AIPAC fundraiser held amid protest

The most influential Israeli lobby group in the US has held a fundraising event in an Oregon city as nearby protesters held a mockery-ridden condemnation of the Israeli occupation.

The annual meeting, which rallies the contributors to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), was held in Portland on Sunday, the International Middle East Media Center reported.

Protesters gathered near the venue, putting up maquettes of the Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, a checkpoint, and the apartheid wall.

AIPAC is currently under attack by the non-profit anti-lobby organization Common Cause and similar groups in the US that campaign against political contributions by powerful corporate and lobby groups. They allege that an overwhelming majority of US senators and House Representatives members receive financial contributions and important lobbying support from AIPAC.

One protester had dressed up as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wearing a helmet marked with the Caterpillar trademark.

The US-based construction company's military bulldozers are used to destroy Palestinian homes.

The meeting was attended by Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski, other politicians, and local rabbis and leaders of Jewish organizations, who used the occasion to renew their pledge of allegiance to Israel.

The outrages highlighted by the protesters, however, remained off the meeting's agenda.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=124549§ionid=351020202.