J STREET, AMERICAN ARAB INSTITUTE, AND SAUDI ARABIA….PALS
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/the-saudis-take-a-stroll-on-j-street/?print=1
The Saudis Take a Stroll on J Street
There are some very close ties between Saudi Arabia, the Arab American
Institute, and J Street
By Lenny Ben-David
Talk about a tough sale. Imagine being Saudi Arabia’s public relations firm
in the United States in the months after the 9/11 attacks, which were
perpetrated by 19 terrorists, 15 of whom were Saudi nationals. Shilling for
a tarnished Saudi Arabia was the daunting task that faced Qorvis [1], a
Washington-based PR company. The $14 million contract surely compensated.
In their 2002 contract, Qorvis promised to [2] “draft and/or distribute
talking points, press releases, fact sheets, and op-ed pieces in order to
promote the [Saudi] Kingdom, its commitment to the war against terrorism,
peace in the Middle East, and other issues pertinent to the Kingdom.”
Soon thereafter, a new organization appeared on the American scene, the
“Alliance of Peace and Justice in the Middle East.” In April 2002, the
organization ran radio spots [3] on dozens of stations across the U.S.
extolling the Arab Peace Initiative proposed by then-Crown Prince Abdullah
and attacking Israel’s settlements.
According to one ad: “The [Saudis’] fair plan [would] end the senseless
violence in the Mideast.” The plan involved Israel’s “withdrawal from the
Palestinian land it has unjustly occupied for years. . There will be no more
midnight raids and random searches, no more violence.” “Start the peace –
end the occupation” is the phrase that ends the ads. It is followed by the
words “paid for by the Alliance of Peace and Justice.”
Who was behind the alliance? One American Jewish activist tracked them back
to a Virginia address, which just happened to be the offices of Qorvis.
Eight months later, in documents submitted to the U.S. Justice Department’s
Foreign Agents Registration Office (FARA), Qorvis began to fess up. They
listed receipt of $679,000 from the Alliance of Peace and Justice for
“payment for radio, television, and print ads.”
In a tiny footnote, Qorvis added this classic piece of obfuscation:
Registrant [Qorvis] assisted in the preparation and placement of certain
advertisements to promote the Saudi Middle East peace plan that were
prepared by the Alliance for Peace and Justice, an American organization
concerned about the Middle East peace process. The Alliance paid Qorvis for
work on the advertisements. At the time of these payments, the Alliance was
funded by a bridge loan from the Embassy of Saudi Arabia. The Alliance
received its permanent funding from the Council of Saudi Chambers of
Commerce and Industry, through its Committee for the Development of
International Trade and the Alliance repaid the loan to the Embassy. The
Council, including the Committee, is based in Saudi Arabia, with its
principal offices in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The advertisements prepared by
[2] the Alliance for the Council were filed with the Department of Justice
on April 29, 2002.
When he was confronted by reporters in 2002, Qorvis CEO Michael Petruzzello
told them that [4] the financial backers of the “alliance” included the Arab
American Institute (AAI), the U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council, and the
Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee.
In December 2004, the other shoe dropped when the FBI raided several Qorvis
offices as part of FARA compliance investigations. A grand jury was
convened, but details of their findings were never made public.
As of November 2009, no FARA registration was ever made by the Alliance of
Peace and Justice despite Qorvis’ claim that Saudi institutions paid the
alliance, and despite Qorvis’ portrayal of the alliance as a separate
American organization. Nor are there FARA filings for one of the
organizations named by Petruzzello, the Arab American Institute, despite
their receipt [5] of $300,000 from Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal in that
very busy year of 2002.
The Arab American Institute was founded by Arab-American and Democratic
Party activist James Zogby, an early supporter of Barack Obama [6]. (Zogby
was rewarded for his support in July when he was asked to deliver the
keynote address at the Justice Department’s 45th anniversary commemoration
of the Civil Rights Act.)
Another AAI leader is Wisconsin businessman Richard Abdoo, a member of the
organization’s board of governors.
Little was heard of the Saudi peace plan after the Alliance of Peace
episode. Until recently, that is.
Abdullah’s peace plan, also called the “Arab Peace Initiative” and the “Arab
League Plan,” was presented on an “all or nothing basis ” in 2002. It
insisted on the Arab interpretation of UN Security Council Resolution 242,
which demands a return to the 1949 armistice lines, a position at odds with
the American and British drafters’ intentions. The plan also demands a
solution to the Palestinian refugee issue “in accordance with UN General
Assembly Resolution 194.” That resolution is understood by the Arabs to
include the Palestinian “right of return” to areas they fled between 1947
and 1949, areas and even major cities in today’s Israel. Israel rejects “the
right of return” as a mortal threat to its existence.
J Street’s support of the Arab Peace Initiative
Today, the Saudi plan is a major tenet in J Street’s platform.
J Street’s website position papers state [7], “U.S. leadership can be
deployed . to normalize relations between Israel and the Arab world,
utilizing the Arab Peace Initiative and helping to create institutional
frameworks for regional cooperation.”
