In shadow of Israeli 'boycott,' J Street meets in D.C.

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Note: JStreet is a fledgling lobbying effort by American Jews disaffected with AIPAC, the established pro-Israel lobby. JStreet favors a two-state solution and avows their steadfast support for Israel while encouraging progressive, moderate policies for the region.

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1123816.html

Last update - 04:34 27/10/2009

In shadow of Israeli 'boycott,' J Street meets in D.C.

By Natasha Mozgovaya, Haaretz Correspondent

Tags: U.S. Jews, J Street

The pro-Israel lobby J Street kicked off its first national conference on Sunday with more than 1,500 guests at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C. Despite controversy and tension surrounding the convention, organizers said the attendance exceeded expectations.

Numerous peace activists, politicians, diplomats, lobbyists, male and female rabbis, political advisers, artists, students and journalists filled the halls. Participants who spilled out from over-crowded panel rooms sat in a circle on the lobby carpet, heatedly discussing the state of left-wing activists in Israel and the United States, religion and the new media.

"We couldn't be more thrilled," said J Street executive director Jeremy Ben-Ami. "The numbers of participants far exceeded our expectations - 148 congressmen supported the event, 250 students and reporters from 17 countries came. This is truly the birth of a movement. It demonstrates the vacuum and the desire to promote peace now, when it's more urgent than ever... Our vision for peace is very clear - two states based on '67."

"Violence might break out, there are extremists on both sides," he continued. "But we can't allow the extremists to prevent a better future for both sides."

A reporter asked Ben-Ami how J Street could be pro-Israel when Israeli ambassador to the United States Michael Oren had boycotted the event. "The Israeli ambassador is making a serious mistake. This is part of the Jewish community and to refuse to engage with us is a serious mistake, as it is to refuse to engage with those seeking to promote peace. I wish he were here even to express his disagreement. We do love Israel, we do support Israel. [but] we have questions regarding its policy," Ben-Ami said.

Asked about the Goldstone report, he said "The process by which the international community addresses these issues is flawed. But that doesn't mean Israel doesn't need to deal with the substance."

Opposite the hotel, Bob Kunst, of the rightist group Shalom International, held a one-man protest against the conference with a poster that read: "J St. Nazis."

MK Meir Sheetrit (Kadima) said he had no compunction whatsoever about attending the conference. "I attended AIPAC's conference and now I'm here. The government is making a mistake in not attending. We appear at all kinds of forums that oppose Israel as well as in Arab states - so not coming to a pro-Israel conference? I'm of the impression that [J Street's] support in Israel is real and serious."

Participants will throng to Capitol Hill today and tomorrow for more than 200 meetings in Congress. They intend to explain to the congressmen and their aides that the Jewish American community has more than one voice, that active involvement in the peace process is a basic interest of both the United States and Israel, and that the preferred solution to the Iranian issue is the diplomatic process.

Five families from the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah had their own agenda on the hill. "They came to tell their story, they want the American administration to help them return to their homes and prevent the imminent eviction of 500 more people," said Angela Godfrey-Goldstein of the Israel Committee Against House Demolitions, who accompanied them.

"It was very exciting," said Colette Avital, a former Labor MK, "standing before a young crowd who said they love Israel and want to advance peace. I haven't seen such fervor in a long time, neither in Israel nor here. While we're getting thrown out of all the campuses, here there's huge potential."

Pollster and political adviser Jim Gerstein said Israel was not boycotting J Street. "It's not an Israeli boycott, it's Netanyahu's boycott. You have welcoming letters from the president and Tzipi Livni... 150 congress members are co-sponsoring this event. If Obama's administration is taking it seriously, what does it say about the prime minister?"

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Are the shores of a foreign land really the best place to showcase domestic political differences?

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Are the shores of a foreign land really the best place to showcase domestic political differences?

Everybody else in the world has decided that Israel's internal dirty laundry is their business to kibbitz about.

Why should we be any different?

More seriously, AIPAC does not speak for me or my views. I haven't decided yet whether JStreet does, but I've had years worth of AIPAC mailings and campaign drives targeting me for donations, enough to know that they're not my crowd.

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Update. More ostracism of J-Street in Jerusalem

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1151411.html

Last update - 08:10 22/02/2010

Israel can't afford to reject J Street

By Yehuda Ben Meir

Tags: J Street, Israel news

The Israeli government's policy toward the Jewish American organization J Street is mistaken, foolish, harmful and irresponsible. The idiocy of Israel boycotting a Jewish lobby group that enjoys not inconsiderable support both within American Jewry and in the U.S. administration and Congress - just because its positions don't accord with those of the government here - is unprecedented and reveals a state of total confusion.

Apparently this is yet another deplorable result of the disproportionate influence that the far right, here and in the United States, has over Benjamin Netanyahu. It is hard to believe that the prime minister, who is well aware of American and international realities, does not realize that this is an unmatched act of folly.

It's no secret that among U.S. Jews, as among Israeli Jews, there is a wide range of views and attitudes on all current political issues. And it's no secret that among the young generation of American Jews, new winds are blowing. Indeed, perhaps there is even a chilly draft when it comes to questions of their values and morality, and of how these affect their relationship with Israel.

Frankly, I find some of J Street's positions unacceptable, and some of the so-called new winds also infuriate me, as they certainly do many other Israelis. But the response should not be boycotting and casting aspersions on these people, rather to conduct an ongoing dialogue with them and to make persistent attempts to explain the government's policies and to convince the group of their correctness. It would be an act of outrageous irresponsibility to alienate these Jews instead of doing everything possible to bring them closer, even while engaging them in sharp debate and arguing in favor of Israel's just positions.

J Street defines itself as a pro-Israel organization, emphasizes that Israel is the state of the Jewish nation and fully supports the American commitment to its security and well-being. This is not Neturei Karta or the extreme left-wing Matzpen, but the elite of American Jewry.

Is it conceivable that the Israeli ambassador in Washington turned down their invitation to address its members? I believe that even if the Islamic lobby in the United States were to invite the ambassador, he should accept and proudly represent Israel's policies before its members. And this is doubly true for a Jewish lobby, and it is the way that all Israeli governments, left and right, have behaved in the past.

One offense leads to another, and one act of folly leads to an even greater one. What began as a senseless step by the ambassador was ratcheted up a notch in Jerusalem last week, when government officials set insulting conditions for a meeting with congressmen who came to Israel as part of a J Street delegation. These people are supporters of Israel, and they did not hide the fact that they were deeply offended. This is hardly the way to advance Israel's cause.

We are in the midst of an unparalleled diplomatic struggle. Our enemies and those who wish us ill are conducting a persistent worldwide campaign aimed at delegitimizing the State of Israel, particularly in Europe and on U.S. college campuses. This is a matter of vital importance: A sober, responsible government would do everything possible to embrace each and every group belonging to that large community - not estrange them.