For the last few weeks, we’ve been presenting some of the success stories of 2013. Today, we want to do something a bit different. Let’s talk about some of this year’s losses—AIPAC’s losses, that is.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee—known popularly by its acronym, AIPAC—has acquired a reputation as an organization that pretty much always gets what it wants. When it somehow doesn’t—like in 2008 when our coalition got its Iran blockade bill shelved—it’s a really big deal. So one of the most surprising—and exciting—things about 2013 was the sheer amount of times AIPAC failed to achieve its goal.
Let’s go back to the beginning of the year. President Obama wanted Chuck Hagel for Defense Secretary. AIPAC didn’t, and launched a major campaign against him. JFP, along with our coalition partners, pushed back. We won; AIPAC lost.
AIPAC sent 300 lobbyists to the Hill to push for US military strikes on Syria. We succeeded in delaying a decision long enough for a diplomatic deal to be reached. We won; AIPAC lost.
AIPAC did not want a rapprochement between the US and Iran in the wake of Hassan Rouhani’s election. We encouraged diplomacy. 131 Members of Congress backed a reinvigorated effort to engage Iran. The Obama administration ended 30 years of silence by engaging in high-level talks that brought about an interim deal. We won; AIPAC lost.
AIPAC and its friends in Congress have been trying to nuke the Iran deal by pressuring Congress to pass new sanctions and other incendiary legislation. But Congress just ended its last session of the year—and no legislation passed. On top of that, we got Sen. Elizabeth Warren to back the interim deal during a Senate Banking Committee hearing. We won (twice!); AIPAC lost.
In 2013, we proved that we can go up against the AIPAC Goliath and win. Now, help us continue to challenge AIPAC’s policies in the new year. Will you help us raise $25,000 by the end of December by making a $10 (or more!) tax-deductible gift to Just Foreign Policy?
https://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate
If you would like to send a check instead, here’s our address:
Just Foreign Policy
4410 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, #290
Washington, DC 20016
Thank you for all you do to challenge AIPAC’s influence on US foreign policy,
Megan Iorio, Chelsea Mozen and Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy