''The Lobby'' is a series of documentaries produced by
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazee ...
that investigate the influence of the
Israel lobby in the United Kingdom
''The Israel lobby in the United Kingdom'' is a term sometimes used to describe individuals and groups which seek to influence the foreign policy of the United Kingdom in favour of bilateral ties with Israel, Zionism, Israel, or the policies o ...
and the
Israel lobby in the United States
The Israel lobby (at times called the Zionist lobby) are individuals and groups seeking to influence the United States government to better serve Israel's interests. The largest pro-Israel lobbying group is Christians United for Israel with over ...
and their relationship to the
BDS movement
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel. Its objective is to pressure Israel to meet what the BDS movement describes as Israel's obligations ...
.
First series (''The Lobby'')
In the UK, the
National Union of Students,
Jewish Labour Movement
{{Infobox organization
, name = Jewish Labour Movement
, pronounce =
, nickname =
, named_after =
, logo = JewishLabourMovementLogo.png
, image_border =
, size ...
,
Union of Jewish Students
The Union of Jewish Students of the United Kingdom and Ireland (UJS) represents Jewish students in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is a member of the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) and the European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS) and ...
,
Conservative Friends of Israel
Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) is a British parliamentary group affiliated to the Conservative Party, which is dedicated to strengthening business, cultural and political ties between the United Kingdom and Israel, as well as between the B ...
,
Labour Friends of Israel
Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) is a group in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that promotes support for a strong bilateral relationship between Britain and Israel, and seeks to strengthen ties between the British Labour Party and the Isra ...
and other UK based pro-Israel groups were profiled. Additionally, the series explores claims of
antisemitism in the Labour Party and also the role of MP
Joan Ryan.
Production
Using undercover techniques, the film relied primarily on
fly on the wall
Fly on the wall is a style of documentary-making used in film and television production. The name derived from the idea that events are seen candidly, as a fly on a wall might see them. In the purest form of fly-on-the-wall documentary-making, t ...
footage using a surreptitious
bodycam
A body camera, bodycam, body worn video (BWV), body-worn camera, or wearable camera is a wearable audio, video, or photographic recording system.
Body cameras have a range of uses and designs, of which the best-known use is as a part of poli ...
and other cameras whose presence were not known to those being filmed. The film took six months to make and was broadcast on
al Jazeera
Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazee ...
in January 2017.
Themes
* Targeting pro-Palestinian politicians: a conversation between Shai Masot, an official at the
Israeli embassy in London, and a British
civil servant
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
was recorded. In the recording, Masot discussed his desire to "take down" British politicians, including
Alan Duncan
Sir Alan James Carter Duncan (born 31 March 1957) is a British former Conservative Party politician who served as Minister of State for International Development from 2010 to 2014 and as Minister of State for Europe and the Americas from 20 ...
, then
Minister of State for Europe and the Americas, who was a critic of Israeli settlements.
The British civil servant said
Crispin Blunt
Crispin Jeremy Rupert Blunt (born 15 July 1960) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Reigate since 1997. A member of the Conservative Party, he was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prisons and ...
, whom Masot described as "strongly pro-Arab rather than pro-Israel", was on a "hitlist".
* Supporting lobbying groups: Masot was also recorded setting up a pro-Israel youth organisation, which he intended to link to the existing
Labour Friends of Israel
Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) is a group in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that promotes support for a strong bilateral relationship between Britain and Israel, and seeks to strengthen ties between the British Labour Party and the Isra ...
.
He was also recorded telling
Joan Ryan, Chair of Labour Friends of Israel, that he had £1 million to fund trips to Israel.
* Allegations of antisemitism:
Joan Ryan was shown arguing with
Labour Party member and pro-Palestine activist Jean Fitzpatrick about a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestine at the 2016 Labour Party Conference. Ryan lodged a formal complaint of antisemitic behaviour as a result of this conversation. Her account of the incident was disputed and her complaint was later dismissed. Fitzpatrick told al Jazeera that "If you do talk about Palestine, it would appear you're kind of sucked into having an accusation of anti-Semitism brought against you". The film also included an interview with
Jackie Walker, who was accused of antisemitism in relation to remarks she made at the conference. Walker told al Jazeera that "I would say there is a crisis in the way the anti-Semitism is being manipulated and being used by certain parts – not just in the Labour Party but other parties and the media to discredit Jeremy Corbyn and a number of his supporters".
Consequences and responses
The Israeli ambassador,
Mark Regev
Mark Regev ( he, מארק רגב; born 1960) is a former Israeli diplomat and civil servant who is currently the chair of the Abba Eban Institute for Diplomacy and Foreign Relations at Reichman University. Between June 2020 and April 2021, he ser ...
apologized to Alan Duncan for the comments made by Masot.
