this is what orgs like CAIR, MPACUS and MPACUK, are up against. Alhamdulilah we will prevail we have iman and we will strive for justice however its very sad when fellow Muslims ignore the threats against us, they speak instead of 'self -reliance' and 'building an Islamic society' by pushing isolationist agendas, they ignore our enemies not just the ZIonists, but Neo-cons Chiristian Zionists/evangelists/hindu fundamentalists, instead they attack us, takfeer us and refuse to see our intentions and our actions which serve and defend the Ummah and the deen inshallah. These critics of ours are serving the agenda of AIPAC and others like them.


AIPAC's Big, Bigger, Biggest Moment
By Dana Milbank
Tuesday, May 24, 2005; Page A13

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...052301565.html

How much clout does AIPAC have?

Well, consider that during the pro-Israel lobby's
annual conference yesterday, a fleet of police cars,
sirens wailing, blocked intersections and formed a
motorcade to escort buses carrying its conventioneers
-- to lunch.

The annual meeting of the American Israel Public
Affairs Committee has long produced a massive show of
bipartisan pandering, as lawmakers praise the
well-financed and well-connected group. But this has
been a rough year for AIPAC -- it has dismissed its
policy director and another employee while the FBI
examines whether they passed classified U.S.
information to Israel -- and the organization is eager
to show how big it is.

Reporters arriving at the convention center yesterday
were given a list of "Food Facts" for the three-day
AIPAC meeting: 26,000 kosher meals, 32,640 hors
d'oeuvres, 2,500 pounds of salmon, 1,200 pounds of
turkey, 900 pounds of chicken, 700 pounds of beef and
125 gallons of hummus.

Another fact sheet announced that this is the "largest
ever" conference, with its 5,000 participants
attending "the largest annual seated dinner in
Washington" joined by "more members of Congress than
almost any other event, except for a joint session of
Congress or a State of the Union address." The group
added that its membership "has nearly doubled" over
four years to 100,000 and that the National Journal
calls it "one of the top four most effective lobbying
organizations."

"More," "most," "largest," "top": The superlatives
continued, and deliberately. In his speech Sunday, the
group's executive director, Howard Kohr, said the
"record attendance" at the conference would dispel
questions about AIPAC raised by the FBI investigation.

"This is a test, a test of our collective resolve,"
Kohr said of the "unique challenge" presented by the
FBI probe, "and your presence here today sends a
message to every adversary of Israel, AIPAC and the
Jewish community that we are here, and here to stay."
(The official text has two exclamation points after
that sentence.) Kohr, without mentioning the fired
staffers, told participants that "neither AIPAC nor
any of its current employees is or ever has been the
target."

As yesterday's session showed, the scandal isn't
keeping the powerful from lining up to woo AIPAC. The
morning brought Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,
the evening brought congressional leaders, and at a
luncheon "debate" in between, Rep. Jane Harman
(D-Calif.) and informal administration foreign policy
adviser Richard N. Perle tried to one-up each other in
pro-Israel views.

Perle drew cheers for denouncing Palestinian
anti-Semitism and the French. Harman mentioned that an
aide once worked for AIPAC, called her audience "very
sophisticated" and celebrated Yasser Arafat's death as
"a blessing." Debating a hard-liner in front of a
pro-administration crowd, Harman heaped praise on
President Bush, calling the Iraqi elections
"sensationally impressive" and moving to "applaud" or
"commend" Perle and the administration a dozen times.
"Richard is right, and so is President Bush," she said
at one point.

But after half an hour of this, Harman could not keep
up. Perle provoked cheers from the crowd when he
favored a military raid on Iran, saying that "if Iran
is on the verge of a nuclear weapon, I think we will
have no choice but to take decisive action." When
Harman said the "best short-term option" is the U.N.
Security Council, the crowd reacted with boos.

AIPAC is a demanding crowd, and even Rice, introduced
as a "very special friend," did not satisfy
universally. The participants applauded heartily her
reminder that Bush did not meet with Arafat, but when
she said Arafat's successor, Mahmoud Abbas, "is
committed to both freedom and security," and when she
mentioned more U.S. funds for Palestinians, the room
was quiet.

Likewise, Rice's call for Arab states to "establish
normal relations with Israel" earned an extended
ovation; her reminder that Israel must not "jeopardize
the true viability of the Palestinian state" did not.

There were subtle signs of dissent within AIPAC (a
sticker critical of Israel's "disengagement" from
Gaza, a policy supported by AIPAC) and not-so-subtle
dissent from without: a group of anti-Zionist orthodox
Jews with signs proclaiming, "Torah Forbids any Jewish
State." But the attendees overall showed an impressive
ideological discipline -- right down to AIPAC's
multimedia show, "Iran's Path to the Bomb," in the
convention center's basement.

The exhibit, worthy of a theme park, begins with a
narrator condemning the International Atomic Energy
Agency for being "unwilling to conclude that Iran is
developing nuclear weapons" (it had similar
reservations about Iraq) and the Security Council
because it "has yet to take up the issue." In a
succession of rooms, visitors see flashing lights and
hear rumbling sounds as Dr. Seuss-like contraptions
make yellowcake uranium, reprocess plutonium, and pop
out nuclear warheads like so many gallons of hummus
for an AIPAC conference.