The mobsters who funded AIPAC Disclosed

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Documents

In 1951, the American Zionist Council filed under the Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act and began lobbying Congress with tax-exempt funding. Isaiah L. Kenen, formerly an employee of the Jewish Agency and Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, renamed the unincorporated AZC lobbying division the "American Zionist Council for Public Affairs, " or AZCPA after the Eisenhower administration objected to its use of tax-exempt donations raised for charitable relief. Kenen (and the AZC) claimed the AZCPA raised and used only separate non-tax deductible funds for lobbying, although a 1962-1963 Senate Foreign Relations Committee investigation discovered that both the Jewish Agency and the AZC continued to fund Kenen's lobbying through subsidization of his newsletter, the Near East Report.

In the 1950's the AZCPA raised funding from many controversial sources, including Meyer Lansky associate Aaron Weisberg and mobster John Factor (aka "Jake the Barber"). In 1959 Isaiah Kenen renamed the AZCPA the "American Israel Public Affairs Committee" or AIPAC to distance itself from the AZC after US Undersecretary of Treasury Fred Scribner advised major Zionist organizations that they needed to restructure their operations to avoid problems with the Eisenhower administration, the IRS, and the US Department of Justice.

In the 1960s the AIPAC received several donations from Abraham Feinberg. Feinberg was designated by Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion in 1958 to be the primary American "benedictor" organizing private donations for Israel's clandestine nuclear weapons program. In 1962 the AZC was ordered to begin registering as an Israeli foreign agent by the US Department of Justice. The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearings in 1963 revealed that the AZC had laundered more than $5 million in Jewish Agency funds into US public relations and lobbying activities (including to Kenen's Near East Report) over a period of two years.

Six weeks after the AZC FARA registration order, the still unassociated AIPAC incorporated in Washington, DC and the AZC's former lobbying division assumed all major functions of the AZC. AZC umbrella member organizations such as Hadassah and the Zionist Organization of America, along with many newcomers, later became permanent members of the AIPAC's executive committee.

The lobbying disclosures below were released in July, 2010 by the National Archives and Records Administration from a Senate Foreign Relations Committee investigation. Click links to the left to download scanned PDFs of the original documents. Excerpts and summaries of document contents appear in the middle, quarterly receipts and disbursements for lobbying are listed to the right.

