Filed under Opinion Editorials, AIPAC, Jewish organisations worldwide, Settlements, Lobby Groups -
on Thursday, April 17, 2008
By: Weiss, Philip I've long contended that a war between the neocons and the progressives inside the Jewish community is necessary for American Jewry to recover from Iraq--to understand the ways that neoconservative support for Israel led to planning what (predictably) turned out to be the greatest foreign policy debacle of the last generation. Jews owe this soul-searching to America, a country that has given us such freedom, and where the neocons successfully created what Jacob Heilbrunn called "a parallel establishment."
Well, the leaders of J Street, the new lobby, have specifically attacked neoconservative Jews in announcing the new lobby.
For too long, the primary ... voices policy makers and politicians have heard regarding American policy toward Israel and the Middle East have been those of a vocal minority at the far-right of American society. ... Neoconservative, right-wing Jewish leaders and radical Christian Zionists have turned their definition of 'pro-Israel' into a driving force in the American political process.
No they don't go nearly as far as I do; but they understand that the neoconservative agenda, of abandoning the peace process and trying to realign the Middle East so that people would forget about the Palestinians, was pure madness.
Dennis Ross Says American Jews Must Be Obedient to Israeli Politics
Good for NPR; it aired a report on the new "J Street" lobby, an alternative to Aipac, this morning. NPR's got a lot of liberal Jewish listeners. Will they support J Street?
Reporter Michele Keleman interviewed Dennis Ross of WINEP for the piece. Ross said that to be effective J Street would "have to in some ways reflect the Aipac model, I suspect. Meaning first, it's nonpartisan. Second, it's also nonpartisan within Israel and is able to bring Israelis from across the political spectrum here." [my emphasis]
This is hogwash. To be effective, J Street must work against Netanyahu and the colonialist movement in Israel. It should specifically act to prevent their voices from being heard--as, say, AEI for its part promotes Dore Gold here ad nauseum, or as the neocons championed Ahmed Chalabi in the case of a country they wanted to change.
I sure hope J Street wants to change Israel's behaviour. Ross is saying that American Jewish activists must reflect the politics of the Israeli status quo. This is an abdication of moral, political and intellectual powers--and an argument for dual loyalty. American activists should operate on their own values and choose whoever they want in that brutalized society who reflects their point of view.
That's how change will happen.
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