Lecture at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists on February 16, 2017: “100 Years of Pro-Israel Activism & Trump’s ‘Muslim Ban’: How a Special Interest Lobby Enabled the Colonization of Palestine and Influences Policies Today”

The creation of Israel in 1948 was the result of a worldwide movement called Political Zionism, active in the United States since the late 1800s. After Israel was created, this movement – which then became known as the “Israel lobby” – continued to work on behalf of Israel. Today it is one of most powerful and pervasive special interests in the U.S. Among its many achievements has been to re-define the term anti-Semitism to increasingly mean criticism of Israel and/or support for Palestinian human rights. Another accomplishment has been to procure massive aid to Israel: on average, 7000 times more per capita than to others around the world.
Drawing on her best-selling book, Against Our Better Judgment: The Hidden History of How the US Was Used to Create Israel, former journalist Alison Weir discusses this movement, its history and current reality, media coverage of Israel-Palestine, and the role of Israel partisans in promoting the Iraq War and in the continued demonization of Iran.