In These Times

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• • 18 Nov 09
  • 2:45 pm

  While J Street is certainly evidence that Jewish elements of the Israel Lobby are not monolithic, it was more than a little disconcerting that J Street's first significant act since "coming of age" was to SUPPORT the shameful House Resolution condemning the Goldstone Report on Gaza, and implicitly Judge Goldstone himself. See: http://www.jstreet.org/blog/?p=702 "Even as the U.N. was about to consider the report, the House measure called it "irredeemably biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy." And it urged the Obama Administration to "strongly and unequivocally oppose" any discussion of it at the UN. This reflexive attitude that Israel can …

  Posted to Jews on J Street

• • 20 Nov 09
  • 1:41 pm

  The site states the official position of J Street as: "J Street supports passage of a resolution by the U.S. Congress calling for the United States to oppose and work actively to defeat one-sided and biased action in the United Nations when it comes to Israel and the Goldstone Report." Despite the equivocation quoted at length by rseliger from their site, J Street SUPPORTED this shameful resolution, and has rightfully earned the criticism it is receiving from the progressive community. Regarding such equivocation, I said: "J Street's support of the House Resolution, and its belief that Israel can or will MEANINGFULLY …

  Posted to Jews on J Street

• • 20 Nov 09
  • 3:24 pm

  J Street's equivocation on this fundamental issue of war crimes in Gaza has made it the subject of much criticism on the net, but the best one is an acticle entitled "J Street Opposes, Then [Sorta] Supports Congressional Attack on Goldstone." The quote that stands out is: "...when people began calling them [J Street] saying that it appeared J Street was calling for a 'No' vote on HR 867, the group released the following 'clarification:' J Street supports passage of a resolution by the U.S. Congress calling for the United States to oppose and work actively to defeat one-sided and biased …

  Posted to Jews on J Street

• • 12 Oct 09
  • 3:01 pm

  While Mr. Gordon has not yet responded to this writer regarding the firestorm generated by his "bold and public call" for BDS, a piece by Gideon Levy in Haaretz has done an excellent job of it. The quote that stands out is: "The height of ludicrousness was achieved by the President of Ben-Gurion University, Prof. Rivka Carmi. She was appalled by the article published by a member of her faculty, fearing it could affect the university's donations from American Jews. Here, then, is a new criterion for good citizenship and morality: the harm it wreaks to our schnorring. It's also a …

  Posted to Should Neve Gordon Be Punished?

• • 10 Sep 09
  • 2:18 pm

  I guess my problem with the so-called Zionist Left is how they can continue to espouse/defend Zionism and still claim to be progressive. Because to me, and many others on the left, it is "political" Zionism itself that was, and continues to be the problem. As stated by Ben Ehrenreich: "The problem is fundamental: Founding a modern state on a single ethnic or religious identity in a territory that is ethnically and religiously diverse leads inexorably either to politics of exclusion (think of the 139-square-mile prison camp that Gaza has become) or to wholesale ethnic cleansing. Put simply, the problem is …

  Posted to Einstein and Israel