MJ Rosenberg has published what he calls a groundbreaking admission by a congressional staffer in an appeal for congressional signatures: that a letter to President Obama signed by four leading congresspeople that urges him to punish Palestine for daring to upgrade its status at the UN is supported by AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

The tradition is that AIPAC operated as a “night flower,” in Steve Rosen’s famous description, and couldn’t tolerate sunlight.

The signers of the Obama letter (whom MJ Rosenberg calls Israel Firsters) are Republicans Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, Ed Royce of California, and Dems Howard Berman of California and Eliot Engel of NY. The staffer who wrote the letter seeking other signatures works for Ros Lehtinen. Her appeal as distributed is below; here are Rosenberg’s tweets on the subject:

In a first, AIPAC letter from Congressmen demanding punishment 4 Palestine mentions AIPAC up front… AIPAC drafted letter from 4 Israel First Congressmen, soon to be signed by House, demanding Palestinians be punished.

The letter:



Congressional letter citing AIPAC support



Congressional letter part 2

P.S. It seems to have happened before, in this Eric Cantor-Steny Hoyer letter to Obama, back in ’09.