Representative Press Blog

American Mainstream Media is avoiding reporting on the AIPAC Scandal

A shake-up in the Jewish lobby (article from Haaretz which is an Israeli newspaper):
"The Web site of AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee), the Israeli lobby in Washington, bears a quote from The New York Times, testifying that this is the most important organization in its influence on American's relations with Israel."

I was going to point this out too.

The Haaretz article continues: "In academic and political literature in the United States, as well as in the world media, AIPAC is usually referred to as the pressure group with the greatest influence on foreign policy in the U.S. capital, and as a model for lobbying activity in Congress and in the U.S. administration.

In spite of the sense of crisis in the wake of the ongoing FBI investigation of the leaking of security material to Israel, and the temporary dismissal of two senior workers, the lobby is attempting to broadcast an atmosphere of business as usual. "

and the media is playing along with that plan. As I pointed out, mainstream media is clearly reluctant to report on this scandal. Someone posting comments over at Media Matters resents my use of the term "scandal." In fact, the guy (or gal) resorts to calling me "nothing but a neo-nazi sympathizer in a $1.99 Chomsky fright mask" My crime, apparently, is using the term scandal "even before it rises to the level of a credible accusation." The guy ignores the fact that the Israeli press is reporting it, (and some American Jewish press like "Forward" and "The Jewish Journal")?and the fact is credible accusations have been made, that is what the grand jury is about! "Top officials at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) have appeared before a grand jury and two senior staffers have been placed on paid leave" but the libelous commenter at Media Matters ignores these facts.

Another Haaretz article points out: AIPAC Probe / AIPAC works to preserve clout in U.S.
"In the seven months since Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin was accused of passing classified documents to the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the pro-Israel lobby has been struggling in two arenas: First, to extricate itself from the investigation without any indictments being issued, and second, to preserve its political clout in Washington's corridors of power.

The second arena is the more problematic one. "AIPAC has lost a lot of its power," says a Capitol Hill source who follows AIPAC closely. But the fact that the source refused to be identified by name means that AIPAC is still a force to be reckoned with in the capital's political industry."

Well exactly. This is an honest reporter, reporting the facts. Notice that this isn't an American news outlet but an Israeli one. In Israel, a reporter can report on these kinds of things. I would point out that the fact that mainstream media is reluctant to report on this scandal shows there is "still a force to be reckoned with" that influences what mainstream media covers. That should be obvious from a google news search of AIPAC. ( I will put the archived search results on my web site to illustrate the situation) And this isn't the only example of this servile reporting (or non-reporting in this case.)
The AP article is written conforming to an Israeli government agenda. The settlements are illegal regardless of what the Israeli government says.