If Americans Knew

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If Americans Knew logo
If Americans Knew logo
Alison Weir, the founder of this organisation, should not be confused with the British history writer Alison Weir

If Americans Knew is a non-profit organization that focuses on the Arab-Israeli conflict and United States foreign policy 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. The group blames the pro-Israeli lobby in the US, AIPAC, for advancing support for Israel.

In addition to the freelance journalist and founder Alison Weir [2], board members [3] and staff include critics of Israel, such as Francis Boyle, a law professor, Eugene Bird, the president of the Council for the National Interest , Paul Findley, a former United States Representative, Andrew I. Killgore, a former ambassador of the United States to Qatar [4], and Pete McCloskey, a Democratic politician from California.

Contents

Background

According to its website Alison Weir "traveled independently throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip in February and March of 2001" and read "dozens of books" on the subject. The website states that her aim was to found an organization "to be directed by Americans without bias and ethnic ties to the region."

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 Harvard Law School, Stanford University, Columbia University, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the University of California, Berkeley, Washington State University, Northwestern University, The Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine, the National Press Club, the Naval Postgraduate School, and other university campuses, churches, libraries, and civic organizations.[5] Its website carries information and allegations about "Israel and Palestine" from a wide variety of sources.

Among other activities, If Americans Knew has compiled seven statistical reports on media coverage, which examine the New York Times, NBC, CBS, and ABC, the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury News, the New London Day, and the Associated Press. Those reports claim that media coverage is distorted in favor of Israel[citation needed].

It has has produced a number of videos on Israel-Palestine covering subjects such as strip-searching of woman and children and the situation in the Gaza Strip after Israel’s disengagement. It has distributed approximately 4,000 DVDs of these videos[citation needed]. They have also been shown on Public Access stations around the country[citation needed].

Positions

If Americans Knew argues that United States' support of Israel should be reduced, on the grounds that it is not in the interest of the United States.[6], and that support for Israel interferes with American relations with the oil-producing nations, costs American taxpayers billions, and is increasingly imperiling American lives.

It claims that U.S. support of Israel is driven by special-interest lobbying on behalf of a foreign government, specifically via AIPAC, and by the efforts of a "growing number of individuals with close ties to Israel (known as neoconservatives)" in high-level U.S. Government positions.[6]

If Americans Knew also claims that the major organizations of what it views as "the Israel lobby," including AIPAC and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, are "run by hardliners who generally support the Likud Party's expansionist policies"[7] and may not reflect the positions or interests of American Jewry.

Some board members of If America Knew have taken public positions critical of Israel or what they see as uncritical U.S. support of Israel. For example, Francis Boyle has compared Israel to Nazi Germany[8] and said that he is ready to “represent Iran in an international tribunal for trying the Zionist regime on charges of genocide of Palestinians”[9]. . Eugene Bird has stated that Israeli interrogators may have been present at Abu Ghraib, RealVideo (See Video 2:15-2:30). This information was later confirmed by the prison commander, Brig. Gen Janis Karpinski, in a BBC interview.[6]. Paul Findley blamed pro-Israeli US citizens for his election defeat in 1982, and U.S. support of Israel for the attack of September 11, 2001[10]. Pete McCloskey gave a featured address to the Holocaust denial group Institute for Historical Review in 2000 and during which he referred to Yasser Arafat as a “man of peace” [11].

Reactions

Criticism

New York Times Public Editor Daniel Okrent, a Jewish journalist who has relatives in Israel, alleged that someone at If Americans Knew took the position that "unless the paper assigned equal numbers of Muslim and Jewish reporters to cover the conflict, Jewish reporters should be kept off the beat" and said he found that "profoundly offensive." [12] However, Executive Director Alison Weir, says that Okrent's statement is false, and that If Americans Knew had suggested that the Times team of reporters and editors covering Israel-Palestine be as diverse as possible.[13]

Okrent claims that "representatives of If Americans Knew earnestly believe that the information they present to be true, and refuse to accept evidence that contradicts their beliefs".[12] Weir says that the organization had an extensive meeting with Okrent during which they used a PowerPoint presentation to present their findings that the Times covered Israeli deaths in far greater numbers than Palestinian deaths, had explained their findings and methodology is considerable detail, and "gave him copies of the 23-page report, along with approximately 40 pages of supporting documentation." Okrent, Weir says, did not dispute any of their information.[13][7]

If Americans Knew has been criticized by a pro-Israel organization, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), for "selective and biased use and interpretation of information." CAMERA criticizes the way the organization presents casualty statistics in the conflict, without providing the context and cause of these casualties. CAMERA has also taken issue with several more specific charges.[14] If Americans Knew does provide considerable context on its website on deaths [8][9][10] [11], and links [12][13][14] viewers to the B'Tselem webpage, which breaks down deaths into various subcategories, and which provides details on each death. For children's deaths it links [15] viewers to Remember These Children, which provides details about each Israeli and each Palestinian child's deaths.[16]

Lee Kaplan, a journalist who heads the campus activist group DAFKA, is also critical of If Americans Knew, stating that it is an "anti-Israel Web site claiming that America's support of Israel should be terminated, and that a Palestinian state should replace Israel."[15] If Americans Knew disputes Kaplan's claims and Kaplan has provided no citations to support his statements.

The Anti-Defamation League has also called If Americans Knew an "anti-Israel organization."[16]

The San Jose Mercury News called an If Americans Knew report that showed that its front page headlines had reported on Israeli deaths at a rate over 19 times greater than it reported Palestinian deaths [17] "fundamentally flawed." [18] However, Grade the News, a media research project based at San Jose State University and affiliated with Stanford University's Graduate Program in Journalism, conducted a similar study after being surprised by the results of the report by If Americans Knew which produced essentially the same results.[19]

Praise

If Americans Knew has been lauded by media monitoring organizations such as Project Censored[17] and Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting.[18] The nonprofit organization, Alternate Focus, produced a program on If Americans Knew for broadcast on public access television stations.[19]

Board members

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See also

References

  1. ^ U.S. Interests and Israel/Palestine (If Americans Knew)
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ [2]
  4. ^ [http://www.washington-report.org/html/killgore_bio.html
  5. ^ Deadly Distortion: U.S. Press Coverage of Israel and Palstine, Expert Alison Weir to speak by Jennifer Grosvenor (Portland Indymedia)
  6. ^ a b U.S. Interests and Israel/Palestine
  7. ^ The Israel Lobby
  8. ^ [ http://www.mediamonitors.net/francis7.html]
  9. ^ [3]
  10. ^ [4]
  11. ^ [5]
  12. ^ a b The New York Times > Week in Review > The Public Editor: The Hottest Button: How The Times Covers Israel and Palestine
  13. ^ a b Weir, Alison. "New York Times Distortion Up Close and Personal", April 24, 2005
  14. ^ "Study of New York Times Coverage Severely Flawed", CAMERA. May 13, 2005
  15. ^ "Scholars for Terror", opinion piece published at FrontPageMag.com
  16. ^ "Wheels of Justice: A Biased View of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict" December 29, 2006
  17. ^ Project Censored newsletter, autumn/fall 2006
  18. ^ FAIR, Media Views, December 1, 2006
  19. ^ Alternate Focus program on If Americans Knew

External links