The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! podcast

15:45

Kathy Drinkard is a retired teacher and elementary school counselor. She has long been concerned about the suffering in the Palestinian territories and has been involved with her church on the issue for more than a decade. She has traveled to the region four times, most recently in the fall of 2018, a trip she helped plan. During her second trip, she spent 10 days in Nablus visiting an Anglican congregation that is in partnership with her church. Her third trip was to participate in a seminar, “Faith in the Face of Empire,” sponsored by the Reverend Dr. Mitri Raheb and Bright Stars of Bethlehem. She currently is chair of the Ministry for Middle East Peace and Justice at Grace Presbyterian Church in Springfield, VA.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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James Metz: Why VCHR is Taking on the Virginia Israel Advisory Board. 16:48

for 30 weeks siden16:48

16:48

James Metz retired after a career in information technology—working in both the public and private sectors. In 2013, inspired by a community discussion of Sandy Tolan’s book, The Lemon Tree, Metz and his wife Suzanne Hallberg joined with another couple to co-found Richmonders for Peace in Israel-Palestine (RPIP). In 2016, RPIP joined forces with Freedom2Boycott-Virginia—now known as the Virginia Coalition for Human Rights (VCHR)—to lobby against and defeat anti-BDS legislation that was introduced in the Virginia General Assembly. Metz and Hallberg live in Richmond, VA.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Paul Noursi: What is the Virginia Coalition for Human Rights? 14:02

for 31 weeks siden14:02

14:02

Paul Noursi has been active with the Virginia Coalition for Human Rights (VCHR) since its founding in 2016. He is also active with several other organizations working for peace and justice in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace, the New Dominion PAC, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and the Arab American Democratic Caucus of Virginia. He was also a Barack Obama Delegate to the Virginia State Convention in 2008, a Bernie Sanders Delegate to the Virginia State Convention in 2016, and he has served on various Get-Out-the Vote and Democratic campaigns. Noursi has lived and traveled extensively in the Middle East, including Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon. He has a BS in Civil Engineering, an MS in Engineering Management, and is a licensed and practicing civil engineer with wide-ranging experience in land development and public works in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Brad Parker: What Lessons can Activists Take Away from the Promoting Human Rights by Ending Israeli Military Detention of Palestinian Children Act? 25:47

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25:47

Brad Parker, Esq. is Senior Adviser, Policy and Advocacy at Defense for Children International. Parker specializes in issues of juvenile justice and grave violations against children during armed conflict, and leads DCIP’s legal advocacy efforts on Palestinian children’s rights. Parker regularly writes and speaks about the situation of Palestinian children in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Before joining DCIP, Parker worked as a legal advocacy coordinator and staff attorney at MADRE, a New York-based international women’s rights nonprofit organization. He was the 2010-2012 Human Rights Clinical Fellow at the International Women’s Human Rights (IWHR) Clinic at the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law, where he conducted fact-finding investigations, implemented advocacy projects and authored reports on a range of issues affecting women in Guatemala and post-earthquake Haiti. Parker is a graduate of the University of Vermont and earned his J.D. from the City University of New York School of Law.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Saqib Ali: Why I’m Suing Maryland to Protect my Constitutional Right to Boycott Israel. 19:14

for 33 weeks siden19:14

19:14

Saqib Ali served as a Democratic Party member of the Maryland House of Delegates. He represented District 39 from January 10, 2007 to January 12, 2011. Since leaving the legislature, he cofounded Freedom2Boycott in Maryland, an organization of Palestinian Solidarity activists dedicated to preserving their constitutional right to boycott Israel and Israel's settlements. Ali is a professional software engineer. In January 2019, Ali sued Maryland's Governor Larry Hogan and Attorney General Brian Frosh over the state’s anti-boycott executive order. The anti-boycott measure, which denies government contracts to businesses that boycott Israel, was issued in 2017 after similar legislation repeatedly failed to pass through the state legislature.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Martin F. McMahon: The Legal Battle for Justice Against Israeli Settlers and their American Financiers. 19:38

for 34 weeks siden19:38

19:38

Martin McMahon is a graduate of Fordham Law School, and an experienced litigator who has tried cases all over America. He has spent a number of years with the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, where he oversaw significant litigation matters in the Southern District of New York and in the Second Circuit. He has had private practice experience, having been with Cravath, Swaine & Moore, and Proskauer, Rose, Goetz & Mendelsohn. He set up his own law firm many years ago and is one of a handful of attorneys who has secured three punitive damages awards. He is dedicated to advancing the interests of the proverbial underdog – in this case, Palestinians, who the world has largely forgotten about and deem irrelevant.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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James North: How The New York Times Rigs News on Israel Palestine. 33:59

for 35 weeks siden33:59

33:59

James North is an independent writer, based in New York City, who has been reporting from Africa, Latin America and Asia for 44 years. He is also a contributing editor at Mondoweiss, the website that covers “News & Opinion About Palestine, Israel and the United States.” Over the years, North has written for The Nation, In These Times, and many other publications. He is also the author of Freedom Rising, a first-hand look at apartheid in southern Africa. You can follow James on X @jamesnorth7…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Grant F. Smith: U.S. Foreign Aid and the Israeli Nuclear Weapons Program. 27:04

for 36 weeks siden27:04

27:04

Grant Smith is the director of the Washington, DC-based Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep). He is the author of the 2016 book Big Israel: How Israel’s Lobby Moves America and Divert! Numec, Zalman Shapiro and the Diversion of U.S. Weapons-Grade Uranium Into the Israeli Nuclear Weapons Program (2012). Smith has also written two histories of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). America’s Defense Line: The Justice Department's Battle to Register the Israel Lobby as Agents of a Foreign Government and Foreign Agents: AIPAC from the 1963 Fulbright Hearings to the 2005 Espionage Scandal. Smith’s reports about the Israel lobby and Freedom of Information Act lawsuits to reveal official U.S. policy on Israel’s nuclear program appear frequently in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and Antiwar.com news website.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Ali Abunimah: What does a Censored Undercover News Investigation Reveal about the Israel Lobby in America? 32:46

for 37 weeks siden32:46

32:46

Ali Abunimah is a journalist and the co-founder and executive director of the widely acclaimed The Electronic Intifada, a nonprofit, independent online publication focusing on Palestine. A graduate of Princeton University and the University of Chicago, Abunimah is a frequent speaker on the Middle East, contributing regularly to numerous publications. He is the author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse (Metropolitan Books, 2006) and The Battle for Justice in Palestine (Haymarket Books, 2014). Abunimah has been an active part of the movement for justice in Palestine for 20 years, and was the recipient of a 2013 Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Walter Hixson: Israel's Armor: The Israel Lobby and the First Generation of the Palestine Conflict. 38:24

for 38 weeks siden38:24

38:24

Walter Hixson is the author of a half-dozen books on the history of U.S. foreign relations. He has taught history for 36 years and is currently distinguished professor of history at the University of Akron. Hixson’s books include American Foreign Relations: A New Diplomatic History (Routledge, 2016); American Settler Colonialism: A History (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013); The Myth of American Diplomacy: National Identity and U.S. Foreign Policy (Yale University Press, 2008); Parting the Curtain: Propaganda, Culture and the Cold War, 1945-1961 (St. Martin’s, 1997); and George F. Kennan: Cold War Iconoclast (Columbia University Press, 1989). Hixson’s forthcoming book, Israel’s Armor: The Role of the Israel Lobby in the History of the Palestine Conflict (Cambridge University Press, Spring 2019) is a groundbreaking history, using untapped source material, about Israel and its U.S. lobby’s impact on American foreign policy since 1948.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Delinda Hanley: Why Talking about the Israel Lobby Matters. 11:55

for 39 weeks siden11:55

11:55

Delinda Curtiss Hanley is news editor and executive director of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, a 76-page nearly monthly magazine with the largest circulation of any Middle East related publication in North America. The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, features insightful analysis of the political, economic, and historical realities of the U.S.-Middle East relationship. Each colorful issue is packed with special reports on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the war in Iraq, current Middle East issues and grassroots activism in the U.S. and abroad. The magazine is important to every Muslim- and Arab-American organization because it is the only publication that reports on every group's symposiums, lectures, dialogues and activities. The magazine also focuses on U.S. lobbying groups involved in crafting U.S. policy (Washington Report on Middle East Affairs 2024).…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Col. Lawrence Wilkerson: Is the U.S. Ramping up its Military Presence in Syria and Preparing to Attack Iran for Israel? 20:12

for 40 weeks siden20:12

20:12

Col. Lawrence Wilkerson's last position in government was as Secretary of State Colin Powell's chief of staff (2002-05). He previously was associate director of the State Department's Policy Planning staff under the directorship of Ambassador Richard N. Haass, and member of that staff responsible for East Asia and the Pacific, political-military and legislative affairs (2001-02). Before serving at the State Department, Wilkerson served 31 years in the U.S. Army. During that time, he was a member of the faculty of the U.S. Naval War College (1987-1989), special assistant to General Powell when he was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989-93), and director and deputy director of the U.S. Marine Corps War College at Quantico, Virginia (1993-97). Wilkerson retired from active service in 1997 as a colonel and began work as an adviser to General Powell. He has also taught national security affairs in the Honors Program at George Washington University. He is currently distinguished visiting professor of government and public policy at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia and working on a book about the first George W. Bush administration.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Jefferson Morley: CIA and Mossad: Tradeoffs in the Formation of the U.S.-Israel Strategic Relationship. 23:00

for 41 weeks siden23:00

23:00

Jefferson Morley is a veteran Washington investigative reporter and the author of the 2017 St. Martin’s Press book, The Ghost: The Secret Life of CIA Spymaster James Jesus Angleton. The book sheds new light on Angleton’s close relationship with Israeli intelligence, citing such cases as Israel’s 1967 attack on the USS Liberty and the diversion of U.S. government-owned weapons-grade uranium from Apollo, PA to Israel in the 1960s. A native of Minneapolis, Morley attended Yale University and worked as an editor at The New Republic, The Nation and Spin Magazine before joining The Washington Post in 1992 where he worked for 15 years. His reporting has also appeared in The New York Review of Books, Reader’s Digest, The New York Times Book Review, Rolling Stone, the Los Angeles Times, The American Prospect, and Salon. Morley is the author two other books, Our Man in Mexico: Winston Scott and the Hidden History of the CIA, and Snow-Storm in August: Washington City, Francis Scott Key, and the Forgotten Race Riot of 1835.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Ali Abunimah: Israeli versus Russian Media Influence. 22:44

for 42 weeks siden22:44

22:44

Ali Abunimah is a journalist and the co-founder and executive director of the widely acclaimed publication The Electronic Intifada , a nonprofit, independent online publication focusing on Palestine. A graduate of Princeton University and the University of Chicago, he is a frequent speaker on the Middle East, contributing regularly to numerous publications. He is the author of One Country, A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse and The Battle for Justice in Palestine . He has been an active part of the movement for justice in Palestine for 20 years. He is the recipient of a 2013 Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Gideon Levy: The Zionist Tango: Step Left, Step Right. 44:40

