Paul_Findley

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Findley

Paul Findley (born June 23, 1921) is a former United States Representative from Illinois, who represented its 20th District. A Republican, he was first elected in 1960. Findley lost his seat in 1982 to current United States Senator Dick Durbin. Findley attended Illinois College and is a member of Phi Alpha Literary Society. He is a cofounder of the Council for the National Interest, a Washington, D.C. advocacy group. He resides in Jacksonville, Illinois.

Contents

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• 1Career
• 2Political views
• 3Criticism
• 4Published works
• 5References
• 6External links

Career[edit]

Findley served 11 terms in Congress, but lost to Dick Durbin, in his bid for reelection in 1982.^[1] He was known in Congress as an advocate of the farmers of his district and as a strong proponent of the Palestinians and of opening up communication with the Palestine Liberation Organization^[1] since they were the strongest and most organized representatives of Palestinian people at the time.

According to the New York Times, in 1982 Findley narrowly lost his bid for re-election for a number of reasons: "a competent opponent, redistricting, the economic recession, and pro-Israel groups support to his challenger," which allowed Findley's challenger to match him in spending.^[1] During the campaign, "a former AIPAC [American Israel Public Affairs Committee] president called him 'a dangerous enemy of Israel.'"^[2] Findley confirmed that his 1982 campaign raised "almost exactly the same sum" as that of his opponent.^[3]

In 1989 Findley, with former representative Pete McCloskey (R-CA), formed the Council for the National Interest.^[4] It is a 501 (c)4 non-profit, non-partisan organization in the United States that works for "Middle East policies that serve the American national interest."^[5] Its first executive director was ten-term congressman John B. Anderson (R-Il) who ran as an Independent candidate in the 1980 U.S. presidential election.^[6]

Political views[edit]

A year after the September 11 attacks in 2001, Findley published an article saying that this attack would never have occurred were it not for the United States' uncritical support of Israel.^[7] Findley claimed that the 2003 invasion of Iraq was launched primarily to benefit Israel, at the behest of the Israel lobby in the United States.^[8]

Findley is a frequent critic of U.S. foreign policy regarding Israel. Findley is the author of They Dare to Speak Out: People and Institutions Confront Israel's Lobby in which he states that the pro-Israel lobby, notably AIPAC, has undue influence over the United States Congress. He refers to the lobby as "the 700-pound gorilla in Washington".^[9]

A review of the book in the Washington Post stated: "Stripped of all the maudlin martyrdom, former congressman Paul Findley's message is straightforward and valid: Israeli influence in the United States, including in the inner sanctums of government, is very strong."^[10] The New York Times review by Adam Clymer, described the book as "an angry, one-sided book that seems often to be little more than a stringing together of stray incidents ... [it] does not really accept the idea that people of any political point of view are entitled to organize, support their friends and try to defeat the people they think are their enemies".^[1] The review describes the book as "the typical reaction of a Congressman who is offended at being challenged seriously for his seat, especially if the upstart should go so far as to beat him."^[1]

Findley lists the Israeli lobby as one of the factors contributing to his defeat in 1982, alongside the national recession of 1982 and the change of his district's boundaries after the 1980 census. "In seeking gains for Israel, they rigorously stifled dissent and intimidated the entire Congress. They still do. They defeat legislators who criticize Israel. Senators Adlai Stevenson III and Charles H. Percy, and Representatives Pete McCloskey, Cynthia McKinney, Earl F. Hilliard, and myself were defeated at the polls by candidates heavily financed by pro-Israel forces. McKinney alone was able to regain her seat in Congress."^[11]

On the publication of Mearsheimer and Walt's 2006 working paper, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, he wrote: "You can't imagine how pleased I was [...] I think I can pose as a foremost expert on the lobby for Israel, because I was the target the last three years I was in Congress."^[12]

Findley has supported the efforts of the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) to improve the image of Muslims in America.^[13] In a conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Findley said that "the cancer of anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic sentiments was spreading in American society and requires corrective measures to stamp out this malaise."^[13] In May 2006 Findley led a CAIR delegation to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), resulting in a UAE proposal to build a property in the United States to serve as an endowment for CAIR. This proposal amounted to tens of millions of dollars in UAE donations.^[14]