Alison Weir is the executive director of If Americans Knew, a nonprofit organization she founded following an independent investigation as a freelance journalist at the height of the second intifada in 2001 to flash points in the West Bank and Gaza rarely visited by American journalists. She is also President of the Council for the National Interest.
Alison writes and speak widely. Her articles have been included in a number of anthologies; she is a contributor to the Washington Report for Middle East Affairs, CounterPunch, The Link, and other publications; she has given briefings on Capitol Hill, presentations at the Asia Media Summit in Kuala Lumpur and at the Jerusalem Media Center Conference in the West Bank; and she has lectured at Harvard Law School, Yale, Stanford, Berkeley, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the Naval Postgraduate Institute, Georgetown, and numerous other campuses and other venues.
Former U.S. Congressman Tom Campbell said: “Ms. Weir presents a powerful, well documented view of the Middle East today. She is intelligent, careful, and critical. American policy makers would benefit greatly from hearing her first-hand observations and attempting to answer the questions she poses.”
A New York Times article about her presentation in Greenwich, CT reported: “When the speech ended, Ms. Weir was met with thunderous applause, and across the room there was a widespread sense of satisfaction that someone was saying what needed to be said.”
Alison has received national awards for her groundbreaking work from the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), from the Council for American Islamic relations (CAIR), and other organizations working for justice and fairness in American society.
In 2004, Alison was inducted into honorary membership of Phi Alpha Literary Society, founded in 1845 at Illinois College. The award cited her as a: “Courageous journalist-lecturer on behalf of human rights. The first woman to receive an honorary membership in Phi Alpha history.”
Bush & Obama? Israeli assassinations and US Presidents Alison Weir, AntiWar.com - On January 13th the Atlanta Jewish Times featured a column by its owner-publisher suggesting that Israel might someday need to “order a hit” on the president of the United States. more
The Real Story of How Israel Was Created Alison Weir, AntiWar.com & CounterPunch - To better understand the Palestinian bid for membership in the United Nations, it is important to understand the original 1947 UN action on Israel-Palestine. The common representation of Israel’s birth is that the UN created Israel, that the world was in favor of this move, and that the US governmental establishment supported it. All these assumptions are demonstrably incorrect. more
Shop Talk: The Sacramento Bee Alison Weir, Editor & Publisher - Editors at McClatchy’s Sacramento Bee recently made a series of questionable decisions in their coverage of a local event. They ran news stories about opposition to an upcoming event beforehand and accusations against it afterward, but didn’t cover the event itself.
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US Ambassador: Support for Israel drives all US policies Alison Weir, Antiwar.com & CounterPunch - While many Americans may believe that US policies are designed to address American needs, America’s new Ambassador to Israel explains that this is far from the case. more
Spinning the Egyptian Anti-Israel Protest Alison Weir, Antiwar.com - Today’s New York Times front-page story on Egyptian protests against the Israeli embassy largely neglects a primary cause of the anger: Israeli forces’ killing of five Egyptian policemen. Egyptian anger over these deaths grew even greater when Israel’s defense minister Ehud Barak refused to apologize. more
American Taxpayers Pay and Pay: Subsidizing Israel’s Ascendancy Over the U.S. Alison Weir, CounterPunch & Antiwar.com - Israel’s Jerusalem Post newspaper recently published an article calling Israel “The New Golden Country” for young people from around the world. It reports that Israel boasts “an ever-increasing GDP, a strong currency, and a lower unemployment rate than the US.” more
