WASHINGTON – The 2012 American Israeli Public Affairs Conference descended upon the United States capital from March 4-6 with the goal of yet again influencing American foreign policy and strengthening ties with politicians in one of the most massive and influential political lobbying ventures of the year, its annual Public Policy Conference.

But this time around, the AIPAC contingent was met with a strong and viable counter-movement under the Occupy umbrella dubbed “Occupy AIPAC,” a larger version of what had begun in 2011 as a means to challenge the pro-Israeli narrative that many analysts believe has taken hold of Congress and led to dangerously unbalanced policies in the Middle East that are against American interests.

Occupy AIPAC members beat the conference-goers to the punch, setting up myriad protests in Washington on Friday prior to the weekend’s events. 

This year’s AIPAC Conference theme was ‘Shared Values,’ but with much of the rhetoric from leaders and pro-AIPAC conference goers centering on ramping up a confrontation with Iran, Occupy protesters  felt compelled to jump into the fray to counteract the dominant message.

“Non-violence is a shared value!” shouted one protester during a speech by Carl Levin, a Democratic senator from Michigan, to the AIPAC crowd before being approached by conference-goers and hauled away by security. Another protester took to the floor and unfurled a large “Don’t Bomb Iran” banner while shouting, “Don’t bomb Iran; Equal rights for Palestinians!”

Levin drew the ire of Occupy AIPAC for his support of crippling sanctions on Iran that many believe only serve as a precursor to war, along with his unabashed support for Israel at a time when his constituents in Detroit are suffering from widespread poverty. Levin was just one of the Congresspeople that Occupy AIPAC put the spotlight on for what they call policies serving Israeli government interests over the interests of the American people. 

In order to counteract one of the largest personal lobbying efforts by any organization in the U.S., the Occupy AIPAC participants, which included a strong youth contingent and a diverse group of 130 social justice, anti-war, and faith-based organizations, took to Capitol Hill to lobby their own positions against striking Iran and against unchecked financial and other support to Israel.

“We visited all of the members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and some of the other committees of Congress, and delivered our own material on why striking Iran is a bad idea for American security,” said Liza Behrenet, 22 of New York, who joined in meeting with representatives, or at least their staffs, in order to spread their message.  

“We encourage people to take action to counter the lobbying AIPAC is doing by calling their Congresspeople right away, especially since they just lobbied on Tuesday.”

Occupy AIPAC particularly stressed opposition to Senate Resolution 380, introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham (a major supporter of the National Defense Authorization Act which paves the way for the indefinite detention of American citizens without a trial, along with co-sponsor Levin), which Occupy members say could well take the opportunity for peace and diplomacy with Iran off the table.

Ramah Kudaimi, 25, of CODEPINK, was one of many Arab Americans who also participated along with Jewish Americans such as Behrennet and other concerned citizens who feel that war with Iran would be disastrous for all parties involved.

“It was great to bring together hundreds of activists from across the country to strategize and think about what AIPAC is doing in our country,” she said.

“The policies pushed by AIPAC relating to Iran and the Arab Spring have had a negative effect on the entire region.”

She cited Israel’s continued backing of Hosni Mubarak and U.S. officials’ similar policy, noting that American officials such as President Barack Obama only took the side of Mubarak after it looked as though he would be ousted. Tying in what protesters called warmongering by AIPAC with the Occupy movement, demonstrations in front of the AIPAC convention and outside of the White House during a meeting between Obama and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu took aim at AIPAC for promoting the interests of the financial elite. This time around, major networks such as CNN, Al Jazeera and Fox covered the Occupy protests, which featured creative demonstrations ranging from people dressed in large Obama and Netanyahu puppet costumes to people posing as Israeli soldiers at checkpoints subjecting AIPAC conference attendees to treatment symbolic of the demoralizing harrassment Israelis administer to native Palestinians every day.  A full page ad was also taken out in ‘The Hill,’ a popular Congressional magazine, that forced pro-AIPAC people to attempt explain their positions more thoroughly in meetings according to protesters. Kudaimi said the movement is expanding.

“It is growing, definitely, and as long as AIPAC continues to have this stranglehold on U.S. foreign policy it is important for American citizens to stand up for it,” she said.

“It’s important that we as citizens show that just because one group has the money to push for war and strategies that are against American interests, we have the same right to demand our government puts our interests above those of a lobby that represents the 1 percent and not the 99 percent.”

Medea Benjamin, 59, a Jewish American and co-founder of CODEPINK, said that about 400 people joined Occupy AIPAC this year. She said the highlights included a disruption of a training session for pro-Zionist youth on how to support Israel and combat pro-Palestinian movements on their campuses, as well as the newspaper ad and a poetry and music session highlighting Palestinian culture. She also noted a much higher student participation in Occupy AIPAC this year as a highlight.

Rae Abileah, another American Jew protesting against AIPAC, joined the Occupy movement in order to protest against what she called AIPAC’s long-running attack on Jewish values and America’s best interests.

“Israel has continued with a crippling siege, bulldozing homes and even olive trees and creating separation walls between people, all of these are in complete opposition to Jewish values and spiritual teachings and more importantly international law and human rights,” she said. 

Abileah characterized the movement, which posted video and articles on its site www.occupyaipac.org, as a major success, noting its energy and diversity. 

“We definitely occupied AIPAC in more ways than one,” she said. “We sent a clear message, whether or not Congress will listen I don’t know, but it’s important to shift public opinion to make people more aware of the gross violations of human rights in Palestine (and against war in Iran), the Israeli government is trying to ignore these issues.”