Difference between revisions of "Pakistan-Israel Peace Forum"

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==The Forum==
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'''Pakistan-Israel Peace Forum''' (PIPF) claims to be a &#39;grassroots organization&#39;<ref>[http://www.dawn.com/2005/09/28/letted.htm#1 Letter to the Editor] ''Dawn'', September 28, 2005.</ref> but is in fact an elite network of US based individuals with ties to prominent Zionist lobby groups and right-wing think-tanks. This veritable [[Astroturf]] lobby group is striving to mould public opinion in Pakistan towards the recognition of Israel. In its own words, the organization is &#39;dedicated to promoting dialogue and establishing relations between Pakistan and Israel at the political, cultural, social and economic levels&#39;. The organisation claims to express &#39;no partiality for any political position&#39;<ref>'Building Bridges between
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Israel and Pakistan', [http://web.archive.org/web/20071028185625/http://pakistanisraelpeace.org/index.html web.archive.org/Pakistan-Israel Peace Forum website], accessed 31 March, 2009.</ref> however, changing the status quo on Israel/Palestine between Pakistan and Israel is hardly a politically neutral position.
  
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'''Pakistan-Israel Peace Forum''' [http://www.pakistanisraelpeace.org/contactus.htm] is an [[sourcewatch:astroturf|astroturf]] lobbying group established by pro-Israel interests in the United States to mold public opinion in Pakistan towards the recognition of Israel. According to its website, the organization has been created by "three friends, [[Waleed Ziad]] (Pakistan), [[Dror Topf]] (Israel), and [[Michael Berenhaus]] (US), all currently based in Washington, DC". Berenhaus, a staunch [[Zionist]],  "assisted" Ziad and Topf "in setting up the group" and he also serves on its advisory committee according to the ''Washington Jewish Week'',. [http://www.washingtonjewishweek.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=4145&TM=83634.28] In its own words, the organization is "dedicated to promoting dialogue and establishing relations between Pakistan and Israel at the political, cultural, social and economic levels". The organization claims to express "no partiality for any political position" in the Israel-Palestine conflict, a rather disingenuous claim since the normalization of relations implies acceptance of the status quo inasmuch as it makes no demands of Israel to end its continued oppression of Palestinians under its illegal occupation -- hence a position that is far from impartial.
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==History==
  
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==Founding Members==
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In the wake of Israel's dismantlement of illegal settlements in Gaza, the United States, according to Robert Fisk, has been pressuring Arab Gulf states to open relations with Israel. <ref>Robert Fisk, [http://www.selvesandothers.org/article12009.html "Twisting Gulf Arms"], ''New Statesman'', October 31, 2005</ref> About the same time, informal contacts between Israel and Pakistan culminated in the meeting of their respective Foreign Ministers in Istanbul.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4203788.stm "Pakistan-Israel in landmark talks"], ''BBC News'', September 1, 2005</ref> It is important to note here that this move was carried out without the consent of the Pakisatni public.
  
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===Michael Berenhaus===
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Shortly after this meeting PIPF was launched by "three friends, [[Waleed Ziad]] (Pakistan), [[Dror Topf]] (Israel), and [[Michael Berenhaus]] (US), all currently based in Washington, DC". They endorse the diplomatic move and state that "it is also vital that a similar gesture be made on the people to people level". Their website features a petition that "will be presented to the policy makers and media of both Israel and Pakistan to demonstrate that at the grass roots level citizens of both countries strongly support efforts to build relations"<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20071028185625/http://pakistanisraelpeace.org/index.html Pakistan-Israel Peace Forum]</ref>
  
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Berenhaus, an American Zionist and a veteran pro-Israel lobbyist, is the founder of [[Eye On The Post]], an organization that purportedly monitors the ''Washington Post'' for its "anti-Israel bias". [http://www.eyeonthepost.org/about.html] Before setting up this organization he had also organized a boycott of the paper through the BoycottThePost.org website. The acts of perceived bias include the ''Washington Post's'' reference to the West Bank and Gaza as "occupied territories" [http://www.eyeonthepost.org/Post_Boycotters_Conitinuing_WJW_6-20-02.pdf] -- the designation given to the territories by the UN and even recognized by Ariel Sharon, Israel's current right-wing Prime Minister. [http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/05/27/1945221]
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==Founding Members==
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Berenhaus's Islamophobia is on full display in a December 29, 2003 Letter to the Editor of ''The Seattle Times'' where he blames the decline in the number of Arab Christians in [[Bethlehem]] not on the depredations of the occupation, but on "Palestinian ''Muslim'' violence and intimidation" (emphasis added). He also reproduces an old Zionist canard, now effectively refuted by Israel's own [[New Historians]], to place the blame for the massive ethnic cleansing of the native population in 1948 on the "Palestinian Arabs" and the "neighboring Arab states".
 
  
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In another Letter to the Editor of the ''Washington Post'' on February 18, 2005 Berenhaus takes strong exceptoin to the paper's use of the word "occupier" in its reference to Israel's control of the West Bank and Gaza.
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*[[Michael Berenhaus]], a staunch Zionist and a veteran pro-Israel lobbyist, set up the group and now serves on its advisory committee.  He is also the founder of [[Eye on the Post]] - an organization that monitors the ''Washington Post'' for its purported &#39;anti-Israel bias&#39;. Eye on the Post's &#39;strategic alliances&#39; include the ultra-right Zionist media watchdog groups [[CAMERA]] and [[Honest Reporting]]. Berenhaus also organized a boycott of the paper through the BoycottThePost.org website.  
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*[[Waleed Ziad]], a self-proclaimed "left wing peacenik" is the son of a World Bank official and a principal at the [[Truman National Security Project]] - a right-wing think-tank that &#39;envisions a Democratic Party that is preeminent in national security once again&#39;. According to its founder [[Rachel Kleinfeld]] the organisation was set up &#39;very much as a counterpart to the neoconservatives of the 1970s.&#39;  Ziad has written for the ''New York Times'', ''International Herald Tribune'' and ''The News''. He has worked for [[Deloitte & Touche]]'s International Economics Group in Washington, D.C. and as a consultant in Eastern Europe on public sector restructuring with [[Arthur Andersen]] and [[Ernst & Young]].
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Eye on the Post's "strategic alliances" include the neo-McCarthyite [[CAMERA]] and [[Honest Reporting]].
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*[[Dror Topf]] is a 29 year old Israeli consultant based in Washington, D.C.
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===Waleed Ziad===
 
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Ziad, a Pakistani, is a a principal at the [[Truman National Security Project]], a think-tank that "envisions a [[Democratic Party]] that is preeminent in national security once again". It's advisory board is composed of individuals from various right-wing think-tanks, from the [[Sourcewatch:Hoover Institution|Hoover Institution]] to the [[Sourcewatch:Council on Foreign Relations|Council on Foreign Relations]]. According to its founder [[Rachel Kleinfeld]] the organization is "very much as a counterpart to the [[neoconservatives]] of the 1970s". [http://www.forward.com/main/printer-friendly.php?id=3267]
 
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Ziad has written for the ''New York Times'', ''International Herald Tribune'' and ''The News'' (Pakistan). Following are some interesting passages from one of these articles:
 
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:Yes, the Muslim world had an unfortunate introduction to post-Enlightenment ideals, which came in the context of invasion, colonialism and exploitation. But the Arab philosophical and political movement that came out of that experience was not inherently anti-Western. In fact, ''in traditional Islamic thought the concept of violent resistance against an unjust ruler was virtually unheard of; for classical jurists, tyranny was preferable to the anarchy that accompanies revolt''...
 
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:At the same time, ''our corporations should guide local entrepreneurs to promote a free market, the backbone of democracy. If anything is going to come of the neoconservative hope of making Iraq into a beacon of our values, it will be along these lines.'' [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/16/opinion/16ziad.html?ex=1131512400&en=c89c2b1ba66771df&ei=5070&pagewanted=print ] (emphasis added)
 
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In another article, Ziad offers advice on opening a new front in the [[War on Terror]]: "Permanently dislodging these extremists calls for educational, economic and cultural development" through funding "functional education" and "real economic opportunities" with "Western money" so that the US is seen not as an occupier but a "purveyor of prosperity". [http://www.saudi-us-relations.org/newsletter2004/saudi-relations-interest-08-18.html]
 
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Ziad's father is a World Bank official and claims to have led the "first World Bank mission into Russia with a group of Texas oil men" according to Topf. [http://www.pakistanisraelpeace.org/dror.htm]
 
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===Dror Topf===
 
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According to the ''Washington Jewish Week'', Topf is a 29 year old Israeli working for a consulting firm in Washington, D.C. The few articles that the group has placed in various publications offer little information on Topf's background.
 
