Nathan Guttman
Washington - In a challenge to one of the most powerful lobbying tactics used by the Jewish community, a county in Maryland decided last week that local legislators could no longer go on sponsored trips to Israel.
Montgomery County's ethics commission decided last month that council members are prohibited from traveling at the expense of the local Jewish
community, even when funding is indirectly provided by a private foundation.
A trip planned months in advance was subsequently canceled.
"We were stunned by the commission's decision," said Ron Halber, executive director of the Greater Washington Jewish Community Relations Council, which organized the trip.
In an e-mail to a Montgomery County legislator, the ethics commission wrote that "the routing of monies through a lobbyist organization to provide
travel services makes the gift unacceptable."
The decision has such weight because sponsored trips to Israel are widely used by Jewish groups both nationally and locally to build support for
Israel among non-Jewish leaders and to cultivate one-to-one relationships between American and Israeli leaders. On a national level, the trips have
recently come under scrutiny amid the scandals surrounding Washington lobbyists and their relationships with lawmakers.
The Montgomery County decision now brings the dilemma to the local level, as communities face the
need to adjust to the changing winds in Washington and growing concerns about the power of lobbyists.
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my comments:
I think people in government who re to represent the people need to worry about issues where they represent the people. Not given trips to visit Israel to go see bullshit and then to make the best of it, not allowed to go near to see the crimes they have committed against the People of Palestine.
I call on people in the United States, Canada and all over the world to make your elected officials accountable and they too should not be able to take free trips and gifts from the Zionist Israel, their lobby groups, and supporters.
Write, email or call your elected officials, call on them not to be taking free trips and gifts.
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