Several Democratic presidential candidates have ruled out attending the annual America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference this weekend, a clear sign of frustration over the Israeli lobby’s influence in Washington.

Democratic hopefuls Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar announced this week they will not be attending the annual pro-Israel event which be held Sunday at the Walter E. Convention Center in Washington DC.



The candidates said they will instead address the convention via video conference. Former Vice President Joe Biden will also send a video message to the annual confab, which is expected to attract 18,000 delegates.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren had earlier boycotted the annual conference altogether.

In a tweet last week, Sanders denounced AIPAC as a platform to “express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights.”

he Vermont senator stirred controversy during last week’s Democratic debate, in which he called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “a reactionary racist.”

Sanders calls Israeli premier Netanyahu a 'reactionary racist'

Sanders calls Israeli premier Netanyahu a ‘reactionary racist’

US Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders have called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “reactionary racist.”

Progressive groups urged presidential candidates to boycott the AIPCA conference, criticizing the lobby group for pushing for unconditional support of Israel and promoting the government of Netanyahu.

“This is a watershed moment and a major victory against the bigotry that AIPAC has legitimized for decades,” said Dani Moscovitch, co-founder of IfNotNow, a Jewish-American advocacy group for Palestinian human rights.

“Even moderates in the Democratic Party are now refusing to attend a conference by a right-wing lobby that allies with bigots just to shield the Israeli government from any consequences for denying the Palestinian people freedom and dignity,” he said.

MoveOn, a progressive group, also called on all candidates to “promote peace and diplomacy” by boycotting the pro-Israel group.

JVP Action, the political advocacy arm of the Jewish Voice for Peace that opposes bigotry and oppression, said that AIPAC’s power is “waning.”

Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg is the only Democratic candidate who has announced he will be attending the conference in person.

“To characterize AIPAC as a racist platform is offensive, divisive, and dangerous to Israel – America’s most important ally in the Middle East – and to Jews,” Bloomberg said on Tuesday.

A number of other prominent Democrats are still on the schedule, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus Rep. Hakeem Jeffries.

On the Republican side, Democratic skepticism has been countered by an eagerness to express support for AIPCA.

President Donald Trump has been trying to portray his Democratic opponents as hostile to Israel in an attempt to court Jewish voters.

AIPAC heavily lobbies the US Congress for continued US support for Israel, including $3.3 billion in annual aid to the regime.

The pro-Israel group recently had to apologize for attacking Democratic members of Congress as “radicals” and “anti-Semitic.”

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7 COMMENTS

  1. Finally a bit of good news. But not enough They should put a match to that Oath they signed to bow to Israhell . It might give Palestine a ray of hope

  2. It is significant that Biden hasn’t attended. I have always thought of such places as AIPAC in USA, as just another opportunity for politicians (who are no shy conscience folks) to reach an audience and donation makers, promise everything before election and deliver absolutely nothing that was promised after elections. Why should AIPAC make an exception in actually fullfiling politician’s promises? US and Israel are partners and as such US politicians need not to make it an abstraction, but they don’t need to get and act aroused after every wanton wartorn haunty decision made in Tel Aviv.

  4. Isn’t this amazing? Some of the whores in the Demothuglicratic Party are hearing voices, evidently from U.S. Voters, that some of us are tired of them taking bribes from Israel to do their bidding and gang rape Palestinians just like the Turks did to the Armenians in WWI! I doubt if most of these ignorant corrupt folks know that Israel did 9/11/01 along with other traitors in our own government. Have they noticed how their basic Constitutional Rights have been gang raped at every Airport in the country where they are illegally searched and exposed to untold amounts of dangerous cancer causing radiation with zero probable cause as demanded by Amendments 4 and 5? How about coward crook Donald Adolph Hitler of the Rethuglican Party pandering to the international criminals and outlaws in Israel? What a disgraceful cesspool America is today.

    • “The late Samuel Epstein MD, one of the world’s top cancer experts estimates that up to 20% of all breast cancers diagnosed in the United States annually are actually linked to the cumulative radiation effects of mammograms! Another major problem with mammograms is the compression factor which serves to spread any breast cancer that may be present.” The late John Gofman, M.D., Ph.D. et al showed that low doses down close to zero can initiate the cancer process. Gofman and Epstein were world authorities on this subject. Other safer ways to detect cancer are available for women. MONEY is what drives the Mammography Industry; Just say NO!

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