness and his family foundation. I stopped working for him six years ago and have never spoken or corresponded with him since. pl

[J]

Info,

Here's a good example of 'how' AIPAC 'manages' outfits like Moveon through their 'friends' in Code Pink and such, they have their 'friends' make sure that the 'credible' opposition to AIPAC and America being taken to the cleaners by the 'aid to Israel, 'credible opposition' is relegated to the basement out of sight of the mainstream eye.

'Transparent Cabal' Rejected for Anti-AIPAC Conference - Salem-News.Com
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/june182011/transparent-cabal-ss.php

"Relegated to a “downstairs” workshop were some non-mainstream hard-line critics of Israel and its lobby–Jeff Blankfort, Janet McMahon, of Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and Grant Smith of Institute for Research Middle east Policy, Philip Giraldi, Executive Director of Council for National Interest, D.C. Alison Weir, President of the Council for the National Interest (CNI) and Executive Director of If Americans Knew (which deals with the plight of the Palestinians), served as moderator for this workshop and provided a list of speakers for the conference, with my name being included. But, as Clark, points out, I was rejected. He likewise observes that liberal Jewish pressure caused the outspoken Helen Thomas to pull out.

I asked Alison Weir the reason for my rejection and she replied that she had not been told. Over a month before the AIPAC event, I had been contacted by a Move Over AIPAC representative, and I sent the group a link to my web site and an e-copy of “The Transparent Cabal,” after which I never heard from them again. The question here is not simply why I was rejected but why my rejection was not explained.

Clark implies, correctly I believe, that Code Pink wanted to play it safe and thus kept the more controversial/hardline people out of the limelight or rejected them entirely. As pointed out earlier, Mearsheimer and Walt could be seen as safe because of their mainstream credentials and because, as Clark points out, their tendency to mitigate some of their criticism. Jeff Blankfort, an excellent speaker who certainly pulls no punches on the issue of Israel and its US minions, was probably deemed safer than me because of his Jewish ancestry. Since it is widely believed among cautious gentiles that people of Jewish backgrounds should be immune from the lethal charge of anti-Semitism, reliance on their criticism of Israel and its supporters is often preferred as a means of smear protection. In this regard, Clark points out that the Move Over organizers made a strong effort to showcase Jewish opposition to AIPAC, writing “[t]here were assurances that ‘AIPAC is bad for the Jews’ as if this makes protest permissible, as if protest is not an obligation of US citizens.”

[Adam L. Silverman]

J: lets be a little careful - its Move Over AIPAC, not MoveOn, two different groups.

[Adam L. Silverman]

I know I've written this here before at SST, and I'll probably have to do so again as an actual post, rather than a comment: both in Israel and in the US the actual communities of Jewish Americans have far greater diversity of opinion, as well as willingness to see an equitable resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute than either the current Israeli leadership (a minority Likud government that has created a majority coalition through alliance with even farther to the right parties) or the professional Jewish organizations in America, which largely do not represent the positions of Jewish Americans in regards to how to resolve the problems with the Palestinians. In both these cases the leadership (elected to office in the case of the Israelis and willing to run these organizations in the US) has its own agendas and seeks to control the narratives regarding the future of Israel, how the Palestinian dispute should be resolved, regional Middle Eastern politics and security, etc.

In the case of the US, the leaders of groups like AIPAC, the personnel at think tanks and research institutes funded heavily by money from Likud or its backers, the heads of Jewish organizations that really should be agnostic on this (I'm referring here to the ADL, which does great work tracking and combatting both real anti-Semitism and other forms of identity based discrimination and extremism, but whose director needs to focus on that mission and not speak officially on topics that are outside his organization's purview.), but aren't really do not represent the pretty diverse, and largely moderate views of Jewish Americans, as well as Israelis in regard to resolving the issues with the Palestinians. The reality is that most Jewish Americans have lives to live that are not dominated by what goes on in Israel. They have jobs to go to, family's to deal with, etc. And while they may make donations to some of these organizations, they are largely not paying attention to what the leadership is doing. They're giving money to combat extremism and anti-Semitism in donations to the ADL, not to encourage Rabbi Foxman to mouth off in an outrageous manner. Or they're giving money to "support Israel", because they think Israel existing is a good idea, not because they support AIPAC's lobbying of the US government, or acting like an American agent of a foreign power, and if they even think about work coming out of Brookings on the Middle East, they aren't paying attention to the fact that that sections of Brookings has its own name (the Saban Center), named for the donor who is himself a major supporter of Likud positions. The bigger issue on that last one, is how the two top name fellows in that center can stay employed as their research in regard to Iraq, the Middle East, and other issues has been consistently wrong for years. I only hope their work for the US intelligence community, where they worked before retiring and going to work at Brookings as Senior Fellows, was better than the stuff they routinely churn out now!

If anyone wants a list of links to surveys showing the diversity of opinions regarding Israel and the Middle East among Jewish Americans and Israelis, my post on the topic from March 2010 is chock full of them:
http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2010/03/the-us-and-israel-a-codependent-dysfunctional-relationship-adam-silverman.html

[Herve Leger on sale]

J, you are part of the government. Stand up outside this forum.

[Herve Leger on sale]

J: lets be a little careful - its Move Over AIPAC, not MoveOn, two different groups.

[Herve Leger on sale]

Perhaps AIPAC could provide a list of what they think exists?
My answer is NONE!

[Herve leger sale]

This video covers a May, 2011 public protest at the Justice Department demanding the foreign agent registration of AIPAC.

[Herve leger sale]

IS there any consensus on our legal obligations to Israel?

[Herve leger sale]

Where is our bloodthirsty representatives’ indignation - in their sensitive pockets?