PDF/File Date	Contents	Receipts	Expenditures
1Q/1951	Isaiah Kenen leaves his job at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and begins lobbying for the AZC to pass the "Israel Aid Act of 1951" Kenen's drafts list "John Doe, 1621 Blank Bldg, New York, N.Y". as a $1,500 donor and the "Roe Corporation, 2511 Doe Bldg, Chicago, IL" as a $1785 donor before attributing income to the American Zionist Council.	$1,575	$1,329
2Q/1951	The AZC spends $11,356.71 lobbying for the "Israel Aid Act of 1951"	$3,150	$11,357
3Q/1951	The AZC lobbies for "legislation for financial aid to Israel" spending $10,921.88	$3,150	$10,922
4Q/1951	The AZC lobbies for "legislation for financial aid to Israel" spending $1,996.19	$1,050	$1,996
1Q/1952	The AZC lobbies for HR 7005, spending $408.85	$1,120	$409
2Q/1952	The AZC lobbies for HR 7005, issues a "Memorandum on Aid to the Near East" and does international press activities spending $6,358.25	$3,360	$6,358
3Q/1952	not available
4Q/1952	not available
1Q/1953	The AZC lobbies for "American aid to Israel and the Middle East."	$3,360	$2,707
2Q/1953	The AZC lists "Publications: - 13,000 copies, pamphlet, "The Mutual Security Program in the Near East," May and June, 1953 - International Press; 200 copies, pamphlet, "Who is For Peace in the Middle East?" June, 1953, Herbert Levy Printing Co.; 200 copies reprint, newspaper article, N.Y. Times, June, 1953, AAA Letter Service; 3000 copies, reprint, speech by Senator Taft, April, 1953, Government Printer; 3000 copies, speech by Senator Lehman, April, 1953, Government Printer."	$1,703	$2,594
3Q/1953	"H.R. 5710 Mutual Security Program"	$1,167	$2,101
4Q/1953	"American assistance to the Near East. No legislative activity this quarter."	$0	$0
1Q/1954	Final AZC lobbying disclosure. Isaiah Kenen writes "This is to inform you that my connection with the American Zionist Council terminated on March 14, 1954, and that this is a final return. I engaged in no legislative activity in this past quarter."
2Q/1954	The AZCPA files a lobbying report. Isaiah Kenen lists its duration as "Until adjournment of the 83rd Congress." AZCPA lobbies "in favor of the Mutual Security Program."	$1,690	$1,700
3Q/1954	The AZCPA lists its duration as "Until adjournment of the 83rd Congress." It lobbies "in favor of the Mutual Security Program."	$2,461	$2,436
4Q/1954	"The committee's activities in favor of the Mutual Security Program ended with the adjournment of Congress and expenditures here are for services rendered in the third quarter. During the current quarter, the committee's activities related to the conduct of our foreign policy in the Middle East with specific reference to the Administration's decision to grant arms to the Arab states, the Egyptian blockade of the Suez Canal, the attainment of peace in the Middle East and other collateral issues. The committee approached members of Congress as part of its general program to inform American public opinion on these matters, but its activities did not relate to any legislation either pending or proposed."	$0	$1,292
1Q/1955	The AZCPA brands itself a "non-profit association interested in foreign policy." "The Committee favors economic and technical assistance to Israel 'and other states in the Near East. Inasmuch as legislation on these matters had not been introduced during the first quarter of 1955, the Committee's legislative activities were limited and it is estimated that not more than one-fifth of the Committee's' funds were' disbursed, or are properly allocable, for lobbying. The figures which appear on page two are computed accordingly. The Committee's major activities during this period were-directed toward foreign policy problems in the Near East."	$4,687	$4,390
2Q/1955	"The Committee is interested in foreign policy problems in the Near East and as one of the items in its program, favors economic and teohnica1 assistance to Israel and other states in the Near East."	$7,142	$6,777
