Parts 1 and 2 (of 4) of the censored Al Jazeera documentary on the Israel lobby in the U.S. are finally available. The documentary was never broadcast by Al Jazeera due to pressure from some Jewish groups and individuals (see below). It was eventually leaked to a few groups, which posted some short clips (more information here). On November 2nd the first two parts finally became available to the public.
The videos are also available in French and Arabic on OrientXXI, which provides additional information. The group says the rest of the documentary will be available in the coming weeks.
A film about the Israel lobby in Britain, also produced by Clayton Swisher, was broadcast by Al Jazeera in 2017. All four parts are available online.
An earlier film on the Israel lobby in England was broadcast by the British program “Dispatches” in 2009 on BBC Channel 4:
A film on the Israel lobby in the U.S. was broadcast on Dutch television in 2007:
It appears that none of these have been broadcast on American TV.
For information on pro-Israel influence on U.S. Congressional candidates go here.
For a full list of the Israel lobby in the U.S go here.
Below is the beginning of an uncorrected transcript of part 1 of the Al Jazeera film (We hope to eventually we will provide corrected transcripts – please check back):
In the first series of the lobby al-jazeera’s investigative unit exposed the role of pro-israel operatives in Britain.
“Their headlines at 11 o’clock: Israel’s ambassador to the UK has apologized after a senior diplomat was caught on camera saying he wanted to take down the Foreign Office Minister Sir Alan Duncan. Alan Duncan who’s a strong critic of Jewish settlers.”
An undercover reporter for al-jazeera doing an investigation into Britain’srelationship with Israel, his investigation exposes a covert Israeli campaign to influence British policy.
The investigation led to the resignation of Shai Mossad a senior political officer at the Israeli embassy
Massad was also heard describing the foreign secretary Boris Johnson as an idiot
“The diplomatic question no longer seems to be a functionary of the embassy in London – whatever he may exactly have been doing here his cover can be said to be well and truly blown.”
At the same time Al Jazeera had been running a second undercover operation. Some of our reporters covert filming was included in the first series of the lobby. his identity became known.
Tony had spent five months inside the pro-israel lobby in the United States. he’d impressed colleagues with his understanding of the Middle East.
“You have the resourcefulness to sort of fix tricky jerkily about this whereas most people aren’t able to do that.”
A prominent jewish online magazine described tony as the perfect gentleman who became one of the town’s best like zionist activists.
“You did amazing work here, the guys don’t stop talking about you. They still talk about you.”
Tony threw elaborate parties and apparently anyone interested in telling a story about sinister Israeli influence in America’s capital couldn’t have asked for a better guest list
In a new edition of the lobby we investigate the role of pro-israel advocacy groups in this country in the first of a four-part series, how the lobby is being drawn into Israel’s covert campaign to spy on American citizens.
Using an undercover reporter al jazeera’s investigative unit infiltrates one of the most powerful lobbies in the world.
“Getting $38 billion in security aid to Israel matters, which is what AIPAC just did.”
We examine how the lobby led by AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, has secured unwavering support in Congress………
Qatar Promised U.S. Jewish Leaders: Al Jazeera Documentary on D.C. ‘Israel Lobby’ Won’t Air
reposted from Ha’aretz
WASHINGTON – Qatar’s leaders have assured Jewish-American organizations that Al Jazeera’s documentary on the Israel lobby in the United States will not be aired, five sources in pro-Israel circles in Washington told Haaretz.
The sources said the Qatari leaders gave their assurance in late 2017 not to air “The Israel Lobby,” a move that was part of the emirate’s campaign to improve its image in the American Jewish community.
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Last week a number of pro-Israel organizations in the United States received letters from Al Jazeera informing them that their employees would appear in the documentary.
The film is based on the work of an undercover reporter who gained access to pro-Israel organizations in 2016 and videotaped their employees at work. The documentary is similar to one that Al Jazeera aired last year on Britain’s Israel lobby. Al Jazeera gave the organizations three weeks to reply to their quotes that will appear in the film.
