Latest news with #AmericanIsraelPublicAffairsCommittee
Business Recorder
20-05-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Qatari gift controversy
EDITORIAL: President Donald Trump has been getting a lot of business deals done with three rich Gulf states, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar, deciding to skip Israel on this visit to the Middle East — unusual for an American president. On his first stop in Riyadh, he secured a USD 600 billion investment pledge, and also accepted a USD 400 million luxury plane as a gift from Qatar, which has ignited heated debate about ethical and conflict of interest issues. 'This is not just naked corruption,' said Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer in a speech the same day, 'it is also a grave national security threat.' In addition to expressing concern about the jet itself, and the cost of any modification required, the senior senator from New York took issue with Qatar. He demanded that Attorney General Pam Bondi, who once served as a lobbyist for the Qatari government, testify before Congress to explain her approval of the gift. Another Democratic senator, Chris Murphy, threatened to force votes to block weapons sales to Qatar. Although almost the entire Congress is beholden to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) for its electoral campaign finance — in return for unqualified support of Israel — Trump critics are right to reference American constitution's Emoluments Clause that prohibits government officials from accepting gifts from any foreign state. The Qatari plane, though, is not a personal gift for Trump but a government-to-government offering made, apparently, because he was known to be unhappy with the current customised two Air Force One jets that entered service way back in 1990 during the time of president George H. W. Bush. Trump supporters may also argue this is no different from individuals or foreign governments making investment in American businesses or infrastructure. In any event, it should worry his people only if the president flies this 747-8 jumbo jet home at the end of his term in office. The problem though is not the gift, but how it plays into larger tensions in the region. Qatar is home to the largest US military base in the Middle East. It also stands out among the Gulf Arab states for lending support to the Palestinian cause, which puts it at odds with Israel. Its international news channel, Al Jazeera, which broadcasts meticulously recorded details of Palestinian lives lost in Israel's relentless genocidal campaign in Gaza, is banned in the Jewish state; and its West Bank offices have been forced to shut out. But Qatar, a strategic partner of the US, has also been providing Washington with facilitative assistance in crisis situations. It hosted the US-Taliban peace deal, and has more recently been anchoring indirect contacts — whatever their worth — between Hamas and Israel. President Trump, a transactional leader, is happy to see Qatar and other wealthy Arab states make hefty investments in the US and tightening ties with it, which seems to be the key reason the plane gift from Qatar has rattled the Israeli lobby and its beneficiaries so much. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Express Tribune
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Deportations from USA
Listen to article President Trump is back to the Oval Office and so are the day-to-day dramas. Whatever chaos and troubles might lie ahead of us, one thing is for certain: the next 4 years will be non-stop entertainment. The last time around, Trump had imposed what was wrongly titled as Muslim ban. It did not really ban Muslims, but it made many anti-immigrant and Islamophobic imbeciles happy. This time around, the Trump administration is deporting the pro-Palestinian activists. Student visas are being revoked for many international students, including many Indians. The interesting part is the rationale that the Trump administration provides in deporting some of these leading activists, including Mohsen Mahdawi, who is actually a legal permanent resident, which is more commonly called a green card holder. The rationale goes that the activism that these people indulge in is actually harmful for the Middle East peace process. That is wrong on so many levels that the hardest part is to decide where to start from while dissecting it. Firstly, the phrase 'peace process' is a code word for the Palestinian slaughter and the Arab world's silence and capitulation to it while the Israelis continue to annex more Palestinian land. Israeli aggression and the American blind support for it while whining about anti-seminitism are some of the code phrases for what the 'peace process' means. Secondly, Washington has always argued that the decisions and laws of the international bodies such as the UN, the ICC, etc are not welcomed inside America because allowing those foreign bodies to influence American politics is a violation of US sovereignty. However, I am shocked to read the rationale provided for deporting legitimate students from America, that peace process in the Middle East, a goal in the foreign world should decide how America is going to treat its own legal residents and legitimate students. Is it not a violation of American sovereignty, the US constitution, and American civil liberties? Thirdly, if Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, is so concerned about anti-seminitism in America, then all he needs to look at is the actions of the Israeli lobbies, who earn hatred for Jews. