Moran Should 'retract His Remarks' About Israel Lobby, Hoyer Says

With the approach of fall, Washington’s temperate climate again exhibits a delightful array of natural cycles. With the cool air and shorter days, green chlorophyll in tree leaves breaks down, unleashing the brilliant orange and yellow hues of autumn. The majestic monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) begins its annual 2,000-mile migration to the oyamel fir forests of Mexico. And Rep. Jim Moran gets accused of being an anti-Semite.

It hardly seems newsworthy anymore. Moran, a Virginia Democrat, got himself in hot water last week telling a Jewish magazine that the pro-Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, was enormously influential in pushing for war in Iraq. He also said AIPAC’s “ties to certain newspapers and magazines and individuals in the media are substantial and intimidating.”

Those comments drew more than a few rebukes, the latest from House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.

“I think the remarks that I've heard or were reported I think were factually incorrect,” Hoyer said. “I think they did adopt a canard that is not -- absolutely is not true, that somehow the Jewish community controls the press, the media, the Congress and other institutions has been used by those who are anti-Semitic for a very long period of time.”