Time was that J Street didn’t get invited into synagogues. It was considered anti-Israel because it was fracturing the monolith of support that American Jews must present in US politics. Well, Temple Isaiah in Los Angeles is having J Street at a panel next week. Along with the militant Zionist organization, StandWithUs.
Why is J Street sharing a stage with the hardline group, whose messaging verges on Islamophobia? Because the Jewish community is extremely conservative; and J Street is seeking to organize that community to solidify the new pro-Israel two-state-solution lobby. For the same reason, J Street has always been careful to praise AIPAC; for it wants AIPAC’s legions.
From the Jewish Federation/Temple Isaiah announcement:
What do you get when you put the heads of two major pro-Israel advocacy organizations in a room? On March 11, J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami and StandWithUs CEO Roz Rothstein will discuss “Israel’s Future and the Role of the American Jewish Community,” touching upon the evolving meaning of what it means to be pro-Israel and what the American Jewish community should be doing to support Israel.
Notice that the Jewish Federation of LA has a big red disclaimer on the event: “The Federation is not involved in the planning of this event.”
So, does their intra-jewish issue boil down to, what do we do about the settlements? Which PR spear head will best serve Jews?
What are Jews thinking who support a Judaism stripped of its humanity that requires the blood of Palestinians?
J street is just another employment agency for Jews…it is just designed to maintain the status quo by talking about two states but not doing anything about two states. Its exactly a mirror of the US/Israel position on the issue
Ben-Ami’s calculation is that he can change Jewry from the inside. It’s probably the best bet he can do, but it’s still a lousy bet.
The biggest change will not come from inside Jewry, by which I mean the institutational world, but outside it and by young, idealistic Jews joined with young Palestinians as well as genuine liberals from all backgrounds. J Street had a moment where they could act as a bridge, and ultimately an harbringer, but that moment is now gone.
Ben-Ami is the one who will be changed, not the other way around. His groups’ insistence on excluding Palestinians from the conversation, an insistence which has only become ever more strident, is a case in point.
Whenever I see mention of the two-state solution, I can’t help but think of the self-serving delusion that it is.
It is emblematic of the dysfunctional influence that diaspora Jews have over the conflict.
It’s a group that is disconnected from the conflict, nay, clueless about the conflict. That would be a more accurate description.