From jad@ckuxb.att.com Ukn Feb 1 13:13:23 1993 Received: from att-out.att.com by css.itd.umich.edu (5.67/2.2) id AA25075; Mon, 1 Feb 93 13:13:21 -0500 Message-Id: <9302011813.AA25075@css.itd.umich.edu> To: pauls@css.itd.umich.edu Date: Mon, 1 Feb 93 13:09:36 EST From: jad@ckuxb.att.com Status: RO X-Status: Article 19866 of alt.conspiracy: Newsgroups: alt.conspiracy,alt.activism,talk.politics.mideast,talk.politics.misc,misc.headlines,soc.culture.arabic,alt.censorship Subject: Part 2, MID-EAST REALITIES NEWSLETTER from JCOME -- January, 1993 Message-ID: <1993Jan29.164044.1715@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> Followup-To: talk.politics.mideast,soc.culture.arabic Keywords: MID-EAST REALITIES NEWSLETTER from JCOME -- January, 1993 Sender: usenet@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU Organization: UVA. FREE Public Access UNIX! Lines: 161 ****************************************************************************** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ " M I D - E A S T R E A L I T I E S " A UNIQUELY INDEPENDENT NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE JEWISH COMMITTEE ON THE MIDDLE EAST (JCOME) AND HUNDREDS OF MIDDLE EAST SCHOLARS AND WRITERS THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES. (202) 362-5266 P.O. Box 18367; Washington, DC 20036 Fax: (202) 362-6965 E-MAIL: MCIMAIL to JCOME ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Volume 2; Issue 1 January 1993 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ****************************************************************************** " D R E A M A G E N T S " CNI - THE PHANTOM LOBBY By Mark A. Bruzonsky [Washington - 1 Dec] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * (continuation) Together with a collection of public relations hacks and well-paid professionals -- John Duke Anthony at the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations and Jim Zogby, examples of the former; Attorney Fred Dutton of the latter -- when it comes to the Middle East "peace process" there is an ongoing effort to always present the uplifting case, even when it's hardly existent. It's a form of social control -- i.e., keep everyone at least hoping that things are moving ahead, no matter how slowly, and at the same time try to convince everyone that those in charge know what they're doing. If one more and more controls the sources of information and the major media -- passing out various rewards to those who play the right tunes and penalizing those who do not -- its easier to keep those on top in place and those wanting influence away from it. And so, even if the political equation regarding Israeli influence versus Arab influence remains very much one-sided, this other game of twisting perceptions and public opinion is one that is being played with ever more sophistication, year after year. Furthermore, of course, most of these "dream agents" depend for their own livelihoods on convincing their patrons that the work they are doing is being done well and could in the future, if just everyone will keep the wheels rolling, eventually bear results. Example. Speaking of the recent Presidential resignation at AIPAC -- after release of an audio tape in which AIPAC President Steiner flouted his own as well as his lobby's influence with President-elect Clinton -- CNI Chairman, former Congressman Paul Findley, recently insisted that this incident "may have destroyed the ability of AIPAC to be a credible influence either within the new administration or on Capitol Hill." Many will be willing to dismiss such rhetorical excesses as little but wishful thinking. Sadly, however, excesses of this kind have become the pattern, rather than an occasional foregiveable burst of hopefulness. Sadder yet, such excesses create a climate of misinformation and faulty political analysis that then leads to still further political misjudgements making things all the worse as a vortex of faulty analysis and misleading commentary feeds on itself. And so the question has to be asked, how can one possibly successfully organize in ways likely to be effective without basing ones plans on a frank evaluation of how the political armies actually line up against each other? "PEACE NOW IS AMONG THE WORST THINGS THAT HAVE EVER HAPPENED TO THE ISRAELI PEACE MOVEMENT." How can one seriously prepare to do political battle without knowing just what kinds of weapons are in the hands of the enemy and how much ammunition is likely stockpiled by the various forces? Simply said, all this political dreaming of these various kinds combines to create an exceedingly dangerous situation. Dangerous because it is grossly misleading and gives those trying to do things to change the situation an improper accounting of what the true line up of political forces really is. Dangerous because it substitutes cheap verbal combat for actual political clout giving those who desperately want to do something about the situation a false sense of hope and a faulty reading of how much and what kinds of efforts are actually needed. Dangerous because without a clear-sighted understanding of the real predicament one is in it's more difficult than ever to devise ways of overcoming ones adversaries in the future. The actual situation in Washington at this moment, as the Clinton Administration gets up to speed, is that AIPAC is more in charge today than ever. It has stumbled, it has errored, it has over-exposed itself. All true. All possibly inevitable to some degree. But at the same time, during the past Reagan/Bush decade AIPAC has diversified itself into a number of interlinked and highly effective branches with a variety of tentacles all of which have their grip on things here. Meanwhile, the Arab-American groups in total, including their progressive Jewish allies many of which are themselves front-groups, are simply no match at all for AIPAC's network of power. As for CNI... Frankly, in that it purports to be a lobby at all, it is a cruel, deceptive joke. ------------------------------------------------------- J E W I S H F R O N T G R O U P S On the Jewish side there are also "front" groups whose real agendas have to do more with the self-interest of those pulling the strings and providing the funds. These groups are also specifically tasked to drain energies and resources that could be alot more effectively used to challenge Israeli policies into non-threatening channels that do not seriously worry the Israelis and their American operatives. "Americans For Peace Now" has been for some years the leading front group. Gail Pressberg, one of those heading AFPN, recently leveled with THE WASHINGTON JEWISH WEEK telling its correspondent that "Peace Now has always advocated" continuing all American support for Israel regardless of policy differences. In reality, the American-wing of Peace Now is an organization largely controlled by the "left"-wing of Israel's Labor Party and has always worked in bitter opposition to the idea that the U.S. should substantially cut back on aid to Israel to hasten the changes in Israeli policies that are imperative before there can be a just and lasting peace. Former Israeli General Matti Peled recently said: "Peace Now is among the worst things that have ever happened to the Israeli peace movement." Another group in the U.S., this one calling itself itself "The Jewish Peace Lobby" is really nothing of the kind. It's real policies are to work in tandem with the reform Jewish establishment as well as groups like Peace Now while giving the quite false impression that there is any real counterveiling power to AIPAC on Capitol Hill. Trading on its slick name, at every significant turn the "Jewish Peace Lobby" has failed to back any major changes in U.S. policy toward Israel or any major reduction of economic and military funding for Israel -- regardless of Israeli policies. Jerome Segal, head of what he calls "The Jewish Peace Lobby" is well-known for his opportunism and hypocrisy. Another task of both of these groups is to work closely with the bourgeois Palestinian groups to try to keep the Palestinian negotiating team at the table and try to influence them in the direction of accepting some kind of status that would be more akin to an Indian reservation or a South African "Tribal Homeland" (Bantustan) than independent Statehood. Mark Bruzonsky ----------------------------------- E N D --------------------------------- Note: Past copies of MER, and information about JCOME, are available by calling JCOME's INSTANT FAX at (202) 362-JCOME, (202) 362-5266. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------