AIPAC Protest This Afternoon

Human Rights Activists Call on Oregon Elected Officials to Boycott Annual Fundraising Event for Pro-Israel Lobby Group and Plan Protest at Mittleman Community Center in Support of Human Rights.

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(PORTLAND, Ore.) - On March 6, 2011 at 4:00 p.m., Portland-area human rights activists and pro-peace groups will stage a protest at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center (MJCC) in Portland to call attention to the destructive influence of the pro-Israel lobby the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on US foreign policy in the Middle East. AIPAC is scheduled to hold what it bills as the largest pro-Israel event in Oregon at MJCC which draws many of Oregon's most prominent elected officials including many of the state's congressional delegation.

AIPAC is a powerful lobby, an unregistered agent of a foreign government with preferential access to the people who spend our money to support the illegal occupation of Palestinian land. Our affiliation with Israel has cost us credibility throughout the world as demonstrated by the recent fiasco at the UN, said local educator Esther Nelson. Nelson's reference was to the US veto of a resolution supported by the entire Security Council that called Israel's Jewish-only settlement colonies in the West Bank illegal.

Peter Miller, President of Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights, called Oregon's elected officials attendance at the lobby's fundraising dinner disgraceful. It is inconceivable to me that the Oregon political leaders would pander to a lobby that operates for the benefit of a foreign government. Govenor Kulongoski's recent signing of a trade agreement with Israel at a time when Israel is practicing apartheid against Palestinians is unacceptable, Miller stated.

"The Portland Chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace wants the community to know that AIPAC does not speak for us," said Maxine Fookson, a member of JVP, "Israeli policies of occupation and apartheid are not consistent with Jewish values."

Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights is a Portland-based grassroots organization that advocates for a US foreign policy that promotes adherence to and compliance with international human rights norms by all countries including Israel. AUPHR's web site is auphr.org

The event is co-sponsored by Americans United for Palestinian Rights (AUPHR), Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights (SUPER), Portland Chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), Palestine Action Group-Corvallis, Corvallis-Albany Friends of Middle East Peace, and Friends of Sabeel - North America.