3Q/1955	During this quarter, the Committee distributed two reports from Washington as Follows: (1) "American Aid to the Near East 1955-1956, 7500 copies distributed August 15, 1955 Kaufmann Press and (2) "New U.S. Program in the Near East", 7500 copies distributed Sept. 1, 1955 - Kaufmann Press."	$2,670	$2,542
4Q/1955	"No specific legislation affecting these matters has been pending in Congress during this past quarter and it is estimated that only about one-fourth of the Committee's activities were concerned with potential legislative matters. Accordingly, in this report it is computed that one-fourth of the committees contributions and one-fourth of its expenditures are properly allocable for lobbying."	$13,068	$7,959
1Q/1956	"The Committee is interested in foreign policy problems in the Near East. It is primarily concerned with measures by our Government to avert war and to promote peace in the region."	$8,660	$15,919
2Q/1956	"It did not take any position for or against specific relevant legislation before Congress during the past quarter. Its legislative activities were confined to discussions with Congressional leaders on an amendment to the Mutual Security Act which was not, in fact, presented."	$1,821	$2,753
3Q/1956	Quarterly donors list includes mobster Meyer Lansky associate Aaron Weisberg of the Sands Casino ($500) and Haganah arms smuggling associate Zimel Resnick ($1,000)	$0	$0
4Q/1956	Quarterly donors list includes mobster Meyer Lansky associate Aaron Weisberg of the Sands Casino ($500) and Haganah arms smuggling associate Zimel Resnick ($1,000)	$0	$0
1Q/1957	AZCPA lists debts of $4,250 and one donor, Dewey Stone.	$0	$0
2Q/1957	In this connection, it advocates passage of the Mutual Security Program and it sent out a communication urging favorable action.	$682	$575
3Q/1957	During this quarter, it issued an appeal for support for the Mutual Security Program and it urged support for a section of a supplemental appropriations bill dealing with scientific education and cultural expenditures, and its total expenditures in connection with these activities are estimated at 10% of the total disbursements of the Committee during this quarter.	$1,648	$1,472
4Q/1957		$0	$0
1Q/1958		$682	$575
2Q/1958	"The Committee also called attention to the celebration of Israel 10th anniversary on April 23."	$909	$934
3Q/1958		$2,215	$1490
4Q/1958	During the quarter it made available to members of Congress a memorandum dealing with current issues in the Near East and subscriptions to the NEAR EAST REPORT.	$2,916	$3,291
1Q/1959	During this quarter it urged Congress to approve the appropriation for the Development Loan Fund.	$3,060	$2,957
2Q/1959		$4,660	$4,017
3Q/1959	The AZCPA changes the duration of its legislative interests to "indefinitely." The AZCPA discloses that "The Committee furnished members of Congress with complimentary subscriptions to the NEAR EAST REPORT, a semi-monthly newsletter, published by the NEAR EAST REPORT, INC."
08/11/1959	Letter to the Office of the Secretary of the U.S. Senate on AZCPA name change to AIPAC "This is to advise you that the American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs, which is registered with you, has changed its name to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and that henceforth the reports will be filed under this new name."
4Q/1959	AIPAC files as a "non-profit organization interested in foreign policy." with "infinite" duration. Donor John Factor (AKA mobster "Jake the Barber") makes a $1,000 contribution.	$2,114	$1,980
1Q/1960	AIPAC spends $2,500 on subscriptions to the NEAR EAST REPORT.	$3,638	$3,693
2Q/1960	Abraham Feinberg makes a $500 contribution.	$8,222	$5,841
3Q/1960	Abraham Feinberg makes a $500 contribution, Dewey Stone contributes $500.	$2,095	$1,883
4Q/1960	"There were no specific expenditures during this quarter."	$1,284	$241
ARCHIVE	In November 1962 the US Department of Justice orders AIPAC's parent organization to register as an Israeli foreign agent.
ARCHIVE	AIPAC incorporates and applies to the IRS for a tax exemption without referencing the FARA order of its parent organization. It takes over AZC functions.

