Former Defense Dep't intelligence analyst Pat Lang picks up a Philip Giraldi piece at antiwar.com, "The J Street Scam":
But the real problem with J Street is that it exists at all. Why should there be a new and powerful lobby in Washington composed of American citizens arguing for a special relationship with any country?... The United States already has too many special interest lobbies promoting policies that do absolutely nothing good for the American people. If Israel has become a rogue state, which it has, the problem must be resolved by the Israelis themselves and the diaspora Jews who believe that they have a stake in the outcome.
and then adds his two cents
Phil gets it right, as usual. IMO Liberal Zionism is a delusion used by progressive diaspora Jews to salve their consciences over Israeli rapacity and political manipulation while yet supporting these actions. pl
someone linked to a article w/video commercial for the israeli mercenary company CST Global in the comment section @ lang’s. eee gads.
sorry for the OT
Giraldi has balls of steel, we could learn a thing or two from him and others (like Weiss, Finkelstein, Ventura, Marc Ellis, Atzmon, Blankfort) who have the courage to stand up and simply say what they see. Excerpts from a bold letter written in ’99:
“Nazis killing Jews has become the paradigm for modern-day genocide, but the Holocaust is hardly unique in the 20th century, which affords numerous examples of mass killing. The politics of mass murder nowadays, as practiced by dictators and democrats alike, is all about killing people with words before you actually shoot them. Perversely, the Holocaust is used to justify killing yet more people; i.e., to “prevent another Holocaust.”
“In short, can anyone deny that most invocations of the Holocaust are cynical and bogus? The Holocaust promoters understand that if you keep saying the same thing over and over again everyone will eventually believe it; i.e., that the Holocaust is the greatest evil in history and justifies special breaks not only for its survivors, but also for their descendants and co-religionists.”
Simply being able to stand up like a man, stare unflichingly at all the evidence and being able to call a spade a spade without a whole lot of Orwellian rhetoric is something which no one who calls themselves a zionist can do. Prove me wrong.
Thanks Phil, I needed to read the Giraldi piece, I wasn’t too sure about J Street, now I am….I agree 100% with Girldi. I wouldn’t be surprised somewhere down the road AIPAC and JStreet joined forces and made a super pro-israeli lobby, invincible…
and thx Annie, I just looked at the Global CST video, interesting they have a few U.S personnel (arm flag patch) in the video, along with the third largest recipient of U.S. aid plugging away for their company, Colombia.
It difficult to disagree with anything Giraldi says in his piece. But I still support J Street because it a gateway movement for many American Jews. Those national conferences allow many to come together and express dissatisfaction with Israeli policies and with the destructive support American Jewish organizations give to those policies.
J Streets positions are internally contradictory and they will have to change or the whole group will become totally irrelevant. But in the meantime many American Zionists, after experiencing that process, will be in a better position to break completely their Zionist identification. So for now, J Street remains a positive movement.
i agree.
I think the leadership of J Street (Ben Ami, Lauria etc) and struggling to keep a lid on the narrative. The base in moving faster than they are, and they will be forced to either catch up or move out of the way.
Right. There are two J-Streets. One is JS-1, the JS of Ben-Ami. Diktator. Manipulator. Pro-Israel, maybe pro-Peace (a piece of this, a piece of that?), but not pro-Human Rights, not pro-Palestinian if it means opposing Israel. Anti-Goldstone, anti-BDS.
The other is JS-2, the JS of the annual attendees (and, one hopes, much of the membership). Vastly far out and ahead of JS-1.
BUT. BUT. When JS-1 speaks and gets JS-2 to sign petitions, the words are those of JS-1. The JS-2 people want a Jewish movement that captures their ideas, someone has talked them out of JVP, but JS-1 is (IMO) a fraud, AIPAC-lite.
Giraldi writes:
” If Israel has become a rogue state, which it has, the problem must be resolved by the Israelis themselves and the diaspora Jews who believe that they have a stake in the outcome. If the latter really want to have an impact, they should turn in their US passports and move to Israel. ”
Are you listening Phil? Giraldi understands that Israel is where the action is, not in the Diaspora.
As I wrote in a previous thread, J street is Kadima or Labor while AIPAC is Likud. Thinking that Kadima or Labor positions are a gateway to non-Zionism is delusional.
But who woudl stay behind and brobe and corrupt the Congressmen and Senators into givign money and weapons to Israel, and veto those UN Resolutions?
Americans really need to recognize that “AIPAC is Likud.” Yet most Americans have never even heard or seen the word Likud. Yet AIPAC is at least as powerful as The Gun Lobby or AARP. What’s wrong with this picture?
J Street is a microcrack in the policy “rock” on this issue. Not to belabor the analogy, but it’s a small opening for the water of reality to seep into the discussion where the “freeze/thaw” cycles of Israeli actions break down the current structure. The process of “spalling” comes to mind.
