On October 26th the first J Street Conference took place in Washington DC. I was there with Brit Tzedek, which announced the day before that it was merging its grassroots organization with J Street.
Only time will demonstrate how effective a lobbying organization J Street will be. There are also issues of how welcoming J Street will ultimately be for those of us who, while we support Israel’s right to exist as a legally constituted state, are not Zionists.
On the plus side, the highlight of the conference for me was standing in line to pick up my badge and seeing 1500 other progressive Jews doing the same. While I may not share J Street’s centrism, I think they’ve thought through a strategy of speaking from within the community, not outside it, as some of us have previously had to do. Aside from where we may be on the political spectrum, J Street gives many of us a way to critique Israel Jewishly. Until now it has been a source of some pain that I have been on the margins of my local Jewish community for my political views. With Brit Tzedek (and now J Street) it’s nice to be able to feel I am still part of it and doing my best to care about it on my own terms.
On the flip side, J Street does not support the Goldstone report, is opposed to BDS, has been unfriendly to various groups of progressive Jews, appears to rule out negotiations involving the political wing of Hamas, and has taken a tough posture on Iran. Many of its positions are so nuanced that it’s tough to figure out (as in the case of their position on House Resolution 867) what they really support. I am especially concerned that an organization dedicated to an issue of justice is prepared to abandon principled positions in favor of tactical ones. However, I am going to give J Street some time to demonstrate whether its strategy can work and I intend to work with it. If it is successful in broadening a national discourse, it may make it possible for less centrist views to be heard as well. If not, those of us with our perfect political analyses can continue talking to ourselves.
While it’s too early to see if J Street’s strategy will be successful, one thing they’ve already accomplished is demonstrating that AIPAC, AJC, UCJ, the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations and the rest of the Zionist lobby do not speak for many American Jews. There is much more support for moderate views than “mainstream Jewish leaders” want to admit. The fact that only one representative from a Jewish Federation in the United States appeared at the conference demonstrates how out-of-touch many Jewish organizations are with their members.
President Obama lent his support for this new moderate Jewish stance in sending his National Security Adviser to the conference, and numerous Israeli political and diplomatic figures were present as well. And for an 18 month-old organization to have a quarter of Congress at its coming out party was also rather astounding.
It is unfortunate that the Israel-Palestine issue, which here in America should be a foreign policy debate everyone can weigh in on, has been hijacked by Christian Zionists, the Israeli lobby, self-appointed “Jewish leaders,” and congressmen angling for campaign donations. However, the reality is that the Jewish community has a privileged voice, and this confers on us an additional responsibility. The J Street strategy is to amplify this Jewish voice with a focused and disciplined message, calculated to be heard within the Jewish community. While some of us may find J Street too centrist, it is difficult to argue with the reality of the political landscape. Giving J Street a year to demonstrate whether its approach is viable may be the best thing we can do, rather than sniping and griping about it.
But if there is a danger in this strategy, it is of creating an AIPAC-Lite organization that serves mainly to co-opt progressive voices. I hope J Street will not fall into this trap and instead will find its own voice – principled and distinct – based on Jewish values that unite its membership.
Stay tuned.
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