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44:40

Gideon Levy is a columnist for the Israeli daily Haaretz, which he joined in 1982. He spent four years as the newspaper’s deputy editor and is currently a member of its editorial board. He is widely considered the “dean” of Israeli journalism—as well as “the most hated man in Israel.” As Levy has written, “Treating the Palestinians as victims and the crimes perpetrated against them as crimes is considered treasonous.” Levy writes the weekly Twilight Zone feature, which covers the Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza over the last 30 years, as well as political editorials for the newspaper. His columns about politics, money, how Israel's military occupation is changing Israeli society and about U.S.-Israel relations are widely read and discussed around the world. Levy was the recipient, with Palestinian pastor Mitri Raheb, of the 2016 Olof Palme prize for their “fight against occupation and violence.” He has also received the Peace Through Media Award, at the 2012 International Media Awards; the Euro-Med Journalist Prize for 2008; the Leipzig Freedom Prize in 2001; the Israeli Journalists’ Union Prize in 1997; and The Association of Human Rights in Israel Award for 1996. His book, The Punishment of Gaza, was published in 2010 by Verso Publishing House in London and New York. Video of Levy’s presentation at our 2015 conference was translated into Arabic and has gone viral, receiving more than 200,000 views.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Thomas R. Getman: When and How Did Evangelicals Become Zionists? 26:16

for 44 weeks siden26:16

26:16

Thomas Getman is partner in a private consulting group that specializes in international, United Nations and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) affairs and university seminars, on U.N. Reform and humanitarian interagency partnership building. He was World Vision’s executive director for international relations until March 1, 2009. He managed World Vision’s liaison activities with the U.N. and the World Council of Churches and was responsible for diplomatic relations with U.N. member missions in Geneva and with countries on sensitive tax, staff and protocol negotiations. He served until 2009 on the board of principals for the U.N. Deputy Secretary General for Emergency Relief in the U.N. Office of the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) as chair of a premier NGO consortium, the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA).…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi: How and Why the Israel Lobby Is Suppressing Free Speech and Academic Freedom on College Campuses. 23:38

for 45 weeks siden23:38

23:38

Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi is the director and senior scholar in the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas; associate professor of Ethnic Studies/Race and Resistance Studies; and affiliated faculty in Sexuality Studies graduate program at San Francisco State University. She is a co-founder and editorial board member of the Islamophobia Studies Journal for which she is co-editing the forthcoming special issue on “Gender, Sexuality and Racism.” She is co-author of Mobilizing Democracy: Changing U.S. Policy in the Middle East; and co-editor of Arab and Arab American Feminisms: Gender, Violence and Belonging, winner of the 2012 National Arab American non-fiction Book Award; American Quarterly Forum on Palestine and American Studies (2015); and a special issue of MIT Electronic Journal of Middle East Studies. Her work has appeared in 7 languages (Arabic, English, Farsi, French, German, Italian and Spanish in academic journals (International Feminist Journal of Politics; Gender and Society; Radical History Review; Peace Review; and Journal of Women's History); anthologies (This Bridge We Call Home; New World Coming: The 1960s and the Shaping of Global Consciousness; Shifting Borders: American in the Middle East/North Africa; We Will Not Be Silenced: The Academic Repression of Israel's Critics; Righting Injustice: The Case for the Academic Boycott of Israel; and With Stones in Our Hands: Reflections on Racism, Muslims and Empire); social media outlets (Mondoweiss, Al-Shabaka, Jadaliyya); and newspapers and magazines (The Guardian, Al-Fajr; Womanews; Palestine Focus; Voice of Palestinian Women; Christianity and Crisis; Falasteen Al-Thahwra; Al-Hadaf; and Al-Hurriyah). (Full bio)…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Dr. Barry Trachtenberg: Challenging the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act: Pushing Back Against Jewish Exceptionalist Politics. 17:50

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17:50

Dr. Barry Trachtenberg is the Michael R. and Deborah K. Rubin Presidential Chair of Jewish History and an associate professor of history at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC. On Nov. 7, 2017, he testified before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on “Examining Anti-Semitism on College Campuses.” A scholar of Jewish history and the Nazi Holocaust, Dr. Trachtenberg told the committee: “Legislation such as H.R.6421-Anti-Semitism Awareness Act of 2016 is not a genuine attempt to contend with actual anti-Semitism, but rather is more correctly understood as a means to quell what are in fact protected acts of speech that are vital and necessary both to the scholarly missions of educational institutions and to the functioning of democratic societies.” He cautioned that “many studies are based on a definition of anti-Semitism that de facto defines criticism of Israel as anti-Semitic….Yet as within American Jewry as a whole, Jewish students hold a wide range of views concerning Israel, from unilaterally supportive to sharply critical.” Dr. Trachtenberg earned his Ph.D. in history at UCLA and a post-graduate diploma in Jewish Studies at Oxford University. Prior to joining Wake Forest in 2016, he was an associate professor and director of programs in Judaic Studies and Hebrew Studies at the State University of New York’s University at Albany and interim director (2010-2012) of the university’s Center for Jewish Studies. He is the author of the 2018 Bloomsbury Publishing book, The United States and the Nazi Holocaust: Race, Refuge, and Remembrance.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Noura Erakat: How Support for Israel’s Violations of International Law Puts the U.S. on the Wrong Side of History. 22:05

for 47 weeks siden22:05

22:05

Noura Erakat is a human rights attorney and activist. She is an assistant professor at George Mason University. She is a co-founder/editor of Jadaliyya e-zine and an Editorial Committee member of the Journal of Palestinian Studies. Prior to joining GMU's faculty, she served as legal counsel for a Congressional Subcommittee in the House of Representatives, as a legal advocate for the Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Refugee and Residency Rights, and as the national grassroots organizer and legal advocate at the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, where she helped seed BDS campaigns nationally as well as support the cases brought against two former Israeli officials in U.S. federal courts for alleged war crimes. Most recently, Noura released a pedagogical project on the Gaza Strip and Palestine. The centerpiece of the project is a short multimedia documentary, Gaza in Context, that rehabilitates Israel’s wars on Gaza within a settler-colonial framework. She is also the producer of the short video, Black Palestinian Solidarity. Noura is currently working on a book project tentatively titled, Justice for Some: Law As Politics in the Question of Palestine…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

for 1 year siden19:17

19:17

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Tareq Radi: The birth of Palestine solidarity activism at George Mason University. The Key aims of solidarity movements on U.S. college campuses and attempts to thwart growing grassroots activism. 23:15

for 1 year siden23:15

23:15

Tareq Radi is a Palestinian-American organizer based in Washington, DC. He is currently the Public Affairs Coordinator at Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. Under the umbrella of the Arab Studies Institute, Radi is leading an initiative to mine historical and contemporary documents related to the Palestinian solidarity movement in the United States. The work will culminate in a series of databases aimed at studying the U.S.-based movement and offering researchers and advocates alike a critical resource. Before that, he graduated with a B.S in Finance from George Mason University (GMU), where he was a founding member of GMU’s Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA). He intends to pursue graduate school with hopes of developing and conducting research on resistance economies.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Justin Raimondo: Israel and foreign policy issues in the presidential campaign. Is America’s unconditional support for Israel finally becoming a political issue? 20:34

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20:34

The following is a presentation made at the 2016 Israel Lobby Con held at the National Press Club. Justin Raimondo is an American author and the editorial director of Antiwar.com. In addition to his thrice-weekly column for Antiwar.com, Raimondo is a regular contributor to The American Conservative and Chronicles magazines. Raimondo's books include Reclaiming the American Right: The Lost Legacy of the Conservative Movement (Center for Libertarian Studies, 1993), reissued in 2008 with new introduction by George W. Carey by Intercollegiate Studies Institute: Into the Bosnian Quagmire: The Case Against U.S. Intervention in the Balkans (AFPAC, 1996); and Colin Powell and the Power Elite (America First Books, 1996). Raimondo also wrote An Enemy of the State: The Life of Murray N. Rothbard , (Prometheus Books, July 2000).…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Jim Lobe: Review of the rise of neoconservatives, their role in promoting the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and the doctrinal centrality of Israel. 22:08

for 1 year siden22:08

22:08

The following is a presentation made at the 2016 Israel Lobby Con held at the National Press Club. Jim Lobe served as the chief of the Washington bureau of Inter Press Service (IPS) from 1980 to 1985 and again from 1989 until 2015. He has managed and produced LobeLog, a blog focused primarily on U.S. policy toward the Middle East, since 2007. LobeLog, which features contributions by experts on the Middle East and foreign policy, received the Arthur Ross Award for Distinguished Reporting and Analysis of Foreign Affairs from the American Academy of Diplomacy in 2015. Throughout much of his journalistic career, Lobe has followed the influence of neoconservatives on U.S. foreign policy and has lectured on the subject at various colleges and universities in the United States, as well as the Institute of American Affairs in Beijing, the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, and Sciences Pos in Reims, among other institutions overseas. In 2004, he acted as defense attorney for the Project for the New American Century at the Brussels Tribunal in Brussels. He is also an associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Col. Lawrence Wilkerson: Secretary of State Colin Powell’s former chief of staff explores how Israel’s influence over the U.S. has affected America’s strategic approach toward the Middle East. 22:22

for 1 year siden22:22

22:22

The following is a presentation made at the 2016 Israel Lobby Con held at the National Press Club. Col. Lawrence Wilkerson's last positions in government were as Secretary of State Colin Powell's Chief of Staff (2002-05), Associate Director of the State Department's Policy Planning staff under the directorship of Ambassador Richard N. Haass, and member of that staff responsible for East Asia and the Pacific, political-military and legislative affairs (2001-02). Before serving at the State Department, Wilkerson served 31 years in the U.S. Army. During that time, he was a member of the faculty of the U.S. Naval War College (1987-1989), Special Assistant to General Powell when he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989-93), and Director and Deputy Director of the U.S. Marine Corps War College at Quantico, Virginia (1993-97). Wilkerson retired from active service in 1997 as a colonel, and began work as an adviser to General Powell. He has also taught national security affairs in the Honors Program at George Washington University. He is currently working on a book about the first George W. Bush administration. He currently is Distinguished Visiting Professor of Government and Public Policy at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Prof. Kirk J. Beattie: How Congress shapes Middle East policy, and how AIPAC shapes Congress. 23:06

for 2 years siden23:06

23:06

The following is a presentation made at the 2016 Israel Lobby Con held at the National Press Club. Kirk James Beattie is the author of Congress and the Shaping of the Middle East as well as two books on Egyptian politics: Egypt During the Nasser Years and Egypt During the Sadat Years . Beattie is a professor at Simmons College in the Political Science and International Relations Department, specializing in comparative politics with regional expertise in Middle East and West European politics. Beattie has taught at Harvard, Wellesley, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the University of Michigan. He is a recipient of numerous national scholarships including a Fulbright grant, a Fulbright-Hays grant, an International Rotary Foundation Fellowship, an American Research Center in Egypt grant, and a Center for Arabic Study Abroad fellowship. He lives in Brookline, Massachusetts, and in Wisconsin. The conference is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep). Visit https://IsraelLobbyCon.org…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Dr. Roger Mattson: Did Israel steal U.S. weapons-grade uranium, and did it have help from U.S. citizens? 24:29

for 2 years siden24:29

24:29

The following is a presentation made at the 2016 Israel Lobby Con held at the National Press Club. Roger J. Mattson is the author of the recently published book Stealing the Atom Bomb: How Denial and Deception Armed Israel . Dr. Mattson has experience in engineering and management with Sandia National Laboratory, the Atomic Energy Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the Environmental Protection Agency and several nuclear safety and security consultancies. He was an adviser to the NRC commissioners on policy issues such as safety goals, risk assessment, nuclear safeguards, and Three Mile Island reforms. After leaving government service in 1984, he led two private companies that provided safety and security services for U.S. nuclear power plants, the Energy Department's nuclear facilities, and several foreign users of nuclear power. Following the Chernobyl accident in 1986, he helped develop IAEA's guidance on safety principles for the world's nuclear power plants. He oversaw nuclear safety consultancies in five foreign countries. He also served on the offsite safety committees for several nuclear power plants and several DOE nuclear facilities. In 2012, he was part of a team formed by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers to forge a new safety construct for nuclear power after the tragedy at Fukushima. He has participated in safety analysis and field reviews of nearly 150 nuclear facilities in the US, Europe, the former Soviet Union and the Far East, including the startup of the latest U.S. nuclear power plant in 2015. The conference is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep). Visit https://IsraelLobbyCon.org…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Grant F. Smith: Ten ways the Israel lobby ‘moves’ America. 21:02

for 2 years siden21:02

21:02

The following is a presentation made at the 2016 Israel Lobby Con held at the National Press Club. Grant F. Smith is the author of Big Israel: How Israel's Lobby Moves America, his eighth book about the Israel lobby. Smith is the director of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep), a nonprofit organization that studies U.S. Middle East policy formulation. In 2014, Smith sued the Department of Defense in federal court and won release of a detailed report, contracted in 1987, on the advanced state of Israel’s nuclear weapons program. In 2015, Smith sued the Central Intelligence Agency and won release of 131 pages of formally classified information revealing its overseas agents obtained compelling evidence that Israel stole U.S. government-owned weapons-grade uranium in the 1960s to build its first atom bombs. The CIA’s refusal to share this information thwarted two FBI investigations into the diversion. This is the subject of ongoing IRmep litigation. In his 30 year professional career as a researcher, Smith has investigated public sector lobbying, financial services and global telecommunications industries, worked in 22countries assessing the impact of regulatory and trade regime changes, and managed multinational research teams. The conference is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep). Visit https://IsraelLobbyCon.org…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Reza Marashi: The Iran Nuclear Deal 19:24

for 3 years siden19:24

19:24

The following is a presentation made at the 2015 Israel Lobby Con held at the National Press Club. Reza Marashi joined the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) in 2010 as the organization’s first research director. He came to NIAC after four years in the State Department’s Office of Iranian Affairs. Prior to his tenure at the State Department, he was an analyst at the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) covering China-Middle East issues, and a Tehran-based private strategic consultant on Iranian political and economic risk. Marashi is frequently consulted by Western governments on Iran-related matters. His articles have appeared in The New York Times , Foreign Affairs , Foreign Policy , and The Atlantic , among other publications. He has been a guest contributor to CNN, NPR, the BBC, TIME Magazine , The Washington Post , the Financial Times , and other broadcast outlets. The conference is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep).…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Gareth Porter: The Israel lobby push for war on Iran 27:46

