Obama’s “AIPAC problem”

The title of a Mar. 13 post on Ben Smith’s Politico blog caught our eye: “Obama’s Jewish Problem.”

And just what is Barak Obama’s “Jewish problem”?

It turns out that if the junior US senator from Illinois has one, it is with AIPAC — the American Israel Public Affairs Committee — and not with American Jews in general.

According to Smith, David Adelman, a Des Moines attorney — and AIPAC member — released a letter to the senator in which he said that he found it “deeply troubling” that Obama, a Democratic presidential nomination hopeful, was reported to have told the Des Moines Register’s editorial board, in the course of describing his support for measures to loosen restrictions on US humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, that “nobody is suffering more than the Palestinian people.”

And — surprise! surprise! — AIPAC just happens to have adopted a measure at its annual policy conclave this week that calls on the Senate to stiffen sanctions against the Palestinian Authority.

Ben Smith, savvy blogger though he may be, does neither his readers nor American political discourse any favors when he conflates “AIPAC” with “Jewish.”

Yes, AIPAC’s support base consists mainly of American Jews (though note that Pastor John Hagee, an evangelical Protestant minister in San Antonio and head of Christians United for Israel, was one of its conclave’s headliners).

But no, AIPAC does not by any means represent or speak for the opinions and preferences of American Jews.

That was made clear the following day — but only if you were paying close attention — when JTA reported that the liberal Zionist group Ameinu (formerly, the Labor Zionist Alliance) had blasted AIPAC for adopting “radically hawkish positions” at its gathering.

And Ameinu can’t be dismissed as some fringe element on the American Jewish scene: it is a member organization that has a representative on AIPAC’s executive committee.

Ameinu’s president Kenneth Bob outlined his organization’s critique:

“AIPAC, which presents itself as ‘THE pro-Israel lobby’ representing the entire American Jewish community, has now adopted highly partisan new policies on the pursuit of Palestinian-Israeli peace,” Bob said. “The new approach aligns AIPAC more closely with neoconservatives, placing it in sharp opposition both to the Bush administration and the Israeli government.”

Nor is Ameinu alone among organizations representing American Jews whose analyses of Middle East matters don’t toe AIPAC’s neocon line.

Americans for Peace Now (APN) has launched an action alert urging supporters to contact US senators and ask them to refuse to sign a letter being circulated by AIPAC that calls for a continued US boycott of the Palestinian Authority until it meets a set of preconditions: renouncing terrorism, recognizing Israel and accepting past agreements with the Jewish state.

On the face of it, AIPAC’s call appears reasonable. But as APN’s alert notes:

This cleverly-crafted “ask” is not about maintaining the current U.S. policy, but rather expanding it in a manner that is clearly inconsistent with the best interests of both Israel and the United States.

With this “ask,” Senators will be on the record urging the Administration to cut off all contact with President Abbas and any other Fatah members (or independents) that become part of a future Palestinian national unity government. Once Members of Congress are “on record” with this demand, they will find it difficult to oppose efforts to turn this non-binding letter into law.

At a time when there is growing recognition in Congress that engagement — even with imperfect or objectionable partners — is vital to U.S. national security interests in the Middle East and around the world, it makes no sense for the Senate to urge a wholesale U.S. boycott of contacts with longtime Palestinian interlocutors who recognize Israel, reject violence and terror, and are clearly committed to trying to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace based on two states living side by side in peace and with security.

So when Ben Smith and other political observers write about “Obama’s Jewish Problem,” they’ve got it wrong. Obama doesn’t have a “Jewish” problem — he has an AIPAC problem.

And so do the vast majority of American Jews who, despite more than 30 years of seeing their mainstream organizations hijacked by neocon hardliners, steadfastly continue their refusal to fall in line and remain steadfast liberals.

— David Gradis