J Street
J Street is an interest group intending to encourage a U.S. role in ending the Arab-Israeli and Israel-Palestine Conflicts. While it describes itself as composed of "Americans, primarily but not exclusively Jewish, who support Israel and its desire for security as the Jewish homeland, peacefully and diplomatically", it also supports a two-state solution with a sovereign Palestinian state. Its policies differ from many held by the State of Israel's government and other U.S. Zionist organizations. [1]
Its name is something of a Washington pun, as while Washington, D.C. streets are alphabetical and K Street NW is associated with the highest density of lobbyists, for reasons never explained, the original city design skipped the letter J; there is no physical J Street.
Brit Tzedek v'Shalom will merge, as of October 2009, its estimated 50,000 grass-roots members and 1,000 rabbis with J Street. [2]
Political viewpoints
The organization is fairly new, having been founded in 2008. It is positioned as a liberal alternative to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee; David Kimche, former Mossad officer and director-general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said "AIPAC has become more militant than the Israeli government. Its messages reflect more the oppositionist Likud doctrine than the moderate stance of Prime Minister Olmert. Moreover, whereas … some 80 percent of the Jewish voters traditionally cast their votes for the Democrats, AIPAC is geared to an extreme-right-wing agenda, often more in line with the Jewish neo-cons than with the majority of American Jews.” [3] While Frontpage Magazine, the publication of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, claims that the organization was founded and funded by George Soros,[4] the organization denies his involvement, says he is welcome to contribute, and its financial disclosure statement reveals no contributions from him. [5]
For its October 2009 conference, the keynote speaker is James L. Jones, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs in the Obama Administration. Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren, however, declined to appear, saying that J Street's policies "could impair Israel's interests." [6] J Street, however, did not invite Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) to the conference, because JVP does not assume a two-state solution.[7]
J Street has also come under criticism for an op-ed in The Jerusalem Post, co-authored by Hadar Susskind, Director of Policy and Strategy at J Street, on February 21, 2010 which called for lifting sanctions on Hamas-run Gaza.[8][9] Rep. Eliot Engel (D-New York), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a supporter of Israel, said J Street takes “positions in Washington I have difficulty with.”[10] According to Engel, J Street overemphasizes Israeli imperfections and refuses to put "the blame squarely where I think it belongs – the Palestinian attitude of denying Israel the right to exist as a Jewish state.”
References
- ↑ About Us, J Street
- ↑ 50,000 Brit Tzedek Activists, Rabbinic Cabinet to Ally with J Street’s National Grassroots Program, Brit Tzedek v’Shalom
- ↑ Michael Brendan Dougherty (19 May 2008), Turning on to J Street: A new lobby re-examines the special relationship
- ↑ John Perazzo (12 January 2009), "A Street Named Surrender", Frontpage Magazine
- ↑ J Street: Myths and Facts, J Street
- ↑ Dan Eggen (24 October 2009), "Tense debate on U.S.-Israel foreign relations begins ahead of J Street Conference", Washington Post
- ↑ Richard Silverstein (6 September 2009), "American Jewish Left in Transition", Tikun Olam
- ↑ Hadar Susskind; Lara Friedman (February 21, 2010). Enough is enough. The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved on 2010-02-22.
- ↑ Jennifer Rubin (February 22, 2010). Defending the Gaza 54 (News and Opinion). Contentions / Commentary Magazine. Retrieved on 2010-02-22.
- ↑ Herb Keinon (February 22, 2010). ‘New US envoy to Syria a mistake’. The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved on 2010-02-22.