Hussein Al Sheikh, the secretary general of the PLO's executive committee, met with a delegation from AIPAC on Tuesday.
He tweeted, "I discussed with them Palestinian - US relations and many regional and international issues, and stressed the need for a political horizon leading to the 2SS based on international legitimacy."
These contacts began last September, when another AIPAC delegation met Al Sheikh.
AIPAC did not tweet about this meeting.
It seems that Al Sheikh, seen as a potential successor to Mahmoud Abbas, is trying to raise his profile as an international figure. While Abbas holds all the power in the PA and the PLO, arguably Al Sheikh is more powerful than the PA prime minister Mohamed Shtayyeh, since the PA only reports to the PLO.
As far as the AIPAC delegation itself, it is hard to think that they are getting anything out of these meetings. While I can understand their desire to be involved in meetings like this, and not to cede this role to J-Street which also meets with PLO officials, clearly they have no influence over any Palestinian official.
Worse, the photos of the meetings make them look like dupes. In front of the room where they met Al Sheikh are portraits of not only Abbas but murderous terrorist Yasir Arafat:
In the back of the room we can see The Map That Lies:that has been thoroughly debunked; MSNBC, McGraw Hill and others have been forced to apologize for publishing it.
But AIPAC was forced to sit submissively in a room with propaganda lies on one side and a terrorist responsible for killing thousands on the other.
Zionists should never be seen in a room like that.
While I am a supporter of AIPAC, they should have realized how they would be played and insisted on a meeting room that cannot be used as propaganda against them. Especially since they met in the very same room last September!
If AIPAC is going to meet with PLO and PA officials, they should be up front about not only the meetings themselves but also what they want to accomplish with those meetings. Without that, the only narrative is the Palestinian one, and it makes AIPAC look like star-struck puppets of the Palestinian leadership..
The PLO gains a lot politically from meetings like this on the international stage. The powerful Jewish Lobby wants to pay respects to them!
AIPAC - as far as I can tell - gains nothing.
