On Feb. 25, an anonymous member of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, America’s largest pro-Israel lobby, contacted Medea Benjamin, cofounder of the grassroots peace and social justice organization CODEPINK, and threatened to sue the organization for posting a satirical version of an AIPAC policy conference promotional video on YouTube.
Using real video footage from previous AIPAC conferences, the parody video added images depicting how Israel abuses the rights of Palestinians as well as satirical dubbing over speeches given by political figures such as U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
An example of a voiceover in the video is when “Netanyahu” says, “I thank you for your zealotry, I thank you for your prejudice and I thank you for standing up for the apartheid state of Israel.” Another is when the voice of a woman can be heard saying, “It’s exciting to see so many people together who understand that sometimes you have to violate other people’s human rights if you want to take their land.”
CODEPINK organizer Alli McCracken said the identity of the AIPAC member remains unknown, but Benjamin was told that the individual was an “influential member” of AIPAC and that the organization would be contacted by a lawyer shortly.
“They said that since this was a parody based on a real video that was up on the AIPAC website this was libelous and that it was a distortion of AIPAC’s views and that we had to take it down,” said Benjamin, who also serves as an organizer for Occupy AIPAC.
“We think that AIPAC is very upset about this video because it actually is a true reflection of AIPAC’s policy conference where they do have workshops that talk about the Israeli policies of denying the Palestinians their basic rights, and about the AIPAC policy of trying to sabotage the peace talks with Iran.”
It is not yet known whether CODEPINK was behind the video, but the group did not post it to YouTube. The original version of the video was actually uploaded by Adam Horowitz, co-editor of Mondoweiss.net. Likely per the request of AIPAC, that video was taken down soon after the call was placed to Benjamin. However, the video was uploaded to another account, where it was still available at the time of writing.
As of March 3, Benjamin said the organization hasn’t had any communication with AIPAC about the video other than the initial call, likely since AIPAC is currently holding its annual policy conference in Washington, D.C., this week. Benjamin said the group is worried that once the conference ends on March 5, AIPAC will use full force to come after them.
“It is absurd for AIPAC to threaten legal action over such an obviously satirical video,” she told MintPress News. “It is interesting that they (AIPAC) are reacting so strongly to the clip, though. Perhaps it’s because the content is really an accurate reflection of AIPAC’s dangerous foreign policies.”
Benjamin explained that “AIPAC does, in fact, advocate for bombing countries such as Iran and Syria; it fails to condemn Israel’s continued building of settlements and its human rights abuses against Palestinians; and it lobbies Congress to send billions of taxpayer dollars to Israel to continue the occupation of Palestine.
“What are they trying to hide by silencing this video?” she questioned.
Despite some fears about what AIPAC’s next steps will be, Benjamin said CODEPINK has gone ahead with its demonstrations outside of the AIPAC conference, and said the group is forging ahead with its work to call for new American policies in the Middle East that are not dictated by AIPAC.
Benjamin said despite the possibly impending legal battle between the organization and AIPAC, the CODEPINK demonstrators’ rights to protest have been protected thus far. While Benjamin and other CODEPINK members may have some concerns about one of the largest lobbies in the U.S. coming after them, she says the video has shed some light on the American public’s changing perception of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“The American people are really tired of war, and have shown that in the case of Syria,” Benjamin said, while AIPAC and Israel continue to push for U.S. military involvement in Syria and now Iran.
“AIPAC is out of touch,” she said. “The sentiment with the American people is to stay out of these conflicts and find nonviolent solutions like the talks on Iran’s nuclear program.”
While some have accused Benjamin and other pro-Palestinian activists of being anti-semitic, Benjamin said that she’s Jewish, but that doesn’t mean she has to agree with AIPAC.
“I think it is a very dangerous lobby,” she said, explaining that AIPAC has a “disproportionate influence” in Washington.
“When a small group has so much influence it is bad for democracy and foreign policy,” Benjamin said. “We’ll never have a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict until AIPAC loses its stronghold.”
Watch the Parody Video Below