Masot was sent back to Israel and resigned, as did the civil servant involved.
The
Shadow Foreign Secretary,
Emily Thornberry
Emily Anne Thornberry (born 27 July 1960) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington South and Finsbury since 2005. A member of the Labour Party, she has served as Shadow Attorney General for England and Wale ...
, called on the Commons foreign affairs committee to conduct an inquiry into what appeared to be improper interference in British politics by a foreign power.
The
Leader of the Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
,
Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialis ...
, wrote to the
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
along the same lines.
Alex Salmond
Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond (; born 31 December 1954) is a Scottish politician and economist who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure on the Scottish nationalist movement, he has served as leader ...
, the
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from th ...
’s foreign affairs spokesman, asked for a full investigation, while Crispin Blunt questioned whether Israel's interests were best served by such methods.
However,
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as ...
, then
Foreign Secretary
The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwe ...
, rejected calls to take action against the Israeli embassy and said that he regarded the matter as closed.
The
National Union of Students said it was investigating alleged attempts to influence last year’s leadership election, which saw its first black, Muslim, female president
Malia Bouattia
Malia Mazia Bouattia (born 22 October 1987) is the former president of the National Union of Students (NUS) of the United Kingdom, elected at the National Conference in April 2016. She was the first female Black British[Ofcom
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...]
rejected complaints that the series was
antisemitic
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Ant ...
or had breached impartiality rules.
Second series (''The Lobby – USA'')
A US version of the film, on the
Israel lobby in the United States
The Israel lobby (at times called the Zionist lobby) are individuals and groups seeking to influence the United States government to better serve Israel's interests. The largest pro-Israel lobbying group is Christians United for Israel with over ...
, was made, in which an Al Jazeera reporter named James Anthony Kleinfeld had infiltrated several pro-Israel advocacy organizations in
Washington, D.C. including
Stand With Us
Stand or The Stand may refer to:
* To assume the upright position of standing
* Forest stand, a group of trees
* Area of seating in a stadium, such as bleachers
* Stand (cricket), a relationship between two players
* Stand (drill pipe), 2 or 3 ...
,
Brandeis Center,
The Israel Project
The Israel Project (TIP) was a US-based 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-government organization. According to TIP, it was not affiliated with any government, and according to its website, it had a team with decades of experience in media, government, ...
, the
Foundation for Defense of Democracies, the
Israel on Campus Coalition, the
Zionist Organization of America
The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) () is an American non-profit pro-Israel organization. Founded in 1897, as the Federation of American Zionists, it was the first official Zionist organization in the United States. Early in the 20th centur ...
's (ZOA) Fuel For Truth, and the
Canary Mission
Canary Mission is a website established in 2014 that compiles dossiers on student activists, professors, and organizations, focusing primarily on those at North American universities, which it considers be anti-Israel or antisemitic and has said th ...
.
One of the major claims in the film is that Israeli-American
real estate investor
Real estate investing involves the purchase, management and sale or rental of real estate for profit. Someone who actively or passively invests in real estate is called a real estate entrepreneur or a real estate investor. Some investors actively ...
Adam Milstein
Adam Milstein ( he, אדם מילשטיין; born 1952) is an Israeli-American real estate investor, lobbyist and philanthropist. He is a managing partner of Hager Pacific Properties.
In 2000, Milstein and his wife Gila founded the Adam and G ...
, a major donor to pro-Israel campus groups, funds Canary Mission, an anonymous website that records and shames people it believes "promote hatred of the USA, Israel and Jews on North American college campuses". Critics have accused Canary Mission of intimidating pro-Palestinian activists and threatening them with
blacklisting
Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...
.
The evidence for the claim is an exchange between Al-Jazeera's undercover reporter "Tony" who is posing as an intern and Eric Gallagher, an employee at
The Israel Project
The Israel Project (TIP) was a US-based 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-government organization. According to TIP, it was not affiliated with any government, and according to its website, it had a team with decades of experience in media, government, ...
:
In a statement to ''
JTA'', a spokesperson for Milstein denied that he funded Canary Mission. The spokesperson also provided an email from Gallagher where he denied having referred to Milstein.
Blocked screening and subsequent leak
On October 11, 2017, Al Jazeera announced that it had installed an undercover journalist inside several Washington–based pro-Israel organisations in 2016 and that it was planning to air a documentary film based on the reporter's work.
Clayton Swisher
Clayton E. Swisher is an American former journalist and author, who now works as a geopolitical risk analyst. Formerly the Director of Investigative Journalism for the Al Jazeera Media Network in Doha, Qatar, he now heads Swisher Empirical Studie ...
, Al Jazeera's director of investigative reporting, also acknowledged that the network had stationed an undercover journalist in both the UK and US at the same time.
