JIM & ANNE BEVIS PARTICIPATE IN THIRD AIPAC CONFERENCE

Jim and Anne Bevis traveled in March to Washington, D.C. in March to participate in their third AIPAC Policy Conference. AIPAC (The American Israel Public Affairs Committee) is America’s largest and most influential pro-Israel lobbying organization. Over 8,000 attended this years meeting at the Washington D.C. Convention Center, March 21-23. AIPAC and its 200,000 plus members, mostly Jews, are committed to strengthening the relationship between Israel and the United States. AIPAC is a bi-partisanl effort to influence the U.S. Administration and the Houses of Congress to support Israel and her right as a nation to exist and to defend herself against all aggression. Israel has long been recognized as the only genuine democracy in the Middle East and many consider Israel America’s only true friend in the Middle East. Undoubtedly, the United States is Israel’s strongest ally.

Jim and Anne were among some three hundred Christian friends invited by AIPAC to participate in their annual gathering. AIPAC is primarily an organization made up of Jewish people living in the United States. In recent years, AIPAC has opened their doors to select Christian participation.

Jim and Anne both participated in many of the AIPAC sessions. Jim served as a panelist on a workshop focusing on “Why Evangelicals Support Israel.” At the Southeastern dinner at AIPAC, Jim gave a testimony to the group of several hundred as to why he and Anne supported Israel and AIPAC. In addition, Anne sang the national anthem at one of the dinner meetings.

Speakers at the 2010 AIPAC event included Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and a number of United States Senators and Congressmen. While in Washington, Jim and Anne were privileged to go with other conferees from Alabama to meet with Senator Jeff Sessions, Senator Richard Shelby and Congressman Parker Griffith. Most of the AIPAC conferees descended on Capitol Hill on the final afternoon of the conference to encourage their representatives to support Israel.

Jim and Anne joined as members of AIPAC in 2008 after Jim participated in a Strategic Briefing trip to Israel in late 2007. Jim and Anne were two of approximately 100 delegates attending the Washington conference from Alabama. They were the only two attending from the Shoals.As a part of their commitment to AIPAC, Jim and Anne have hosted two AIPAC meetings in the Shoals, one in their home and one at the local Jewish synagogue, co-hosted by Bnai Israel, the Jewish synagogue in the Shoals.

Regarding the 2010 AIPAC event, Jim and Anne were quoted as saying, “This was our third trip to the AIPAC conference. Each time we go we learn more and come home better informed regarding Israel and the Jewish people and how we can be true friends of Israel. We have been accepted warmly by the AIPAC members. We feel more ‘at home’ each time we gather with these outstanding Jewish people from throughout the United States. We love Israel, the Jewish people and AIPAC. AIPAC is one of the organizations that give us the opportunity to ‘walk out’ our special friendship with the Jews.”