Israeli video games in Gaza: “Minimal collateral damage” Alison Weir, CounterPunch & Antiwar.com - He looks at the camera with bright eyes and the beginning of a smile, wearing a miniature dark blue zipper sweatshirt, the cuffs folded up a bit to make it fit. I can imagine his mother dressing him that morning, making sure he would be warm enough. I wonder if she’s the one who took the picture. Someone has written on the photo “kisses.” more
Israel Lobby Dominates Congress, Media Covers it Up Alison Weir - You might think that 20 percent of the American Congress going on all-expenses-paid, week-long junkets to a foreign country – paid for by a lobby for that country – would be newsworthy, especially when the top congressional leaders of both parties are leading the trips. You would be wrong. more
Media omissions on Itamar: Murdering babies is “permissible” when they’re Palestinian Alison Weir, CounterPunch - US media widely and repeatedly reported on the horrific March 11th murder of three small Israeli children and their parents. While no one yet knows who committed this grotesque act, reports presume that the murderers were Palestinian, and for this reason the incident is receiving major attention. Various heads of state, including President Obama, have condemned it. More | Download Booklet
Critical Connections: Egypt, the US, and the Israel Lobby Alison Weir, CounterPunch & Antiwar.com - Minimally explored in all the coverage of the momentous Egyptian uprising taking place over the last 10 days [Jan-Feb 2011] are the Israeli connections. more
Gabrielle Giffords, Tom Hurndall and Palestinian Children: Shot in the Head Alison Weir, CounterPunch - There is something particularly horrifying when someone is shot in the head. Perhaps it’s the gruesome image, the destruction of the brain, the clear intent to kill. The recent shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is made even more nightmarish by the location of her devastating injury. Those of us who focus on Israel-Palestine are acutely aware of this horror. more
The NYT and the Flotilla Inquiry Alison Weir, CounterPunch - The New York Times, whose regional bureau chief has a son in the Israeli military, reports that Israel has just appointed a panel charged with investigating its attack on an aid flotilla that killed nine aid volunteers, including a 19-year-old American. more
As Israel kills and maims, Outrage is directed at Helen Thomas Alison Weir, CounterPunch - Whenever Israel commits yet another atrocity, its defenders are quick to redirect public attention away from the grisly crime scene. Currently, there are headlines about allegedly anti-Semitic comments made by senior White House correspondent Helen Thomas. Pundits across the land evince outrage at her off-the-cuff 25-second statement made to a man who appears to be holding a camera right in her face. more
My "Relationship" With Tom Campbell: A Wrench in the Israeli Gears Alison Weir, CounterPunch - It’s interesting to find myself a small factor in the California race for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate. But before I get to that, it’s necessary to take a look at the campaigns themselves, and the system in which they’re running. more
US Media and Israeli Military: All in the Family Alison Weir - Recent exposés revealing that Ethan Bronner, the New York Times Israel-Palestine bureau chief, has a son in the Israeli military have caused a storm of controversy that continues to swirl and generate further revelations. more
Ethan Bronner's Conflict With Impartiality Alison Weir, CounterPunch - Ethan Bronner is the New York Times Jerusalem bureau chief. As such, he is the editor responsible for all the news coming out of Israel-Palestine. It is his job to decide what gets reported and what doesn’t; what goes in a story and what gets cut. more
Calling Bono: Your Palestinian Gandhis Exist ... in Graves and Prisons Alison Weir, CounterPunch - In your recent column in the New York Times, "Ten for the Next Ten," you wrote: "I’ll place my hopes on the possibility – however remote at the moment – that...people in places filled with rage and despair, places like the Palestinian territories, will in the days ahead find among them their Gandhi, their King, their Aung San Suu Kyi." Your hope has already been fulfilled in the Palestinian territories. more
