Is #AIPAC losing its grip on Democrats? – Mondoweiss
▻https://mondoweiss.net/2020/07/is-aipac-losing-its-grip-on-democrats
I came to Washington, more than four decades ago, to run the Palestine Human Rights Campaign. We founded the PHRC after hearing from lawyers and human rights activists in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian lands horrible stories of rights being abused on a daily basis. Because these stories weren’t known in the U.S., or they were ignored, we launched the PHRC to shine a light on these violations and mobilize support for the Palestinian victims.
Early on, we were successful in gaining the endorsement of prominent civil rights leaders, major anti-Vietnam war activists, and church leaders from a number of major Christian denominations. There were, however, only a few members of Congress who embraced our efforts, and those who did often put themselves at risk of incurring the wrath of the pro-Israel lobby – the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. AIPAC made no secret of their displeasure with elected officials who were supportive of Palestinian rights and often threatened members of Congress that if they didn’t back off, they would be defeated.