UNMIA

By Lynn Provencio (UNMIA and Israel Coalition): Tuesday evening, a small group from the Israel Coalition (a local community based Israel Advocacy group) went to the “Israel Lobby” discussion held at the Peace and Justice Center by Justice First, a local Palestinian Advocacy group. The discussion went very well, and it appeared that everyone was both pleased and a little surprised at what a good discussion it turned out to be.

The Zionists were nervous at first, not having walked into the heart of local anti-Zionist action before. Some had been to an event or two before, and had a better idea of what to expect, but none were quite prepared for the open discussion and friendliness that they found. Likely some of the Justice First attendees were equally surprised to find that Zionists were in their midst and were normal people.

The opening film, which discussed the controversy surrounding Mearsheimer and Waltz’ book “The Israel Lobby”, was made in the Netherlands and was in Dutch, with English subtitles. However, the film’s producers conducted interviews in English with the books’ authors (with no Dutch subtitles), with a Jewish anti-Zionist, a Jewish neo-Zionist, an anti-war military analyst who felt Israel was a strategic deficit to the US, a former member of President Bush’s cabinet, and a famous Christian Zionist lobby leader. In that way, some attempt was made to balance the presentation. However, the film was heavily weighted in favor of the Mearsheimer/Waltz theory because of the greater time given to the more numerous anti-Zionist speakers (who naturally did not find the accomplishments of AIPAC and other pro-Israel lobbies to be a plus), and the placement of the interviews. The segments generally began and ended with anti-Zionist speakers, and the last speaker would have the opportunity to rebut the pro-Zionist speaker before him, usually leaving that view with more time and the last word, as if theirs were the more correct view.

After the movie, a short report was given of each of the books to be discussed: Mearsheimer/Waltz’ “The Israel Lobby” and Abe Foxman’s “The Most Dangerous Lie”. The reports were well done and fair to the books and their authors, and were a good way to launch the discussion. The discussion was moderated, and the moderator did an excellent job of giving everyone a chance to speak without letting the discussion drag or run overtime. As far as the Israel Coalition was concerned, none of us felt like we were being slighted or disrespected in any way, and everyone spoke and responded well. Even when some comments caused tempers to flare, it had the effect of livening the discussion, but it did not heat up into an argument.

The discussion was recorded by both Justice First and the Israel Coalition, and if anyone is curious to see the video, copies could be obtained through either group.

Thanks to the Justice First group for their invitation to attend, and for offering a real opportunity for dialog, with every effort being made not to be lopsided.