If Americans Knew

If Americans Knew logo

If Americans Knew is a nonprofit organization that focuses on the Arab–Israeli conflict and the foreign policy of the United States regarding the Middle East, offering analysis of American media coverage of these issues. Its mission, according to the group's website, is to provide "what every American needs to know about Israel/Palestine."[1] The site is generally critical of U.S. financial and military support of Israel. It has accused The New York Times and other mainstream news organizations of being biased against Palestinians.[2][3][4][5]

In addition to the freelance journalist and founder Alison Weir,[6] board members include Paul Findley, a former United States Representative and author of "They Dare to Speak Out: People and Institutions Confront Israel's Lobby",[7] and Andrew Killgore, a former ambassador of the United States to Qatar.[8][9]

Background

According to the organization's website, founder Alison Weir traveled independently throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2001 and found a situation she considered to be different from what was being reported by the American media. She stated that the U.S. press portrayal was significantly at odds with that reported by media throughout the rest of the world, and that American citizens were being misinformed and uninformed on one of the most significant issues affecting them today. Weir therefore founded an organization that would reflect what she considered to be a more objective viewpoint.[6]

If Americans Knew states that it produces materials, assists in organizing public forums, and provides speakers and written materials to hundreds of events across the United States, including events hosted on the campuses of Harvard Law School, Stanford University, Columbia University, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the University of California, Berkeley, Washington State University, Northwestern University, along with the Palestine Center, the National Press Club, the Naval Postgraduate School, and other university campuses, churches, libraries, and civic organizations.[10] Its website carries information and allegations about Israel and Palestine from a wide variety of sources.

In addition to its information website, If Americans Knew places billboards and advertisements about Israel, Palestine and the U.S. and founder Weir publishes articles and op-eds about the topic.[11][12][13][14]

Positions

The organization's stated goal is "to inform and educate the American public on issues of major significance that are unreported, underreported, or misreported in the American media," going on to say: "It is the goal of If Americans Knew to inform the American public accurately about [Israel-Palestine]. Most of all, it is to inform Americans about our enormous, and too often invisible, personal connection to it.".[15]

If Americans Knew maintains that US media are consistently Israeli-centric in their reporting, finding that a great many of the journalists reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have family and personal ties to the Israeli military."[16] The organization has conducted statistical studies on a variety of news organizations,[17] finding that they reported on Israeli deaths at rates many times greater than they reported on Palestinian deaths.[18]

If Americans Knew holds that United States' support of Israel should be reduced on the grounds that it is not in American interest[19] or aligned with American principles, costs American taxpayers billions, is increasingly imperiling American lives, and prevents peace.

Executive Director Alison Weir writes that ending U.S. military aid to Israel would "help bring peace to the Middle East, build a safer world and alleviate massive misery."[20]

The site's homepage shows charts comparing the number of children killed from both sides since year 2000; it also shows the number of killed and injured people from both sides.[21]

It asserts that U.S. support of Israel has long been driven by lobbying on behalf of a foreign government, often via AIPAC, over the objections of State Department and Pentagon experts,[22] and in recent years by the efforts of a "growing number of individuals with close ties to Israel (known as neoconservatives)" in high-level U.S. Government positions.[19][23]

Criticism

If Americans Knew published a study critical of The New York Times coverage of Israeli and Palestinian deaths, and met with then New York Times Public Editor Daniel Okrent to discuss their study.[2][24] In subsequent column Okrent mentioned the meeting but dismissed IAK's conclusions.[25]

The Anti-Defamation League has called If Americans Knew one of several "anti-Israel organization[s]",[26] and further asserts that "Weir's criticism of Israel has, at times, crossed the line into anti-Semitism." They cited Weir's use of a quotation by Israel Shahak that characterized beliefs of certain Israelis as “such a ruthless and supremacist faith.”[27] Weir herself stated that she considered this quoted characterization as not pertaining to the mainstream of Judaism,[28] and has demanded that the ADL correct what she termed "defamatory and inaccurate statements."[29]

The ADL voiced concern about an article written by board member Paul Findley in which he blamed America's relationship with Israel for the September 11 attacks.[30]

In June 2015, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) stated that they chose not to work with Weir, on the grounds that "she has consistently chosen to stay silent when given the opportunity to challenge bigotry, which we find repugnant. There is a fundamental difference between engaging with oppressive beliefs in order to challenge them, and tacitly or directly endorsing those beliefs without challenge." JVP did not accuse Weir of holding anti-Jewish beliefs, but accused her of granting interviews to people it believed held anti-Jewish beliefs and decried some of the websites that have reposted her writings.[31] Weir responded in detail to the accusations,[32] which provoked widespread debate among peace and justice activists.[33][34][35] In writing about anti-Semitism, Weir has argued that "in reality, equating the wrongdoing of Israel with Jewishness is the deepest and most insidious form of anti-Semitism of all."[36]

British socialist activist Andy Newman, in an Op-ed in The Guardian, stated that "an article by Alison Weir... defends the unsubstantiated and implausible claims made by the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet about Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinians in Gaza to harvest their organs. Weir implied, with no evidence, that Israel is at the centre of international organ smuggling. She then explicitly argued that the medieval "blood libel" – that Jews kill Christian children – has a basis in fact."[37] The 'Aftonbladet claims' refer to Donald Boström's accusations of Israeli organ harvesting.

