J Street Commends President Obama’s Middle East Speech

May 19, 2011 at 1:00 pm

J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami issued the following statement in reaction to President Obama’s speech on his approach to the changing Middle East:

J Street commends President Obama for his important speech today outlining his approach to the changing Middle East and stating that efforts to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a two-state solution are “more urgent than ever.” We are grateful that the President reiterated that America’s friendship with Israel is rooted in shared values and that the United States maintains an unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security.

We share, however, the President’s deep concern that the status quo today between Israel and the Palestinians is unsustainable, and that “the dream of a Jewish and democratic state cannot be fulfilled with permanent occupation.” He is correct in saying that Israel will only find security through granting the Palestinian people their freedom, and the Palestinian people will only achieve freedom if Israel finds security.

J Street wholeheartedly endorses the approach to resolving the conflict outlined today by the President, namely, to address borders and security first. This is an approach which J Street first advocated when negotiations stalled last year. He also clearly established that those borders must be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps – an essential component of the ad J Street ran this morning in The New York Times.

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http://jstreet.org/blog/j-street-commends-president-obamas-middle-east-speech/

Is that just a bunch of DC inside the Beltway lingo?

Go to the link and look around.

J Street is a nonprofit liberal<1><2><3> advocacy group based in the United States whose stated aim is to promote American leadership to end the Arab-Israeli and Israel-Palestinian conflicts peacefully and diplomatically. It was founded in April 2008.

Though J Street has presented itself as a pro-Israel organization, which supports peace between Israel and its neighbors, many Israelis including several public figures, have expressed profound doubts about the group's pro-Israel claims, particularly in relation to key challenges facing the Jewish state. <4> <5> <6> Several US Jewish leaders have also expressed reservations about J Street's position on Israel, and some have publicly disassociated themselves from the organization.<7> <8>

While primarily made up of Jews, J Street welcomes non-Jewish members as well. J Street states that it "supports a new direction for American policy in the Middle East – diplomatic solutions over military ones", "multilateral over unilateral approaches to conflict resolution"; and "dialogue over confrontation" with wider international support. According to J Street, its political action committee is "the first and only federal Political Action Committee whose goal is to demonstrate that there is meaningful political and financial support to candidates for federal office from large numbers of Americans who believe a new direction in American policy will advance U.S. interests in the Middle East and promote real peace and security for Israel and the region."<9>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J_Street

Myths and Facts About J Street

Since our founding, accusations about J Street and our leadership have morphed from whispered lies to stated fact in attacks on J Street in various right-leaning publications, organizations, and blogs.

To bring the conversation over what is best for Israel’s future as a Jewish, democratic homeland back to reality, we’ve compiled short responses to frequently overheard and simply untrue attacks against J Street.

J Street is proud to provide a reasoned, moderate voice for supporters of Israel – Jewish and not. We encourage open and honest debate about what is best for Israel and the United States and we urge those who disagree with us to engage on the merits, rather than engaging in scurrilous personal attacks.

You can also watch video on J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami answering some tough questions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and J Street here.

You can read Ben-Ami’s interview in Hadassah Magazine here.

If you would like us to answer an attack on J Street, send us an email at info jstreet.org.

Myth:
J Street is not truly supportive of Israel.

Fact:

We are pro-Israel because we believe that a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the single best chance we have to secure Israel’s future as a Jewish democracy.

We believe in the original Zionist idea of a country where Jews could always go to be secure, and we hope that Israel will live up to and represent the core Jewish values of justice, equality, and democracy.

We also do not believe that agreeing with everything the current Israeli government does should be the litmus test for what it means to be pro-Israel.

We believe, like many American supporters of Israel, in a big tent concept of what it means to be pro-Israel. We are also hopeful that our efforts will encourage more Americans who have previously been uncomfortable with describing themselves as pro-Israel, especially young Americans, to find a home in our vision of what it means to be
pro-Israel.

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Myth:
J Street has defended Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

Fact:
J Street is strongly opposed to the development of nuclear weapons by Iran. Preventing Iran from acquiring such weapons is a critical strategic interest of the United States, Israel, and the entire Middle East, and is essential to achieving regional peace and stability.

We agree with President Barack Obama and the leadership of the United States Congress that the United States must do everything possible to prevent the development of Iranian nuclear weapons. We believe that any serious and realistic attempt to halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions demands a comprehensive and multilateral approach, rooted in diplomatic engagement with Iran and the international community.

In the face of continued Iranian rejection and provocation, we also believe the time has come for the United States and its international partners to ready new multilateral sanctions on the Government of Iran as a means of gaining leverage at this decisive moment in the diplomatic track. To enhance the tools at the United States’ disposal as part of a broad multilateral effort to increase pressure on Iran, J Street supported Congressional passage of the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act of 2009 (IRPSA). Presentation of this bill for the President’s consideration will highlight, at a critical juncture for the Iranian Government, that they face a real choice between one path that leads to further isolation and another that leads to full integration in the international community and the ability to develop their economy to its full potential.

We remain strongly opposed to the use of military force by Israel or the United States to attack Iran.

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Myth:
J Street favors the United States negotiating with Hamas.

Fact:
J Street believes that Hamas’ consistent opposition to the peace process, its support for terror against Israeli civilians, its use of violence for political purposes, and its repeated denial of the Holocaust are all reprehensible and abominable.