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, whose very presence at the crossroads of American political power, campaign donations and media control are throwing American democracy out the window. Fourthly, if the Trump administration is really concerned about any entity disrupting the peace in the Middle East, then they should be bold to say that it is Israel only that kills any chances of peace on purpose. I guess the deportations speak a disturbing reality, less about the fate of the students and about the constitutional crisis this can lead to, and more about the weakness of the American power system and their media goons. The days of manufacturing consent are gone. People have access to social media and so, not too many of them can be fooled using a sophisticated propaganda campaign. Since minds cannot be controlled and noise makers cannot be blunted, they are deported from the country. The game shifted from Chomsky's manufacturing consent to ejecting dissent. Finally, and this is one essential to understand. The arrangement between the US and Israel is quite interesting. Israel was enlisted by the US after the 1967 war to become the local cop on the beat for America doing its dirty work. In return, of course, Israel wanted the American borrowed power. Gradually, that relationship morphed into America doing the dirty work for Israel. It is no stretch of imagination that it was Israel that played a key role in convincing the Bush administration to attack Iraq in 2003. Israel had a history of attacking Iraq. It had executed the 1981 attack on an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor in a secret operation called Operation Babylon. America has expanded on its job description for Israel where it now gleefully violates its constitution, curtails its civil liberties, punishes its own residents and Congresswomen. And it pays for it all too.
New York Times
09-04-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Palestinian Christians Remind Us: ‘We Are Also People'
The group in America that I'd say is most fervently urging President Trump to crush Palestinian hopes for a state is not the Jewish community but rather evangelical Christians. 'We have no greater friends than Christian supporters of Israel,' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once told the conference of Christians United for Israel, which with 10 million members is twice the size of the much better known American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Evangelical leaders have been calling on the White House to 'reject all efforts' to constrain Israeli control over the West Bank, in the words of a group called American Christian Leaders for Israel. These evangelicals often cite God and the Bible as authorities for their position that Israel should annex Palestinian lands. I couldn't reach God for comment, but I suspect that the divine press office would have referred me to the Eighth Commandment, 'Thou shalt not steal.' Trump's ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, a Baptist minister and former governor of Arkansas, has favored Israel's annexing the West Bank and has said, 'There is really no such thing as a Palestinian.' In the face of this American Christian enthusiasm for crushing Palestinians while saying it is God's will, I wondered what Palestinian Christians thought. So I visited Bethlehem and asked them. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
05-04-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Surprising Allies for Syria's New Leaders: Some Jews Who Fled Long Ago
Henry Hamra left Damascus as a teenager more than 30 years ago and never stopped pining for home. 'It was my dream to go back,' he told lawmakers in Washington on Tuesday. In February, shortly after the Assad regime was toppled, Mr. Hamra and his father, Rabbi Yosef Hamra, finally returned with other Jews to see ancient sites that are remnants of many centuries of Syrian Jewish history. The new government of President Ahmed al-Shara, a former rebel leader with jihadist roots, helped make the trip happen. The visit was hopeful, but it also broke Mr. Hamra's heart. Fourteen years of civil war, and a thicket of financial restrictions imposed by the U.S. government and others, have crippled Syria, physically and economically. The sites he ached to see are in disrepair or destroyed, including the ancient Jobar synagogue and a Damascus cemetery that is the resting place of a prominent 16th- and 17th-century mystic. 'There's a lot of work that has to be done and I think the only thing that's stopping the whole thing is the sanctions,' Mr. Hamra said in a meeting with Representative Jimmy Panetta, Democrat of California. The Hamras have joined Syrian American advocacy groups, initially formed in opposition to the government of Bashar al-Assad, in lobbying the United States to lift sanctions on the new government. The family, prominent members of Brooklyn's large Syrian Jewish community, reached out to those groups for help making their visit to Syria, and were in turn enlisted to help make the case for sanctions relief, in a play calculated to intrigue American officials. But Marshall Whittman, spokesman for the pro-Israel lobbying group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, said, 'Any change in policy must be based on a sustained demonstration of positive behavior from the new Syrian government.' Israel remains deeply wary of Mr. al-Shara, a former member of Al Qaeda. Since the fall of the Assad regime, the Israeli military has deployed troops in southern Syria and carried out hundreds of airstrikes. Israel has defended the moves as necessary for its security, but Syria has accused it of trying to destabilize the country and many Syrians worry about a long-term occupation. Mouaz Moustafa, who leads the Syria Emergency Task Force, an American nonprofit that facilitated the Jewish delegation's visit to Syria, said he had expected the trip to generate interest, precisely because Jews are seemingly unlikely champions of the new government. Mr. Hamra said he feared that without sanctions relief, Syria would not recover — and he would not be able to fulfill another dream that once seemed impossible, to restore what remains of Syrian Jewish history. Fewer than 10 Jews live in Syria, according to Abraham Marcus, a history professor at the University of Texas at Austin who studies Syrian Jewry. A century ago, there were tens of thousands. Over more than two millenniums under Persians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs and Ottomans, the numbers fluctuated but, Mr. Marcus said, 'there is a history of communities that were successful and prosperous and in most cases did not suffer from discrimination.' Around Israel's establishment in 1948, Syrian Jews faced hostility and many fled until the government imposed emigration and travel restrictions. In 1992, President Hafez al-Assad — the father of Bashar al-Assad, who was overthrown last year — loosened the limits. Few Jews stayed. 'So little is left now,' the Syrian chief rabbi, Ibrahim al-Hamra — brother of Rabbi Yosef Hamra — said in 1994, before he emigrated, too. He died in Israel in 2021. Now, his relatives are making the rounds in Washington with Mr. Moustafa, who said they had met with people at the National Security Council, the State Department and on Capitol Hill. A State Department spokeswoman confirmed that a meeting took place; the White House did not respond to a request for comment. Maissa Kabbani, a Syrian Muslim who sought asylum in the United States decades ago, joined the Jewish delegation to Syria. Western officials have expressed concerns that Syria's new rulers are not committed to pluralism and protection of minorities, despite their pledges, so she said she saw the visit as an opportunity to prove a point. The symbolic value of the visit was also not lost on the Syrian Foreign Ministry, which welcomed the group and provided guidance, drivers and security, she said. Sanctions relief for Syria will not come quickly, if at all, but some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are making the case to the Trump administration. Representative Joe Wilson, Republican of South Carolina, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Banking Committee, wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last month, arguing that 'broad restrictions' aimed at a defunct regime 'now risk undermining U.S. national security objectives and impeding Syria's reconstruction.' Mr. Wilson met with the Hamras on Tuesday and said he was 'encouraged' by their accounts of interactions with the new Syrian government. 'Obviously, the terrorist connections, we should be concerned,' he said. 'But people change, OK. As we see, whole countries change.' Later, Mr. Wilson posted on social media about the 'important meeting' with Syrian Jews. 'I agree with them,' he said. 'We must ease sanctions on the Syrian people to give them a chance to live.'
