During every single speech from the AIPAC Policy Conference’s general sessions, where the entire population in attendance assembled in the Verizon Center, it felt to me as if the audience applauded every two minutes. If the speaker said something that most of the audience even vaguely agreed with, and of course there were a ton of sound bites like that during all of the pro-Israel speakers’ speeches, then the entire room burst out in a roaring applause. In fact, the lowest two sections of the arena were lit up when the audience stood up for a standing ovation, as if it was a cue for everyone to get up and clap!
I found the constant, repetitive applause somewhat exasperating. I mean, couldn’t we all let the speaker say more than a handful of sentences in one shot? But it was also exhilarating to stand up and be a part of such a massive crowd, to applaud and celebrate politicians, leaders and citizens espousing pro-Israel views. That is, until Donald Trump began to speak.
Enough has been said elsewhere about Trump’s inflammatory statements, racism and fear-mongering; I don’t think I need to get into specifics here. But I want to touch on his speech at AIPAC, especially about how the audience reacted during the speech itself.
Ever since it was announced that Trump would be speaking at the conference, there was a ton of speculation surrounding what would actually happen when he spoke. Would the audience like him? Would he be heckled or booed? People had even circulated petitions to have a large group walk out of the stadium when Trump came on. AIPAC itself, during its first general session and in emails sent to the Policy Conference participants, kept on stressing the idea that the attendees had to respect the speakers even if they disagreed with them. It appeared to me that even those in the upper echelons of the organization were nervous about what would happen with Trump, even though they must’ve welcomed the extra media attention. (I doubt AIPAC usually gets so much mainstream media attention, even during other election years.)
To AIPAC’s credit, there was no long, drawn-out introduction before Trump ascended the circular stage. He got the same “Election 2016” video banner on the Jumbotron that all of the other candidates got. (I was wondering if he’d get a montage showing his past pro-Israel moments or his Jewish daughter, Ivanka.) Then it began: the speech we had all been waiting for, albeit for all of the wrong reasons. There was no mass walkout; I saw one protester, but that seemed to be it. (After the conference I found out that the protester was Rabbi Shmuel Hertzfeld of Washington, DC; he wrote a fascinating piece in the Washington Post about his thought process during his protest.)
Trump began to speak about how he didn’t plan on pandering to the audience (ha!), the Iran Deal and how bad it is and his ideas for policies surrounding Israel. Of course he came down decisively on Israel’s side, given whom he was talking to—he spoke of securing Israel, of moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and even of Ivanka and her upcoming (at the time) baby. (He said, with a straight face, that Ivanka could be having the baby right as he spoke…) I could create a highlight reel of his “best lines,” which included “You see, I know about deal-making. That’s what I do. I wrote The Art of the Deal” and a constant repetition of “Believe me.”
So here’s where the audience reactions, as I spoke about above, come in. Every time Trump said something that the audience somewhat agreed with, just like with all of the other speakers, it applauded. The reactions weren’t any less intense given who was speaking; if anything, the audience reacted more vigorously and got on its feet quite a few times! As I sat in the stands, in the highest section of the stadium (the base Policy Conference tickets only get you so far), I started to feel more and more disturbed. After what Donald Trump had said in the past, after all of the hatred and racism, this crowd—this predominantly Jewish crowd!—was applauding him constantly!
Confession: At first, I joined in a bit. I mean, I agreed with some of the pro-Israel ideas he was saying, and the whole crowd was applauding, so why not join on? I later realized that this was a mistake—and refused to join the applause when he started insulting the current president and other candidates. Yet the AIPAC crowd still went wild when he said “yay!” after mentioning that this is President Obama’s last year in the White House!
I mean, regardless of how I feel about the president, I can’t applaud an ad hominem attack like that…
Later on, it became clear that statements Trump had made like that were not a part of the “plan”—he had veered off the teleprompter, ad-libbing on top of the planned (and presumably AIPAC–approved) speech. While I didn’t stay for the next day of the Conference, I heard in the news that AIPAC apologized and distanced itself from the inflammatory remarks.
Thinking back on it now, hearing Trump’s AIPAC speech was in some ways a novel experience; I got to see and hear someone so famous/infamous in person. Yet it’s also one of the most disturbing phenomena I think I’ll ever have been a part of. I do think people have a right to form their own opinions; if some, many or even most of the participants at AIPAC actually do think Trump should be the next president, I’ll strongly disagree with them but I know they have a right to that opinion. Yet the AIPAC applause felt less like true agreement and more like mob mentality. It’s as if because he says something that you can agree with, you applauded, or if everyone’s applauding, you should join in. I found myself falling into this trap during the speech, and don’t know how many other people did, but I want to call it out for what it is. A mob mentality like this doesn’t solve anything, it doesn’t help America or Israel at all—it just causes us to blindly follow demagogues because their speeches sound good and because everyone else seems to be egging him on.
By Oren Oppenheim
Oren Oppenheim, 18, is a senior at Ramaz Upper School in Manhattan and lives in Fair Lawn, NJ. He spends his free time writing and reading, and hopes to become a published novelist and a journalist. You can email him at [email protected] and see his photography at Facebook.com/orenphotography.