We also recognize, however, that one makes peace with one’s enemies not one’s friends. Hamas is a political movement that has an important and significant base of support within Palestinian society and politics. Ultimately, a political resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will require Palestinian political reconciliation and we support efforts by third parties to achieve reconciliation and a unity government, whose officials will work within a diplomatic process to achieve an acceptable two-state solution.

Further, we would not oppose a decision by the Israeli government, the United States, or other countries to find unofficial, indirect ways to engage Hamas in order to advance U.S. and Israeli interests. For instance, it is important to remember that this Israeli government and prior ones have engaged indirectly with Hamas over such issues as bringing home Gilad Shalit and achieving ceasefires that end rocket attacks against Israel.

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Myth:
J Street’s Advisory Council is made up of anti-Israel ideologues.

Fact:

J Street’s Advisory Council consists of over 200 prominent Americans – including former members of Congress, rabbis, former Jewish community leaders and professionals, and many others. Click here for the full list.

Some on the Council have been publicly critical of Israeli policy – and so has J Street at times. We do not equate opposition to the policies of a particular Israeli government or official with being anti-Israel – just as we don’t equate opposition to a particular American party or official with being anti-American.

We have a particular view on the policies that would be most beneficial to Israel and to the United States – and we realize that there are those who disagree. We urge an open and robust debate on the merits of our positions and an end to ad hominem attacks and name calling against our supporters.

It is worth noting as well that J Street has the support of numerous Israeli security officials, foreign officers, politicians, writers, and artists. Click here for that list and to see a video featuring prominent Israeli supporters of J Street.


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Myth:
J Street’s funding comes from Arab-Americans, Muslim-Americans, representatives-of/lobbyists-for the Saudi government and/or other Arabs who, by their past statements, are clearly identified as anti-Israel.

Fact:
J Street has thousands of donors, large and small. We don’t know the religious or ethnic backgrounds of all of them, but we do know that they are primarily individual Jewish Americans. J Street accepts no funding from foreign governments or from foreign organizations.

Even the original Jerusalem Post article on J Street’s funding, from which so many of the smear emails have sprung, said: “The funds that come from these sources indeed constitute a small fraction of the year-and-a-half-old organization’s political fundraising, which totaled around $844,000 in 2008 – a key election year – and $111,000 so far in 2009. They comprise several dozen of the PAC’s 4,000-5,000 donors.”

You don’t have to take our word for it. JStreetPAC, by law, reports all of its thousands of donors to the Federal Election Commission, and those reports can be publicly reviewed on the website of the Federal Election Commission.

J Street also listed the names of its major donors (members of its Finance Committee) in its annual reports. Many of its major donors are also members of its Advisory Council, which can be viewed on our website.

Again, a quick review will show that nearly all our top donors are leading American Jewish philanthropists and political activists.

Yes, a tiny portion of J Street’s support comes from non-Jewish Americans (including some Arab- and some Muslim-Americans, as well as some Americans of other backgrounds). J Street, in fact, welcomes support from all Americans who believe in assertive U.S. diplomacy to resolve the conflicts in the Middle East and the establishment of two states living side by side in peace and security.

As a primarily but not exclusively Jewish organization, J Street believes that support from non-Jews for our pro-Israel positions is actually extremely helpful to Israel – and helps ensure a long-term base of support for Israel’s security.

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Myth:
J Street opposes Israel’s right to defend itself with military force, as was illustrated by J Street’s opposition to Israeli military action against Hamas in Gaza.

Fact:
We support Israel’s right to defend itself militarily and believe that maintaining Israel’s qualitative military advantage in the region is one essential element of a strategy to keep Israel secure for the long term.

We also believe, however, that it is equally important to Israel’s long-term survival and security to achieve a negotiated, diplomatic two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, to define internationally accepted borders for Israel, and to gain broader diplomatic acceptance of Israel in the Middle East.

We believed that Israel’s military action in Gaza was both understandable and justifiable. No country can be expected to absorb thousands of rockets without the right to respond militarily.

To us, the question was whether the specific military action actually advanced Israeli interests and security in the long-term and whether there weren’t alternative strategies for ending the violence from Gaza through negotiation.

When it comes to Operation Cast Lead, here is the actual statement that we put out (link):
While this morning’s air strikes by Israeli Defense Forces in Gaza can be understood and even justified in the wake of recent rocket attacks, we believe that real friends of Israel recognize that escalating the conflict will prove counterproductive, igniting further anger in the region and damaging long-term prospects for peace and stability.
Respecting Israel’s right to defend itself, we urge leaders there to recognize that there is no military solution to what is fundamentally a political conflict between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.

We stand by that statement and believe that the ongoing blockade of Gaza and the consequent human suffering being experienced by the people of Gaza is not advancing Israel’s interests and is in fact sowing the seeds of further violence and devastation if there is no political resolution to the conflict in the near future.

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Myth:
J Street is critical only of Israel, never of the Palestinians and Arabs; J Street seeks concessions only from Israel, not from the other side.

Fact:
J Street has been very clear in every public statement that it believes that all sides – including Israel, the Palestinians and the Arab states – will have to take steps and make compromises if the Arab-Israeli conflict is to be settled peacefully.

In supporting President Obama’s demand that Israel cease settlement expansion, J Street has also always called on the Palestinians to live up to their commitments to end incitement and violence, and on the Arab nations to take steps toward normalization of relations with Israel.

J Street has also been critical of Holocaust denial by Hamas and Iran, the use of the Durban II conference to promote anti-Semitism, and support for violence and incitement against Israel in the Arab world.

Here’s a list of recent J Street statements on the subject:

in full:http://jstreet.org/about/j-street-myths-and-facts/