J Street is just one small factor added to a mix of larger factors, including Mondoweiss, that are necessary for change.
the veneer was thin from the outset
link to wp.me
I read this as a sharp descent into sectarianism on the part of a CNI leadership figuring out how to ensure funding. I mean – what kind of serious lobby group does this sort of thing – calling another organization a ‘tentacle’?
I remember that Helena Cobban, the must respected former executive director of CNI, attended the first J Street conference.
CNI has a long history. Under the current leadership, it is ruining the reputational assets that were inherited.
On the contrary, I find that the new leadership of CNI is continuing the great traditions of the past 18 years, and is expanding their appeal to reach people from all sides of the aisle who care about speaking truth to power, and changing U.S. foreign policy to reflect American ideals and values; addressing issues directly, without dissembling is a rare commodity among organizations, particularly those based in Washington. I applaud their efforts, and am delighted with the combined leadership of Phil Giraldi and Alison Weir, two giants in their fields.
It is disingenuous to cite Helena Cobban as an example, as she was at the helm of CNI for what was it- 2 months?- so that is a pretty irrelevant argument in the context it was made. However, the point that a lot of people had high hopes for J Street, and gave them the benefit of the doubt for a while is true. That many of us have realized that they are simply AIPAC lite, with the same ultimate agenda is a legitimate topic for discussion.
Likud moles inside the Democratic Party
I think that much of the pro-Israel “left” (especially the group around Dennis Ross, Martin Indyk, Aaron David Miller and Haim Saban) has engaged in deliberate deception with regard to their professed interest in achieving a reasonable peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. What they have really been up to is stalling and buying time in endless negotiations that go nowhere while Israel continues to build and consolidate settlements in the occupied territories.
I don’t know for a certainty that J Street is part of this operation, but I would be surprised if they weren’t.
This is why the term “Likud moles” increasingly comes to mind when one surveys the behavior of pro-Israel activists in the Democratic Party over the last two decades. The sum total of their efforts has been to help enable the formation of the most right-wing and intransigent regime in the history of Israel. What else have they accomplished?
Sean, Aaron Miller doesn’t really belong on that list, in my opinion. He’s much more thoughtful and less attached to what the Israeli position is. The others, feh.
clenchner,
Aaron David Miller is one of the key people who helped consolidate my suspicions about the operations of a well-organized faction of Likud moles inside the Democratic Party with this article:
article; Aaron David Miller; The false religion of Mideast peace: and why I’m no longer a believer; Foreign Policy; May/June 2010 link to foreignpolicy.com
Shortly after Obama and Biden tried to confront Netanyahu and Lieberman about Israeli settlements early on in Obama’s term, an army of “leftists” and “pro-peace” activists in the Democratic Party came out of the woodwork in a group to attack Obama and Biden and to protect Netanyahu and Lieberman. Under the threat of imminent forceful American pressure on Israel, they finally made clear to the world the agenda that has been driving them from the start.
What a pity that the American government (especially under Bush senior, Clinton and Obama) has been taken in by them for so long. They’ve been running a scam from day one, and a highly successful one from the standpoint of Likud and Greater Israelists. They have managed to deflect, obstruct and sabotage all meaningful pressure by the American government on the Israeli government under the pretense of seeking a peace agreement.
“…Aaron David Miller is one of the key people who helped consolidate my suspicions about the operations of a well-organized faction of Likud moles inside the Democratic Party with this article…”
You’re not alone! I too have noticed our “two-faced wonder” in the Democratic Party. Often ‘trying’ to play the role of good cop vs. bad cop in the Likud faction. Seen his latest?
Taster: “…Moreover, as criticism of Israel grows on the part of Islamists, liberal democrats, and secular nationalists, Washington will have to push back. Based on past behavior, its inclination under these circumstances will not be to pile on the Israelis, but to try to reassure them in matters relating to their security and relations with their Arab neighbors…”
The subtle underlying message that I got: I’m warning you Obama don’t you dare break up with Israel — and become “self-destructive” — because “Washington” will break you! Bottom line: Keep “Israel” safe, and pay attention and keep the Democratic Party in line.
Sand,
Bingo — you get it, and an excellent pointer to Aaron David Miller’s latest revelation about his real agenda.
Let me repeat: I am arguing that the supposed pro-peace camp in the Democratic Party for the last few decades, largely organized around Dennis Ross, has been engaging in *deliberate deception* on behalf of the agenda of Likud and Greater Israelists. The failure to achieve a peace agreement has not been the result of ineptitude but of ruthless and cunning manipulation. Under their watch, Israel has been given the leeway to expand and consolidate its settlements program in the occupied territories.
If my read of the situation is correct, the implications are quite staggering. For the United States to get on a positive course in Mideast policy will require flushing out most of the team which has been deliberately undermining and sabotaging negotiations for the last few decades. They must all go.