6: DOMINATING PUBLIC DISCOURSE

1. Robert H. Trice, "Interest Groups and the Foreign Policy Process: U.S. Policy in the Middle East," Sage Professional Papers in International Studies, ed. V. Davis and M. East (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1976), 63-65.

2. Eric Alterman, "Intractable Foes, Warring Narratives," MSNBC.com, March 28, 2002.

3. Cathy Young of Reason magazine protested her inclusion on Alterman's list of "reflexively" pro-Israel pundits and Alterman acknowledged the error.

4. Kristof began by observing there was "no serious political debate among either Democrats or Republicans about our policy toward Israelis and Palestinians" and suggested that this was bad for all parties involved, including Israel itself. This point should have been uncon-troversial, but it earned a letter of protest from the Anti-Defamation League and his views were described as a "one-sided blame-Israel approach" by CAMERA, a pro-Israel media watchdog group. See his "Talking About Israel," New York Times, March 18, 2007; "Letter to the Editor," New York Times, March 19, 2007, www.adl.org/media_watch/newspapers/ 20070319_NYTimes.htm; and CAMERA, "Kristof's Blame-Israel Rant," March 21, 2007, www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet= 139&x_article= 1303.

5. Quoted in Bret Stephens, "Eye on the Media by Bret Stephen: Bartley's Journal," Jerusalem Post, November 22, 2002.

6. Jerome N. Slater, "Muting the Alarm: The New York Times and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, 2000-2006," International Security 32, no. 2 (Fall 2007); and Howard Friel and Richard Falk, Israel-Palestine on Record: How the New York Times Misreports Conflict in the Middle East (London: Verso, 2007).

7. Max Frankel, The Times of My Life and My Life with The Times (NewYork: Random House, 1999), 401-403.

8. Quoted in Robert I. Friedman, "Selling Israel to America: The Hasbara Project Targets the U.S. Media," Mother Jones, February-March 1987.

9. Peretz's remark about his love for Israel is quoted in Alexander Cockburn and Ken Silver-stein, Washington Babylon (London: Verso Books, 1996), 6. His statement about the "party line" at the New Republic is quoted in J. J. Goldberg, Jewish Power: Inside the American Jew

ish Establishment (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1996), 299. Time magazine once described the New Republic under Peretz's guidance as "inflexible in its support of Israel." See William A. Henry III, "Breaking the Liberal Pattern," Time, October 1, 1984.

10. Quoted in Michael Massing, "The Israel Lobby," Nation, June 10, 2002.

11. Felicity Barringer, "Some U.S. Backers of Israel Boycott Dailies over Mideast Coverage That They Deplore," New York Times, May 23, 2002; Michael Getler, "Caught in the Crossfire," Washington Post, May 5, 2002; Tim Jones, "Pro-Israel Groups Take Aim at U.S. News Media," Chicago Tribune, May 26, 2002; Massing, "Israel Lobby"; and David Shaw, "From Jewish Outlook, Media Are Another Enemy," Los Angeles Times, April 28, 2002.

12. Quoted in Massing, "Israel Lobby."

13. Quoted in Friedman, "Selling Israel to America."

14. Ifshin is quoted in Lloyd Grove, "On the March for Israel; The Lobbyists from AIPAC, Girding for Battle in the New World Order," Washington Post, June 13, 1991. Also see Daniel Eisenberg, "AIPAC Attack?" Columbia Journalism Review, January/February 1993; Robert I. Friedman, "The Israel Lobby's Blacklist," Village Voice, August 4, 1992; Robert I. Friedman, "A PAC with McCarthy," Village Voice, August 25, 1992; Robert I. Friedman, "The Wobbly Israeli Lobby," Washington Post, November 1, 1992; Thomas A. Dine and Mayer Mitchell, "The Truth About AIPAC," Washington Post, November 14, 1992; and Lawrence N. Cohler, "The AIPAC Flap," Washington Post, December 5, 1992.