for 3 years siden27:46

27:46

The following is a presentation made at the 2015 Israel Lobby Con held at the National Press Club. Gareth Porter is an investigative journalist and historian who specializes in U.S. foreign and military policy. He has written five books, including Perils of Dominance, Imbalance of Power and The Road to War in Vietnam . His most recent book is Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare . The book highlights the impact that the United States’ alliance with Israel had on Washington’s turning the International Atomic Energy Agency into a tool of its anti-Iran policy. He writes regularly for Inter Press Service and has also published investigative articles on Salon.com, the Nation, the American Prospect, Truthout and The Raw Stor y. His blogs have been published on Huffington Post, Firedoglake, CounterPunch and many other websites. Porter was Saigon bureau chief of Dispatch News Service International in 1971 and later reported on trips to Southeast Asia for The Guardian, Asian Wall Street Journal and Pacific News Service. In 2012 he was awarded the Martha Gelhorn Prize for Investigative Journalism by the UK-based Gelhorn Trust. Porter currently publishes Iran policy analysis in Middle East Eye . The conference is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep).…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Congressman Paul Findley: What I should have done, and what Congress can do today. 26:36

for 3 years siden26:36

26:36

The following is a presentation made at the 2015 Israel Lobby Con held at the National Press Club. Paul Findley served the 20th District of Illinois during 11 terms in Congress, from 1961 to 1983. Findley wrote the very first book to analyze the pervasive influence of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on U.S. politics, policy, and institutions from the perspective of Congress. Carefully documented with specific case histories, They Dare To Speak Out: People and Institutions Confront Israel’s Lobby reveals how the Israel Lobby helps to shape important aspects of U.S. foreign policy and influences congressional, senatorial, and presidential elections. First published in 1985 and reprinted several times since, the book criticizes the undue influence AIPAC exerts in the Senate and the House, and the pressure AIPAC brings to bear on university professors and journalists who seem too sympathetic to Arab and Islamic states, or too critical of Israel and its policies. Findley is co-founder of the Council for the National Interest. The conference is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep).…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Paul Pillar: AIPAC/Netanyahu objectives and the American interest. 16:05

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16:05

The following is a presentation made at the 2015 Israel Lobby Con held at the National Press Club. Dr. Paul Pillar is a Nonresident Senior Fellow of the Center for Security Studies in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He also is a Nonresident Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution and an Associate Fellow of the Geneva Center for Security Policy. He retired in 2005 from a 28-year career in the U.S. intelligence community, in which his last position was National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia. Earlier he served in a variety of analytical and managerial positions, including chief of CIA analytic units, covering portions of the Near East, the Persian Gulf, and South Asia. Dr. Pillar also served in the National Intelligence Council as one of the original members of its Analytic Group. He has been Executive Assistant to the CIA’s Deputy Director for Intelligence, and Executive Assistant to Director of Central Intelligence William Webster. He has also headed the Assessments and Information Group of the DCI Counterterrorist Center, and was deputy chief of the center from 1997 to 1999. He was a Federal Executive Fellow at the Brookings Institution in 1999-2000. Dr. Pillar was a visiting professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University from 2005 to 2012. Dr. Pillar received an A.B. summa cum laude from Dartmouth College, a B.Phil. from Oxford University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Princeton University. He is a retired officer in the U.S. Army Reserve and served on active duty in 1971-1973, including a tour of duty in Vietnam. He is the author of Negotiating Peace: War Termination as a Bargaining Process (Princeton University Press, 1983); Terrorism and U.S. Foreign Policy (Brookings Institution Press, 2001; second edition 2003); and Intelligence and U.S. Foreign Policy: Iraq, 9/11, and Misguided Reform (Columbia University Press, 2011). He writes a blog at The National Interest. The conference is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep).…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Congressman Rick Rahall: How does the Israel lobby influence Congress? 24:18

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The following is a presentation made at the 2015 Israel Lobby Con held at the National Press Club. Former Congressman Nick Joe Rahall II, a grandson of Lebanese immigrants, represented West Virginia in the U.S. Congress from 1977 to 2015. When he was elected, the 27-year-old became the youngest member of Congress. Rahall was one of only 8 House members to vote against the Authorization for Use of Military Force against Iraq in 2002 that preceded the Iraq War. Rahall has repeatedly expressed concern about America’s relationship with Israel, stating, “Israel can’t continue to occupy, humiliate and destroy the dreams and spirits of the Palestinian people and continue to call itself a democratic state.” He has affirmed that America’s interests would be served by getting the peace process back on track, and regretted the U.S. vetoes of U.N. resolutions against Israeli settlement building. The Congressman pressed the State Department to end a ban on travel to Lebanon until the ban was finally lifted in 1997. Rahall also expressed concern over a bipartisan resolution supporting Israel in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict without adding language urging restraint against civilian targets. Rahall helped draft a resolution that urged “all parties to protect innocent life and civilian infrastructure.” The conference is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep).…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Former AIPAC employee MJ Rosenberg: Is it all about the money? 20:29

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The following is a presentation made at the 2015 Israel Lobby Con held at the National Press Club. M.J. Rosenberg is a writer, primarily on matters relating to Israel. He is a regular contributor to The Nation and Huffington Post , with his writing widely reprinted throughout the world. He has special expertise on the Israel Lobby, having been employed by several pro-Israel organizations between 1973 and 1975 and 1982 and 1986. His last post was as editor of AIPAC’s Near East Report and as senior adviser to then-Executive Director Thomas Dine. He also worked on Capitol Hill for a total of 15 years as legislative assistant to Rep. Jonathan Bingham (D-NY) and as Appropriations Committee staffer for Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), specifically handling her work on the Foreign Operations Subcommittee, where she was a leading advocate of the Israel aid package. He also served as chief-of-staff for Edward Feighan (D-OH) and as speechwriter for Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI). Rosenberg also spent three years as a Clinton political appointee at USAID. Following Rosenberg’s years of government service, he went to work as Washington director of the Israel Policy Forum for 9 years, then as a Middle East writer at Media Matters For America. Rosenberg’s opposition to AIPAC, which followed a successful tenure there, stems from his strong support for the “two-state solution” and his belief that it is the Lobby and the government of Israel that is responsible for its failure to be adopted. He is also, in his words, “appalled” by Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians, as most recently evidenced by the “indefensible and horrific” Israel war on Gaza in the summer of 2014. Since 2015 the annual IsraelLobbyCon conference series at the National Press Club explores the latest research, innovations and tactics for countering the Israel lobby’s damaging policies in the U.S. and around the globe. The conference is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs , and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep) .…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Best of Clayton Swisher: "Undercover Investigative Journalism about the Israel lobby." 38:39

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38:39

This talk is from the 2017 IsraelLobbyCon at the National Press Club. Clayton E. Swisher is an American journalist and author, who worked as the director of investigative journalism for the Al Jazeera Media Network in Doha, Qatar. Swisher, a former marine reservist and federal criminal investigator, was educated at the University of Pittsburgh and Georgetown University. In 2004 Swisher's first book The Truth About Camp David, was published to favorable reviews in Foreign Affairs and the Israeli newspaper Haaretz . In 2016 Swisher managed the six-month undercover investigation that produced Al Jazeera’s four-part series “The Lobby” about AIPAC’s activities in the UK, the Israeli embassy’s interaction with “independent” pro-Israel groups, unfounded accusations of anti-Semitism lodged against Labor Party members, and efforts to "take down" UK lawmakers deemed hostile to Israel. The series led to the resignation of Shai Masot, a senior political officer at the Israeli embassy, and a full apology by the Israeli ambassador for what had taken place. Though he could not discuss it, Al Jazeera conducted a simultaneous investigation of the U.S. Israel lobby which can be viewed at https://electronicintifada.net/content/watch-film-israel-lobby-didnt-want-you-see/25876 Transcript: https://2017.israellobbyandamericanpolicy.org/Transcripts/Clayton_Swisher.html Video: https://youtu.be/WJlXMZy06rM…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Best of Hanan Ashrawi: The Israel Lobby and the "Peace Process" from a Palestinian Perspective 1:00:52

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1:00:52

Hanan Ashrawi addressed the Israel lobby and the “Peace Process” at the 2017 "Israel Lobby & American Policy" conference at the National Press Club Hanan Ashrawi was the first woman to be elected member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 2009. She served as the Official Spokesperson of the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle East peace process from 1991-1993 and participated in the 1991-1992 Madrid peace conference as a member of the Palestinian Leadership Committee delegation. In 1993 Dr. Ashrawi founded the Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens’ Rights (PICCR) to investigate Israeli and Palestinian human rights violations. She chronicled her involvement in her book This Side of Peace: A Personal Account (1995). In 1996, Ashrawi was elected and subsequently reelected many times to the Palestinian Legislative Council. In 1996 she also accepted the post of Minister of Higher Education and Research. In 1998 Ashrawi founded and continues to serve in MIFTAH, the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy. Transcript: https://2017.israellobbyandamericanpolicy.org/Transcripts/Hanan_Ashrawi.html Video: https://youtu.be/Ojr4hDw-IYQ…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Best of Wajahat Ali: Pro-Israel Organizations, Donors And Islamophobia: Findings From "Fear, Inc.: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America" 36:23

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This speech, Pro-Israel Organizations, Donors And Islamophobia: Findings From "Fear, Inc.: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America" is from the 2017 IsraelLobbyCon at the National Press Club. Wajahat Ali is a journalist, writer, lawyer, an award-winning playwright, a TV host, consultant, and Creative Director of Affinis Labs. He was a National Correspondent, Political Reporter, and Social Media Expert for Al Jazeera America. In 2012, Ali worked with the U.S. Department of State to design and implement the “Generation Change” leadership program to empower young social entrepreneurs. Ali was the lead author and researcher of “ Fear Inc., Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America ,” the seminal report from the Center for American Progress. Transcript: https://2017.israellobbyandamericanpolicy.org/Transcripts/Wajahat_Ali.html Video: https://youtu.be/GzuG_dmyDCAhttps://youtu.be/UYvb8YAvHL8…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Best of: Susan Abulhawa "Israel: More than Apartheid." 57:50

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This keynote, "Israel more than Apartheid" is from the 2019 IsraelLobbyCon at the National Press Club. Susan Abulhawa is a Palestinian novelist, poet and essayist. Her debut novel, Mornings in Jenin (Bloomsbury, 2010), became an instant international bestseller and was translated into 28 languages. Her second novel, The Blue Between Sky and Water (Bloomsbury, 2015), has likewise been translated into 26 languages. Abulhawa’s first poetry collection, My Voice Sought The Wind (Just World Books), was published in 2013, and she has contributed to several anthologies. Her third novel will be published first in German and then in Swedish, in the Spring of 2019. The English version will follow soon after. In 2001, she founded Playgrounds for Palestine , a children’s organization dedicated to upholding the Right to Play for Palestinian children. Before her writing career, Abulhawa had a successful career as a researcher in biomedical science. She is the daughter of refugees from the 1967 Six Day War, when her family's land was seized and Israel captured what remained of Palestine, including Jerusalem. She was born in Kuwait, raised between there and Jerusalem, then in the Carolinas, where she completed high school, university and graduate school. She currently lives in Pennsylvania with her daughter, their dogs and cats. Transcript: https://www.wrmea.org/2019-may/keynote-israel-more-than-apartheid.html Video: https://youtu.be/UYvb8YAvHL8…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Best of: Maria LaHood “Concerted attempts to silence criticism of Israel in the U.S.” 18:40

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This talk is from the 2016 IsraelLobbyCon at the National Press Club. Maria LaHood is a Deputy Legal Director at the Center for Constitutional Rights, with expertise in constitutional rights and international human rights. She works to defend the constitutional rights of Palestinian human rights advocates in the United States in cases such as Davis v. Cox, defending Olympia Food Co-op board members for boycotting Israeli goods; Salaita v. Kennedy,representing Steven Salaita, who was terminated from a tenured position for tweets critical of Israel; and CCR v. DOD, seeking U.S. government records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) regarding Israel’s 2010 attack on the flotilla to Gaza. She works closely with Palestine Legal to support students and others whose speech is being suppressed for their Palestine advocacy around the country. She also works on the Right to Heal initiative with Iraqi civil society and Iraq Veterans seeking accountability for the lasting health effects of the Iraq war. Her past work at CCR includes cases against United States officials, Arar v. Ashcroft, Al-Aulaqi v. Obama, and Al-Aulaqi v. Panetta; against foreign government officials, Matar v. Dichter and Belhas v. Ya’alon; and against corporations, Wiwa v. Royal Dutch/Shell and Corrie v. Caterpillar. Prior to coming to the Center for Constitutional Rights she advocated on behalf of affordable housing and civil rights in the San Francisco Bay Area, and she graduated from the University of Michigan Law School. She was named a 2010 Public Justice Trial Lawyer of the Year Finalist. From the Center for Constitutional Rights Transcript: https://www.israelsinfluence.org/transcripts/maria_lahood.html Video: https://youtu.be/W5jRoLbYVzw…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Best of: Andrew Kadi "The Palestinian BDS Campaign: What It Is, How It Is Growing, and Why the Efforts to Stop It Will Fail." 31:55

