I’m waiting for Jeremy Ben-Ami of J Street to apologize to Richard Silverstein for J Street’s disgusting slur of Silverstein. But meantime, Ben-Ami was on MSNBC last night and spoke positively of the “massive” non-violent movement in the West Bank that is part of the Arab Spring– demanding independence and freedom. A very good statement. It’s at minute 5:30 or so. Yes it’s about the two-state solution and American Jews don’t like the settlements (hogwash, sadly) but it is a very welcome description of the Arab spring in Palestine. Host Chris Hayes asks about nonviolent protests of the “occupation” in the “occupied territories” (about time Americans hear those words), and Ben-Ami says:
I think that there’s an image of Palestinian and Muslim and Arab terrorism and it’s the face of the resistance movements that are in place that the far right in this country and in Israel wants to promote but at the same time there’s a massive movement in the West Bank now that has nonviolently been protesting for years the route of the wall that separates Israel from the West Bank. And is asking now peacefully for their statehood and independence and freedom, and it’s in line with the Arab spring and the awakening and it’s unlikely that all of the movement toward independence and freedom that is happening in the rest of the Arab world is going to stop at the gates of Israel.
