American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the powerful pro-Israel lobby group founded in 1963, has historically influenced US policy towards Israel to such an extent that former President Jimmy Carter wrote in 2006 that “it would be almost politically suicidal for members of Congress to advocate a balanced position between Israel and Palestine, to suggest that Israel comply with international law, or to speak out in defence of justice or human rights for Palestinians.”
Over the past 20 years or so, the organisation has increasingly aligned itself with the Israeli right. It now seeks to prevent pro-peace candidates from entering the Israeli parliament by generously funding their opponents in the primaries. In the case of two Democratic candidates, AIPAC has used every dirty trick in the book to smear them, including racist advertisements in the major newspapers, in which the candidates’ features have been altered to make them look evil or untrustworthy.
The targeted candidates are both black, left-wing and have spoken out against the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza. Representative Cori Bush of Missouri is the latest to be hit with attack ads while her opponent was funded with a huge amount of money (10 times more than what Bush gathered).
Before that, there was the case of Jamal Bowman in New York’s 16th congressional district, whose opponent received $2 million from AIPAC while the organisation ran attack ads against him everywhere.
On the cover photo, the homepage of the official website for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a lobbying group that advocates pro-Israel policies ©chrisdorney/Shutterstock.com
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