The Intercept
03-04-2025
- Politics
- The Intercept
Trying to Block Arms to Israel, Bernie Sanders Denounces AIPAC's Massive Election Spending
As Israel continued its monthlong blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza and pounded the enclave with American bombs, in Washington the Senate on Thursday voted down two resolutions from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to block the sale of tens of thousands of 2,000-pound bombs and other offensive weapons to Israel. The resolutions marked the second time since November that Sanders forced a vote on arms sales. Once again, they exposed a deep divide among Democrats and blanket Republican support for Israel. The Senate voted 15-82 on the first resolution, concerning 2,000-pound bombs, with all Republicans present voting against it, along with most Democrats. Sanders was joined by 14 Democrats. The second resolution, focusing on other weapons, fared even worse. It was defeated 15-83. The Trump administration officially opposed the resolutions, along with the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Sanders, in a passionate floor speech, denounced AIPAC for its massive spending on last year's elections. 'History will not forgive us for this.' 'If you are a Republican, and you vote against the Trump–Musk administration in one way or the other, you've got to look over your shoulder and worry that you are going to get a call from Elon Musk, the wealthiest man in the world,' Sanders said. 'If you are a Democrat, you have to worry about the billionaires who fund AIPAC.' He cast his resolutions as a chance to stop exporting weapons that enable what he called 'barbarism' in Gaza. 'History will not forgive us for this,' Sanders said. 'The time is long overdue for us to tell the Netanyahu government that we will not provide more weapons of destruction for them.' The votes came only four months after Sanders's prior, unsuccessful attempt to block arms sales to Israel, but against a vastly different geopolitical backdrop. Since November, Israel has reached and abandoned a ceasefire with Hamas. Donald Trump has taken over the White House from Joe Biden, while touting his support for ethnically cleansing Gaza. And a Republican majority has assumed control in the Senate. Sanders's resolutions had little chance of passing either time, but he has cast both as tests of the Senate's conscience. Read our complete coverage One of the resolutions up for a vote Thursday would have blocked the sale of more than 35,000 2,000-pound bombs, which have been widely criticized by humanitarian groups for the indiscriminate destruction they cause in densely populated urban areas such as the Gaza Strip. The other resolution targeted the sale of thousands of smaller-diameter — but still powerful — bombs and thousands of bomb-guidance kits and fuses. Sanders said the situation in Gaza now is even worse than it was during the Biden administration, which humanitarian groups criticized for its half-hearted attempts to pressure Israel. 'What is happening right now is unthinkable. Today it is 31 days and counting with absolutely no humanitarian aid getting into Gaza,' Sanders said. 'That is a clear violation of the Geneva Convention, the Foreign Assistance Act, and basic human decency. It is a war crime. You don't starve children, and it is pushing things toward an even deeper catastrophe.' Despite Sanders's attempt to tie his resolutions to opposition to Trump, many Democrats voted against them. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., voted no, as did Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., who gave a floor speech to rally support against the resolution. Passing the resolutions, Rosen said, would send a 'message to terrorists' of 'impunity.' 'If we are serious about stability in the region,' she said, 'and the safe and secure state of Israel someday living alongside a peaceful, independent Palestinian state, I urge all my colleagues to vote no on these resolutions.' Critics of Israel's war had hoped that the earlier resolutions in November, while unlikely to succeed, might begin a longer process of building support for Palestinians in Congress. Sanders's resolutions on Thursday, however, drew four fewer votes than his best showing in November. One notable defection was of Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., who faced a backlash from some Jewish community leaders over his support of Sanders's first set of resolutions in November. After defending his earlier votes, Ossoff voted against blocking arms sales on Thursday. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ossoff is considered the Democrats' most vulnerable incumbent in next year's election, and the party will also be defending three open seats that Republicans have a chance of taking, according to the Cook Political Report. Seeming to anticipate electoral concerns from Democrats, Sanders during his speech bemoaned the role of money in politics and the influence of AIPAC, which spent on 389 congressional races last year. The pro-Israel lobby group had urged its members to oppose Sanders's 'dangerous' resolutions in a message before the vote. Another group which describes itself as pro-Israel, J Street, supported one of the resolutions, according to a press release. A group that has been critical of Israel, the Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project, expressed its disappointment after the vote. 'Democrats in Congress have their lowest approval rating in decades,' the group's executive director Margaret DeReus, said in a statement, 'and today's vote was yet another demonstration of why they have lost the trust of their own voters and the American people.'