Obama Administration Takes from American Farmers, Gives to Israel Alison Weir - At a time of financial crisis in the United States in which thousands of Americans have lost their jobs and homes, an Israeli news service reports that President Obama has just signed a presidential memo eliminating a tariff on Israel that protected American dairy farmers and that raised money for the American economy. more
Israeli Organ Trafficking and Theft: From Moldova to Palestine Alison Weir, Washington Report - In August Sweden’s largest daily newspaper published an article containing grisly evidence suggesting that Israel had been taking Palestinian internal organs. The article, by veteran photojournalist Donald Bostrom, called for an international investigation to discover the facts. more
Videos: Alison Weir on Organ Harvesting and Israel Divining the News - Three videos from an interview with Alison Weir discussing allegations of Israeli organ harvesting, the Israel lobby in the U.S., and her response to accusations of anti-Semitism. WATCH
Israeli Organ Harvesting: The New "Blood Libel"? Alison Weir, CounterPunch - Last week Sweden’s largest daily newspaper published an article containing shocking material: testimony and circumstantial evidence indicating that Israelis may have been harvesting internal organs from Palestinian prisoners without consent for many years. more
Commentary: Saving Lives by Saving Money Alison Weir, The Gilmer Mirror - Imagine you could help people abroad by keeping your money home. Imagine you could help bring peace to the Middle East, build a safer world and alleviate massive misery. Imagine you could begin to eliminate the requirement for long airport lines, the justification for frisking old ladies, the alleged need to discard our most cherished principles in a quest for ‘security’ against an ill-defined enemy. more
USS Liberty Remembered 42 Years Later Alison Weir - Today, the 42nd anniversary of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty, a memorial service was held at Arlington National Cemetery, sponsored by the White House Commission on Remembrance. About 8 Liberty survivors were in attendance and a few dozen friends, family, and supporters. more
Guest Opinion in The Oregonian: The truth about Israel Alison Weir - In his op-ed "If there were no Israel," Edward Glick asks what the Middle East would look like if Israel had never existed. Instead of answering this, however, he simply gives his own xenophobic distortion of the region today. Worse still, he doesn't explore how many of the region's real woes are attributable to Israel's violent creation 60 years ago and of its actions since. more
Alternate View of Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Alison Weir, The Hillsboro Argus - Eight years ago I shared the typical American's lack of information on Israel-Palestine. I had watched "Exodus," was sympathetic to Israel and horrified at the Holocaust. I knew little about Palestinians beyond what I read in newspapers and saw on TV. more
Killing Palestinians doesn't count: Is a ceasefire breached only when an Israeli is killed? Alison Weir, Poynter.org - On January 27th media headlines trumpeted that Palestinians had broken the latest cease-fire: a bomb had killed one Israeli soldier and injured two or three. Virtually every media outlet reported this action as a major breach in the ceasefire that had begun on January 18th: Associated Press, CNN, Fox News, CBS, the New York Times, The Washington Post, the LA Times, the McClatchy Newspapers, etc, all pinned the resumption of violence on Palestinians. There's just one problem. Israeli forces had already violated the ceasefire at least seven times. more
Letting AP in on the Secret: Israeli Strip Searches Alison Weir, CounterPunch - Alison Weir details an Associated Press cover-up of Israel's long-standing practice of strip searching civilians of all ages and both sexes, in response to AP's report on the attack on Mohammed Omer. more
Should the U.S. End Aid to Israel? Funding Our Decline Alison Weir, CounterPunch - On April 1st I participated in a debate in San Francisco that raised the question of US aid to Israel. It was highly appropriate that this debate was held two weeks before tax day, since in Israel's sixty years of existence, it has received more US tax money than any other nation on earth.