On February 8, 2018, it was reported that Qatari leaders had reassured the leaders of Jewish American organisations that Al Jazeera would not be airing the US companion series. According to ''
Haaretz
''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner ...
'', the Qatari government had reportedly hired
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
Senator
Ted Cruz
Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas fro ...
's former aide
Nicolas Muzin to open communications channels with Jewish American organisations. Earlier, the network had sent letters to several American pro-Israel organisations informing them that their employees would appear in the documentary. These letters generated speculation that the Qatari government had reneged on its earlier promise to block Al Jazeera from screening the controversial documentary which, like the earlier British series, had utilized clandestine footage and recordings of pro-Israel activists.
Al Jazeera's decision not to screen the documentary drew criticism from Clayton Swisher, who accused the network of capitulation to outside pressure. Swisher said that the practice of using undercover investigators "is used by many international broadcasters, including BBC and CNN, and is carefully managed, through multiple layers of legal and editorial review, to ensure it is performed consistently with local laws, industry regulations, and our own Code of Ethics". Swisher took a sabbatical from Al Jazeera due to the network's failure to respond to attacks on the project and the lack of transparency around the network's decision to delay the broadcast.
In March 2018, a bipartisan group of US lawmakers including
Democratic Congressman
Josh Gottheimer
Joshua S. Gottheimer ( ; born March 8, 1975) is an American attorney, writer, and public policy adviser who has served as the U.S. representative for since 2017. The district stretches along the northern border of the state from New York City' ...
, Republican Congressman
Lee Zeldin
Lee Michael Zeldin (born January 30, 1980) is an American attorney, politician, and officer in the United States Army Reserve. A Republican, he has represented New York's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representativ ...
, and Ted Cruz penned a letter urging
United States Attorney General
The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
Jeff Sessions
Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 84th United States Attorney General from 2017 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as United States ...
to investigate whether Al Jazeera should register as a
foreign agent
A foreign agent is any person or entity actively carrying out the interests of a foreign country while located in another host country, generally outside the protections offered to those working in their official capacity for a diplomatic missio ...
under the
Foreign Agents Registration Act
The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)2 U.S.C. § 611 ''et seq.'' is a United States law that imposes public disclosure obligations on persons representing foreign interests. . They also urged the
Justice Department
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
to investigate reports that the network had infiltrated non-profit organisations and accused Al Jazeera of broadcasting antisemitic, anti-Israel, and anti-American content. On April 10, 2018, the Zionist Organization of America's president
Morton Klein
Morton A. "Mort" Klein (born 1947) is a German-born American economist, statistician, and pro-Israeli activist. He is the president of the Zionist Organization of America. In 2004, he was named one of the top five Jewish leaders in the United St ...
claimed credit for lobbying the Qatari government not to screen Al Jazeera's companion documentary series focusing on American pro-Israel lobby.
In late August and early September 2018, leaked portions of the documentary series were aired by several outlets including
The Electronic Intifada
''The Electronic Intifada'' (''EI'') is an online Chicago-based publication covering the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. It describes itself as not-for-profit, independent, and providing a Palestinian perspective.
History
''EI'' was founded in ...
. In early November, The Electronic Intifada released the four episodes of ''The Lobby—USA'' simultaneously with the French media outlet ''Orient XXI'' and the Lebanese newspaper ''
Al Akhbar''. Al Jazeera issued a statement condemning its release.
Reception
Asa Winstanley called ''The Lobby'' a "superb undercover investigation."
The ''
Jewish Chronicle
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
'' dismissed the film as "the stupid bragging of two junior aides with close to zero influence".
Ali Abunimah
Ali Hasan Abunimah ( ar, علي حسن ابو نعمة, Arabic: ; born December 29, 1971) is a Palestinian-American journalist who has been described as "the leading American proponent of a one-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian confl ...
called ''The Lobby - USA'' a really "important film."
See also
*''
The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
''The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy'' is a book by John Mearsheimer, Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, and Stephen Walt, Professor of International Relations at Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University, publ ...
''
*''
All the Prime Minister's Men
''All the Prime Minister's Men'' is a 2021 English investigative documentary on Bangladesh published by the Qatar-based international media Al Jazeera, alleging corruption against powerful political and military figures in Bangladesh. The documen ...
''
References
External links
The LobbyThe Lobby – USAIMDB - The LobbyIMDB - the Lobby - USA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lobby TV Series
Al Jazeera
Israel–United Kingdom relations
Documentary films about antisemitism
Documentary films about American politics
Documentary films about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Documentary films about British politics
Films about propaganda
Labour Party (UK)
Lobbying in the United Kingdom
Political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom
Political television series
Zionism in the United Kingdom