Politics: Thank Goodness

New Group Offers Alternative To AIPAC

On the same day that President Bush holds a summit with Arab leaders in Cairo, about 500 activists will visit 160 Capitol Hill offices today with the message that some supporters of Israel believe its security depends on creating a viable Palestinian state.

Participants in the "Teach-in to Congress," many of them Jewish, have been meeting in Washington since Sunday to discuss, among other things, how to counter the influence of the American Israeli Political Affairs Committee. Organizers of the conference said that offsetting AIPAC's lobbying efforts would help bring about a more even-handed U.S. approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"This is the first attempt to build a national organization that is an alternative to AIPAC," said Michael Lerner, editor of the Jewish magazine Tikkun and an organizer of the four-day conference. "We are a progressive middle path. We are both pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian."