Organized By Noor Fawzy Ibrahim
Sago Palm Room (38.903000, -80.275047)
Students for Justice in Palestine at Florida Atlantic University is honored to host Josh Ruebner, National Advocacy Director at the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation in Washington D.C. Josh is a former Analyst in Middle East Affairs at Congressional Research Service, a federal government agency providing Members of Congress with policy analysis. He holds a graduate degree in International Affairs from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC. Ruebner's analysis and commentary on U.S. policy toward the Middle East appear frequently in media such as NBC, ABC Nightline, CSPAN, Al Jazeera, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, The Hill, Detroit Free Press, Huffington Post, Middle East Report, and more. He is the author of the upcoming book tentatively entitled Shattered Hopes: Obama and the Quest for Israeli-Palestinian Peace (Verso Books, 2013). Josh will conduct a teach-in on the exceptional yet destructive US-Israel relationship. In particular, he will expose the role of AIPAC and the greater Zionist lobby in disproportionately influencing US policy on the Middle East. Josh will explain how these groups actively work to steer U.S. policy in a pro-Israel direction and in doing so, create profound damage to America's national interests. He will discuss in detail US financial, military, and diplomatic contributions to Israel. It will be made clear that Israel's capacity to carry out the longest occupation in modern history and massively bombard the Palestinian people is made possible by unconditional U.S. support. Another interesting and very important topic of discussion involves AIPAC's role in influencing our universities, including minority student groups and student government officials. This is done in a clandestine effort to create a pro-Israel campus leadership base, at the expense of the overall interests of the student body. Josh will offer some suggestions as to what we can do to prevent such unwanted external interventions in our universities.