  
 
==Friends in High Places==
 
==Friends in High Places==
  
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For a "grass roots" movement, the initiative seems to have sparked little public interest but it has certainly garnered the support of some key individuals in high places.
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While the lobby has received coverage in six of Pakistan's largest newspapers, it has thus far managed to get only 334 people to sign its petition. This number includes 34 "anonymous" signatories as well nearly all 20 of its members. On the other hand the initiative has garnered the support of some key individuals in high places.
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===Shahid Javed Burki===
 
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Shahid Javed Burki, a member of the group's advisory board, is the former Vice President of the World Bank and former Finance Minister of Pakistan. In an op-ed in Pakistan's major daily, ''Dawn'' Burki avers that "Pakistan should develop relations with Israel and the Jewish community in the United States and Europe" not for any "grandiose objectives", but for the "many rewards" it would bring. [http://www.dawn.com/2005/09/13/op.htm]
 
  
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===Irfan Hussain===
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*[[Salman Ahmad]], is a former member of Junoon a prominent South Asian rock band. He has also been involved in two documentaries with the BBC and is also the United Nation's Goodwill Ambassador for HIV/AIDS. He is at the forefront of interfaith peace activism in the United States, organizing peace marches and interfaith concerts. He is the cousin of [[Asma Gull Hasan]] and [[Muslims for Bush]] founder [[Muhammad Ali Hasan]]. <ref>'Salman Ahmad - Overview', [http://www.biographicon.com/wiki/y2qtp The Biographicon website], accessed 31 March, 2009.</ref>
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*[[Shahid Javed Burki]] is a former Vice President of the [[World Bank]] and former Finance Minister of Pakistan.
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*[[Irfan Hussain]] is columnist for ''Dawn'' and the ''Khaleej Times''. In the past he has been critical of Israel but now he believes that Pakistan should base its foreign relations on "enlightened self-interest". He believes that its only the religious parties that oppose recognition of Israel and excoriates them for not providing any "cogent reasons... [t]he best they could do was to express their anger over the treatment the Israelis have been meting out to Palestinians under their occupation".<ref>Irfan Husain, [http://www.dawn.com/weekly/mazdak/20050212.htm Facing up to reality], Dawn, February 12, 2005</ref>
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*[[Jaffer Bilgrami]], another supporter, is a media advisor to the Prime Minister of Pakistan and works for the ''Associated Press'', ''Pakistan Television'' and ''Radio Pakistan''.
  
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Hussain is a columnist for ''Dawn'' and and member of the group's Advisory Board. The group's website describes him as a "a leading Pakistani journalist and commentator". In an article replete with specious arguments, Hussain advocates that Pakistan recognize Israel for its own "national interest". [http://www.dawn.com/weekly/mazdak/20050212.htm]
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==Advisory Committee==
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*[[Ali Bilgrami]]
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*[[Huma Khan]]
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*[[Daphne Kaufman]]
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*[[Adam Ducker]] - campaign chair of the [[Next Generation Affinity Network]] of the [[Jewish Federation of Greater Washington]].
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*[[Moin Ansari]]- President: [[American Jewish Muslim Alliance]]
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*[[Sameer Panjwani]]
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*[[David Yarkony]] - former Colonel in the Israeli Army
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*[[Munzir Naqvi]]- Board Member, [[Pakistan Rising Leaders]]
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*[[Qazi Fazli Azeem]]
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*[[Saad Duraiz]] - son of a retired General in the Pakistan Army.  
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*[[Zia Ahmad]]
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*Aaron - [[Defence Talk]]
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*[[Mahvash Hassan]]
  
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=== Jaffer Bilgrami ===
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==Resources==
  
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Jaffer Bilgrami is an media advisor to the Prime Minister of Pakistan and works for the Associated Press, Pakistan Television and Radio Pakistan.
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*Eric Fingerhut, "[http://www.washingtonjewishweek.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=4145&TM=83634.28 'Let's seize the day 'Two twentysomethings create Pakistan-Israel Peace Forum],  ''Washington Jewish Week'', November 17, 2005.
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==Notes==
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<references/>
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[[Category:Middle East Watch]][[Category:Astroturf]][[Category:Israel Lobby]]

Latest revision as of 12:23, 25 March 2017

Pakistan-Israel Peace Forum (PIPF) claims to be a 'grassroots organization'[1] but is in fact an elite network of US based individuals with ties to prominent Zionist lobby groups and right-wing think-tanks. This veritable Astroturf lobby group is striving to mould public opinion in Pakistan towards the recognition of Israel. In its own words, the organization is 'dedicated to promoting dialogue and establishing relations between Pakistan and Israel at the political, cultural, social and economic levels'. The organisation claims to express 'no partiality for any political position'[2] however, changing the status quo on Israel/Palestine between Pakistan and Israel is hardly a politically neutral position.

History

In the wake of Israel's dismantlement of illegal settlements in Gaza, the United States, according to Robert Fisk, has been pressuring Arab Gulf states to open relations with Israel. [3] About the same time, informal contacts between Israel and Pakistan culminated in the meeting of their respective Foreign Ministers in Istanbul.[4] It is important to note here that this move was carried out without the consent of the Pakisatni public.

Shortly after this meeting PIPF was launched by "three friends, Waleed Ziad (Pakistan), Dror Topf (Israel), and Michael Berenhaus (US), all currently based in Washington, DC". They endorse the diplomatic move and state that "it is also vital that a similar gesture be made on the people to people level". Their website features a petition that "will be presented to the policy makers and media of both Israel and Pakistan to demonstrate that at the grass roots level citizens of both countries strongly support efforts to build relations"[5]

Founding Members

  • Michael Berenhaus, a staunch Zionist and a veteran pro-Israel lobbyist, set up the group and now serves on its advisory committee. He is also the founder of Eye on the Post - an organization that monitors the Washington Post for its purported 'anti-Israel bias'. Eye on the Post's 'strategic alliances' include the ultra-right Zionist media watchdog groups CAMERA and Honest Reporting. Berenhaus also organized a boycott of the paper through the BoycottThePost.org website.
  • Waleed Ziad, a self-proclaimed "left wing peacenik" is the son of a World Bank official and a principal at the Truman National Security Project - a right-wing think-tank that 'envisions a Democratic Party that is preeminent in national security once again'. According to its founder Rachel Kleinfeld the organisation was set up 'very much as a counterpart to the neoconservatives of the 1970s.' Ziad has written for the New York Times, International Herald Tribune and The News. He has worked for Deloitte & Touche's International Economics Group in Washington, D.C. and as a consultant in Eastern Europe on public sector restructuring with Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young.
  • Dror Topf is a 29 year old Israeli consultant based in Washington, D.C.

Friends in High Places

While the lobby has received coverage in six of Pakistan's largest newspapers, it has thus far managed to get only 334 people to sign its petition. This number includes 34 "anonymous" signatories as well nearly all 20 of its members. On the other hand the initiative has garnered the support of some key individuals in high places.

  • Salman Ahmad, is a former member of Junoon a prominent South Asian rock band. He has also been involved in two documentaries with the BBC and is also the United Nation's Goodwill Ambassador for HIV/AIDS. He is at the forefront of interfaith peace activism in the United States, organizing peace marches and interfaith concerts. He is the cousin of Asma Gull Hasan and Muslims for Bush founder Muhammad Ali Hasan. [6]
  • Shahid Javed Burki is a former Vice President of the World Bank and former Finance Minister of Pakistan.
  • Irfan Hussain is columnist for Dawn and the Khaleej Times. In the past he has been critical of Israel but now he believes that Pakistan should base its foreign relations on "enlightened self-interest". He believes that its only the religious parties that oppose recognition of Israel and excoriates them for not providing any "cogent reasons... [t]he best they could do was to express their anger over the treatment the Israelis have been meting out to Palestinians under their occupation".[7]
  • Jaffer Bilgrami, another supporter, is a media advisor to the Prime Minister of Pakistan and works for the Associated Press, Pakistan Television and Radio Pakistan.

Advisory Committee

Resources

Notes

  1. ↑ Letter to the Editor Dawn, September 28, 2005.
  2. ↑ 'Building Bridges between Israel and Pakistan', web.archive.org/Pakistan-Israel Peace Forum website, accessed 31 March, 2009.
  3. ↑ Robert Fisk, "Twisting Gulf Arms", New Statesman, October 31, 2005
  4. ↑ "Pakistan-Israel in landmark talks", BBC News, September 1, 2005
  5. ↑ Pakistan-Israel Peace Forum
  6. ↑ 'Salman Ahmad - Overview', The Biographicon website, accessed 31 March, 2009.
  7. ↑ Irfan Husain, Facing up to reality, Dawn, February 12, 2005
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