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This talk is from the 2018 IsraelLobbyCon at the National Press Club. Andrew Kadi is an organizer and Steering Committee member of the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights. Kadi is a blogger at the Electronic Intifada, a member of Al-Shabaka: the Palestinian Policy Network, and has written for or appeared in The Guardian, USA Today, The Forward, TRT, CityLab, Mondoweiss, the New York Daily News, and the BBC. He has been active for the past 16 years in support of Palestinian rights, mobilizing at the grassroots level and organizing digital campaigns, challenging mainstream media coverage, and harnessing popular education approaches to raise awareness and advocate change. Transcript: https://www.wrmea.org/018-may/the-palestinian-bds-campaign-what-it-is-how-it-is-growing-and-why-the-efforts-to-stop-it-will-fail.html Sides: https://2018.israellobbyandamericanpolicy.org/transcripts/IsraelLobbyCon2018_Andrew_Kadi_slides.pdf Video: https://youtu.be/Fi_62ZcBKU8…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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"Israel Propaganda in the News Media" - UMass Professor Emeritus Sut Jhally 54:33

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University of Massachusetts Professor Emeritus Sut Jhally presented key findings from, and comments on, select clips shown from his 2016 documentary, " The Occupation of the American Mind ," which analyzes pro-Israel public relations efforts within the U.S. Featuring leading observers of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and U.S. media, the film explores how the pro-Israel lobby shapes American media coverage of the conflict in Israel's favor. From the U.S.-based public relations campaigns that emerged in the 1980s to today, the film provides a sweeping analysis of Israel’s decades-long battle for the hearts, minds, and tax dollars of the American people in the face of widening international condemnation of Israel's human rights violations and military occupation. Jhally also analyzed whether the news media have been getting better—or worse—since the documentary was produced, and whether election-season news coverage is likely to cover—or cover up—growing challenges to standard pro-Israel narratives and politics. Video at: https://youtu.be/ym7M_FMvdQI IsraelLobbyCon EXTRA! Series at: https://www.israellobbycon.org/home…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Best of: Dr. Roger Mattson “Did Israel steal U.S. weapons-grade uranium, and did it have help from U.S. citizens?” 23:50

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Roger J. Mattson is the author of the recently published book Stealing the Atom Bomb: How Denial and Deception Armed Israel. Dr. Mattson has experience in engineering and management with Sandia National Laboratory, the Atomic Energy Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the Environmental Protection Agency and several nuclear safety and security consultancies. He was an adviser to the NRC commissioners on policy issues such as safety goals, risk assessment, nuclear safeguards, and Three Mile Island reforms. After leaving government service in 1984, he led two private companies that provided safety and security services for U.S. nuclear power plants, the Energy Department's nuclear facilities, and several foreign users of nuclear power. Following the Chernobyl accident in 1986, he helped develop IAEA's guidance on safety principles for the world's nuclear power plants. He oversaw nuclear safety consultancies in five foreign countries. He also served on the offsite safety committees for several nuclear power plants and several DOE nuclear facilities. In 2012, he was part of a team formed by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers to forge a new safety construct for nuclear power after the tragedy at Fukushima. He has participated in safety analysis and field reviews of nearly 150 nuclear facilities in the US, Europe, the former Soviet Union and the Far East, including the startup of the latest U.S. nuclear power plant in 2015. This talk is from the 2016 IsraelLobbyCon at the National Press Club Transcript: https://www.israelsinfluence.org/transcripts/roger_mattson.html Slides: https://www.israelsinfluence.org/video/Roger%20Mattson%20-%20Did%20Israel%20steal%20U.S.%20weapons-grade%20uranium.pdf Video at: https://youtu.be/9LX4LigFtPk…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Best of: Dr. Virginia Tilley "Does the U.S. Support an Apartheid State?" 26:54

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Dr. Virginia Tilley, a professor of political science at Southern Illinois University, is co-author of the report, “ Israeli Practices towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid ,” commissioned by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) of the United Nations. The report, co-authored by Prof. Richard Falk, finds that Israel is imposing an “apartheid regime” on Palestinians. Professor Tilley holds an MA and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and an MA from the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown. She specializes in the comparative and international politics of ethnic and racial conflict, and has research experience in Central America, Israel-Palestine, post-apartheid South Africa and Oceania (Fiji and the small island states of the south Pacific). Her research examines how the social construction of ethnic, racial and national identities has been used by political actors to gain power, build nations and shape conflict. In addition to numerous articles and policy papers, she is author of The One State Solution , (U of Wisconsin Press, 2005), a pragmatic analysis of the two-state solution in Israel-Palestine; and editor of Beyond Occupation: Apartheid, Colonialism and International Law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (Pluto Press, 2012). At SIU she teaches courses on racial ideology and conflict, international relations, nation-building, and global comparative studies, with special attention to Middle East studies focusing on current events. This talk is from the 2018 IsraelLobbyCon at the National Press Club Transcript: https://www.wrmea.org/018-may/does-the-u.s.-support-an-apartheid-state.html Slides: https://2018.israellobbyandamericanpolicy.org/transcripts/IsraelLobbyCon2018_Virginia_Tilley_slides.pdf Video at: https://youtu.be/9LX4LigFtPk…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Best of: Ian Williams "The Israel Lobby and the U.N." 20:51

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Ian Williams, U.N. correspondent for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs , is the author of the book UNtold: The Real Story of the United Nations in Peace and War . Mr. Williams is a senior analyst for Foreign Policy in Focus, he was a columnist for The Nation , the Guardian-American online and an editor for the World Policy Journal . Williams has won many awards for his exposés of U.N. malfeasance, as well as supporting and defending the U.N. He has personally known four secretaries general, and innumerable diplomats and officials worldwide. Williams has covered the United Nations since 1989 and twice served as president of the U.N. Correspondents’ Association. In 1995, for the 50th anniversary of the United Nations, while he was president of the U.N. Correspondents’ Association, Williams wrote U.N. for Beginners. An associate professor at Bard Center for Globalization and International Affairs, he lectures on the U.N. and the Responsibility to Protect. Born in Liverpool, UK, Williams played in the rubble of bomb sites left over from the war that inspired the founding of the United Nations. He graduated from Liverpool University after being suspended for several years because of his protest against the university’s investments in South Africa. This talk is from the 2018 IsraelLobbyCon at the National Press Club Transcript: https://www.wrmea.org/018-may/the-israel-lobby-and-the-u.n.html Video at: https://youtu.be/VhuNNEc9r38…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Palestinians Confronting the Giant of Christian Zionism - Alex Awad 40:17

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Rev. Alex Awad describes the efforts of Palestinian Evangelicals and other church leaders to confront the “Goliath” of Christian Zionism. What are they doing to stop the spread of Christian Zionism in many U.S. churches? How is Christian Zionism impacting Christians actually living under Israel’s apartheid regime? Rev. Awad describes the work of PCAP, Sabeel and other Christian organizations, and their efforts to halt Israeli actions endorsed by Zionist Christians, such as the confiscation of Palestinian land, the demolition of homes and the construction of segregated Jewish settlements. Rev. Dr. Alex Awad is a retired United Methodist Missionary. He and his wife, Brenda, served in Jerusalem and in Bethlehem for more than 25 years. Rev. Awad served as pastor of East Jerusalem Baptist Church, dean of students at Bethlehem Bible College, and director of the Shepherd Society. Transcript and Video at https://www.wrmea.org/end-u.s.-support-for-israeli-apartheid/rev.-alex-awad-palestinians-confronting-the-giant-of-christian-zionism.html IsraelApartheidCon is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep). See http://www.IsraelApartheidCon.org for more information about this conference. Washington Report on Middle East Affairs website: https://WRMEA.org Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy: https://IRmep.org…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Ideological Underpinnings of the War on Terrorism - Scott Horton 47:30

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As detailed in his new book, Enough Already: Time to End the War on Terrorism, Israel and its U.S. lobby were key proponents of the disastrous 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, as well as providing the ideological underpinnings of a "global war on terror." Today they are virtually alone in advocating a U.S. war on Iran. How likely is it that the Biden administration will attack Iran? What would be the consequences? Scott Horton is director of the Libertarian Institute, editorial director of Antiwar.com, host of Antiwar Radio on Pacifica, 90.7 FM KPFK in Los Angeles, California and podcasts the Scott Horton Show from ScottHorton.org. He has conducted more than 5,400 interviews since 2003. IsraelApartheidCon is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep). Horton's 2017 book is titled Fool's Errand: Time to End the War on Afghanistan. Video and transcript available at https://www.wrmea.org/end-u.s.-support-for-israeli-apartheid/scott-horton-ideological-underpinnings-of-the-war-on-terrorism.html Washington Report on Middle East Affairs website: https://WRMEA.org Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy: https://IRmep.org…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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The Jerusalem Declaration on Anti-Semitism - Tom Suárez 24:07

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Tom Suárez discussed the recently issued Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism (JDA): Does the JDA intend to replace the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition that pro-Israel interests have pushed on institutions and governments, or instead consider itself “a tool for interpreting” IHRA? Why do 11 of the JDA’s 15 “Guidelines'' involve Israel? What does “hostility to Israel” have to do with a definition of antisemitism? Why does the JDA consider the question of how much influence the Israeli state exerts beyond its still-undefined borders irrelevant, except when that alleged influence is said to be synonymous with “the Jews”? Why can every other nation on earth be criticized both fairly and unfairly, but when the Israeli state is criticized that criticism is stigmatized as constituting racism against an ethnicity? Does focusing on the definition of antisemitism deflect attention from the core issue of Israel’s denial of human rights to its Palestinians citizens and to the Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation? Tom Suárez is best known for his 2016 book, State of Terror: How Terrorism Created Modern Israel, described by Ilan Pappé as “the first comprehensive and structured analysis of the violence and terror employed by the Zionist movement and later the state of Israel against the people of Palestine.” Suárez's recent Writings on the Wall is an annotated collection of Palestinian oral histories, and he is the author as well of three highly-regarded books on the history of cartography. A Juilliard-trained violinist who has performed around the world, Suárez is a former faculty member of Palestine’s National Conservatory of Music. Transcript and Video at https://www.wrmea.org/end-u.s.-support-for-israeli-apartheid/tom-suarez-the-jerusalem-declaration-on-anti-semitism.html IsraelApartheidCon is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep). See http://www.IsraelApartheidCon.org for more information about this conference. Washington Report on Middle East Affairs website: https://WRMEA.org Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy: https://IRmep.org…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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How the Israel Lobby Intervenes in Progressive Party Politics - Asa Winstanley 32:17

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What are the similarities and differences between Labour Friends of Israel in the UK and Democratic Majority for Israel in the U.S.? What purpose do they serve? Did the recent sabotage and purge of major progressive leaders like Jeremy Corbyn who are progressive on Israel-Palestine come from within or outside their party? What connections were revealed in Al Jazeera's undercover investigative documentary The Lobby between Israel's UK embassy and Labour Party leaders in the UK, and what has been the long-term impact? Is the false charge that politicians "tolerate anti-Semitism" now effective enough to stifle debate on Israeli policies and influence? What other tools beside defamation do Israel and its lobbies deploy to derail politicians willing to hold Israel to account? Can politicians under attack survive by mollifying the lobby? Does anything similar ever occur within the Conservative Party? If not, why not? Asa Winstanley is an investigative journalist living in London who writes about Palestine and the Middle East. He has been visiting Palestine since 2004. He writes for the award-winning Palestinian news site The Electronic Intifada, where he is an associate editor and co-host of The Electronic Intifada Podcast. He also writes a regular column for the Middle East Monitor. Transcript and Video at https://www.wrmea.org/end-u.s.-support-for-israeli-apartheid/asa-winstanley-how-the-israel-lobby-intervenes-in-progressive-party-politics.html IsraelApartheidCon is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep). See http://www.IsraelApartheidCon.org for more information about this conference. Washington Report on Middle East Affairs website: https://WRMEA.org Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy: https://IRmep.org…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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J Street and the Limitations of Liberal Zionism - Philip Weiss 34:33

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Philip Weiss is an American journalist who founded and co-edits Mondoweiss. Mondoweiss is "a news website devoted to covering American foreign policy in the Middle East, chiefly from a progressive Jewish perspective," with journalist Adam Horowitz. Weiss describes himself as an anti-Zionist and rejects the label "post-Zionist." Philip Weiss presented a J Street roundup: "Key reflections about liberal Zionism's most significant annual policy conference." IsraelApartheidCon is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep). See http://www.IsraelApartheidCon.org for more information about this conference. Washington Report on Middle East Affairs website: https://WRMEA.org Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy: https://IRmep.org…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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How the U.S. Shields Israel From U.N. Accountability - Ian Williams 30:30

