LETTER TO THE EDITOR: 'Israel lobby' does not control your life
On Dec. 5, 2023, The Daily Targum published an article describing how the mysterious "Israel lobby" dictates everything in the U.S., from politics to education to media. This devious cabal is apparently "so formidable that it has the capacity to influence different spheres of your life," affecting you even "at the individual level." Whoever you are, the thought of this must be terrifying.
If you are not Jewish or Israeli, this article probably made you scared of the nefarious gang that wants to take control of your mind. If you are Jewish or are familiar with Jewish history, then you were probably horrified that such antisemitic rhetoric was published in the University's newspaper.
What do I mean when I say this article was antisemitic? After all, it never directly mentions Jews! But the article promotes age-old stereotypes about Jews controlling the world and simply substitutes "the Jews" for "the Israel lobby."
Most obviously, the article advances the "global conspiracy" stereotype. To quote the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights' fact sheet on antisemitism, this stereotype alleges that "the Jews or Zionists form a powerful, secret, global cabal that manipulates governmental institutions, banks, the media and other institutions for malevolent purposes." All commentary aside, that description could serve as the tagline of the aforementioned article.
This trope, among others referenced in this article, dates back to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an antisemitic diatribe claiming to prove that Jews were secretly manipulating global politics to advance their own interests. This forged work was used to justify the Nazis' Holocaust of 6 million Jews, as well as Jew-hatred in the Soviet Union, the alt-right and Hamas.
The article itself admits that "The lobby is not structured as a hierarchy" and is simply a name for a group of unrelated organizations that advocate for similar policies. In other words, the so-called "Israel lobby" is just a group of people who happen to agree. Isn't this what every political movement consists of?
Every other cause in politics operates like this. Yes, there is more than one pro-Israel group in Washington D.C., just like there is more than one environmental group or marijuana legalization group. Nearly all lobbies endorse and condemn candidates, pledge support to those who advocate their cause and work to influence American politics. The only reason to differentiate Israel as "formidable" is because it plays on existing anti-Jewish tropes.
Criticizing groups that lobby for Israeli interests is not inherently antisemitic. Neither is attacking the Israeli government's policies. But constructing an imaginary web that links lobbyists, media watchdogs and foreign policy think tanks to allege that they secretly conspire to promote the world's only Jewish state is clearly an opinion fueled by anti-Jewish beliefs.
Beyond its blatant antisemitism, the article also completely misrepresents the facts about Israel and lobbying.
Israel is repeatedly characterized as uniquely powerful among international lobbies in the U.S. If this were true, we would expect that the Israel lobby would be the highest-spending foreign lobby in the U.S. In reality, OpenSecrets' 2023 report does not list Israel anywhere in the top 10 spenders list. The same is true in 2022, 2021 and 2020. The biggest foreign spenders are actually countries like Saudi Arabia, China and Qatar, all of which are considered human rights abusers by the Department of State.
Interestingly, although the Targum article uses a single website as evidence that pro-Israel lobbyists censor U.S. academia, it calls no attention to the billions of unreported dollars donated to U.S. universities by Middle Eastern countries, mainly Qatar, which is one of Hamas's primary backers. Campuses receiving these donations have shown a 300 percent increase in antisemitic incidents compared to other schools.
But the Qatar lobby did not earn an article in the Targum and has not been accused of manipulating American politics and academia for some sinister purpose. We can only wonder why that is.
Additionally, the article zones in on the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and its significant increase in funding to college-level programming during the Second Intifada. It claims that AIPAC tripled its funding to college campuses during this time.
It neglects to mention that this exact period also marked a rise in pro-Palestine activity on campus due to the failure of the Oslo Peace Accords at the Camp David Summit. Rather than recognizing a rising interest in both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during this era, the Targum article seems to allege a link between campus activity and Israeli military actions.
"What you need to know about Israel lobby" is an example of how Jew-hating rhetoric makes its way into the public discourse. Without ever specifically mentioning Jews, the article manages to promote antisemitic tropes, misrepresent basic facts about Israel and suggest that the Jewish state controls U.S. politics.
As misinformation about the Israel-Hamas War runs rampant and incidents of anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hatred soar in the U.S., writers and publications have a duty to do better. The Targum cannot be a platform for this sort of hatred.
Yosef Fruhman is a School of Arts and Sciences junior.
*Columns, cartoons and letters do not necessarily reflect the views of the Targum Publishing Company or its staff.
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