Thirty-two Jewish organisations held a meeting in the US in 1943 to discuss and agree on the best ways and means to support the establishment of a Zionist state in Palestine. A major outcome of that historic meeting was the establishment of ‘The American-Jewish Congress' which turned into a lobby with much influence on American Middle East policy.
The main arm of the lobby in Washington is ‘The Anti-Defamation League' which consists of extreme elements within the American Jewish Community. The mother ‘lobby', however, concentrated efforts on making Jews open their pockets and deliver votes for candidates who support Israel. But since the Israeli Likud bloc came to power, a new phenomenon emerged with the so-called ‘Jews for Jesus' arranging free or low cost tours of the Holy Land for Christian fundamentalists who believe that only Armageddon can usher in ‘the Second Coming'.
They view the conflict in the Middle East as the last sign before the Armageddon battle in which only themselves would be saved and the rest would be annihilated. They were the supporters who formed the Republican base that elected former president George Bush, the son, to two terms in office and who won recent US congressional elections.
The same ‘League' has adopted ‘intimidation tactics' to prevent anyone from criticising Israel by painting a picture of the person as anti-Semitic. But such tactics are no longer effective in the view of the now well-known colonial/apartheid policy of Israel.
For the first time, the US has declared that the resolution of the Palestinian problem is "in the very interest of the American national security". This positive change in American policy requires we pose a question: Why have the hundreds of thousands of Arabs residing in America so far failed to establish an Arab lobby in Washington similar to the Jewish lobby? Shall we ever see an Arab lobby sometime in the future capable of playing a significant role? Will it be able to learn and gain some of the experience the Jewish lobby has? Will it manage to establish links and bridges with moderate Jewish elements to check the influence of extreme Jewish elements on American policies?
Arab disunity has negatively affected the establishment of an Arab lobby in Washington that could really influence American policy in the Middle East. The West in general has been awakened to the reality of the Israeli extreme right which rules Israel now, as an actual threat to western security and interests. An Arab lobby can work effectively to instill this fact in western minds which first needs to be understood by the western intelligence agencies. Single-handedly, the Israeli extreme right has transformed millions of Muslims into enemies of the West; especially against the US over its unconditional support for Israel's colonial apartheid policy in occupied Palestine!
The success of the Jewish lobby was not only a result of the unity of Jewish organisations, but was also achieved by intellectual and organizational maturity. We Arabs can now benefit from a group of intellectually mature American and western organisations that support the Palestinian cause and are looking for an effective Arab lobby to utilise this conscientious support to end the Israeli occupation.
Yet, and while awaiting an Arab lobby to shape up, support for the Palestinian cause is gaining momentum with more advocacy by movements and organisations in the West including the US.
‘If Americans Knew' a research and information institute, was established by American journalist Alison Weir, who visited the occupied West Bank in 2001. She found that realities on the ground were largely reverse of what was reported by the American news media. ‘Stop the War Coalition' and the ‘Coalition against Israeli Apartheid' are Toronto-based anti-Zionist movements who support the Palestinian cause.
Financial assistance
In the US, ‘The US campaign to End the Israeli Occupation' consists of 180 American organisations in more than 32 states. The group petitioned Congress on June 16, 2009 to freeze American assistance to the Zionist entity until "Israel agrees to conditions that serve the American national interest".
Moreover, ‘The International Solidarity Movement' was established in 2001 by Palestinian and Israeli activists to work together against the Israeli apartheid policy. Their frequent demonstrations against ‘the Apartheid Wall' in the West Bank are watched on television worldwide. Meanwhile, the American Islamic Congress, a civil rights organisation, has become a target for Zionist organisations.
All the above organisations have raised the alarm among Zionist circles in the US and Israel. The anti-Defamation League concerned only with defamation against Jews and headed by Abraham Foxman has taken upon itself the task to watch and record activities of all pro-Palestinian organizations in order to find ways and means to stop them.
The most recent Zionist group to stem the tide against Israel in the US is ‘The Emergency Committee for Israel' which has organised a vast coalition of neo-conservatives and Christian fundamentalists to oppose the Obama administration and support the election of the conservative candidates who support Israel as reflected by the recent elections in the US.
Thousands of Arabs rank high in the academic and business sectors in the US. Arabs also command trillions of dollars in investments, giving them a clout of humongous proportion. But will they ever serve Arab causes as the Jewish lobby supports Israel's interests?
- Professor As'ad Abdul Rahman is the Chairman of the Palestinian Encyclopaedia.
