Akiva Eldar in Haaretz says what no one can write here, partly because he frankly talks about who is Jewish. This is about Jewish political identity by the way. He is saying what I say: that Palestinian statelessness is an American Jewish achievement. Who will liberate the Jews? Irony alert in first paragraph.
The U.S. regime operates, of course, along different lines than the Egyptian. Its politicians uphold their ideals and are not vulnerable to temptations offered by organizations that help raise funds and enlist voters for them.
Take, for example, Representative Gary Ackerman, the veteran congressman from New York. In a debate that took place just a year ago in Congress, this Jewish Democrat mentioned in the same breath Palestinian terror and Israeli settlements, the excavation of tunnels in Gaza and digs in the Holy Basin of Jerusalem. It was only natural that in the last election, Ackerman was supported by the Jewish American peace organization, J Street.
Last week Ackerman published an open letter in which he announced that he had cut off ties with J Street because its leaders had called on Obama to refrain from vetoing the U.N. Security Council decision to term the settlements illegitimate and to condemn Israel for expanding them. The heads of J Street made a point of noting that they support an exchange of territories that would take into consideration settlements near the Green Line. Ackerman accused J Street of assisting Israel’s enemies in isolating the country instead of blaming the Palestinians for refusing to negotiate an end to the occupation. Ackerman’s behavior couldn’t possibly be related to the fact that his electoral district contains many Jews who support the settlements and outposts. Things like that only happen in backward countries.
