Speakers Examine the Power of the Israeli Lobby in America

Posted on April 13, 2015

 Richard Edmondson

Last Friday a conference focusing on the power of the pro-Israel lobby in America was held in Washington. Organized by IRmep and the Washington Report on Mideast Affairs, the conference was entitled “The Israel Lobby: Is It Good for the US? Is It Good for Israel?” Speakers included Grant Smith, founder and director of IRmep; Richard Falk, professor emeritus at Princeton University and former UN special rapporteur for Palestine; former Congressman Paul Findley; Huwaida Arrraf, a Palestinian-American lawyer and human rights advocate; radio host Jeffrey Blankfort, and quite a number of others–some twenty speakers in all.

The above video is one of six that have been uploaded. You can go here to see a YouTube playlist, with links to all six videos, and here to see profiles of all the speakers. Panel topics included:

• What is the Israel Lobby and How Does It Work?
• Is Freedom of Speech Encouraged on American Campuses?
• Is the Lobby Good for Israel?
• How Does the Lobby Influence Congress?
• Is There an Iraq-Iran Continuum?

I realize that a good many of the readers of this blog would most likely not be terribly excited over topic number three–my own personal view is that a peaceful dismantling of the Jewish state is the only hope for humanity–but I think the goal of the conference organizers, of course, was to reach out to as wide an audience as possible.

Suffice to say, however, that not everything you will hear expressed in all six videos are views you will agree with. But that is the way that these things go. Still, I think overall, an important conference–and of course it got no attention in the mainstream media.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

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