...On September 27, 2022, the Caroline County Virginia
board of supervisors shot down Energix’s application for
a permit to build a 12 megawatt solar utility on
agricultural land. Although Energix representatives
repeatedly insisted they “could” recycle panels under a
confidential master services agreement with First
Solar, the board of supervisors noted that Energix was
simultaneously saying in other Virginia projects, such
as Caden Energix Hickory LLC in Chesapeake, that
partially degraded panels could instead be
sold off to purchasers on Ebay.
Virginia’s Louisa and Caroline counties require periodic
water and soil testing at CdTe sites while four other
Virginia counties now forbid CdTe panels.
Parikhit Sinha, Director of Sustainable Development at
First Solar, in 2019 publicly testified that First Solar
could recycle its CdTe panels at a cost of $10 to $15
per unit although there is no independent confirmation
of his claim. First Solar’s 2022 Sustainability Report
reveals that the company is not yet capable of
separating and refining out CdTe and must outsource the
complex chemical breakdown process to third parties.
First Solar has not responded to multiple secondary
market purchaser requests for recycling sent to the
“recycling@firstsolar.com” email address listed on the
back of its panels. It is highly likely that secondary
owners of used panels will simply rip off the
“non-household waste” labels affixed to the rear of the
panels and dump the panels in the nearest landfill. This
looming and unaccounted for e-waste bill, like
Solyndra’s comparative cost issue, could be First
Solar’s fatal comparative disadvantage...
Read more at Antiwar.com
A declassified 1961 Senate Foreign Relations Committee
memo finally reveals the original reason for ever
investigating the Israel lobby. In 1954, Israel launched
the Operation Susannah false flag terrorist attacks on
U.S. facilities in Egypt aimed at scuttling the return
of the Suez Canal to Eqypt. But the Israeli terrorists
were caught and prosecuted, leading to a diplomatic
crisis with the U.S.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee feared that
Israel and its U.S. operatives could launch future
violent attacks to influence American policy. Pinhas
Lavon, the Israeli Minister of Defense blamed for the
failed terror operation, became a board member of the
Jewish Agency, the same Israeli government funded entity
that funded AIPAC's startup lobbying and public
relations campaigns in the U.S.
Details from declassified FBI files released in 2012
reveal AIPAC founder Isaiah Kenen's early interactions
with the Mossad, which led the FBI to conclude he was
more involved in a massive covert operation for Israel's
government than simply public relations and lobbying.
The FBI report frankly categorized Kenen’s exchanges as
examples of “efforts being made by the Israelis to
change the policies of the United States State
Department.” It is the conclusion of this podcast that
AIPAC is the expansion and continuation of this Israeli
foreign influence operation.
On this edition of Parallax Views, the Institute for
Research: Middle East Policy's Grant F. Smith returns to
discuss his new podcast documentary series How Israel
Made AIPAC. Grant takes through the history of AIPAC,
often simply referred to as the Israel lobby, from its
earliest days vis-a-vis the figure of lobbyist Isaiah L.
Kenen. Grant gives an overview about the origins of
AIPAC and issues related to Israel in the 20th century
including the Transfer Agreement and the Third Reich,
Haganah arms smuggling, NUMEC and how Israel acquired
nuclear weapons, the Foreign Agents Registration Act
(FARA), the U.S. State Department, Ze'ev "Vladimir"
Jabotinsky and the Likud Party, and more. We'll also
discuss the importance of this documentary series to
current events and U.S. foreign policy today as well as
the ways in which previous Presidents like the
Pendergast Machine-affiliated Harry Truman could be
compromised by private or foreign interests.
Scott talked with author Grant F. Smith about his new
podcast detailing the founding of the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC. They also discuss
how AIPAC has recently been getting more involved in
U.S. elections. While some have framed this as an
attempt for the ‘politically conservative’ organization
to target progressive candidates, Smith argues politics
has little to do with it. All that matters to AIPAC is
the degree to which any given candidate supports sending
money to Israel.
Grant notes a key finding: “In 1962, AIPAC was the lobbying and
foreign propaganda division of an umbrella group (the American Zionist Council) that triggered
the Department of Justice order to AZC to register as an
Israeli foreign agent. The Justice Department kept this
fact secret until 2008. It has never since tried to
enforce the order.”
While many have claimed that U.S. policy has been
somehow unduly influenced by the Chinese or Russian
governments, Smith, the author of Big Israel: How Israel’s Lobby moves America has
highlighted that the biggest destination for
Congressional junkets is Israel.
The new 13-part podcast beigins: “AIPAC has recently established
its own political action committees. AIPAC is using tens
of millions of dollars of PAC money to knock off
candidates for office it believes won’t be sufficiently
deferential to the government of Israel. There is a lot
of current analysis about this in social and even legacy
news media. Most of it has one thing in common: no
history about how, when or why AIPAC came into
existence. What exactly is AIPAC and where does it come
from?”
