J Street: The New Israel Lobby

New York Times:

In July, President Obama met for 45 minutes with leaders of American Jewish organizations. All presidents meet with Israel's advocates. Obama, however, had taken his time, and powerhouse figures of the Jewish community were grumbling; Obama's coolness seemed to be of a piece with his willingness to publicly pressure Israel to freeze the growth of its settlements and with what was deemed his excessive solicitude toward the plight of the Palestinians. During the July meeting, held in the Roosevelt Room, Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, told Obama that "public disharmony between Israel and the U.S. is beneficial to neither" and that differences "should be dealt with directly by the parties." The president, according to Hoenlein, leaned back in his chair and said: "I disagree. We had eight years of no daylight" -- between George W. Bush and successive Israeli governments -- "and no progress."

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[FairuzGhowar]

Love Obama...Go Jstreet!

[sense oar sheep]

facelift

[marbou]

It's high time that a more moderate group comes on the scene to represent American Jews because I can see an increased anti-Jewish (I don't use anti-semite) sentiment in the population due of the actions of AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups. Corruption and blackmailing of US politicians, taxpayer money given to Israel, proxy wars spilling US blood in Iraq and Afghanistan on behalf of Israel and the recent economic collapse are all responsible for fuelling those sentiments. Those anti-Jewish sentiments can be one day channelled like they were in Nazi Germany and ... the rest could be a repetition of history.

[daharbin]

It would be nice to read about a group that supports a one-man, one-vote approach, regardless of background or religion. Everyone in the region is allowed, but not compelled, to go back to their place of origin. If that means Israel has to adopt a multi-confessional rather than Jewish identity, so be it. That seems like a more natural state of affairs in the long run to me.

Of course this will never happen. But at least we in the United States can stop supporting one side and show some basic notions of justice (which, incidentally, will help our security.....it's worth reading theories about Mohammed Atta and the 1996 Qana massacre).

As for J Street: good luck. But they still represent the views of only one side in this conflict.

[wilhelmR]

one-man, one-vote? or one-FREE-woman, one-FREE vote?

[antaeus]

At first I couldn't believe my ears, but last week public radio ran a piece about some in Israel hoping Obama fails on health care, which they believe would weaken him enough so that he couldn't interfere with settlement construction. Yikes--if true.

[TylerSutherland]

Israel is the Britney Spears of the Middle East. You're annoying, no one wants you there, you aren't helping, and dumping your lazy, uncontrollable ass would be all benefit for us and no benefit for you. Don't mix words saying we'll lose something by dumping you; we have all to gain by dumping you and supporting the Palestinians.

[wilhelmR]

Typical of a mindless fundamentalist "intellectual." Read Oriana Fallaci´s work and see how to move forward with your thinking.

[sparky73]

yeah...I'm sure that lobby is going to bring peace to the west bank...lol!

[Matthew Siegel]

This group is the best hope we have for peace between Israel/Palestine. Let's support them and their work instead of choosing to just bash Israel.

[DustinTime]

Amen.

[MajorKong]

Think of it as "Tough Love".

[jlgcox]

I agree with your MajorKing, the US still support Israel, but Israel cannot have its cake and eat it too. They need to give a little. Israel need a little bashing at this point. Remember, it was strange Israel stopped the bombing into the Gaza Strip on the day of Obama's inauguration. Isarel knows the US is a strong supporter, but they tend to take advantage of it sometimes.

[vascopyjama]

You must be joking. They are only looking out for Israel.

[truthglow]

NO. That's AIPAC!

[moongal6]

I signed up with them last year. You are correct. They really do try to be fair.
I am hopeful again for the middle East.
Let's try and forget PNAC.

[KriTiKiT]

take your butt home and get out of my politics... and stay away from my government. please

[courtb]

It's my government too and I think there is nothing wrong with organizations such as J Street and even AIPAC.

[blueskybigstar]

Governments should not be allowed to lobby our government. We have been infiltrated. Please, learn everything about FBI agent Sibel Edmonds. By the way, huff has used this site for stories before and he has been on Mike Malloy's show.

http://www.bradblog.com/

[KriTiKiT]

get out

[Jason G]

Keep this on topic. Too many people who read only the headline and then spout any garbage talking points that pop into their head, no matter how tenuous the connection to the article.

That said, I hope this J street thing is more than a fluke. Good luck to them. I hate AIPAC so, so, so much.

[Elderlady]

Interesting article - about an interesting organization.

For the sake of peace, in the Middle East - We can only hope they are also an effective organization.

[freemind1234]

Guys could you donate to J Street..even small donations will help. I think AIPAC is a thousand and more times bigger. So every little help will go a long way.

[jackstpaul]

Jerusalem is not recognized internationally as Israel's capital, a position adopted in UN181, the Partition. That has held ever since. The US does not recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital; like almost all nations, the US recognizes Tel Aviv as the current capital and locates its embassy there.

The status of Jerusalem is a major sticking point in peace negotiations.

Apparently the Times has adopted a position at odds with the vast majority of international opinion.

[TheRapture]

Until recently, I discovered that Wikipedia lists Jersusalem as Israel's capital. I was very confused as I have always thought it was Tel Aviv. I cannot tell you what their motive is, maybe an increase in tourism?

Anyways, your comment speaks volumes. Thanks for the clarification

[marbou]

You shouldn't count on Wikipedia as a reliable source. Anyone can change the informaton in there.