So it's interesting to read (via antiwar.com) this lengthy article by Philip Weiss, who attended the 3-day American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual conference last month:
"At most conventions, people gather out of self-interest. Therein lies my admiration: the AIPAC’ers didn’t come for selfish reasons. They are devoutly concerned with the lives of people they don’t know, very far away. Yes, people with whom they feel tribal kinship. When Israelis came out on the dais to speak, they were almost invariably overwhelmed by the generosity, if not the Vegas schmaltz. “There is a tremendous amount of love in this place,” Meir Nissensohn, an Israeli executive of IBM, said in wonder. “If it was a beaker, it would explode.” Even a sharp critic like myself of what AIPAC is doing to American policy in the Middle East was frequently moved by the pure loving feeling that surrounds you at every moment..."Sometimes you have to take the hardest line. But sometimes you don't. The good news from Weiss is that there are many signs of a softening attitude within AIPAC.
OTOH they've still got a long way to go.
