UPDATE 5 pm Sunday: At 4:07, the Israeli Navy intercepted 6 Palestinians who had violated the Gaza blockade.
TODAY’S BLOG:
This past week the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Boston area held its weekly meeting. Two people in attendance were Paul Sassieni, treasurer of the JCRC, and Melanie Harris, the Northeast Regional Director of J Street.
Following the meeting, Sassieni wrote an open letter to the Boston’s Jewish Advocate, the oldest continually circulated English language Jewish newspaper in the United States. In that letter Sassieni wrote:
“I was shocked to hear J Street’s regional director say that in the event that war broke out involving Israel, J Street would not necessarily support the Jewish state. Incredulous, I asked her to clarify that I had heard correctly. Indeed, she reiterated proudly that J Street would not necessarily support Israel in a conflict, but would weigh the circumstances.”
Sassieni concluded his letter with these observations:
“It’s one thing to question the likelihood of success of military action against Iran – and we certainly hope and pray that sanctions and diplomacy will work – but quite something else to say that if a conflict breaks out, we would not unambiguously stand with Israel. Shame on them, but at least the pro-Israel community understands where they stand. In Israel’s hour of need, J Street cannot be counted on.”
Of course, none of us who have followed J Street since its inception find any of Harris’ comments surprising. Under the Orwellian banner of “Pro-peace, Pro-Israel”, J Street has spent the last three years sycophantically following President Obama’s lead and doing everything it can to undermine the democratically elected government of Benjamin Netanyahu–and promoting its own agenda of appeasement to the Palestinians.
Of course, shortly after Sassieni’s letter appeared, J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami rushed to J Street’s defense, declaring that Sassieni’s reportage of what Harris said was a “false claim”—but Ben-Ami almost immediately began to dissemble, slimily concluding his missive as follows:
“Israel – the country and the people – can always count on J Street’s support. Its policymakers, however, shouldn’t expect unquestioning support for controversial decisions that we believe run counter to the best interests of Israel, the United States and the Jewish people.”
Dear reader, your humble servant has just one question to ask:
Does Ben-Ami’s statement sound like unwavering support of Israel to you?
It is bad enough that J Street will not support what it considers “controversial” decisions made by the democratically elected leaders of Israel. But what is even worse is the suggestion that Israel’s democratically elected leaders act against the interests of the United States and the Jewish people.
Think about that for a moment.
If there has ever been a statement that attempted to drive a wedge between Israel and Americans, this is it. If there has ever been was a statement that attempted to drive a wedge between Israel and world Jewry, this is it.
What J Street will never realize is that the government of Israel is the government of its people. And that an organization whose members cowardly refuse to live in Israel as Israeli citizens has no right to say anything about what is good or not for Israeli citizens.
In sum, your humble servant is hard pressed to find a more craven and slimier organization on the face of the planet than J Street.
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As noted in recent blogs, a list of vocabulary for Israel supporters to begin using is appended to this blog (and every blog for the next month).
1. Use ‘Judea and Samaria’ instead of ‘the West Bank‘.
2. Use ‘Jewish community’ instead of ‘settlement‘.
3. Use ‘construction of Jewish homes, schools, and hospitals’ instead of ‘settlement activity‘.
4. Use ‘new Jewish communities’ instead of ‘outposts‘.
5. Use ‘Jewish community member’ instead of ‘settler‘.
6. Use ‘conservative politicians’ instead of ‘right-wing politicians‘.
7. Use ‘PLO’ or ‘Palestine Liberation Organization’ instead of ‘Palestinian Authority‘.
8. Use ‘Palestinian Islamic Terrorist Organization–HAMAS’ instead of merely ‘Hamas‘.
9. Use ‘Israeli men, women, and children’ instead of ‘Israeli citizens‘.
10. Use ‘Palestinian cities’ instead of ‘Palestinian refugee camps‘.
11. Use Palestinian ‘settlements’ instead of Palestinian ‘villages’ or ‘hamlets’.
12. Use Palestinian ‘settlers’ instead of Palestinian ‘farmers’ and ‘villagers’.
13. Use international ‘lawbreakers’ instead of international ‘activists’.
14. Use ‘the suicide bomber prevention fence instead of the ‘separation fence’ or ‘wall’.
15. Use ‘eastern Jerusalem’ or the ‘eastern neighborhoods of Jerusalem’ instead of East Jerusalem. The city of Jerusalem must never be divided again.
A student from Malawi, who had worked with an Israeli health volunteer in his country battling AIDS, came up to us as we walked down the street in the UC-Davis Picnic Day Parade and wanted to carry the Israeli flag.