News Release

Israeli Influence on Full Display; Russiagate MIA

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ALI ABUNIMAH, aliabunimah at me.com, @AliAbunimah
Available for a limited number of interviews, Abunimah is founder of the Electronic Intifada, which reports Friday in “Watch the Film the Israel Lobby Didn’t Want You to See” that it “has obtained a complete copy of The Lobby — USA, a four-part undercover investigation by Al Jazeera into Israel’s covert influence campaign in the United States.

The Electronic Intifada “is today publishing the first two episodes. … The film was made by Al Jazeera during 2016 and was completed in October 2017.

“But it was censored after Qatar, the gas-rich Gulf emirate that funds Al Jazeera, came under intense Israel lobby pressure not to air the film,” which “exposes the efforts of Israel and its lobbyists to spy on, smear and intimidate U.S. citizens who support Palestinian human rights, especially BDS – the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.”

Abunimah said today: “The influence of the Israel lobby is pervasive and detrimental to the cause of peace and democracy. Israel has also provided a proving ground for heinous policies, like shooting children who may throw stones. Quite predictably, Trump is proposing adopting this practice now along the U.S.-Mexican border. This highlights the authoritarian alliance between Netanyahu and Trump, but it builds on support that liberals have given Israel for decades. Standing against all this are activists. The film we’re releasing today documents some of the Israeli government’s efforts at silencing them.”

The New York Times reports on “How Trump-Fed Conspiracy Theories About Migrant Caravan Intersect With Deadly Hatred” — citing “the baseless claims that George Soros is financing the migrants as they trek north.” Meanwhile, influence of pro-Netanyahu casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson has received minimal scrutiny. See IPA news release: “Billionaires Fueling Trump on Iran Deal, Jerusalem Move.”

The New York Times reports: “When President Trump arrived Tuesday at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh to pay his respects to the 11 victims of a mass shooting three days earlier, the only public official standing there to greet him was Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer.” Dermer took the occasion of the killing of Jews by a white supremacist to smear critics of Israel, including British Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn. The Electronic Intifada has reported extensively on efforts by the Israeli government to undermine Corbyn’s articulation of rights of Palestinians.

Meanwhile, after two years of establishment Democrats focusing on Russiagate, Aaron Mate notes in The Nation: “With Just Days to the Midterms, Russiagate Is MIA.” See past IPA news releases on Israeli influence.