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Ian Williams provides a brief history of both Republican and Democratic administrations’ sycophantic relations with Israel and how this relationship affects U.S. policies toward the U.N. and international law. Will Washington continue to discredit and deflect all U.N. criticism of apartheid Israel with charges of bias and anti-Semitism? Will President Biden work for a rule-based world order, or will he shamelessly insist those rules do not apply to Israel or the U.S.? Does his appointment of career diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield as U.S. ambassador to the U.N. mean Biden is actually serious about human rights and adherence to international law? Ian Williams is president of the Foreign Press Association (New York) and longtime U.N. columnist for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. He is the author of ten books, including UNtold: the Real Story of the United Nations in Peace and War. IsraelApartheidCon is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep). Washington Report on Middle East Affairs website: https://WRMEA.org Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy: https://IRmep.org…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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A Lawmaker Who Stood Up for Justice - Brian Baird 21:57

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Brian Baird describes how Israel and its U.S. lobby assert authority over Congress. He reflects on his visits to Gaza, especially his shock at seeing the American International School in Gaza flattened by Israel using American-made bombs. He describes his efforts to investigate the murder of his constituent Rachel Corrie, as well as his vote on the Goldstone report, denounced by House colleagues who never read the report or visited Gaza. Baird then recommends critical actions voters should take to help elect leaders who will study this issue in a fair and open-minded way. Brian Baird is a former Democratic U.S. Representative for Washington’s 3rd congressional district, who served from 1999 to 2011. Baird entered politics in1998 for the same reason he went into the field of clinical psychology: to answer the call to service. As a congressman, Baird traveled to Gaza five times, and was deeply disturbed by the destruction wrought by Israel’s relentless attacks on the besieged territory. Rep. Baird called on the U.S. State Department to investigate the death of his constituent, Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old student who was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer in 2003. After leaving Congress, Baird served as president of Antioch University’s Seattle campus until 2015, and continues to contribute op-eds to The Seattle Times. The web-based conference "End US Support for Israeli Apartheid?" considers whether the United States should now cut off aid to Israel, or make any such future assistance conditional on negotiation of a genuine peace settlement, respect for Palestinian human rights, and adherence to international law. IsraelApartheidCon is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep).…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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The Israel Lobby: What Everyone Needs to Know - Walter Hixson 31:39

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Walter L. Hixson since 2019 serves as columnist and contributing editor at the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. This is his second book on the Israel lobby following Israel’s Armor: The Israel Lobby and the First Generation of the Palestine Conflict. (Cambridge University Press, 2019) He is the author of several books focused on the history of US foreign relations, including American Foreign Relations: A New Diplomatic History (Routledge, 2015), American Settler Colonialism: A History (2013, Palgrave-Macmillan), The Myth of American Diplomacy: National Identity and U.S. Foreign Policy (Yale University Press, 2008). The new book by distinguished historian Walter L. Hixson—Architects of Repression: How Israel and Its Lobby Put Racism, Violence and Injustice at the Center of U.S. Middle East Policy—offers a compelling history of the most powerful lobby acting on behalf of a foreign government in all of American history. Hixson will summarize the book's finding that the Israel lobby has played and continues to play the crucial role in enabling aggression, the suppression of Palestinian rights, and the failure to achieve a comprehensive Middle East peace. Hixson explains why there will never be peace in the Middle East until the monolithic Israel lobby is neutralized. Purchase Walter L. Hixson's latest book on the Israel lobby here: https://www.middleeastbooks.com/products/architects-of-repression-how-israel-and-its-lobby-put-racism-violence-and-injustice-at-the-center-of-us-middle-east-policy-by-walter-l-hixson?_pos=3&_sid=4ff50f14c&_ss=r The web-based conference "End US Support for Israeli Apartheid?" considers whether the United States should now cut off aid to Israel, or make any such future assistance conditional on negotiation of a genuine peace settlement, respect for Palestinian human rights, and adherence to international law. IsraelApartheidCon is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep). More information at https://www.IsraelApartheidCon.org…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Elaborating on the B’Tselem Apartheid Report - Richard Falk 26:16

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Richard Falk is Albert G. Milbank Professor Emeritus of International Law, Princeton University, currently Chair of Global Law, Law Faculty, Queen Mary University London. Falk served as UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Occupied Palestine (2008-2014), and served as Chair of the Board of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, 2005-2012. He wrote (Re)Imagining Humane Global Governance(2014), which proposes a value-oriented assessment of world order and future trends. His most recent books are Power Shift(2016); Revisiting the Vietnam War(2017); On Nuclear Weapons: Denuclearization, Demilitarization and Disarmament(2019). Since 2009 Falk has been annually nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. A political memoir by Falk, Public Intellectual: the Life of a Citizen Pilgrim was published March 2021. Richard Falk commented on B’Tselem’s recent report concluding that Israel is an apartheid regime, as well as Israel’s enactment of a Basic Law in 2018 that gives preferential status to Jews. He described the apparatus of the apartheid state of Israel, including discrimination based on ethnicity, immigration, land tenure, citizenship, nationality and language rights, freedom of mobility and the issuance of building permits. What are the odds for a peaceful future for Israel if the country does not dismantle apartheid? What will happen if Israel refuses to treat Palestinians according to human rights standards, including respect for the Palestinian right of self-determination? Falk concluded by recommending global solidarity initiatives to bring about a just solution. The web-based conference "End US Support for Israeli Apartheid?" considers whether the United States should now cut off aid to Israel, or make any such future assistance conditional on negotiation of a genuine peace settlement, respect for Palestinian human rights, and adherence to international law. The web-based conference "End US Support for Israeli Apartheid?" considers whether the United States should now cut off aid to Israel, or make any such future assistance conditional on negotiation of a genuine peace settlement, respect for Palestinian human rights, and adherence to international law. IsraelApartheidCon is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep). More information at https://www.IsraelApartheidCon.org…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Holding South Africa, But Not Israel, Accountable - John Dugard 35:09

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35:09

John Dugard discussed what accounts for the international community's disparity in its treatment of South Africa and Israel for applying substantially similar policies. How effective have Israel and its foreign lobbies been in claiming that opposition to Israel's behavior is due to anti-Semitism? Why did South Africa's Jewish community go from opposing apartheid in their own country to vilifying Jewish South African Judge Richard Goldstone for his report on Israel's 2009 attack on Gaza known as Operation Cast Lead? What are the prospects and best approaches for ending Israeli apartheid? John Dugard is a South African professor of international law and an outspoken critic of apartheid. The son of a headmaster at a missionary school attended by Nelson Mandela, he earned law degrees from Stellenbosch and Cambridge Universities. From 1978 to 1990 he was director of the University of Witwatersrand’s Center for Applied Legal Studies, which seeks to promote human rights in South Africa. Dugard was professor of international law at University of Leiden, 1998-2006 Professor Dugard became a member of the U.N.’s International Law Commission in 1997. From 2000 to 2018 he served as Judge ad hoc in the International Court of Justice, and from 2001 to 2008 he was the U.N. Human Rights Council's special rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories. He has written several books on apartheid, human rights and international law. His memoir, Confronting Apartheid: A Personal History of South Africa, Namibia and Palestine, was published in 2018. The web-based conference "End US Support for Israeli Apartheid?" considers whether the United States should now cut off aid to Israel, or make any such future assistance conditional on negotiation of a genuine peace settlement, respect for Palestinian human rights, and adherence to international law. IsraelApartheidCon is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep). More information at https://www.IsraelApartheidCon.org…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Susan Abulhawa "Israeli Apartheid, an Introduction" - 4/17/2021 IsraelApartheidCon 21:41

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Susan Abulhawa is a Palestinian American poet and writer, the author of the international bestselling novel, Mornings in Jenin . Her second novel, The Blue Between Sky and Water , was sold in 19 languages before its release. Her latest novel, Against The Loveless World , is a Palestine Book Awards Winner. Abulhawa is also an activist, and the founder of Playgrounds for Palestine, an NGO upholding the right to play for Palestinian children. She recently launched Aida, a private label olive oil from Palestinian farmers, to raise funds to build more playgrounds. Susan Abulhawa described why Israel is an apartheid regime, as reported by B’tselem, “advancing and cementing the supremacy of one group—Jews—over another—Palestinians.” Abulhawa will discuss the self-described Jewish state’s allocation of resources--water, housing permits, travel, education, medical care and even COVID vaccines--based on ethnicity.. Even the criminal justice system is starkly different for Palestinians and Israelis, as she notes in her latest book Against the Loveless World . Israel’s lobby ensures that Israel gets a free pass, shutting down criticism of human rights abuses. U.S. taxpayers and readers are beginning to understand they are supporting ethnic cleansing and apartheid. More information at https://www.IsraelApartheidCon.org…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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About the April 17 & 24 2021 IsraelApartheidCon online conference! 7:55

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7:55

Experts will speak and take questions at the only annual national conference challenging the Israel lobby's repressive agenda while proposing better alternatives for America. IsraelApartheidCon is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy ( IRmep ). Celebrated Palestinian author Susan Abulhawa reveals how U.S. taxpayers and readers are beginning to understand that their tax dollars are supporting ethnic cleansing and apartheid. Palestinian writer and analyst Sumaya Awad warns of the danger of Facebook's effort to suppress criticisms of Zionism by deeming it equivalent to hate speech or anti-Semitism, and her successful campaign against censorship. Rev. Alex Awad describes how Palestinian evangelicals are successfully working to stop the spread of Christian Zionist biblical misinterpretations in many U.S. churches. Congressman Brian Baird (1999-2011) describes how Israel and its U.S. lobby assert authority over Congress, Israel's use of U.S. weapons and equipment in Gaza—including the 2003 killing of his constituent Rachel Corrie—and proposes critical actions voters can take to help elect leaders who will approach these issues in an open-minded way. South African professor John Dugard provides insight into the international community's disparity in its treatment of South Africa and Israel for applying substantially similar policies, and the prospects and best approaches for ending Israeli apartheid. Richard Falk, former U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Occupied Palestine (2008-2014), will comment on B'Tselem's apartheid report and Israel's 2018 Basic Law that gives preferential status to Jews. Zaha Hassan, a human rights lawyer and visiting fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, outlines how the Biden administration can break the Middle East peace impasse by adopting a rights-based—rather than an Israel and its lobby based—approach as the center of its strategy. Historian and author Walter Hixson explains why until the monolithic Israel lobby is neutralized, there will never be peace in the Middle East, drawing on insights from his new book, Architects of Repression . Radio host and Antiwar.com editorial director Scott Horton details how Israel and its U.S. lobby were key proponents of the disastrous 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq and today are virtually alone in supporting a U.S. war on Iran, drawing on research from his new book, Enough Already . Professor Robin D.G. Kelley will discuss the current state of resisting Israel and its lobby's efforts on campus, the parallels between South Africa and the movement toward Palestinian liberation, and how the Black Lives Matter and the Palestinian grassroots movements work together. Tom Suárez, author of the 2016 book S tate of Terror: How Terrorism Created Modern Israel , will discuss the recently issued Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism (JDA). Journalist and Mondoweiss.net co-founder Philip Weiss delivers a roundup on J Street and his key reflections about the effectiveness of liberal Zionism as revealed in its most significant annual policy conference . UN correspondent Ian Williams provides a brief history of both Republican and Democratic administrations' sycophantic relations with Israel and how this relationship affects U.S. policies toward the UN and international law. Investigative journalist Asa Winstanley explores the similarities and differences between Labour Friends of Israel in the U.K. and the Democratic Majority for Israel in the U.S., the purpose they serve, and the recent sabotage and purge of major progressive leaders like Jeremy Corbyn who have spoken out in support of Palestinian human rights. Get more information at www.IsraelApartheidCon.org and register online at Eventbrite .…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Best of Delinda Hanley: "Why Talking about the Israel Lobby Matters." 11:17

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This talk is from the 2019 IsraelLobbyCon at the National Press Club Delinda Hanley is the executive director and news editor at the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs . Before joining the magazine in 1996, Hanley spent decades in the Middle East, studying in Lebanon, volunteering with the Peace Corps, and later working in Oman and Saudi Arabia. From 1990 to 1996 Hanley worked as a researcher, editor and writer for Empire Press (now Weider History Group) and Sovereign Media. Hanley writes for the Washington Report on an array of topics, including Muslim- and Arab-American politics and civil rights issues. Her articles have also been published in the Arab News, the Minaret, Islamic Horizons, Jewish Spectator and other publications. She is the winner of the NAAJA 2011 Excellence in Journalism award for her dedication to accuracy and professionalism. Transcript: https://www.wrmea.org/2019-may/why-talking-about-the-israel-lobby-matters.html Video: https://youtu.be/9GKM2swnqdA…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Best of Huwaida Arraf: "The situation of Arab citizens of Israel: Views of an Arab citizen of Israel" 18:17

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18:17

This talk is from the 2015 IsraelLobbyCon at the National Press Club Huwaida Arraf is a Palestinian-American lawyer and human rights advocate. As the daughter of an Israeli-born Palestinian, she is also a citizen of Israel. Arraf received her Bachelors degree from the University of Michigan, and her Juris Doctor from the American University Washington College of Law, where she focused on international human rights and humanitarian law. In 2001 Arraf co-founded the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), which has twice been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. She is co-editor of the book Peace Under Fire: Israel, Palestine, and the International Solidarity Movement. Arraf was one of the initiators and organizers of a delegation of American lawyers to Gaza in February 2009, and co-authored the report on their findings, "Onslaught: Israel's Attack on Gaza and the Rule of Law." She is the former chairperson of the Free Gaza Movement, and from August to December 2008, led five successful sea voyages to the Gaza Strip to confront and challenge Israel's illegal blockade. Arraf was one of the primary organizers of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and was traveling with it when Israeli forces lethally attacked it on May 31, 2010. She was one of the six Palestinian Freedom Riders who, inspired by the U.S. Civil Rights Freedom Rides of the 1960s, attempted to ride segregated Israeli settler public transport. In 2012 Arraf helped conceive of and launch the Witness Bahrain initiative, an effort to provide human rights observers on the ground in Bahrain. She was arrested by Bahraini authorities and deported for her work. She currently resides in the United States with her husband, Adam Shapiro, and their two young children, both of whom she gave birth to in Israel so they would have Israeli citizenship and be allowed to visit and claim citizenship in their homeland. Transcript: https://www.israellobbyus.org/transcripts/4.3Huwaida_Arraf.htm Video: https://youtu.be/CyPq-TnqBPI…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Best of John Mearsheimer: "What has changed since publication of 'The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy'" 51:19

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This talk is from the 2017 IsraelLobbyCon at the National Press Club John Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science and the co-director of the Program on International Security Policy at the University of Chicago. In 2007 Professor Mearsheimer coauthored The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy (with Stephen M. Walt), which made the New York Times best seller list and has been translated into 22 languages. Professor Mearsheimer addressed what, if anything, has changed in the decade since The Israel Lobby was published, subsequent findings, foreign policy choices the U.S. makes that it otherwise would not—if not for Israel—and what the new administration could do differently in the future that would better serve broader American interests. Transcript: https://2017.israellobbyandamericanpolicy.org/Transcripts/John_Mearsheimer.html Video: https://youtu.be/k8Mgdm_6-e0…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Rev. Don Wagner: ”The widespread influence of Christian Zionism and growing backlash inside American churches.” IsraelLobbyCon 2022 47:37

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The following is a presentation made at the 2022 Transcending the Israel lobby at Home & Abroad conference held on March 4 at the National Press Club. Rev. Dr. Don Wagner recently retired as national program director of Friends of Sabeel-North America. Prior to that he was a professor of Middle East studies at North Park University, where he was also the director of its Center for Middle Eastern Studies. During the 1980s he was the national director of the Palestine Human Rights Campaign. An ordained Presbyterian minister, Rev. Wagner has served churches in New Jersey and Evanston, IL. He is the author or co-author of five books dealing with Palestinian human rights, Christian Zionism, a theological critique of Zionism and a history of Christianity in Palestine-Israel. These include Anxious for Armageddon: A Call to Partnership for Middle Eastern and Western Christians (1995) , Zionism and the Quest for Justice in the Holy Land ( 2014) and Dying in the Land of Promise: Palestine and Palestinian Christianity from Pentecost to 2000 (2003). The history and theology of Christian Zionism is a central topic of the book he is currently writing. Since 2015 the annual IsraelLobbyCon conference series at the National Press Club explores the latest research, innovations and tactics for countering the Israel lobby’s damaging policies in the U.S. and around the globe. See https://www.IsraelLobbyCon.org for more information.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Huwaida Arraf: ”Why I’m running for the U.S. Congress” - IsraelLobbyCon 2022 19:53

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19:53

The following is a presentation made at the 2022 Transcending the Israel lobby at Home & Abroad conference held on March 4 at the National Press Club. Longtime Palestinian human rights activist and civil rights attorney Huwaida Arraf explains why she is running for the U.S. Congress. Since 2015 the annual IsraelLobbyCon conference series at the National Press Club explores the latest research, innovations and tactics for countering the Israel lobby’s damaging policies in the U.S. and around the globe. See https://www.IsraelLobbyCon.org for more information.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Edward Ahmed Mitchell: ”How American groups working for human rights can take measures against joint Israel/lobby espionage and infiltration operations”. IsraelLobbyCon 2022 44:07

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The following is a presentation made at the 2022 Transcending the Israel lobby at Home & Abroad conference held on March 4 at the National Press Club. Edward Ahmed Mitchell is an attorney and former journalist who serves as the deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States. He discusses how CAIR fought back against an infiltration campaign by Steven Emmerson's "Investigative Project on Terrorism" which was also tasked by Benjamin Netanyahu's office in Israel to produce opposition research against Students for Justice in Palestine. Since 2015 the annual IsraelLobbyCon conference series at the National Press Club explores the latest research, innovations and tactics for countering the Israel lobby’s damaging policies in the U.S. and around the globe. See https://www.IsraelLobbyCon.org for more information.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Jeanne Trabulsi: ”The fight against an Israeli human rights violator” IsraelLobbyCon 2022 12:45

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The following is a presentation made at the 2022 Transcending the Israel lobby at Home & Abroad conference held on March 4 at the National Press Club. Jeanne Trabulsi, coordinator of the Virginia Coalition for Human Rights "eject Energix" committee explains why Energix Renewable Energies Ltd. was listed on the UNHCR list of human rights violators in "category G," how it obtained undue influence in Virginia, and how taxpayers are unwittingly subsidizing Energix. She concludes by summarizing how Energix is manifesting its worst practices from overseas, and how Virginia communities are fighting back. Since 2015 the annual IsraelLobbyCon conference series at the National Press Club explores the latest research, innovations and tactics for countering the Israel lobby’s damaging policies in the U.S. and around the globe. See https://www.IsraelLobbyCon.org for more information.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Jeanne Trabulsi: ”The fight against Israeli propaganda in Virginia textbooks” IsraelLobbyCon 2022 16:00

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The following is a presentation made at the 2022 Transcending the Israel lobby at Home & Abroad conference held on March 4 at the National Press Club. Jeanne Trabulsi, coordinator of the Virginia Coalition for Human Rights education committee, reveals how Israeli affinity organizations insert Israeli propaganda into textbooks behind the scenes. She outlines the role of the Institute for Curriculum Studies, an entity housed inside an Israeli public relations organization. Finally, she reveals how VCHR has pushed back so that ICS recommendations were not included in textbook updates while outlining strategies other state human rights groups can take to preserve the quality of textbooks. Since 2015 the annual IsraelLobbyCon conference series at the National Press Club explores the latest research, innovations and tactics for countering the Israel lobby’s damaging policies in the U.S. and around the globe. See https://www.IsraelLobbyCon.org for more information.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Paul Noursi: The victorious battle for the First Amendment against Virginia’s anti-boycott bill (HB 1161) - IsraelLobbyCon 2022 19:00

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The following is a presentation made at the 2022 Transcending the Israel lobby at Home & Abroad conference held on March 4 at the National Press Club. Paul Noursi, co-President of the Virginia Coalition for Human Rights, discusses the recent win against anti-BDS legislation in the commonwealth of Virginia. Since 2015 the annual IsraelLobbyCon conference series at the National Press Club explores the latest research, innovations and tactics for countering the Israel lobby’s damaging policies in the U.S. and around the globe. See https://www.IsraelLobbyCon.org for more information. IsraelLobbyCon is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep).…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Keynote Dr. Hanan Ashrawi: ”What, if any, policies have changed since the Trump administration, and new hope for Palestine’s future.” IsraelLobbyCon 2022 49:55

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49:55

The following is a presentation made at the 2022 Transcending the Israel lobby at Home & Abroad conference held on March 4 at the National Press Club. Since 2015 the annual IsraelLobbyCon conference series at the National Press Club explores the latest research, innovations and tactics for countering the Israel lobby’s damaging policies in the U.S. and around the globe. See https://www.IsraelLobbyCon.org for more information. IsraelLobbyCon is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep).…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Walter L. Hixson: ”What’s so important about the lobby?” IsraelLobbyCon 2022 20:01

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20:01

The following is a presentation made at the 2022 Transcending the Israel lobby at Home & Abroad conference held on March 4 at the National Press Club Since 2015 the annual IsraelLobbyCon conference series at the National Press Club explores the latest research, innovations and tactics for countering the Israel lobby’s damaging policies in the U.S. and around the globe. See https://www.IsraelLobbyCon.org for more information. IsraelLobbyCon is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep).…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Can America’s “Special Relationship” with Israel Endure? Dr. Walter Hixson 1:07:43

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The distinguished historian and WRMEA columnist Dr. Walter L. Hixson discussed the unique and distinctive aspects of the US-Israel "special relationship." What assumptions underpinning the “special relationship” traditionally fit neatly into America's own history and national identity, such as "manifest destiny," "chosen" peoplehood, vanquishing the "savage" and settler colonialism? How did the rise of the formidable Israel lobby--by far the most powerful lobby representing a foreign nation in American history—exploit that identity to win the tiny nation of Israel more US military assistance and unconditional diplomatic support than any other country in the world? Now that Americans are grappling with their founding mythologies, can Israel's and its lobby's grip on the American psyche and body politic endure? Copies of Hixson's latest two books are available from Middle East Books and More. Imperialism and War: The History Americans Need to Own https://www.middleeastbooks.com/products/imperialism-and-war-the-history-americans-need-to-own-by-walter-l-hixson Architects of Repression: How Israel and Its Lobby Put Racism, Violence and Injustice at the Center of US Middle East Policy https://www.middleeastbooks.com/products/architects-of-repression-how-israel-and-its-lobby-put-racism-violence-and-injustice-at-the-center-of-us-middle-east-policy-by-walter-l-hixson?_pos=1&_sid=86a622183&_ss=r…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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AIPAC’s New Political Action Committees PACs: Implications for America - Walter Hixson, Janet McMahon and Grant F. Smith 1:21:39

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Expert analysis of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's (AIPAC) interaction with political action committees (PACs). We also explored what factors may be driving AIPAC to be more interested in tightly coordinating campaign spending. We also discussed what impact this may have on Americans and took questions from participants. Janet McMahon, former Founding Managing Editor at the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs Dr. Walter L. Hixson, Distinguished Historian, Author, and Columnist, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and author of the new book Architects of Repression: How Israel and Its Lobby Put Racism, Violence and Injustice at the Center of US Middle East Policy Grant F. Smith, Director of Research at IRmep and author of numerous books about AIPAC and the Israel lobby. Related links: https://www.wrmea.org/web-exclusives/aipac-forming-political-action-committees-to-tighten-grip-on-u.s.-elections.html Middle East Books & More https://www.middleeastbooks.com/products/stealth-pacs-how-israels-american-lobby-seeks-to-control-u-s-middle-east-policy-by-richard-h-curtiss https://www.middleeastbooks.com/products/architects-of-repression-how-israel-and-its-lobby-put-racism-violence-and-injustice-at-the-center-of-us-middle-east-policy-by-walter-l-hixson?_pos=1&_sid=7a8cbf993&_ss=r Audible https://www.audible.com/pd/Architects-of-Repression-Audiobook/B09158G699 Washington Report on Middle East Affairs: https://WRMEA.org Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy: htts://IRmep.org…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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”AIPAC in Command?” Interview with distinguished historian and author Walter L. Hixson 1:33:38

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1:33:38

Extended interview with distinguished historian and author Walter L. Hixson focusing on Chapter 7, "AIPAC in Command" of his book "Architects of Repression: How Israel and Its Lobby Put Racism, Violence and Injustice at the Center of US Middle East Policy." Grant F. Smith of IRmep asks Hixson about his research background, when he started looking into the Israel lobby and books published by elite academic publishers. They then turn to a single chapter from the book to explore the role and function of the Israel lobby in the United States. Related links: YouTube: "The Israel Lobby: What Everyone Needs to Know." https://youtu.be/GPhMT_c8M20 YouTube: "Israel’s Armor: The Israel Lobby and the First Generation of the Palestine Conflict" https://youtu.be/5frVOAuW6Gg YouTube: "Settler Colonialism from America to Palestine" https://youtu.be/H38MYjCcX3U Middle East Books & More https://www.middleeastbooks.com/products/architects-of-repression-how-israel-and-its-lobby-put-racism-violence-and-injustice-at-the-center-of-us-middle-east-policy-by-walter-l-hixson?_pos=1&_sid=24ef9d5c9&_ss=r Audible https://www.audible.com/pd/Architects-of-Repression-Audiobook/B09158G699 Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Architects-Repression-Israel-Violence-Injustice/dp/0982775776…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Best of: Col. Lawrence Wilkerson "Israeli influence on U.S. foreign policy" 22:15

