Last week J Street blasted Sarah Palin for her loopy comments about Israel and its colonies and a friend just pointed out to me that J Street does not mention the Palestinians in its attack (which has since come under attack from Abe Foxman). The closest it comes is saying "those actually living the conflict." I wonder if this is part of J Street’s pro-Israel messaging: not to mention Palestinians by name, as it might upset the centrist Jews whom it is trying to take away from AIPAC. From Jeremy Ben-Ami’s statement:
Palin’s pandering to her right-wing base comes at the expense of the security of the State of Israel, the lives of those actually living the conflict, and the fundamental American interest in achieving a two-state solution in the near term. Her words reveal a glaring ignorance of damaging facts and a callous disregard of past and present U.S. policy.
For decades, American presidents have held that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are an impediment to peace. They are joined by the majority of Israelis and pro-Israel Americans who view the growing settlement enterprise as a threat to Israel’s very future as a Jewish democracy.
I don’t think this is avoiding the term “Palestinian”, it’s ignoring the fact Palestinian.
Ben-Ami’s only concern is whether the settlements are Good For The Jews, and the Palestinians are entirely irrelevant.
Aw, come on Phil. Now you’re just nitpicking.
I disagree. This goes to the moral and political weakness of J-Street. In omitting the word “Palestinians”, J-Street is neglecting to explain why exactly the settlements (and Palin) are wrong. It’s really not because of any effect they might have on the state of Israel or “American interests”. It’s because they are colonies, maintained through an apartheid system which violates the rights of Palestinians.
Actually, this is not surprising at all. Myself and the others at the local Peace Action chapter with which I volunteer have noticed that the anti-occupation movement has two general sweeps of movement, and which sweep an organization belongs to is contingent upon whether that particular organization has Palestinians and Palestinian Americans participating in it. Peace Action, at least at the local level, does.
Groups that don’t actively include Palestinians or at least seek out Palestinian input (like, J Street, if you’ll permit me to give them the benefit of the doubt about their motives for the sake of argument because I don’t believe anymore they deserve it) tend to, well… ignore the whole notion that the Palestinians need to be asked what they want. Or, as you point out, whether they even get talked about directly at all.
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