According to the organization's website, founder Alison Weir traveled independently throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2001, where she found a situation she considered to be different from what was being reported by the American media. She stated that the U.S. press portrayal was significantly at odds with that reported by media throughout the rest of the world, and that American citizens were being misinformed and uninformed on what she considered one of the most significant issues affecting them today. Weir therefore founded an organization that would reflect what she considered to be a more objective viewpoint. In addition to its information website, If Americans Knew places billboards and advertisements about Israel, Palestine and the U.S. and founder Weir publishes articles and op-eds about the topic.
Positions
The organization's stated goal is "to inform and educate the American public on issues of major significance that are unreported, underreported, or misreported in the American media," going on to say: "It is the goal of If Americans Knew to inform the American public accurately about . Most of all, it is to inform Americans about our enormous, and too often invisible, personal connection to it.". If Americans Knew maintains that U.S. media are consistently Israeli-centric in their reporting, finding that a great many of the journalists reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have family and personal ties to the Israeli military." If Americans Knew holds that United States' support of Israel should be reduced on the grounds that it is not in American interest or aligned with American principles, costs American taxpayers billions, is increasingly imperiling American lives, and prevents peace. Executive Director Alison Weir writes that ending U.S. military aid to Israel would "help bring peace to the Middle East, build a safer world and alleviate massive misery." It asserts that U.S. support of Israel has long been driven by lobbying on behalf of a foreign government, often via AIPAC, over the objections of State Department and Pentagon experts, and in recent years by the efforts of a "growing number of individuals with close ties to Israel " in high-level U.S. Government positions. If Americans Knew published a study critical of The New York Times coverage of Israeli and Palestinian deaths, and met with then New York TimesPublic EditorDaniel Okrent to discuss their study. In subsequent column Okrent mentioned the meeting but dismissed IAK's conclusions.
Reception
If Americans Knew was condemned for antisemitism by Jewish Voice for Peace, U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation and the Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League has called If Americans Knew one of several "anti-Israel organization", and further asserts that "Weir's criticism of Israel has, at times, crossed the line into anti-Semitism." They cited Weir's use of a quotation by Israel Shahak that characterized beliefs of certain Israelis as "such a ruthless and supremacist faith." Weir herself stated that she considered this quoted characterization as not pertaining to the mainstream of Judaism, and has demanded that the ADL correct what she termed "defamatory and inaccurate statements." The ADL voiced concern about an article written by board member Paul Findley in which he blamed America's relationship with Israel for the September 11 attacks. If Americans Knew has been lauded by the media monitoring organization Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting and termed 'valuable'.