Anti-fascist researcher Spencer Sunshine writes "IAK’s criticisms of Zionism and Israel dovetail with traditional antisemitic narratives, and Weir often cites antisemitic writers and publications as her sources. When asked if the work of antisemitic authors including Israel Shamir, Gilad Atzmon, and Kevin MacDonald were truly legitimate, she replied, “Yes. I suggest people read their work for themselves.”"[38]

Praise

More than 2,000 activists signed an open letter supporting Weir, including If Americans Knew board member Andrew Kilgore; former UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories and Professor of International Law Emeritus at Princeton University Richard Falk; founding member of Birzeit University’s board of Trustees Samia Khoury; activist and Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein; Palestine Rapprochement Center Director/ISM co-founder George Rishimawi; activists Arun Gandhi, Ray McGovern, James Petras, Cindy Sheehan and Ann Wright; American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee founder and former Senator James Abourezk; and many members of JVP itself.[27] The letter stated that the undersigned were "dismayed by the recent unfounded attacks on one of the top organizations working on this issue, If Americans Knew, and its dedicated leader, Alison Weir," and believed that the accusations against Weir were "scurrilous and without foundation."[39]

If Americans Knew has been lauded by the liberal[40] media monitoring organization Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR).[41]

Board members

See also

References

  1. ↑ U.S. Interests and Israel/Palestine (If Americans Knew)
  2. 1 2 "Off the Charts - NY Times Coverage of Israeli & Palestinian Deaths". Ifamericansknew.org. Retrieved 2010-09-04.
  3. ↑ "Media Report Cards Grading Accuracy in News Coverage of Israel and Palestine". Ifamericansknew.org. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  4. ↑ "A Study of Bias in the Associated Press - Censored Notebook, Investigative Research". Project Censored. 2010-05-02. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
  5. ↑ admin (2005-02-26). "The LA Times' notion of "relative calm"". The Electronic Intifada. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
  6. 1 2 If Americans Knew - Who We Are
  7. ↑ Findley, Paul (2003-05-01). They Dare to Speak Out: People and Institutions Confront Israel's Lobby (3rd edition ed.). Chicago: Chicago Review Press. ISBN 9781556524820.
  8. ↑ American Educational Trust: Andrew I. Killgore
  9. ↑ "Andrew I. Killgore". WRMEA. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
  10. ↑ Deadly Distortion: U.S. Press Coverage of Israel and Palestine, Expert Alison Weir to speak by Jennifer Grosvenor (Portland Indymedia). Retrieved August 2011
  11. ↑ "Guest commentary: The fact on $10 million per day to Israel". EastBayTimes.com. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
  12. ↑ Sentinel, Orlando. "U.S. aid to Israel prevents peace". OrlandoSentinel.com. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
  13. ↑ "MSNBC, Martin Fletcher Disavow Image of Palestine Being Wiped Off the Map". www.counterpunch.org. 2015-10-23. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
  14. ↑ Sentinel, Orlando. "U.S. massive aid to Israel must stop: My Word". OrlandoSentinel.com. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
  15. ↑ Mission Statement
  16. ↑ Media Reporting on Israel: All in the Family, CounterPunch, February 26-28, 2010
  17. ↑ Media Report Cards
  18. ↑ The Coverage and Non-Coverage of Israel-Palestine, The Link, 2005, Volume 38, Issue 3
  19. 1 2 U.S. Interests and Israel/Palestine. Retrieved August 2011
  20. ↑ Saving Americans by Saving Money, The Gilmer Mirror, June 21, 2009
  21. ↑
  22. ↑ The History of US-Israel Relations, Part I
  23. ↑ talkingsticktv (2014-08-01), TalkingStickTV - Alison Weir - The Hidden History of How the U.S. Was Used to Create Israel, retrieved 2016-04-29
  24. ↑ Weir, Alison. "New York Times Distortion Up Close and Personal", April 24, 2005
  25. ↑ The New York Times > Week in Review > The Public Editor: The Hottest Button: How The Times Covers Israel and Palestine
  26. ↑ "Wheels of Justice: A Biased View of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict" December 29, 2006
  27. ↑ ADL on Alison Weir
  28. ↑ Alison Weir Greenwich Citizen April 4, 2008 (2008-04-04). "What Our Taxes to Israel are Funding". Ifamericansknew.org. Retrieved 2010-09-04.
  29. ↑ Weir, Alison (2009-02-13). "Journal - Anti-Defamation League Defames Me - My Letter to the ADL". AlisonWeir.org. Retrieved 2010-09-04.
  30. ↑ "Backgrounder: The Council for the National Interest (CNI)". Anti Defamation League. July 8, 2010.
  31. ↑ "Jewish Voice for Peace Statement on Our Relationship with Alison Weir • Jewish Voice for Peace". Jewish Voice for Peace. 2015-06-15. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
  32. ↑ Knew, If Americans. "The Accusations Against Alison Weir and If Americans Knew: The Facts". ifamericansknew.org. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
  33. ↑ "The Case of Alison Weir: Two Palestinian Solidarity Organizations Borrow from Joe McCarthy’s Playbook". www.counterpunch.org. 2015-08-03. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
  34. ↑ "Roundtable on the Palestinian solidarity movement and Alison Weir". Mondoweiss. 2015-08-12. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
  35. ↑ "The Jewish Voice for Peace Attack on Alison Weir: JVP Loses Its Balance". Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant Marxist. 2015-06-25. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
  36. ↑ Weir, Sarah. "Choosing to Act: Anti-Semitism is Wrong". ifamericansknew.org. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
  37. ↑ Gilad Atzmon, antisemitism and the left, The Guardian
  38. ↑ Spencer Sunshine "Alison Weir: If Americans Knew" in Chip Berlet, ed, Constructing Campus Conflict: Antisemitism and Islamophobia on U.S. College Campuses, 2007–2011 Political Research Associates, 2014, pp.103-105.
  39. ↑ "Stop Divisive Attacks!". Stop Divisive Attacks!. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
  40. ↑ Are 'The New York Times' Book Reviews Fair? August 20, 2010, NPR
  41. ↑ FAIR, Media Views, December 1, 2006

External links

Further reading

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