Smith examines a series of questions including: “Why is AIPAC
circumspect about its origin story? How has AIPAC
largely written its founder, Isaiah L. Kenen, out of
that history?
“What was the Israel Office of Information and AIPAC
founder Isaiah L. Kenen’s role at IOI? How long did
Kenen stay in the employ of the Israeli Ministry of
Foreign Affairs? What propaganda information did IOI
omit in its FARA [Foreign Agents Registration Act]
filings? How did Kenen, chafing under FARA, maintain an
active lobbying campaign in the U.S. Congress for
foreign aid while still operating as an employee of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs? …
“How does AIPAC history inform us about foreign influence on U.S.
political campaigns and American Middle East policy
today?”
Grant concludes: “The Justice Department effort to regulate under
FARA was serious, but fizzled out. AIPAC should still be
seen as a creation of Israel, no matter what its current
funding flows and framing.”
Grant’s research draws from Freedom of Information Act filings he
pursued for years as well as end-of-life writings by the
people involved in the creation and attempted regulation
of AIPAC.
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA — In 2018, the Virginia Coalition for
Human Rights (VCHR) successfully stopped the state from
adopting textbook edits made by the Institute for
Curriculum Services (ICS), a pro-Israel “educational”
institution.
The ICS promotes itself as improving the accuracy of
K-12 instruction on Judaism and Jewish history in the
United States. Yet, backed by the Israel lobby, its
strategy appears more in line with advocating a Zionist
narrative than enhancing education.
Today, ICS boasts that it has helped better public
education in all 50 states and impacted 11 million
students across the country. With this in mind,
MintPress News uncovered how ICS is twisting the truth
about Israel in U.S. schools.
In January 2018, Virginia activist Jeanne Trabulsi
attended a Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA)
webinar featuring ICS. During the event, ICS Director
Aliza Craimer Elias spoke about the nonprofit’s
activity, specifically how it works with Jewish
Community Relations Councils (JCRCs) to send revision
requests to textbook review committees.
Following the webcast, the Institute for Research:
Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep) sent a request to
Virginia’s Department of Education, under the Virginia
Freedom of Information Act,
for all documents submitted by ICS, JCPA and JCRCs.
IRmep found that ICS-proposed edits were sent to the
Virginia Department of Education on behalf of the Jewish
Community Federation of Richmond and the JCRCs of
Greater Washington, Richmond, and Tidewater.
More
AIPAC Super Pac launders donor identities to influence
Democratic campaigns in service to Israel - 5/2/2022
First quarter AIPAC Super PAC contributors fall into
three categories: Likely stalwarts who laundered their
identities through the PAC to avoid accountability, Haim
Saban's checkbook, and a mishmash of sub-$500k donors
concentrated in real estate and finance sectors.
Haim Saban donated $13 million to Brookings to establish
the "Saban Center for Middle East policy" in 2002. This
allowed its director, Martin Indyk, to present the
"centrist" case for the US invasion of Iraq. Indyk
argued Saddam "failed to come clean on WMD." That
influence operation, having served its purpose, has
since been rolled up.
Although there are some publicly disclosed donors listed
who typically only give to Republicans in the data, such
as those tied to Edward C. Levy CO, the identities of
many more have likely been laundered through AIPAC for
good reason.
That is because having a lot of mostly Republican donors
working to influence mainly Democratic races would have
"bad optics." So, the "AIPAC SEGREGATED INVESTMENT FUND"
and Haim Saban's wallet will likely continue to be major
categories.
However, AIPAC entering the Super PAC field must also be
seen as a desperate move. Other Israel front groups like
“Democratic Majority for Israel” (DMFI) were already in
that space. AIPAC's annual policy conference was its key
program. But the vast, highly choreographed citizen
lobbying operation has been canceled for two years
running and won't likely happen in 2023.
AIPAC, which was set up with
foreign money by a former employee of the Israeli
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was
ordered to register as an Israeli foreign agent in
1962. AIPAC apparently feels it has to do something to
remain relevant to donors and better serve its foreign
principals.
But AIPAC is mostly steering away from mentioning Israel
in any of its operations against Democratic Party
candidates. That is probably because its pollsters and
opposition research contractors (which received $114K in
1Q) are likely saying Israel is not a strong sell. As
predicted in a
WRMEA - IRmep webinar in December, the primary
purpose of AIPAC's political action committee operations
is to allow donors who mostly give to Republicans to
play pivitol roles in Democratic Party races.
Palestinians have suffered military invasions and land
grabs over decades, and like Ukrainian territory under
Russian occupation, Palestinian territories are being
occupied by Israel. One surge occurred when Israel
launched the 1967 Six-Day War, occupying the West Bank,
East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and Syria's Golan
Heights...