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The following is the full March 18, 2016 presentation given by Col. Lawrence Wilkerson. His last positions in government were as Secretary of State Colin Powell's Chief of Staff (2002-05), Associate Director of the State Department's Policy Planning staff under the directorship of Ambassador Richard N. Haass, and member of that staff responsible for East Asia and the Pacific, political-military and legislative affairs (2001-02). Before serving at the State Department, Wilkerson served 31 years in the U.S. Army. During that time, he was a member of the faculty of the U.S. Naval War College (1987-1989), Special Assistant to General Powell when he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989-93), and Director and Deputy Director of the U.S. Marine Corps War College at Quantico, Virginia (1993-97). Wilkerson retired from active service in 1997 as a colonel, and began work as an adviser to General Powell. He has also taught national security affairs in the Honors Program at George Washington University. He is currently working on a book about the first George W. Bush administration. He currently is Distinguished Visiting Professor of Government and Public Policy at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Transcript: https://www.israelsinfluence.org/transcripts/lawrence_wilkerson.html Video: https://youtu.be/Sox6MoiiMic IsraelLobbyCon is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep). Washington Report on Middle East Affairs website: https://WRMEA.org Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy: https://IRmep.org…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Best of: Ilan Pappé "Decolonizing Israel" 57:46

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The following is the full March 24, 2017 presentation given by Ilan Pappé at IsraelLobbyCon at the National Press Club. Pappe is a Professor of History and Director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter in the UK Best of: Ilan Pappé "Decolonizing Israel" The following is the full March 24, 2017 presentation given by Ilan Pappé at IsraelLobbyCon at the National Press Club. Ilan Pappé is Professor of History and Director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter in the UK. His research focuses on the modern Middle East, particularly on the history of Israel and Palestine. He is the author of the books The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (2007), Israel and South Africa: the Many Faces of Apartheid (2015) and The Idea of Israel: A History of Power and Knowledge (2016), among others. He will discuss the value of viewing Israel-Palestine through the lens of settler-colonialism, how Zionist myths have been shaped and/or perpetuated by the Israel lobby, and what framework is necessary to overcome these myths and ensure that efforts to resolve the "conflict" are grounded in reality. Transcript: https://2017.israellobbyandamericanpolicy.org/Transcripts/Ilan_Pappe.html Video: https://youtu.be/x_1uWD86Mv4 IsraelLobbyCon is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep). Washington Report on Middle East Affairs website: https://WRMEA.org Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy: https://IRmep.org…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Resisting Israel’s Lobby on Campus and in the Community - Robin D.G. Kelley 38:16

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On April 24, 2021 Robin D.G. Kelley discussed the current state of resisting Israel and its lobby’s efforts on campus. He gave an overview of the parallels between South Africa and the movement toward Palestinian liberation, and addressed the questions: How are Black Lives Matter and the Palestinian grassroots movements working together, and are they natural allies? Was the much-vaunted Black-Jewish civil rights alliance ever based on anything more than oppression? What is the basis of a Black-Palestinian alliance? What lessons are there for today’s activists? Robin D.G. Kelley's research has explored, among other topics, the history of social movements in the U.S., the African Diaspora and Africa; black intellectuals; music and visual culture; and Surrealism and Marxism. His essays have appeared in a wide variety of professional journals as well as general publications, including the Journal of American History, American Historical Review, The Nation, Monthly Review, New York Times, Color Lines, Counterpunch, Souls, Black Renaissance/Renaissance Noir, Social Text, The Black Scholar, Journal of Palestine Studies, and Boston Review, for which he also serves as contributing editor. Kelley's books include Africa Speaks, America Answers: Modern Jazz in Revolutionary Times (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2012); Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original (The Free Press, 2009); Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination (Beacon Press, 2002); with Howard Zinn and Dana Frank, Three Strikes: The Fighting Spirit of Labor's Last Century (Beacon Press, 2001); Yo’ Mama’s Disfunktional!: Fighting the Culture Wars in Urban America (Boston: Beacon Press, 1997); Race Rebels: Culture, Politics, and the Black Working Class (New York: The Free Press, 1994); Into the Fire: African Americans Since 1970 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996) [Vol. 10 of the Young Oxford History of African Americans series]; and Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1990). Transcript and Video at https://www.wrmea.org/end-u.s.-support-for-israeli-apartheid/robin-d.g.-kelley-resisting-israels-lobby-on-campus-and-in-the-community.html IsraelApartheidCon is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep). Washington Report on Middle East Affairs website: https://WRMEA.org Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy: https://IRmep.org…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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From an Israel-Centric to a Rights-Based Approach - Zaha Hassan 43:00

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Zaha Hassan outlines how the Biden administration can break the Middle East peace impasse by adopting a rights-based—rather than an Israel and its lobby based—approach as the center of its strategy. Why has the current one-sided approach favoring Israel produced only serial failures? How would a rights-based approach transcend violence, dispossession, discrimination and occupation? What are the policy options? Why is a rights-based approach a far better look for the United States? Zaha Hassan is a human rights lawyer and visiting fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Her research focus is on Palestine-Israel peace, the use of international legal mechanisms by political movements, and U.S. foreign policy in the region. Previously, she was the coordinator and senior legal adviser to the Palestinian negotiating team during Palestine’s bid for UN membership, and was a member of the Palestinian delegation to Quartet-sponsored exploratory talks between 2011 and 2012. She regularly participates in track II peace efforts and is a contributor to The Hill and Haaretz . Her commentaries have appeared in the New York Times, Salon, Al Jazeera English, CNN, and others. Transcript and Video at: https://www.wrmea.org/end-u.s.-support-for-israeli-apartheid/zaha-hassan-from-an-israel-centric-to-a-rights-based-approach.html IsraelApartheidCon is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep). Washington Report on Middle East Affairs website: https://WRMEA.org Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy: https://IRmep.org…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Gideon Levy: Does unconditional support for Israel endanger Israeli voices? 21:59

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The following is a presentation made at the 2015 Israel Lobby Con held at the National Press Club. Gideon Levy is a columnist for the Israeli daily Haaretz and a member of its editorial board. Levy joined Haaretz in 1982, and spent four years as the newspaper’s deputy editor. He is the author of the weekly Twilight Zone feature, which covers the Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza over the last 25 years, as well as the writer of political editorials for the newspaper. Levy was the recipient of the Euro-Med Journalist Prize for 2008; the Leipzig Freedom Prize in 2001; the Israeli Journalists’ Union Prize in 1997; and The Association of Human Rights in Israel Award for 1996. His book, The Punishment of Gaza , was published in 2010 by Verso Publishing House in London and New York. Since 2015 the annual IsraelLobbyCon conference series at the National Press Club explores the latest research, innovations and tactics for countering the Israel lobby’s damaging policies in the U.S. and around the globe. The conference is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs , and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep) .…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Miko Peled: How the Lobby enables Israeli policy: Views of an Israeli in America 18:54

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The following is a presentation made at the 2015 Israel Lobby Con held at the National Press Club. Miko Peled is an Israeli writer and activist living in the U.S. He was born and raised in Jerusalem. Driven by a personal family tragedy to explore Palestine, its people and their narrative, he has written a book about his journey called The General’s Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine . The book covers Peled’s family history since his grandparents immigrated to Palestine in the early 20th century. Peled’s maternal grandfather was a signer of the Israeli Declaration of Independence; his father was a general in the Israeli army; in the 1970s his father pioneered the Israeli-Palestinian dialogue and eventually met with Yasser Arafat. In 1997 his sister lost her daughter in a suicide bombing in Jerusalem. Peled is a contributor to several online publications that deal with the Middle East and authors a blog, mikopeled.com, dedicated to tearing down the separation wall, and advocating the creation of one democratic state with equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians. He travels regularly to Palestine/Israel, where he speaks and works with the popular resistance. Peled has been arrested several times by the Israeli authorities for his activities. Educated in Israel, the UK, Japan and the United States, Peled holds a sixth-degree black belt in karate. For 23 years, he ran a martial arts school that was dedicated to teaching leadership skills and non-violent conflict resolution through martial arts. He also taught classes to Palestinian children in the West Bank. Since 2015 the annual IsraelLobbyCon conference series at the National Press Club explores the latest research, innovations and tactics for countering the Israel lobby’s damaging policies in the U.S. and around the globe. The conference is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs , and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep) .…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Ahmad Saadaldin: Overcoming obstacles: Students for Justice in Palestine successes. 26:15

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The following is a presentation made at the 2015 Israel Lobby Con held at the National Press Club. Ahmad Saadaldin is a filmmaker/producer, creative writer, actor, and grassroots organizer. He is dedicated to sharing untold stories in order to raise awareness and create positive change. Through grassroots organizing and filmmaking, he does his best to bring attention to deserving topics. Using Kickstarter, Saadaldin raised $84,000 to produce the historic epic television show “Salahadin.” He produced and directed the short documentary “Refugees of Kurdistan” for Aljazeera’s English website with filmmaker Nick Armero. As a public relations major at the University of South Florida, Saadaldin organized the largest grassroots campaign in the university’s history and collected more than 10,000 signatures calling on the school to divest endowment funds from corporations complicit in human rights violations (#USF4HumanRights). Since 2015 the annual IsraelLobbyCon conference series at the National Press Club explores the latest research, innovations and tactics for countering the Israel lobby’s damaging policies in the U.S. and around the globe. The conference is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs , and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep) .…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Dima Khalidi: Pressures on universities to discipline and punish students and faculty for speech activities. 24:34

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The following is a presentation made at the 2015 Israel Lobby Con held at the National Press Club. Dima Khalidi is the founder and Director of Palestine Solidarity Legal Support (PSLS), and Cooperating Counsel with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR). Her work includes providing legal advice to activists, engaging in advocacy to protect their rights to speak out for Palestinian rights, and educating activists and the public about their rights. Khalidi has a JD from DePaul University College of Law with a concentration in International Law, an MA in Comparative Legal Studies from the University of London – School of Oriental and African Studies, and a BA in History and Near Eastern Studies from the University of Michigan. Prior to founding PSLS, Khalidi worked with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) as a cooperating attorney on the Mamilla Cemetery Campaign, drafting a petition to United Nations officials to act against the desecration of an ancient Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem. As a volunteer and an intern at CCR, she also worked on numerous cases that sought to hold Israeli officials and corporations accountable for Israeli violations of international law, including Belhas v. Ya’alon; Matar et al. v. Dichter; and Corrie v. Caterpillar; as well as on CCR’s Guantanamo Bay docket. As a law student, she interned with the People’s Law Office in Chicago, helping win the acquittal of a Palestinian-American on major federal criminal charges. Prior to studying law, Khalidi worked at Birzeit University, heading a research project on the role of informal justice mechanisms in the Palestinian legal system. She has advocated on Palestinian rights issues in media forums such as the New York Times, the Jewish Press, The Real News Network, Mondoweiss, Huffington Post, Law and Disorder Radio, and Radio Tahrir. She is fluent in Arabic and French. Since 2015 the annual IsraelLobbyCon conference series at the National Press Club explores the latest research, innovations and tactics for countering the Israel lobby’s damaging policies in the U.S. and around the globe. The conference is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs , and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep) .…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Amani Al-Khatahtbeh: Daring to speak out on campus. 20:52

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The following is a presentation made at the 2015 Israel Lobby Con held at the National Press Club. Amani Alkhatahtbeh is the founding editor-in-chief of MuslimGirl.net, a blog aimed at eliminating stereotypes surrounding Islam and promoting the place of Muslim women in Western societies. Alkhatahtbeh’s dedication to building bridges across different religious and cultural communities has been recognized in a New Jersey state resolution honoring the top community service pioneers in the state. She was a Lloyd Gardner Fellow and a Women’s Leadership Scholar at Rutgers University, where she conducted multiple independent studies on the Arab Spring and Middle Eastern politics. She ran into trouble with The Daily Targum , Rutgers University’s daily newspaper, and trustees, which decided that criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic. Alkhatahtbeh is a blogger for the Atlantic Council, a foreign policy think tank in Washington, DC. In June 2014, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee named her its media relations specialist. She is a regular speaker at events on political and social issues. Since 2015 the annual IsraelLobbyCon conference series at the National Press Club explores the latest research, innovations and tactics for countering the Israel lobby’s damaging policies in the U.S. and around the globe. The conference is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs , and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep) .…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Dr. Jack Shaheen: The use of cultural stereotypes to shape policy 17:40

