AIPAC goes Far Right for Speakers in Bay Area

AIPAC held 3 events this past week in the San Francisco Bay Area, and surprisingly, it gave us two speakers whose views in regard to Israel are quite extreme, even just relative to AIPAC as a whole. The events were held in San Jose, Oakland, then San Francisco. With the exception of the San Francisco event, the speaker is Rep. Shelley Berkley of Las Vegas.

Here is aerHerHhhkjdkj brief look at Berkley’s record. Back in March of 2009, Berkley called for an end to all US aid to Gaza, as it was trying to rebuild from the brutal Israeli attack of just a few months earlier. That attack left thousands of homes and factories destroyed. Haaretz reports:

Berkley, a Jewish politician well-known in Congress for her support of Israel, backed the Israeli operation in Gaza during December and January, and even told Haaretz that maybe Israel had been too tolerant.

Too tolerant? Does that mean that Israel dropped too few Cluster Bombs, that “only” a few hundred Palestinian children were killed in the onslaught? That it is too much that still 5% of the water in Gaza is actually fit for human consumption?

Then there is Rep. Berkley’s attack on Obama’s mild and ultimately ineffective policy of pressuring Israel to stop settlement expansion. Berkley said in June of 2009:

“I think it would serve America’s interest better if we were pressuring the Iranians to eliminate the potential of a nuclear threat from Iran, and less time pressuring our allies and the only democracy in the Middle East to stop the natural growth of their settlements.”

In AIPAC’s original write-up of Berkley’s bio, (viewable here), she was described as a “strong proponent of the natural growth of settlements”. That sentence was deleted, for whatever reason, but it was an honest statement. Berkley does not believe in making way for a future Palestinian state.

Finally, there is the speaker chosen to keynote the San Francisco AIPAC event, Dr. DeeDee Coleman. An articulate and politically astute African-American Baptist preacher who also serves on the AIPAC National Council, she knows how to say the right things to the right audience. She is not always afraid to share her fundamentalist beliefs however, and she tells us that simply stated Israel, all of it, belongs to the Jews, and there is nothing anyone, including Jews, can do about that. In an interview that can be seen here, she throws out these bits:

“I do believe that you cannot give away what god has given to you. It cannot happen.” “If god has given you the land, you cannot give the land away.”

For Dr. Coleman, the deity has already apportioned the land based on ethnicity. Case closed.

Despite the extremism of AIPAC, we can expect that some “liberal” (we could not find any, however, more about that in my next post) Bay Area politicians will show up to pander to this lobby for war and occupation. They will be greeted in Oakland by a coalition braving the elements outside supporting peace and human rights, and demanding better uses of our resources, like funding for building homes in West Oakland, not demolishing homes in the West Bank. Some AIPAC attendees will also see ads calling for an end to military aid to Israel, if they use BART to get to the event. Now that’s sweet.

AIPAC's Festival of Organized Hate. Islamaphobiapalooza by the Potomac

AIPAC's Festival of Organized Hate, otherwise known as the AIPAC Policy Conference, is once again taking place in Washington DC in March, coinciding with the beginning of Spring on March 21st. In years past AIPAC has often featured the very worst of extremists of various walks of life. It has featured John Bolton who could not even get the support of a Republican Senate majority for his placement as US ambassador to the United Nations. (see his chilling statements on his hopes for war with Iran in a talk with AIPAC donors here) . Then there was the keynote address by Rev. Hagee, a fanatical exponent of war and opponent of human rights for Palestinians. This year will be no different. The policy conference will again be cheerleading for war and the repression of human rights.

The well-known will be there, including Prime Minister Netanyahu and Tony Blair. More about them later. I wish to highlight a lessor known participant, who of late has made quite a name for himself, Mr. Martin Kramer. Many of you have seen articles of Martin Kramer's call for steps be taken to limit the population of Gaza by greater restriction of aid, what amounts to calls for genocide. Electronic Intifada has covered it, Tikun Olam and MJ Rosenberg have been following the story. Juan Cole also has a excellent write up on it, as does Mondoweiss.

Make no mistake, Kramer's call for the end of aid to UNRWA to families, is not about ending "rewards" for having babies, this is about, given the context of Israel's military siege on the people of Gaza, preventing the means of physical and healthy survival of an entire population. It is a call for genocidal action against the people of Gaza. It is Kramer's contention that Gaza has a "superfluous" population, and that the world should deal with it by doing what it can to limit births.

It is our view at Stop AIPAC that no people are "superfluous".

So naturally, we are not surprised that AIPAC sees in Martin Kramer a source of wisdom. Kramer will be part of two panels at the AIPAC event. One takes place on Sunday, where he sits with noted anti-Muslim crusader Steve Emerson. (see aipac's schedule) and talks about "Terror in Our Backyard: Islamic Radicalism in the United States". On Monday Martin Kramer sits with a Democratic member of Congress and discusses "Iranian Interference: The Islamic Republic's Number One Export,: Terrorism" (schedule). That Congressman is Brad Sherman of California's San Fernando Valley. It is interesting to note that in fact this Congressman seems to be of like-mind with Kramer, as he was one of a relative few that co-sponsored a resolution H.Con.Res.29, attacking UNRWA, that provides aid for Palestinian refugees (in this fortunate and all-too rare instance, this anti-Palestinian resolution got no where, an aipac-supported initiative only garnered 31 co-sponsors since it was introduced a year ago).

Can we get Cong. Brad Sherman to make a statement affirming that the people of Gaza have a right to live, and disassociating himself from Kramer's extremist statements? It might be worth a try. Call and leave a firm but polite call to demand that Sherman disassociate himself with Martin Kramer's extremist statement, and to cancel his appearance with him at the aipac conference. Enough is enough. Starvation is not a valid foreign policy. Here is Sherman's contact numbers: In Washington DC (202) 225-5911, in San Fernando Valley it is (818) 501-9200. If you know of people in his district that would call his office, that would be most effective. Spread the word.