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I'll be honest. I would take Aipac money. I can see how there could be an optics issue but as long as I still uphold that Bibi is a war criminal, Palestine should be a country, and the genocide is real/Israel needs to fix and gtfo of occupied areas.
Pretty sure I wouldn't get donations from Aipac to start but if they're stupid enough to donate to me I don't see why I shouldn't spend their money and go about my business.
I’d recommend reading the book Influence by Robert Cialdini. It talks about six mechanisms that are most effective in making people do things, one of which is reciprocity. Getting something from someone makes us significantly more likely to do something for them.
You might believe you’re above these mechanisms of influence, and you may truly be mindful enough to avoid a lot of them, but these things work on our psyche at a deep level and it’s unlikely you’re immune to them.
All of this to say that if you’re ever in a place to accept money or things from people you disagree with or don’t like, think reeeally hard about whether you’d be willing to eventually compromise on your values for that freebie. Because you might eventually find yourself doing that unconsciously.
If you're the kind of person that feels bad when a friend pays for your dinner then taking thousands of dollars in AIPAC money would influence that relationship in their favor, even if it's you picking up the phone whenever they call.
The reason not to is because of the optics. People will always assume anyone you're accepting money from you'll show favoritism towards either consciously or unconsciously. That is generally how ~~bribery~~campaign finance works these days. Large corporation, state, or billionaire "donates" to a politician, and in exchange they get to write whatever legislation they want or get the politician to vote for or against anything they want.
Feels like you assume lobbyists are incompetent & that they don't own you.
What if they make up an important share of your CF, the loss of their monies would default you?
It's an extremely stupid system to exist, but it's encoded in the legislation & practices.
And this is without even acknowledging the morals of it all - I would automatically try to distance from ppl that take/have gotten money from such sources.
Nah, I just already have turned down large chunks of money and changed careers over my moral stance without compromising it. Pretty sure I could do the same, much as Irwin took money from whoever and then turned around and put it into conservation regardless.
The only responsible way to take that money is to donate it all to Palestine.