When asked about the plan in a Ha’aretz interview in June 2009, J Street
director Jeremy Ben-Ami responded, “Yes, we support the idea behind the Arab
Peace Initiative – which is that resolution of the conflict needs to be
regional and comprehensive.”
In a November CNN interview [8] with Christine Amanpour, Ben-Ami referred to
the Arab plan repeatedly, including: “The Arab League has put on the table
not simply an Israeli-Palestinian deal, but an Israeli-Arab comprehensive
peace with the entirety of the Arab world.”
Why does J Street push the Saudi initiative? Perhaps the answer lies in the
new “alliance” that has been formed – the very close ties between Saudi
Arabia, the Arab American Institute, and J Street.
In September 2009, J Street joined some 30 ethnic and religious groups to
support Obama’s Middle East diplomatic efforts. One of the groups was the
Arab American Institute, which posted on its Internet site the coalition’s
statement [9]. Included was this clause: “We support the idea of a
comprehensive regional peace that builds on the Arab Peace Initiative.”
A member of J Street’s advisory board, Judith Barnett, worked on aspects of
the Saudi account for Qorvis in 2004. She was also [10] one of the first
contributors to J Street’s PAC and was later joined in the PAC by Nancy
Dutton, the Saudi Embassy’s Washington attorney; Lewis Elbinger, a U.S.
State Department official who was based [11]in Saudi Arabia; and Ray Close,
the CIA’s station chief in Saudi Arabia for 22 years who later went to work
for Saudi intelligence bosses. Close’s son Kenneth registered at the Justice
Department as a foreign agent, working for [12] Saudi Prince Turki
al-Faisal, the author of the Saudi peace plan.
Beyond sharing support for the Saudi plan, the J Street-AAI financial and
ideological ties also appear to be very tight. Richard Abdoo is a member of
J Street’s finance committee with its minimum contribution of $10,000 to J
Street’s PAC. James Zogby recently wrote in the Bahrain Gulf Daily, “On
October 25, [2009] the Arab American Institute and J Street convened a joint
meeting that brought leaders and activists from both communities together as
an expression of our shared commitment to advance a just and comprehensive
Middle East peace.”
J Street’s embrace of the Saudi initiative is not a surprise, considering
the strong endorsement the plan received from George Soros, J Street’s
purported godfather and sugar daddy.
“The 2002 Arab Peace Initiative,” Soros wrote in a 2007 manifesto [13],
“[is] a settlement to be guaranteed by Saudi Arabia and other Arab
countries, based on the 1967 borders and full recognition of Israel. The
offer was meant to be elaborated by Saudi King Abdullah at the Arab League
meeting to be hosted by Saudi Arabia at the end of March. But no progress is
possible as long as the Bush administration and the Ehud Olmert government
persist in their current position of refusing to recognize a unity
government that includes Hamas.”
Incredibly, the billionaire blames AIPAC for the initiative’s failure, a
factor that may explain Soros’ burning desire to create a left-wing
alternative to AIPAC. “Both for the sake of Israel and the United States, it
is highly desirable that the Saudi peace initiative should succeed; but
AIPAC stands in the way. It continues to oppose dealing with a Palestinian
government that includes Hamas.”
Despite its recent national conference, J Street still defies definition.
Beyond Ben-Ami, its ubiquitous and loquacious director, the decision-makers
and major funders of J Street remain anonymous. The Saudi-Arab-American
Institute-J Street nexus begins to provide some definition to the
self-proclaimed “pro-Israel” organization. But more disclosure is needed.
Article printed from Pajamas Media: http://pajamasmedia.com
URL to article:
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/the-saudis-take-a-stroll-on-j-street/
URLs in this post:
[1] Qorvis: http://www.qorvis.com/
[2] promised to:
http://www.fara.gov/docs/5483-Supplemental-Statement-20020930-H7DTDP03.pdf
[3] ran radio spots:
http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/this_just_in/documents/02245749.htm
[4] told them that: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2003/04/20/16024631.php
[5] despite their receipt:
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1å‘Šon=0&article=21413&d=25&m=12&y=2002&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom
[6] an early supporter of Barack Obama:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/ArabAmericansforBarackObama/CV8n
[7] state:
http://www.jstreet.org/page/the-us-israel-and-arab-world%20%3Chttp://www.jstreet.org/page/the-us-israel-and-arab-world
[8] CNN interview:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0911/20/ampr.01.html%20%3Chttp://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0911/20/ampr.01.html
[9] the coalition’s statement:
http://www.aaiusa.org/press-room/4277/ethnic-and-religious-coalition-join-together-to-support-middle-east-peace
[10] was also: http://query.nictusa.com/pdf/634/28990568634/28990568634.pdf
[11] who was based :
http://query.nictusa.com/pdf/001/29934420001/29934420001.pdf
[12] working for: http://rpam.rockpoint.net/team/ken.php
[13] wrote in a 2007 manifesto:
http://www.georgesoros.com/articles-essays/entry/on_israel_america_and_aipac
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IMRA – Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
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