15. See, for example, "Conflict of Interest Fits NPR Bias," www.camera.org/index.asp?x_ context=4&x_outlet=28&x_article=100; and Joel Berkovsky, "NPR Responds to Claims of Bias with Weeklong Series on Mideast," JTA.org, October 4, 2002.

16. For the actual ad, see www.camera.org/images_user/advertisements/large/CAMERA_ CarterAD.pdf.

17. This discussion of CAMERA and NPR is drawn from Barringer, "Some U.S. Backers"; James D. Besser, "NPR Radio Wars Putting Jewish Groups in a Bind," Jewish Week, May 20, 2005; Samuel Freedman, "From 'Balance' to Censorship: Bush's Cynical Plan for NPR," Forward, May 27, 2005; Nathan Guttman, "Enough Already from Those Pro-Israel Nudniks," Ha'aretz, February 1, 2005; Mark Jurkowitz, "Blaming the Messenger," Boston Globe Magazine, February 9, 2003; E. J. Kessler, "Hot Seat Expected for New Chair of Corporation for Public Broadcasting," Forward, October 28, 2005; Gaby Wenig, "NPR Israel Coverage Sparks Protests," Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles (online), May 9, 2003; and Gila Wertheimer, "NPR Dismisses Protest Rallies," Chicago Jewish Star, May 30-June 12, 2003.

18. Bret Stephens, "An Open Letter to Ian Buruma,"Jerusalem Post, September 5, 2003. Buruma's original piece is "How to Talk About Israel," New York Times Magazine, August 31, 2003.

19. Judt revealed this incident in an interview in a 2007 documentary, The Israel Lobby, produced by VPRO International, the Dutch public broadcasting corporation, and in a debate on the Israel lobby sponsored by the London Review of Books, which was held at Cooper Union in New York City on September 28, 2006. Videos of the documentary and the debate are available at www.scribemedi.org/2006/10/11/israel-lobby/ and www.youtube.com/profile ?user=VPROinternational, respectively.

20. James Traub, "Does Abe Foxman Have an Anti-Anti-Semite Problem?" New York Times Magazine, January 14, 2007.

21. wwwconferenceofpresidents.org/content.asp?id=34 and www.americasvoices.net. In this case a key official at an American organization (the Conference of Presidents) is describing the initiative as part of Israel's public relations (hasbara) activities.

22. On the growing role and activities of think tanks, see Donald E. Abelson, American Think-Tanks and Their Role in U.S. Foreign Policy (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996); Trudy Lieberman, Slanting the Story: The Forces That Shape the News (New York: New Press, 2000); David M. Ricci, The Transformation of American Politics: The New Washington and the Rise of Think Tanks (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993); James Allen Smith, The Idea Brokers: Think Tanks and the Rise of the New Policy Elite (New York: Free Press, 1991);

and Diane Stone, Capturing the Political Imagination: Think-Tanks and the Policy Process (Portland, OR: Frank Cass, 1996).

23. Joel Beinin, "Money, Media and Policy Consensus: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy," Middle East Report Online, January-February 1993, 10-15; Goldberg, Jewish Power, 221-22; and Mark H. Milstein, "Washington Institute for Near East Policy: An AIPAC 'Image Problem,'" Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (online), July 1991.

24. Quoted in Milstein, "Washington Institute."

25. Toward Peace in the Middle East: Report of a Study Group (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 1975).

26. Andrew Ross Sorkin, "Schlepping to Moguldom," New York Times, September 5, 2004. Saban is also a major supporter of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and Matthew Mosk, "Clinton Fundraising Goes Full Force," Washington Post, February 7, 2007.

27. Leverett worked at Brookings's Saban Center from May 2003 to June 2006, where he was initially a visiting fellow and later a senior fellow. He had significant disagreements with his boss, Martin Indyk, over U.S. policy toward Iran and Syria. Leverett maintained that it made little sense to threaten Iran with a military strike if it did not abandon its nuclear program and that it made more sense to pursue a grand bargain with Tehran. Indyk held the opposite view. Leverett also disagreed with Indyk's view that the assassination of Prime Minister Rafic Hariri of Lebanon provided an excellent opportunity to undermine Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Leverett was forced out of Brookings, partly because of his disagreements with Indyk and partly because he criticized Saban Center Research Director Kenneth Pollack's advocacy of the Iraq war. Interview with authors, October 17, 2006; correspondence with authors, June 6, 2007, June 12, 2007.

28. The 2005 forum was held in Israel and did feature one session with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Finance Minister Salam Fayad, and Civil Affairs Minister Mohamed Dahlan.

29. Foxman is quoted in David E. Sanger, "Iran's Leader Relishes 2nd Chance to Make Waves," New York Times, September 21, 2006. Also see "Ahmadinejad Talks to U.S. Think Tank," Washington Post, September 21, 2006; and Eli Lake, "N.Y.'s Jewish Leaders Reject Offer to Meet Iran's Leader," New York Sun, September 18, 2006.

30. James D. Besser, "Turning Up Heat in Campus Wars," Jewish Week, July 25, 2003; Ronald S. Lauder and Jay Schottenstein, "Back to School for Israel Advocacy," Forward, November 14, 2003; and Rachel Pomerance, "Israel Forces Winning Campus Battle, Say Students Attending AIPAC Meeting," JTA.org, December 31, 2002.

31. Michal Lando, "Christians to Train in Israel Advocacy," Jerusalem Post, May 14, 2007.

32. Besser, "Turning Up Heat"; and Pomerance, "Israel Forces Winning." In the spring of 2005, AIPAC hosted one hundred student government presidents (eighty of whom were not Jewish) at its annual conference. Nathaniel Popper, "Pro-Israel Groups: Campuses Improving," Forward, June 24, 2005.

33. "Policy Conference Hihlights," www.aipac.org/2841.htm.

34. Jonathan S. Kessler and Jeff Schwaber, The AIPAC College Guide: Exposing the Anti-Israel Campaign on Campus, special ed. for the Hillel Foundation (Washington, DC: AIPAC, 1984); and Kristine McNeil, "The War on Academic Freedom," Nation, November 11, 2002.

35. Michael Dobbs, "Middle East Studies Under Scrutiny in U.S.," Washington Post, January 13, 2004; Michele Goldberg, "Osama University?" Salon.com, November 6, 2003; Kristine McNeil, "The War on Academic Freedom," Nation, November 11, 2002; and Zachary Lockman, "Behind the Battle over US Middle East Policy," Middle East Report Online, January 2004.

36. Tanya Schevitz, "'Dossiers' Dropped from Web Blacklist; Mideast Center Says Denouncing Professors Was Counterproductive," San Francisco Chronicle (online), October 3, 2002.

37. "The International Studies in Higher Education Act (HR 3077)," text from www.govtrack .us/congressMltext.xpd?bill=h 108-3077.

38. Stanley Kurtz, "Anti-Americanism in the Classroom," National Review Online, May 16,

2002; Martin Kramer, Ivory Towers on Sand: The Failure of Middle East Studies in America (Washington, DC: Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2001).

39. The text of the joint letter is posted on Martin Kramer's website, www.geocities.org/ martinkramerorg/Documents/H R3077/j ointletter.htm.

40. Goldberg, "Osama University?"; Ron Kampeas, "Campus Oversight Passes Senate as Review Effort Scores a Victory," JTA.org, November 22, 2005; Stanley Kurtz, "Reforming the Campus: Congress Targets Title VI," National Review Online, October 14, 2003; McNeil, "War on Academic Freedom"; Ori Nir, "Groups Back Bill to Monitor Universities," Forward, March 12, 2004; Sara Roy, "Short Cuts," London Review of Books, April 1, 2004; and Anders Strindberg, "The New Commissars," American Conservative, February 2, 2004.

