I have searched and searched for a video of the Middle East Forum in which Juan Cole, John Mersheimer, and others participated at Yearly Kos. Since foreign policy under a Democratic, AIPAC directed administration is likely to dictate whether we have peace in the world or a further “Clash of Civilizations,” this forum would seem to be one of the most intriguing, and one whose content should have been recorded, since these Middle East experts may have a lot to say about it. What did I find? Nada.
Since Daily Kos, after its purges and slaughter of proPalestinian peace activists, many diarists, all commenters since last February (18 Kos members in total by Mad Dog Hunter, friend of right wing Zionists like MBNYC and Eric S.) has signaled a leaning toward the DLC/APIAC crowd of middle road Democrats, I would not be surprised if the allow-but-suppress attitude resulted in a censorship of video monitoring of this conference. This is a tricky play on the part of Big Man. Afterall, most Daily Kos members are against the human rights injustices that have been perpetrated against the Palestinian people over the past 60 years, their persistent military occupation, and the continuing colonization of their lands. Fault me for saying so, but I remain to be convinced otherwise of Daily Kos’ intentions. Not even Booman ventured close to the Middle East forum, as far as I can tell.
Here is what I have found after extensive searching:
The Middle East Panel was actually kind of…fun
Posted by Moira Whelan
August 04, 2007
I have been to a lot of Middle East panels in my time, but I gotta give it to Kos, this was the best. One. Ever. For one, I laughed…and not just at Dennis Perrin who was on the panel talking about the influence of satire, but Juan Cole and even John Mearsheimer got a few laughs as well. That’s not to say that it wasn’t serious. In fact, I’d say the opposite. The audience and the panel were passionate. Matt has some thoughts on Mearsheimer’s presentation. Unsung on the panel was Manan Amed who had some interesting thoughts about Pakistan. He talked about how important Obama’s speech was, and what a major step forward it is regarding the challenges we face. The audience was more interested in talking about Israel and Palestine, and of course, Iraq.
At the risk of delving into a subject matter in which I have no expertise (the Middle East Peace Process), as a wonky type, I found a few things interesting about the conversation that followed. It’s less of a debate at Kos, and more of a given, that AIPAC and other groups have disproportionate power, and those that think differently simply don’t have the money/organization etc to compete. The panelists correctly pointed out that the blogs are really the only place where the Israel and Palestinian relationship is being talked about without the influence of “the Israel lobby.” Because bloggers don’t really face recourse from typical levers of power (money, media, etc) the Israel lobby is accused of wielding with great effectiveness. The conversation can be fairly vibrant and democratic. Frankly, I think if the blogs are going to exercise power on foreign policy, this will probably be the area of biggest influence.
The coolest part about this panel really to me was John Mearsheimer. Juan Cole (of whom I am now a giant fan) did a fantastic job of really making the Middle East accessible, but still bringing in major fire power. I really don’t think people at Kos realized just how influential Mearsheimer is on the entire field of foreign policy, which made it all that more interesting. I have to say, that as someone who’s read everything he’s ever written, I was SHOCKED when people interrupted him, or questioned his judgment on the idea that oil companies did not, in fact, orchestrate the war in Iraq. He is, after all, John friggin Mearsheimer. I’m sure when he speaks at the Council on Foreign Relations, people don’t interrupt him. I don’t think the Presidents he’s counseled interrupt him. Mearsheimer was totally into it which was fantastic.
Juan has the right formula for how best to have national security conversations with/in the blogosphere. It left me wanting more, and it was pretty clear the audience agreed.
Overall, I’ve been pretty surprised at just how much time YKos folks spend talking about national security. There were about 5 panels on various security subjects, which to me is pretty significant. The sole session somewhat homeland security related was on Katrina. The subject was more social justice than emergency response, which is where my mind goes, but I’m glad I heard it.
http://www.democracyarsenal.org/2007/08/the-middle-east.html#more
Juan Cole was interview at YearlyKos before the forum, but it was uninformative. I quote it for curiosity sake.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_Wg9QNSwBk
I otherwise found nothing relating to the text of conference, if there is anything to be found. That’s why I say that we need to look closely at whether there has been news censorship of the conference, in spite of Kos’ inclusion of Middle East experts in it, who disparage AIPAC.
Here are some other relevant talks on video of what might have been said, and a highly impactful video from the Netherlands.
Prof. John Mearsheimer on the Israel Lobby
“Israel Lobby” authors Steven Walt and John Mearsheimer
The Israel Lobby (Marije Meerman, VPRO Backlight 2007) . This video is incredible.
If anyone has any information on video recordings or even text renditions of the talks and questions and answers, please post a diary. Thanks.