Despite the lack of historical polling data, Ukraine
appears to have heighted American awareness about the
Palestinian right to resist. This month, American
awareness of a Palestinian moral and legal right to
resist Israeli occupation is 40.1 percent. Those unaware
of such a right were 45.6 percent. Persons aged 25-34
had the highest awareness (46.5 percent). Regionally,
awareness was greatest in the Northeast (45.1 percent).
More at WRMEA
Experts teach Americans how
to transcend Israel and its lobby's harmful agenda in
March
The "Transcending the Israel Lobby at Home & Abroad"
conference will take place at the National Press Club.
The Gala Speakers fundraising dinner begins at 6:30 PM
on March 3. The all-day conference and networking
reception is on March 4 in the ballroom. In-person and
Zoom tickets are available through
Eventbrite.
Legendary rock musician Roger Waters
will reveal the positive impact of artist boycotts on
Israel and how to educate fans.
CAIR deputy executive director and attorney Edward Ahmed
Mitchell addresses how
American groups working for human rights can take
measures against joint Israel/lobby espionage and
infiltration operations.
Haaretz columnist and “dean”
of Israeli journalism
Gideon Levy
will explore the nature of democracy and human
rights in Israel.
Senior staff attorney at Palestine LegalRadhika Sainath will assess the Israel lobby's ongoing attacks on
freedom of speech across the U.S. and successful legal
challenges.
Maysoon Zayid,
American actress,
disability advocate and comedian of Palestinian
descent, entertains at the March 3 Gala Speakers Dinner.
Palestinian educator, former legislator and spokeswoman
Hanan Ashrawi
outlines what, if any, policies have changed since the
Trump administration and new hope for Palestine's
future.
CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou
discusses Israel's negative, disproportionate and
widespread influence on the U.S. national security
state.
Media expert Sut Jhally
analyzes whether American news organizations are getting
better or worse in the quality, balance and accuracy of
their Middle East reporting.
VCHR coordinator Jeanne Trabulsi
discusses how grassroots Virginians have opposed
textbook manipulation and have exposed an Israeli human
rights violator attempting to win undue corporate
subsidies and concessions from the commonwealth.
VCHR co-president Paul Noursi
discusses successful strategies used to preserve the
First Amendment in Virginia and the current battle
against the commonwealth’s anti-boycott bill (HB 1161).
Reverend Don Wagner
provides insight into the widespread influence of
Christian Zionism and growing backlash inside American
churches.
WASHINGTON – The American Israel Public Affairs
Committee (AIPAC), the leading organization of the
Israel lobby in the United States, launched two
political action committees (PACs) last month in a move
largely seen as an attempt to retain control amid a
political climate becoming increasingly more critical of
Israel.
AIPAC’s decision stirred Palestine-Israel experts across
the nation. In a
webinar on the subject from the Washington
Report of Middle East Affairs (WRMEA), Grant F.
Smith – director of the Institute
for Research: Middle Eastern Policy – outlined why
AIPAC established these PACs now.
“Better coordination via a new PAC directly run by AIPAC
will mean electing more U.S. politicians who will
advance Israel’s interests from within the U.S.
government,” Smith said in the webinar. “That’s the game
plan.”
AIPAC is aiming to keep elected officials in line, Smith
postulated. “Increasing numbers of members of Congress
are opposing AIPAC and Israeli government initiatives in
Congress, and to AIPAC that just isn’t acceptable.”
According to Smith, AIPAC may fear losing political
relevancy to other pro-Israel groups like the Democratic
Majority for Israel (DMFI), as well as wanting more
pro-Israel politiicans in Congress to counter the wave
of criticism coming from progressive Democrats.
In its PAC announcement, AIPAC emphasized bipartisanship
would be key when distributing donations. But Smith
identified a political strategy meant to mislead the
public. From his analysis, AIPAC may use the traditional
PAC to present a false narrative of progressive,
grassroots Democratic support for Israel.
Read more
Scott is joined by Grant F. Smith to talk about the
American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) new
strategy for reaching U.S. politicians. AIPAC has
largely operated as a lobbying group on behalf of the
State of Israel. But, as Smith explains, they are now
working to set up a network of Political Action
Committees. This will give them more freedom to fund
candidates they like, and support the opponents of
candidates they don’t. Scott and Smith give possible
reasons for the evolving methods.
Institute for Research Middle Eastern Policy, Inc.
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Content may not be reprinted or retransmitted in whole
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citation of IRmep unless otherwise directed.
Grant
F. Smith on Isaiah Kennen and how the Israeli Government
formed AIPAC - 8/5/2022
Transcending the Israel lobby at Home and Abroad
