The Lobby. Reality Check
You think lobby groups get away with murder? And the Israeli Lobby in particular? Think again.
Canada has very tough auditing laws on all things pertaining to the political arena. Anything from campaign financing to Member of Parliament expenses is micro-analyzed down to the last cent.
So, despite the oft-incoherent ramblings of our beyond-the-pale leftists (and occasionally, a far rightist) in Canada about the nefarious Lobby, spending limits suggest otherwise.
So what makes this lobby so powerful here among the truth north, strong and free? Another oft-cited influence to suggest of the Lobby’s power here is the “free trips” given to parliamentarians, university professors and the like.
But these trips are tailored to the whims of those traveling on them. They want to go to the West Bank and speak with Palestinian journalists, labor unionists, politicians, etc.? They get their wish.
They want to meet with left-wing Israeli politicians, political activists and journalists? Done.
The goal of these trips is not to indoctrinate anybody, contrary to conjecture on the far-left in Canada. The goal is to give a greater insight to influential members of society so that they can approach the issue with a better, more intrinsic understanding from both sides of the divide.
But the critics of the Lobby are relentless. They suggest that the Lobby is duping university presidents, media and government officials through their political support, missions to Israel and carefully-researched background papers.
This is a real insult to the many brilliant minds with which the Lobby has contact with.
It’s perverse. It’s intellectually dishonest.
But that’s just par for the course when it comes to the Lobby’s critics.
This is Part 2 in a six-part series of essays in The Propagandist confronting critics of the Israel Lobby. Daniel Schloss is a contributing writer and former Israel lobby insider.
- Read the introductory essay, The Lobby, Part 1. A Corrupting Influence?
- Read the next essay, The Lobby, Part 3. A Little Context