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What Our Taxes to Israel are Funding Alison Weir, Greenwich Citizen - Over a month after my talks at the Greenwich Library, I find that Israel loyalists are still publishing astonishingly inaccurate tirades about me in local newspapers. While the name-calling is unfortunate, it is excellent that discussion of the profoundly important topic of Israel-Palestine is continuing. more
Alison Weir’s Letter to the Editor of the Greenwich Post Alison Weir, Greenwich Post - A recent letter writer to the Greenwich Post challenges a statement on our website synopsis of the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: "When the inevitable war broke out the outcome was never in doubt, according to U.S. intelligence reports from the time. The Zionist army consisted of over 90,000 European-trained soldiers and possessed modern weaponry, including up-to-date fighter and bomber airplanes. The Arab forces, very much a third-world army, consisted of approximately 30,000 ill-equipped, poorly trained men. The U.S. Army, British intelligence, and the CIA all agreed: it would be no contest." more
Some Muslims Are Not Bad: The Message of PBS's "Crossroads" Series Alison Weir in CounterPunch - I attended an extremely disturbing event Thursday night. It was hosted by WETA, the PBS station in Washington DC, and was part of the national launch of an 11-part PBS series, "America at a Crossroads," to begin airing April 15. It featured clips from the series followed by a panel discussion with some of those involved in the films, moderated by Robert MacNeil. The panel discussion represented a "wide" spectrum of opinions: all the way from, at one end, suggesting that all Muslims are terrorists to, at the other end, suggesting that some Muslims are not terrorists. more
Humiliation and Child Abuse at Israeli Borders & Airports: Strip-Searching Children Alison Weir in Counter Punch - Israeli officials have been regularly strip-searching children for decades, some of them American citizens. While organizations that focus on Israel-Palestine have long been aware that Israeli border officials regularly strip search men and women, If Americans Knew appears to be the first organization that has specifically investigated the policy of strip searching women. In the course of its investigation, If Americans Knew was astonished to learn that Israeli officials have also been strip searching young girls as young as seven and below. more
Just Another Mother Murdered Alison Weir in Counter Punch - Almost no one bothered to report it. A search of the nation’s largest newspapers turned up nothing in USA Today, the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Chicago Sun-Times, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Times, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Houston Chronicle, Tampa Tribune, etc. more
AP Erases Video of Israeli Soldier Shooting Palestinian Boy Alison Weir - In the midst of journalism’s “Sunshine Week” – during which the Associated Press and other news organizations are valiantly proclaiming the public’s “right to know” – AP insists on conducting its own activities in the dark, and refuses to answer even the simplest questions about its system of international news reporting.
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Anatomy of a Cover-Up: When a Mother Gets Killed Does She Make a Sound? Alison Weir in CounterPunch - Why don’t Americans Know what’s going on in Israel/Palestine? The answer is unclear at this point, but some disturbing patterns are beginning to emerge. They implicate some of our major news media, and, perhaps most of all, the Associated Press, the oldest and largest wire service in the world. Most American editors and journalists have no idea what is occurring under their watch. To date, there is little indication that they care.
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My Bethlehem Experience Alison Weir in CounterPunch - Last night at something called “The Bethlehem Experience,” a local church’s reenactment of Bethlehem 2000 years ago, I handed out “Bethlehem Christmas cards” designed by Quakers in Michigan. These wonderful cards have a photo of the Israeli wall imprisoning Bethlehem on one side and information on the situation in Bethlehem on the other. The wall photo shows a painting on the wall of a young girl holding balloons that are carrying her aloft and over the wall to freedom.
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Memo to Jon Stewart: Glad You’re Against Torture, So Why’d You Give Israel a Pass? Alison Weir in CounterPunch - I’ve just phoned The Daily Show at 212.767.8600 and left you a message; I also faxed you at 212.468.1890. I hope other people will also! I’m sure glad you’re against torture. I just wish you were also against torture by Israel. I was pretty astounded to hear you chatting with John McCain last night, nodding along as AIPAC-buddy McCain explained that the US should emulate Israel, “which doesn’t torture people.”
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Letter to Los Angeles Times: Palestinian Deaths Los Angeles Times - In the July 13 story on the suicide bombing in Israel, which killed three Israelis, you include information about Israeli deaths going back to 2001. Nowhere is there mention that Palestinians have also been killed during this period -- in far greater numbers. In fact, in the current intifada about 250 Palestinians were killed before a single suicide bombing occurred in Israel. more
The Coverage—and Non-Coverage—of Israel-Palestine Alison Weir in AMEU’s The Link - In the fall of 2004, we visited the Palestinian Territories. Such a simple statement, and such a complicated reality. Let me try again... In the fall of 2004, we visited a large, open-air prison. A prison whose guards keep people out, when they choose to, as well as in, humiliating and violating those they dislike; a prison into which the jailers periodically shoot and send regiments of destruction; a prison full of mini-prisons and convoluted rules that change with the wind. A complicated, teeming prison in which there are wedding festivals and dancing; where babies laugh and the tea is flavored with mint and sage; and where desperation silently waits.
