Jeffrey Goldberg embraces J Street at his blog. (Thanks to Ali Gharib) He says they’re right in line with the George Washington of Zionism, Ben-Gurion.
[In 1967] Ben-Gurion said that Israel cannot be an occupier of Arabs. He was right then, and J Street is right now. If Shimon Peres is to be considered a Zionist; if Rabin is considered to have been a Zionist; and if David Ben-Gurion is to have been considered a Zionist, well, then J Street is Zionist as well. It is not heroic in the manner of these men, but neither are most of Israel’s current leaders, and nor are the leaders of American Jewry today.
Couple comments. This is significant in terms of Israeli opinion, which Goldberg has the ability to affect. Goldberg, who attacked the settlers in the New York Times 2 years back and then did nothing to follow up, is catching up. David Remnick and Peter Beinart have already claimed this territory, as writers. Note the jab at American Jewish leadership; this was Beinart’s theme of a year back which Goldberg challenged at the time.
Also note the embrace of Zionism. Old school. Jewish Voice for Peace’s Cecilie Surasky said two weeks ago, We avoid the word Zionism. We don’t see the point in getting in fights over the term. We focus on human rights. This wisdom is bubbling up in American progressive life and American Jewry and Goldberg and Remnick are surely hearing it from their own children, or their kids’ friends. Ben-Gurion of course approved ethnic cleansing of the nascent Jewish state so that it would have a large Jewish majority.