Last week’s letters caught the organizations by surprise amid rumors in recent months that Qatar’s leaders would block Al Jazeera from showing the film. Haaretz has confirmed that Qatar indeed made such an assurance months ago, but in light of the letters sent by Al Jazeera last week, it was not clear if the Qataris would adhere to it.
Last October, Al Jazeera acknowledged that it had sent an undercover reporter into pro-Israel organizations in Washington. The announcement followed a ruling by the British media regulator Ofcom, which rejected complaints against Al Jazeera’s film on the British Israel lobby and said the work was not misleading or anti-Semitic.
The announcement of an upcoming report on the U.S. Israel lobby came only two months after Qatar hired Nick Muzin, a Washington lobbyist and former adviser to Texas Senator Ted Cruz, for improving the emirate’s standing in the United States, particularly in the Jewish community.
Muzin began arranging meetings between the country’s leaders and leaders of Jewish American organizations. There, the Qataris rejected that they supported Hamas and other terror organizations, and touted their cooperation with Israel on rebuilding Gaza following the 2014 war.
Shortly after Al Jazeera announced that the new documentary would be shown, Jewish-community officials asked Muzin to see if he could use his ties with the Qataris to stop the airing. One of them, Noah Pollak, a political consultant working with a number of pro-Israel groups, warned Muzin that if the documentary were broadcast as planned, it would sink his efforts to improve Qatar’s image with U.S. Jews.
Muzin brought up the issue with the Qataris and by late October received verbal assurance that the film would not be aired. No written assurance was provided, and only a few people were informed of the agreement. One source told Haaretz that the Qatari emir himself helped make the decision.
Muzin and Pollak declined to comment for this article, and no comment was received from Al Jazeera by the time of publication.
Since late October there had been no new reports about the Al Jazeera documentary – until the letters arrived last week.
Meanwhile, Muzin’s work for the Qataris expanded. In January he helped arrange visits to the emirate by renowned New York attorney Alan Dershowitz, Zionist Organization of America President Mort Klein and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who is known as a strong supporter of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Dershowitz and Klein said their flights were paid for by Qatar, and Klein told Haaretz that he brought up Al Jazeera’s coverage of Israel during a two-hour meeting with the emir. Other Jewish leaders who visited Doha in recent months also asked senior Qatari officials if they could change Al Jazeera’s negative coverage of Israel.
When Muzin’s company, Stonington Strategies, was first hired by the Qataris in the summer, it was reportedly receiving $50,000 a month for Muzin’s work. Recent filings to the Justice Department, however, show that starting on November 1, Stonington’s monthly payment from the Qataris jumped to $300,000 – half of which was reserved for “contractors” working for the company on the Qatari project.
Last week a Qatari delegation visited Washington as part of a strategic dialogue between Qatar and the Trump administration. Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani held an event at the American Enterprise Institute where he was asked by Haaretz about the Jewish-American leaders’ request to change Al Jazeera’s Israel coverage.
“Regarding Al Jazeera coverage, in Qatar’s constitution it’s very clear that the government should not interfere in the media,” he replied. “But Al Jazeera also should comply with the international standards and with any code of conduct. And there are clear mechanisms if anyone is complaining about Al Jazeera coverage.”
The foreign minister also mentioned the Ofcom ruling in favor of the network, adding that “there were some complaints been filed against Al Jazeera in the United Kingdom and it’s been proved that Al Jazeera followed the professional standards.”
In recent days, after the letters from Al Jazeera arrived, some of the pro-Israel organizations asked Muzin to see if his assurances from the Qataris had turned out false, or if Al Jazeera was acting independently without consent from Qatar’s leaders. Muzin told them he was discussing the issue with the Qataris and didn’t think the film would be broadcast in the near future.
Chemi Shalev is a ha’aretz correspondent.