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New York Times Distortion: Up Close and Personal Alison Weir in Znet - A little over a week ago, some members of our organization, If Americans Knew, met with New York Times Public Editor Daniel Okrent to discuss the findings of a detailed study we had completed of two years worth of Times news stories on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Okrent was going to be writing a column discussing the paper’s coverage of Israel/Palestine, and we felt our study would be an important resource.
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Uprising on the Anniversary of Rachel Corrie’s Death March 15, 2005 - There is a quiet battle going on for the memory of a young woman who could have been my daughter, or perhaps yours. On one side are those who would like to erase her from history her actions, her beliefs, her murder. If they are unsuccessful at that, they will settle for posthumous slurs on her character, falsifications of her death.
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The Meaning of Calm: Relativity, LA Times Style February 25, 2005 - Well, I just got hung up on again. This time by an editor on the Los Angeles Times foreign desk. He didn’t give me his name. I had called and attempted, as politely as possible, to give him a correction for the story on the Times’ website tonight. This will probably be their front-page lead news story tomorrow morning.
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Russia, Israel and Media Coverage February 17, 2005 - As is often the case with AP’s coverage of news having to do with Israel, there’s a serious omission in its reporting on the Russia-Israel connection even when it involves oil and the United States.
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Making America as ‘Secure’ as Israel February 3, 2005 - When you’re receiving advice “free” or otherwise it’s wise to first evaluate the source. It’s probably not the best idea to hire a squinting optometrist, a limping podiatrist, or a toothless dentist. If you’re considering a heart surgeon and a search for his previous patients turns up too many graves, perhaps it’s time to reconsider. In fact, if he’s having heart pains, in all kindness perhaps you should call him a doctor.
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Censored 2005: Israel and Palestine, Choosing Sides
The most monumental cover-up in media history may be the one I’m about to describe. In my entire experience with American journalism, I have never found anything as extreme, sustained, and omnipresent.
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“Close Your Organization or Die” October 18/19, 2003 - Left on our office voicemail at 2 a.m. on Oct. 3, 2003:
“Hi. I heard your speech today in UC Berkeley; the debate. I’m telling you this right now. On Monday, at 2 PM, you better not be in your office. Because me and my buddies, who were trained in the Israeli Army, will come and kill every single one of you son-of -a-bitches for what you are doing to destroy Israel. So watch out. This is not a joke. On Monday you better watch out. Don’t come to work. And close your organization or you’re going to die.”
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Alison Weir’s Opening Statement in Berkeley Debate October 2, 2003 - Let me begin by emphasizing that I have no reason to take a “side” on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I am not Muslim, I am not Jewish, I have no Middle Eastern heritage or family connections. But for the last 3 years I have spent most of my waking hours studying this urgent issue. Let me share with you my findings.
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Israel, We Won’t Forget Rachel April 3, 2003 - On March 16th, an Israeli soldier driving a bulldozer two-stories high crushed to death 23-year-old Rachel Corrie, an American nonviolent human rights protestor. According to numerous witnesses and photographic documentation, she was killed intentionally.
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Choosing to Act: Anti-Semitism is Wrong Alison Weir - Perhaps one of the most difficult things for a decent person to do is to act in a way that feels somehow disloyal. To betray one’s family and friends, one’s deeply held principles, is wrenching, disorienting, shaming. For a decent person, it is profoundly difficult to do something that feels so immeasurably wrong.
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Being a Target February 18, 2001 - I don’t want to be overly dramatic, but I was sort of shot at yesterday. I say “sort of” because I don’t think the Israeli soldiers in their tower were trying to hit me, or the people with me... if that had been their purpose I have no doubt that they would have. There is massive evidence here that their aim is quite good. I think they were simply asserting their power. And I think they were trying to intimidate me, as a foreigner, into leaving the area.
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If Americans Knew is a nonpartisan, educational organization. We are happy to provide information and speakers on Israel-Palestine to individuals and groups of all religious, ethnic, racial, and political backgrounds. To set up an event, contact us.
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