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By As'ad Abdul Rahman, Special to Gulf News Insanity of a pro-Zionist US group Their belief in the ‘second coming' boosts their opposition to peace and Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian areas Israel's rightist government appears in unison with the American Christians United for Israel (Cufi) in drawing support from scriptural arguments Tel Aviv has been using to defend its occupation policies in the Palestinian land, especially in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Cufi's statement of purpose has explicitly declared that the organisation was seeking ‘to provide a national association through which every pro-Israel church, para-church organisation, ministry or individual in America can speak and act with one voice in support of Israel in matters related to biblical issues'. To enforce this aim, in February 2006, over 400 Christian leaders from across the US flew to San Antonio, Texas to join Pastor John Hagee ‘in determining how the Christian world should respond to the ongoing threats to Israel'. Indeed, Cufi has grown to become the largest pro-Israel organisation in the US. This organisation's support for the Zionist state, regardless of its heinous and apartheid colonial policies, is based upon fundamental interpretation of the Bible which is being marketed by John Hagee, the founder, who has been talking about cosmic catastrophes striking Earth in preparation for ‘the second coming' of Christ. They are known as ‘the end of time' happenings in which all human beings will be annihilated, except the followers of John Hagee and his colleagues who hold the same fanatic belief. ‘Supporting Israel in matters related to Biblical issues' is the foundation of such an insane belief where all believers, except those who follow pastors like John Hagee, would be annihilated during ‘the Armageddon' battle predicted to be taking place in Israel. In this regard, one may ask: where does Israel come in relation to these ‘biblical issues' which makes it an absolute necessity for every Christian fundamentalist to lend his or her absolute support to the Zionist state? The extremely outrageous theory of ‘the end of time' asserts that ‘the second coming' will never take place before major catastrophes befall the earth, namely Middle East territories including Israel. In other words, a devastating war in which weapons of mass destruction would be used has to take place in the Middle East in which ‘Israel would be totally annihilated', according to Hagee and his followers. These ‘religious hallucinations' represent the main ‘biblical issues' that unite all the so-called Christian fundamentalists who support the Zionist state. They see in ‘the birth of Israel' the first sign of ‘the second coming'. The subsequent ‘death of the state' of Israel would instantly usher in the actuality of ‘the second coming'. The colonial apartheid policies of the Likud Party which is now governing Israel makes this war of annihilation in the Middle East possible. But according to Hagee, it could happen as a result of ‘the nuclear threat' of Iran and ‘the statements of the President of Iran (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) who threatened to wipe Israel off the map'. Voice for peace This set of horrifying ideas advocated by Hagee and his supporters (who represent part of the hardcore base of the Republican Party in the US) does not really support the survival of the Zionist state, but it calls for its utter destruction which, they think, would bring about ‘the second coming of Christ'. Such beliefs stand behind their opposition to any peace process that would lead to the Israeli withdrawal from the Occupied Territories. This fact is well known to conscientious Jews who abhor the strong alliance of Likud with the insanity of Hagee and his followers' beliefs, since Cufi is financially supported by Likud to influence US foreign policy in the Middle East by keeping it on the side of Israel. However, many of those conscientious Jews in the US and North America have been forming organisations to advocate ‘the voice for peace' with some of their campaigns held under the notion "Israelis and Palestinians, two peoples, one future". A salient example in this regard is the Jewish Voice for Peace New Rabbinical Council which represents groups of Jews who have dedicated themselves ‘to speaking out on behalf of justice for all peoples in the Middle East'. Indeed, the Rabbinical Council is trying hard to stop two insanities, one of Hagee and the other of an extreme Jewish group allied to him who is ‘genetically engineering the birth of a cow' which they hope will bear the exact marks mentioned in the Torah. The birth of this cow would send ‘the command' to this Jewish group to go and destroy Al Haram Al Sharif (the Temple Mount in Zionist vocabulary) in order ‘to build the Temple of Judaism in its place in Jerusalem'! Whether the American people (and the international community) would ignore such insane groups is a question that could only be answered by the peace-loving forces in our world. Professor As'ad Abdul Rahman is the Chairman of the Palestinian Encyclopaedia.

