Annual Orange County AIPAC Luncheon

This article was first published in Grizzly Groundswell


Dr Judea Pearl




Daniel Pearl



Sunday, I attended the annual Orange County AIPAC (America-Israel Public Affairs Committee)luncheon in Irvine, California. The featured speaker was UCLA Professor Judea Pearl, father of Daniel Pearl.

There were a number of other speakers who preceded Pearl. One was Peter Villegas, a Catholic and Latino pro-Israel activist. Rabbi Mark Miller of local synagogue Bat Yahm described the Israeli rescue mission to Haiti, ironically using the term, "disproportinate response" a reference to the term Israel's critics use to describe the nation's responses to terrorism.

Ester Kurz, the AIPAC Director of Legislative Strategy, spoke impressively without notes about her perspectives on the current situation in Israel and the need for attendees to lobby Congress.

Krista Allen, a young Catholic AIPAC activist from Louisiana State University, also spoke impressively without notes on her involvement supporting Israel.

The most curious speaker, however, had to be Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), whose territory is in Orange County. Sanchez came out and spoke for about 5 minutes. She put on the old happy face as she talked about how often she meets with AIPAC reps in Washington, her work on the Homeland Security committee and so on and so forth.

She said absolutely nothing of substance.

Unfortunately, there was no Q&A possible in such a large venue. I would have loved to ask her about why she just days ago signed a letter from over 50 members of Congress to President Obama asking him to put pressure on Israel to lift the border blockade with Gaza. I would also have loved to ask her how much money she has received from CAIR. (If you are wondering what I am talking about, check the posting immediately prior to this one.)

Of course, Sanchez said nothing about these things. I found her presence at this event puzzling to say the least.

Of course, the featured speaker was Judea Pearl. Dr Pearl is the father of journalist Daniel Pearl, who exactly seven years ago was murdered in Karachi by Islamic terrorists. Dr Pearl recited his son's final words, "my father is a Jew. My mother is a Jew. I am a Jew."

He also went on to describe and explain Israel's historic and legitimate right to the land on which they live. There was very little bitterness in his words, yet he did refer to (unspecified) hateful statements that have been made on the UC-Irvine campus along with a reference to a couple of history professors at UCLA. (No names were mentioned.) Dr Pearl concluded with a poem dedicated to his son followed by a joint Hebrew song with local cantor Ruti Braier.

I am not a member of AIPAC-nor any other organization since I like to maintain my independence. Yet, they are the largest and most powerful American pro-Israel organization; thus, I support their mission. Besides, any organization that Jimmy Carter criticizes must be doing something worthwhile.