41. HR 609 [109th Congress], "College Access and Opportunity Act of 2006," www.govtrack .us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h 109-609.

42. See Martin Kramer, "Title VI Verdict," http://sandbox.blog-city.com/title_vi_verdict.htm; and Stanley Kurtz, "Title Bout: Bipartisan Hope for Middle East Studies Reform," National Review Online, April 2, 2007. Also see Committee to Review the Title VI and Fulbright-Hays International Education Programs, "International Education and Foreign Languages: Keys to Securing America's Future" (Washington, DC: National Research Council, 2007), 3.

43. Quoted in Scott Jaschik, "New Approach to International Education," Inside Higher Ed (online), www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/03/28/intl. Also see Sierra Millman, "Education Department Should Have High-Ranking Official to Oversee Foreign Language Study," Chronicle of Higher Education Daily Report, March 28, 2007.

44. Draft legislation, "Title VI International Education Programs," April 19, 2007. The draft legislation would require applicants for federal funding to "describe how the applicant will handle disputes regarding whether activities funded under the application reflect diverse perspectives and a wide range of views." A subsequent clause states that "if a complaint regarding activities funded under this title is not resolved under the process outlined in the relevant grantee's application, such complaint shall be filed with the Department [of Education] and reviewed by the Secretary."

45. The number 130 comes from Mitchell G. Bard, "Tenured or Tenuous: Defining the Role of Faculty in Supporting Israel on Campus," report published by the Israel on Campus Coalition and the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, May 2004, 11. Also see Nacha Cattan, "NYU Center: New Addition to Growing Academic Field," Forward, May 2, 2003; Samuel G. Freedman, "Separating the Political Myths from the Facts in Israel Studies," New York Times, February 16, 2005; Jennifer Jacobson, "The Politics of Israel Studies," Chronicle of Higher Education, June 24, 2005, 10-12; Michael C. Kotzin, "The Jewish Community and the Ivory Tower: An Urgent Need for Israel Studies," Forward, January 30, 2004; and Nathaniel Popper, "Israel Studies Gain on ampus as Disputes Grow," Forward, March 25, 2005.

46. Quoted in Cattan, "NYU Center."

47. Shmuel Rosner, "Donor May Fund Georgetown Jewish Center to Give U.S. Leaders Another Viewpoint," Ha'aretz, June 14, 2006; Shmuel Rosner, "Academic Lies About Israel," Ha'aretz, June 14, 2006; and Stephen Santulli, "Jewish Program May Get Major Gift," Hoya (online), September 1, 2006.

48. For the original complaint, see Chicago Friends of Israel, "Jewish and Pro-Israel Students at the University of Chicago Subject to Intimidation and Hate," July 24, 2002, on the Campus Watch website. Also see Ron Grossman, "Mideast Conflict Boosts Tensions at U.S. Colleges," Chicago Tribune, October 17, 2002; Dave Newbart, "Allegations of Anti-Semitism on Campus," Chicago Sun-Times, November 4, 2002; Joshua Steinman, "University Professors Labeled Anti-Israeli by Campus Watch Site," Chicago Maroon (online), October 29, 2002; "University Responds to Anti-Semitic Incidents," University of Chicago Magazine, October 2002; and Sean Wereley, "Students Debate Presence of Anti-Semitism on Campus," Chicago Weekly News, October 17, 2002.

49. Jonathan R. Cole, "The Patriot Act on Campus: Defending the University Post-9/11," Boston Review, Summer 2003; Chanakya Sethi, "Khalidi Candidacy for New Chair Draws

Fire," Daily Princetonian (online), April 22, 2005; Chanakya Sethi, "Debate Grows over Khalidi Candidacy," Daily Princetonian (online), April 28, 2005; and "Scholarship, Not Politics, Is the Measure of a Professor," Daily Princetonian editorial (online), April 27, 2005.

50. Cole, "The Patriot Act on Campus."