In his nauseatingly pro-Zionist book, 'In Defense of israel', John Hagee insists that the Jews had nothing to do with Jesus Christ's death. He says that the racist nation of Jews do not need evangelizing because they are God's Chosen. Hagee even contends that Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah! Is this Biblical truth or utter blasphemy?

By Jeffrey Goldberg It was not until Sister Mary Schmuck left her home state of Kentucky for the Sisters of Mercy convent in Brooklyn, N.Y., a borough that operates under the influence of Yiddish, that she was confronted full force with the knowledge that a person with her family name faces certain regrettable challenges. “People would do double takes on the phone,” she said. “They were deciding whether to laugh or say something or not.” Many New Yorkers were forthright in asking whether she was playing them for fools. “I went to the terminal at LaGuardia one day, and there was a nice-looking ticket agent named Carlos-something—not a Jewish person—and he took my ID and said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding.’” She said she told Carlos, “Young man, schmuck is German for ‘jewel.’ It is fine that you grew up in a Jewish neighborhood. I live in one, too, near Williamsburg. Please give me my boarding pass.” Sister Mary acknowledges, obviously, that schmuck, in Yiddish, a language derived from German and Hebrew, refers to what she calls “the dirty male part.” And she recognizes that schmuck serves as a broad-spectrum insult as well, corresponding, more or less, to “idiot” or worse. Not as much, however, in Kentucky. It was idyllic, growing up a Schmuck in Kentucky, Sister Mary said. “It is my understanding that Grandfather Schmuck came from a Lutheran family, but there had been some sort of move to or from the Catholic Church.” She does not know if the Schmucks among her German ancestors were jewelers, though it’s possible, and she’s proud that the cathedral in Cologne is home to the Schmuck Madonna, which many believers have adorned with jewels in gratitude for answered prayers. Mary Schmuck, who is 72, first came to my attention last summer, when the Los Angeles Jewish Journal published a letter she wrote taking issue with the title of the recent film Dinner for Schmucks, and asked the newspaper’s readers—many of whom she thought (not incorrectly) might be associated in some manner with the film industry—for “awareness and sensitivity to various audiences out here.” I was moved by her pride, and I was also surprised to learn that there are actual Americans named Schmuck. “At one point, there were 400 Schmucks in America,” she told me. “I’ve done some genealogy research on this.” She does not know the number of Schmucks in America today, however. “Whenever I go to another city, I look in the White Pages for Schmucks, but I don’t run across any.” In our conversation, I suggested, in a kindly way, that her mission to expunge the word schmuck from the American lexicon of insults was quixotic: Yiddish, particularly its more flamboyant expressions, has penetrated the American vernacular as much as the bagel has come to dominate the American breakfast table. “Yes, that may be so,” she said. “But human dignity is important. I think people should find another word to insult people with, or better yet, not insult one another at all.” I noted to Sister Mary that hers is not the only challenging surname in America. June Putz, Thomas Putz, Cornelia Putz, Erik Putz, Wolfgang Putz—indeed, an apparently unending procession of people named Putz—are listed on Facebook, and seem emotionally whole (to the extent that one can assess such things online). “Schmuck seems to be a very popular insulting term, though,” Sister Mary noted, correctly. How schmuck came to be a rude word for part of the male genitalia is not as obvious as one might think. Both Sister Mary and I thought the nether-region connotation of schmuck derived from the notion that the male genitals represent “the family jewels,” but according to the lexicographer Michael Wex, a top-tier Yiddishist and the author of How to Be a Mentsh (And Not a Shmuck), the Yiddish and German schmucks are completely unrelated. “Basically, the Yiddish word comes out of baby talk,” Wex said. “A little boy’s penis is a shtekl, a ‘little stick.’ Shtekl became shmeckle, in a kind of baby-rhyming thing, and shmeckle became shmuck. Shmeckle is prepubescent and not a dirty word, but shmuck, the non-diminutive, became obscene.” Sister Mary said she does not blame Yiddish for the unhappiness it has caused her: in part because the unhappiness has been mitigated by her return several years ago to Kentucky, where she devotes her life to serving impoverished people, who are grateful for her attention and unaware of her name’s connotations; in part because she is vocationally forgiving; and in part because she has a predisposition toward Jews, and not only Jesus. “I was just telling somebody today that the world owes the Jewish community so much for theater, and especially for comedy,” she said, naming Al Jolson—“I’m showing my age”—George Burns, and Danny Kaye among her favorite Jewish performers. “Glory be to the heavens, what would we do without all the Jewish contributions to the arts?” she asked. “All those comedians! It’s a real gift to the rest of us.” (A case in point, perhaps: Murray and Harry are visiting Tel Aviv, and they decide to rent camels and ride them through the city. They quickly fall into an argument. Murray is convinced his camel is male; Harry thinks otherwise. “What makes you so sure yours is a male?” Harry asks Murray. Murray says, “That’s easy. Just a few minutes ago, we passed this guy on the sidewalk, and he said, ‘Take a look at the schmuck on that camel!’”) I noted to Sister Mary that many Jewish comedians, especially of the generation that appeals to her, are funny in part because of the influence of Yiddish, and that the word schmuck is a crucial component of so many excellent jokes. She paused for a moment, and then said, “Jewish comedians are a very creative people, my goodness. I’m sure there’s another word they can use.” And she gently suggested that I too would benefit from laying off her family name. I was duly chastened and have agreed to forswear the use of the word schmuck. At least until after Lent. Jeffrey Goldberg is a national correspondent for The Atlantic. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/05/sister-schmuck-takes-a-stand/8445/ Sister Schmuck Takes a Stand

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