Experts to reveal Israel lobby’s impact on US policy

The March 24 all-day conference “The Israel Lobby and American Policy” at the National Press Club will feature the following speakers:

Wajahat Ali is a journalist, writer, lawyer, award-winning playwright, TV host, and consultant. Ali will discuss the intersection of pro-Israel organizations and donors and Islamophobia he uncovered as the lead author and researcher of the report “Fear, Inc: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America.”

Hanan Ashrawi is a long-time Palestinian legislator, analyst and political leader. She will discuss the Israel lobby and the “peace process” from a Palestinian perspective.

Katherine Franke is the Sulzbacher Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, and is on the Executive Committee of Columbia’s Center for Palestine Studies. She also sits on the steering committee of the Academic Advisory Council of Jewish Voice for Peace, and chairs the Board of Directors of the Center for Constitutional Rights, based in New York City. Franke will review recent legislation that threatens the First Amendment rights of Palestinian solidarity activists in the U.S. and the legal challenges thereto.

Eric Margolis is an award-winning, internationally syndicated columnist and will present a discussion titled “Looking forward, why does Israel need U.S. aid?”

John Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science and the co-director of the Program on International Security Policy at the University of Chicago. He will review what has changed in the decade since the book The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy was published and what the new administration could do differently in the future that would better serve broader American interests.

Jim Moran is a former U.S. Representative for Virginia’s 8th congressional district in Northern Virginia, including the cities of Falls Church and Alexandria, all of Arlington County, and a portion of Fairfax County. Moran will discuss “What it takes to beat the lobby” in Congress.

Ilan Pappé is Professor of History and Director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter in the UK. He will discuss the utility of viewing Israel–Palestine through the lens of settler-colonialism.

Nick Rahall is a grandson of Lebanese immigrants and represented West Virginia in the U.S. Congress from 1977 to 2015. Rahall will advise on “How to support the members of Congress who are beginning to listen to all their constituents” on Middle East policy issues.

Jack Shaheen is an acclaimed author and media critic. He will discuss strategies he used to successfully push back against harmful Hollywood stereotypes about Arabs and Muslims and the work new generations must now take on.

Grant Smith is the director of the Washington, DC-based Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep) and the author of six books about the Israel lobby. He will discuss a series of stunning—but underreported—polls revealing true American attitudes about U.S. aid to Israel and other top AIPAC programs.

View more information at the conference website and register online at IsraelLobbyAndAmericanPolicy.org

Attendees receive lunch, beverage ticket for the post-conference reception, and a complimentary DVD of the 2016 conference “Israel’s Influence: Good or Bad for America?” During the month of February, a limited-quantity of $85 tickets are available. Purchasers of two (2) or more tickets can receive a complimentary three-DVD set of the conference series.

The Israel Lobby and American Policy conference is solely sponsored by the American Educational Trust, publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep).

Click here for more conference info

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rayhanania

Managing Writer at The Arab Daily News

RAY HANANIA — Columnist

Ray Hanania is an award winning political columnist and author. He covered Chicago Politics and Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992. Hanania began writing in 1975 when he published The Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago (1975-1977). He later published “The National Arab American Times” newspaper which was distributed through 12,500 Middle East food stores in 48 American States (2004-2007).

Hanania writes weekly columns on Middle East and American Arab issues for the Arab News in Saudi Arabia at www.ArabNews.com, and for TheArabDailyNews.com, and TheDailyHookah.com.

Palestinian, American Arab and Christian, Hanania’s parents originate from Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media;In 2009, he received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the recipient of the MT Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. Hanania has also received two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild, and in 1990 was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.

His wife and son are Jewish and he performs standup comedy lampooning Arab-Jewish relations, advocating for peace based on non-violence, mutual recognition and Two-States.

His Facebook Page is Facebook.com/rghanania

Email him at: RGHanania@gmail.com

Visit this link to read Ray's column archive at the ArabNews,com www.arabnews.com/taxonomy/term/10906