Is the Israel Lobby on your back? Call the Fixer

10 February 2007

Related:

The Independent (UK), "Architects threaten to boycott Israel over 'apartheid' barrier," February 10, 2007

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article344510.ece

Muhammad Cartoons: http://cryptome.org/muhammad.htm

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The New Yorker, February 12, 2007 (article not online)

Annals of Communications

The Fixer

Why New Yorkers Call Howard Rubenstein when they've got a problem

By Ken Auletta

[Excerpt]

George Arzt, who was a political reporter for the New York Post and press secretary to Mayor Edward I. Koch and now runs his own P.R. firm, recently watched Rubenstein come to the rescue of someone's good name -- in this case, that of Lord Richard Rogers, the British architect who had contracts for a number of New York projects, including the redesign of the Javits Center and the expansion of Silvercup Studios, in Queens. Last February, Rogers lent his London office to a group called Architects and Planners tor Justice in Palestine, who discussed the possibility of boycotting architects and construction firms building Israel's separation barrier and West Bank settlements, saying in a statement that they were "complicit in social, political, and economic oppression." The British press reported these statements, and when New York officials like Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Representative Anthony Weiner learned about them they demanded that Rogers's New York government contracts be cancelled; other Jewish leaders chimed in, and editorials followed.

Rogers, who had billions of dollars' worth of projects at stake, said that he had nothing to do with the group and had left the office before the discussion took place. "I can't begin to tell you how terrifying this was," he told me. Frantic, he called friends in America asking for advice, and they uniformly recommended that he hire Rubenstein, whom he had never heard of. When the two spoke, Rubenstein said, "I don't think I will be able to get you out of this mess," but they agreed nevertheless to meet that Sunday at New York's Four Seasons Hotel.

At the hotel, Rogers told Rubenstein that his wife was Jewish, that his grandparents were Jewish, that he had completed projects in Israel -- and that he was dumbfounded by the whole affair, because he disagreed with the resolution.

Rubenstein pointed out that the controversy had been building in the British press for two weeks and that Rogers had remained silent. Rogers explained that he had been in the hospital recuperating from a serious operation, and was unaware of the controversy.

"I believed him," Rubenstein says. He began to make calls to anyone who could help, including the leaders of an umbrella group called the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; Rubenstein is not a member, but he is an adviser to the Jewish Community Relations Council and as such attends conference meetings. He told them that he had just had a cathartic session with Rogers, and put Rogers on the line. "Whenever he phoned anybody, they all answered," Rogers recalled.

A meeting was arranged. Friends warned Rubenstein that it would be tough for Rogers, and Rubenstein advised Rogers to denounce the resolution passed by the architects, which he did. He arranged for Rogers to be interviewed by the Post, where Rogers was quoted as saying, "Hamas must renounce terrorism." Next, Rogers went to the headquarters of the Jewish Communitv Relations Council, to a meeting attended by Silver, Weiner and representatives of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. For more than an hour, Rogers fielded questions; Rogers left when they debated what to do, but Rubenstein was invited to stay. The group decided that Rogers was "naive," not mendacious. Rubenstein helped to organize a press conference to announce their decision. The News, which was set to run a piece by Ed Koch denouncing Rogers, cancelled the column.

"I have no doubt it was worked out by Rubenstein," Koch says, admiringly, although he still doesn't believe that Rogers absolved himself. Silver says that no one but Rubenstein could have orchestrated that meeting.

George Arzt, reflecting on the event, says, "P.R. in this town is nothing more than connecting the dots to the right people. You're paid for your experience." Rubenstein, looking back, abandoned his customary modesty and said of Rogers, "In a matter of a week, I helped reverse a disaster for him." Of Rubenstein, Rogers said, "He's just like a magician. He makes things disappear."