Jewish lobby

For other uses, see Jewish lobby (disambiguation).

Jewish lobby is a term referring to allegations that Jews exercise undue influence in a number of areas, including politics, government, the media, academia, popular culture, public policy, international relations, and international finance. It is used most commonly by the far right, far left, and Islamists.

The expression is regarded as an anti-semitic slur. Chip Berlet of Political Research Associates, an American research group that tracks right-wing extremists, writes that it combines the classic elements of anti-Semitic stereotyping and scapegoating, and is part of the discourse of conspiracism.

The term "Jewish lobby" is also used without prejudice to refer to an Israel lobby in mainstream newspapers in America, Israel and Britain.

History

For centuries, a key element of antisemitic thought were conspiracy theories that the Jews, as a group, were plotting to control or otherwise influence the world. Vijay Prasad described The myth of the "Jewish lobby" in India's magazine Frontline:

"The idea of the "Jewish lobby" is attractive because it draws upon at least a few hundred years of anti-Semitic worry about an international conspiracy operated by Jewish financiers to defraud the European and American working poor of their livelihood. The "Jew", without a country, but with a bank, had no loyalty to the nation, no solidarity with fellow citizens. The anti-Semitic document, "Protocols of the Elders of Zion", is a good illustration of this idea. The Nazis stigmatised the "Jew" as the reason for poverty and exploitation, and obscured the role played by capitalism in the reproduction of grief. The six million Jews in the U.S. do not determine U.S. foreign policy; nor are they united. Jews in America, like other communities, are rent with division, not united behind one agenda.

Uses

Mark Strauss links the term's use to a sentiment present in the Anti-globalization movement. The Guardian's David Hirsh feels that it indicates a lack of "care, thought" and "self-education," commenting on Chris Davies, MEP for the northwest of England. Davies resigned after having used the slur in an e-mail considered inappropriate by the public and the Liberal Democrats.

Madeleine Albright commented about a link between the Jewish lobby and Christian evangelicals to the Council on Foreign Relations that "it's very easy to get on this tack all of a sudden that it’s some kind of an overly powerful Jewish lobby."

Writing in The Guardian, David Aaronovitch argues that: "too many leftwingers and liberals are crossing the magic line right now. Let me spell it out for you. There is no all-powerful Jewish lobby. There is no secret convocation. Most journalists with Jewish names do not write the things they do because of loyalty to their race or religion. Nor can you simply change the word "Jewish" to "Zionist" and somehow be exempt from the charge of low-level racism. And it's no good wiffling on about your Jewish friends or trying to slip your prejudices past the guards by boldly proclaiming your refusal to be intimidated. There are no Elders and there are no Protocols."

The Jewish lobby has also become a policy tool for the United States government to justify its policies regarding Israel and Palestine to Arab and European leaders. Stephen Zunes has reported "that US diplomats routinely blame the "Jewish lobby" as a way of diverting blame away from the US government." Zunes cites this as contributing to the rise in anti-Jewish feeling in the Arab world.

See also

• Anti-Zionism
• New antisemitism
• American Jewish Committee
• American Israel Public Affairs Committee
• Israel lobby in the United States