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The following is a presentation made at the 2015 Israel Lobby Con held at the National Press Club. Internationally acclaimed author and media critic Dr. Jack G. Shaheen was a committed internationalist and a devoted humanist. His lectures and writings illustrate that damaging racial and ethnic stereotypes of Arabs, blacks, and others injure innocent people. He defines crude caricatures, explains why they persist, and provides workable solutions to help shatter misconceptions. Dr. Shaheen was a distinguished visiting scholar at New York University (NYU), served as a CBS News Consultant on Middle East Affairs from 1993-98. As a professional film consultant, he has consulted with writers and producers such as writer-director Stephen Gaghan on Syriana (2005), and producer Chuck Roven on Three Kings (1999), as well as with Coca-Cola’s creative team. He is a 2013 recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, which pays homage to those individuals who have distinguished themselves in the cultural mosaic of America. Shaheen gave more than 1,000 lectures in nearly all 50 states and on three continents. In cooperation with the U.S. government, Dr. Shaheen has conducted seminars throughout the Middle East. He also consulted with the United Nations, the Los Angeles Commission on Human Relations, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and New York City’s Commission on Civil Rights. Shaheen’s book, A is for Arab: Archiving Stereotypes in U.S. Popular Culture, features telling photographs of materials from the Jack G. Shaheen Archive at NYU. His book and a special traveling exhibit documents U.S. popular culture representations of Arabs and Muslims from the early 20th century to the present. NYU’s Shaheen Archive contains more than 4,000 images, including motion pictures, cartoons,and TV programs, as well as toys and games featuring anti-Arab and anti-Muslim depictions. His other books are: Nuclear War Films, The TV Arab, Arab and Muslim Stereotyping in American Popular Culture , the award-winning book [and DVD] Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People , and GUILTY: Hollywood’s Verdict on Arabs after 9/11 . His writings include 300-plus essays in publications such as Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs , as well as dozens of chapters on stereotypes in numerous college textbooks. Dr. Shaheen, an Oxford Research Scholar, was the recipient of two Fulbright teaching awards; held degrees from the Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Missouri. He appeared on national network programs such as CNN, MSNBC, National Public Radio, Nightline, Good Morning America, 48 Hours, and The Today Show. Since 2015 the annual IsraelLobbyCon conference series at the National Press Club explores the latest research, innovations and tactics for countering the Israel lobby’s damaging policies in the U.S. and around the globe. The conference is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs , and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep) .…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Dr. Alice Rothchild: Silencing voices that question Israeli actions. 20:50

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Since 2015 the annual IsraelLobbyCon conference series at the National Press Club explores the latest research, innovations and tactics for countering the Israel lobby’s damaging policies in the U.S. and around the globe. Alice Rothchild is a Boston-based physician, author and filmmaker who since 1997 has focused on human rights and social justice in the Israel/Palestine conflict. She graduated from Bryn Mawr College with a degree in psychology and studied medicine at Boston University, followed by a medical internship at Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx, and an obstetrics and gynecology residency at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. Her early political interests involved opposing the Vietnam War, and working for women’s reproductive rights and health care reform. She was involved in the first edition of Our Bodies Ourselves and practiced ob-gyn for over 30 years in the Boston area. Until her recent retirement she served as a Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard University’s Faculty of Medicine. In 2003 Dr. Rothchild began co-organizing health and human rights delegations to Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. She writes and lectures widely and is the author of Broken Promises, Broken Dreams: Stories of Jewish and Palestinian Trauma and Resilience (Pluto Press, 2007, second edition 2010, translated into German and Hebrew), and On the Brink: Israel and Palestine on the Eve of the 2014 Gaza Invasion (Just World Books, 2014). She directed a powerful documentary film, “Voices Across the Divide,” which premiered at the 2013 Boston Palestine Film Festival. Dr. Rothchild was named one of ten “Jewish Women to Watch” by Jewish Women International, and has won numerous awards. She is an active member of Jewish Voice for Peace, American Jews for a Just Peace, Workmen’s Circle Mideast Working Group, and the Gaza Mental Health Program. The conference is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs , and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep) .…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Jeffrey Blankfort: The ADL: Covert action, censure, and courting law-enforcement. 21:39

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The following is a presentation made at the 2015 Israel Lobby Con held at the National Press Club. Jeffrey Blankfort is a photojournalist and radio host. His articles have appeared in CounterPunch , Dissident Voice , Mondoweiss , Pulse Media , Left Curv e, the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and the E ncyclopedia of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict . Since the 1960s his photographs have appeared in major publications in the U.S. and around the world. During this past Black History Month, an exhibit of his photos of the Black Panthers from 1968 and Palestinians taken from 1970 to 2004 was on display at the African American Art and Cultural Complex in San Francisco. It was his first trip to Lebanon and Jordan in 1970 to take photos for a book on the Palestinian struggle ( Palestine: the Arab-Israeli Conflict , Ramparts Press, 1972) that led to his involvement in their cause. Blankfort became a founding member of the November 29th Committee on Palestine and a co-founder of the Labor Committee on the Middle East, and was editor of its publication, The Middle East Labor Bulletin (1988-1995). He currently hosts a twice-monthly program on international affairs for KZYX, the public radio station for Mendocino County in Northern California where he now lives. Since 2015 the annual IsraelLobbyCon conference series at the National Press Club explores the latest research, innovations and tactics for countering the Israel lobby’s damaging policies in the U.S. and around the globe. The conference is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs , and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep) .…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Seth Morrison: From the Jewish National Fund to Jewish Voice for Peace and BDS. 21:39

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The following is a presentation made at the 2015 Israel Lobby Con held at the National Press Club. Seth Morrison has held leadership posts in various local, regional and national Jewish organizations, starting in college as a youth leader in Young Judea. He is currently active in Jewish Voice for Peace, serving on the DC Metro Chapter Steering Committee and on the national Congressional Outreach Committee. In 2011, Morrison resigned from the Washington, DC Board of the Jewish National Fund in protest over Israel’s repeated evictions of Palestinians from their homes in East Jerusalem. He chaired the Washington, DC Metro Chapter of J Street in 2013 before becoming active in the BDS movement. His op-eds supporting Palestinian and Bedouin rights have been published in The Forward, The Jerusalem Post and +972 Magazine. Professionally, Morrison is a consultant specializing in marketing and strategic planning for both for- and non-profit organizations. Previously he was the SVP & General Manager of CTAM, a trade association serving the cable television industry. As a marketer, Morrison has been responsible for major local and national marketing, PR and social media campaigns for the cable television industry and non-profit organizations. Since 2015 the annual IsraelLobbyCon conference series at the National Press Club explores the latest research, innovations and tactics for countering the Israel lobby’s damaging policies in the U.S. and around the globe. The conference is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs , and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep) .…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Grant F. Smith: How big is the Lobby and what does it do? An overview of the 501(c) universe. 23:57

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The following is a presentation made at the 2015 Israel Lobby Con held at the National Press Club. Grant F. Smith is the director of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep) in Washington, DC. He is the author of two unofficial histories about the American Israel Public Affairs Committee– America’s Defense Line: The Justice Department’s Battle to Register the Israel Lobby as Agents of a Foreign Government and Foreign Agents: AIPAC from the 1963 Fulbright Hearings to the 2005 Espionage Scandal. Smith is also the author of the books Divert!, Spy Trade, Deadly Dogma and Visa Denied, and editor of the book Neocon Middle East Policy . Jeff Stein of The Washington Post designated Smith “a Washington, DC author who has made a career out of writing critical books on Israeli spying and lobbying.” Nathan Guttman of The Jewish Daily Forward recognizes Smith as leading a public effort to “call attention of the authorities to AIPAC’s activity and [demand] public scrutiny of the group’s legal status.” Smith has initiated lawsuits against the Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency under the Freedom of Information Act for public release of files officially acknowledging Israel’s clandestine nuclear weapons program and unprosecuted weapons-grade uranium diversions from the United States. Since 2015 the annual IsraelLobbyCon conference series at the National Press Club explores the latest research, innovations and tactics for countering the Israel lobby’s damaging policies in the U.S. and around the globe. The conference is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs , and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep) .…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Roger Waters: ”The positive impact of artist boycotts targeting Israel and how to educate fans.” IsraelLobbyCon 2022 33:18

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The following is a presentation made at the 2022 Transcending the Israel lobby at Home & Abroad conference held on March 4 at the National Press Club. Roger Waters is an English rock musician, singer-songwriter and composer best known for his work with the legendary rock band Pink Floyd. Over the last few years, he has emerged as one of the world’s most prominent advocates for Palestinian human rights and a cultural boycott of Israel. In June 2009, Waters spoke against the wall Israel built on Palestinian land. Later that year he pledged his support to the Gaza Freedom March. In 2011, Waters announced that he had joined the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement in solidarity with Palestinians. He has said he is disillusioned with UK foreign policy toward Israel. After accusations lodged by the Anti-Defamation League and other Israel advocacy organizations, Waters responded that, "I deplore the policies of the Israeli government in the occupied territories and Gaza. They are immoral, inhuman and illegal. I will continue my non-violent protests as long as the government of Israel continues with these policies. ...It is difficult to make arguments to defend the Israeli government's policies, so would-be defenders often use a diversionary tactic, they routinely drag the critic into a public arena and accuse them of being an anti-Semite.” Waters has also long campaigned for five indigenous groups and 80 farmer communities in Ecuador fighting energy giant Chevron’s destruction of the environment. Since 2015 the annual IsraelLobbyCon conference series at the National Press Club explores the latest research, innovations and tactics for countering the Israel lobby’s damaging policies in the U.S. and around the globe. See https://www.IsraelLobbyCon.org for more information.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Sut Jhally: ”Are US news organizations getting better or worse in their Middle East reporting?” IsraelLobbyCon 2022 45:20

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The following is a presentation made at the 2022 Transcending the Israel lobby at Home & Abroad conference held on March 4 at the National Press Club. Sut Jhally is a professor of communication at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the founder and executive director of the Media Education Foundation. He has won the Distinguished Teacher Award at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where the student newspaper has also voted him "Best Professor." Jhally is the producer of over 40 documentaries on media literacy topics in cultural studies, advertising, media and consumption. Also the author of six books and numerous scholarly and popular articles, Jhally teaches both undergraduate and graduate level courses which focus on media, public relations and propaganda, as well as gender, sex and representation. His books include Social Communication in Advertising: Persons, Products and Images of Well-Being (1988) with co-authors Stephen Kline and William Weiss, and The Codes of Advertising: Fetishism and the Political Economy of Meaning in the Consumer Society (1987). Jhally’s documentary “The Occupation of the American Mind” focuses on pro-Israel public relations efforts within the U.S. Narrated by Roger Waters and featuring leading observers of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and U.S. media culture, the film explores how the Israeli government, the U.S. government, and the pro-Israel lobby have joined forces, often with very different motives, to shape American media coverage of the conflict in Israel's favor. Since 2015 the annual IsraelLobbyCon conference series at the National Press Club explores the latest research, innovations and tactics for countering the Israel lobby’s damaging policies in the U.S. and around the globe. See https://www.IsraelLobbyCon.org for more information.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Radhika Sainath: ”The Israel lobby’s ongoing attacks on freedom of speech across the U.S. and successful legal challenges.” IsraelLobbyCon 2022 41:23

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The following is a presentation made at the 2022 Transcending the Israel lobby at Home & Abroad conference held on March 4 at the National Press Club. Radhika Sainath is a senior staff attorney at Palestine Legal. Her writing has appeared in Jacobin, The Nation and Huffington Post. She's working on her first novel, set in Palestine during the Second Intifada. She discusses the Israel lobby's ongoing attacks on freedom of speech across the U.S. and successful legal challenges. Since 2015 the annual IsraelLobbyCon conference series at the National Press Club explores the latest research, innovations and tactics for countering the Israel lobby’s damaging policies in the U.S. and around the globe. See https://www.IsraelLobbyCon.org for more information.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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John Kiriakou: ”Israel’s negative, disproportionate and widespread influence on the U.S. national security state.” IsraelLobbyCon 2022 23:45

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The following is a presentation made at the 2022 Transcending the Israel lobby at Home & Abroad conference held on March 4 at the National Press Club. John Kiriakou is an author, journalist and former CIA officer specializing in the Middle East. He was the first U.S. government official to confirm in December 2007 that waterboarding and other forms of torture were used to interrogate prisoners captured overseas. He was also the first CIA officer to be convicted for passing classified information to a reporter and served a 30 month prison sentence. He discusses Israel's negative, disproportionate and widespread influence on the U.S. national security state. Since 2015 the annual IsraelLobbyCon conference series at the National Press Club explores the latest research, innovations and tactics for countering the Israel lobby’s damaging policies in the U.S. and around the globe. See https://www.IsraelLobbyCon.org for more information.…

The Israel Lobby Con EXTRA! Podcast

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Gideon Levy: ”The nature of democracy and human rights in Israel” IsraelLobbyCon 2022 1:10:55

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