Yusuf Mansur - The US has vetoed many of the UN Security Council resolutions restricting Israeli hegemony, supplied the Jewish state with more aid per its capita than any other country in the world, armed it with weapons that are otherwise forbidden to any other country, and seems resolutely biased towards the Israelis. This blind love for Israel is driven neither by public opinion polls in the US, nor a deep understanding of citizens of the Middle East by the average American. It is a manifestation of the power of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, better known as AIPAC, or the Israeli lobby.

Unbeknown to Arabs almost everywhere, the average American knows very little about the Middle East, be it Palestine, Iraq or Lebanon. Prior to 9/11, the average American did not know much about the region at all and still does not know enough.

Americans elect their representatives to Congress and the Senate to speak on their behalf, and only care about domestic politics and policies. In democracies, unlike dictatorships where everyone is a political guru, people leave politics to the politicians and go on about their own lives. When electing a president, it is the economy that takes first consideration.

Arabs in general, who view the US as totally biased towards Israel, cannot understand this apparent disregard for causes they believe are just, and ultimately blame the American people. To explain the maligned US policy towards Israel, Arabs concoct American conspiracies and speak of America’s desire to control their oil and the region. The Arabs thus take a reductionist approach, calling the US people the great evil, an undeserved accusation.

What Arabs generally fail to understand is that public opinion in the US does not matter, the justice of their cause is insignificant, and that their every action and lobbying, if not directed at the US political machine, will not make a difference. The American public simply does not know, does not care to know and even if they did know, their attitude would be nonchalant as in Europe. This is a sad but correct conclusion. The EU countries, because of their proximity to the region among other things, know more about its problems and are usually less biased in their media coverage and views, but at most give lip service. European support has not manifested itself into support for just Arab causes such as the implementation of UN Resolution 242, withdrawal from occupied territories and cessation of hostilities against Lebanon. A pro-Arab public opinion in the US would at best produce similar
results and sympathy.

What is needed, in fact, is a US administration that supports Arab causes. The answer can be found in something similar to AIPAC, Israel’s power behind the power. Founded in 1953 as the American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs, with the stated purpose of lobbying the US Congress on issues and legislation that are in the best interests of Israel and the United States, AIPAC, with a current membership of 100,000, meets regularly with members of Congress and holds events where it can share its views with them. It analyses the voting records of US federal representatives and senators with regard to how they voted on legislation related to Israel; it never forgets or forgives; and it only backs congressional candidates who support Israel. Between 1978 and 2000, AIPAC directly donated almost $35 million to 1,732 congressional candidates. Official aid from the US to Israel since 1948 has exceeded $103 billion.

The power of AIPAC is manifested in the support it gained for Israel among members of Congress and White House administrations since the 1960s. Congressional candidates and incumbents who are pro-Israel receive campaign funding and favourable publicity through a myriad of AIPAC affiliates, organisations and media outlets, while politicians who do not favour policies benefiting Israel are targeted for replacement by pro-Israel supporters. AIPAC does not forget; to be black listed all one needs is an unfavourable vote on a pro-Israeli policy. Its support in tight campaigns can determine the outcome. Congressmen know this and they listen and act accordingly. The public does not care about how their representatives voted on Middle Eastern issues simply because such issues are not important to them and do not affect their daily lives.

Aware of the power of AIPAC and its ability to mobilise Congress members, the White House tows the line otherwise important domestic bills are never passed. When margins are tight, every congressional vote becomes important. When a US president has an agenda on an issue in the Middle East, he knows that congressional support can be garnered through AIPAC. When a president takes a tough stand on Israel, he knows that his domestic agenda will meet more hurdles than he can deal with in Congress. Worse still, come re-election year, he will definitely suffer if he does not support Israel. In short, it is political suicide to go against AIPAC, especially when the White House administration is weak.

Therefore, Arabs should not be surprised that on July 18 the Senate unanimously approved a non-binding resolution “condemning Hamas and Hizbollah and their state sponsors and supporting Israel’s exercise of its right to self-defence.” According to former Carter administration National Security Adviser Zbigniew
Brzezinski, AIPAC basically wrote the resolution.

The upshot is if Arabs want a fairer stance from the US administration they have to have their own effective and equally strong lobby in Washington, instead of counting on public opinion. Public opinion in the US is irrelevant -- it does not matter, and it never did.

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Yusuf Mansur is the Managing Partner of the Envision Consulting Group (EnConsult) and Former CEO of the Jordan Agency for Enterprise and Investment Development (JAED). This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.

Source: Jordan Times, 08 August 2006