JStreetJive

Let’s rewind the tape to Jeremy’s first appearance at Tufts prestigious Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.  Not only was he invited to the Arabist school, but he was introduced by a former U.S. Ambassador (Yemen).  His leitmotifs fits the pattern of a classic demagogue:  “I am beset with enemies all around…they are rich and powerful…I, the small and meek voice will not be silenced.”
Of course, the millions funneled secretly to his organization by the likes of George Soros and the mystery woman from Hong Kong, Consolacion Ediscul, must never be revealed to the rank and file.   Transparency is apparently not J Street’s strong suit.

His speech at Tufts was markedly different from his later appearance in front of a Jewish audience.  He knew full well that his audience consisted of the MESA (Middle East Studies Association) crowd and the Arabist Fletcher School, perhaps the chief people- provisioner for the State Department.

For the benefit of that institution he wastes no time in defining the enemy as “right wing Jews, Evangelical Christians and Neo-cons.”  He knows his audience perfectly.  Of course, the Palestinian Arab cause represents the opposite:  Liberal and Progressive.  Forget about Muslim treatment of minorities, gays, women and the imposition of Sharia Law, just so long as we believe.  And forget about the 95% of Israelis who disagree with J Street and the faux Peace camp.  In carefully pruning his statistics, Ben Ami reminded his audience that 78% of the Jewish electorate voted for Obama.  But as is his habit, he prevaricates by claiming that Obama still enjoys a 60% approval rating among American Jews.  That figure has dropped precipitously now to 49% for his performance on Israel and less for his handling of the economy.   Jews are jumping off the Obama ship in droves, but on Planet J Street, he’s still the Messiah.

Since when does defending the Jewish state from annihilation constitute a “right wing” cause?  On Planet J Street it does of course.  And since when does pursuing a jihadist agenda whether Hamas’ or Fatah’s constitute Progressivism?  On Planet J Street it does. At the end of the day, J Street dishes out its platitudes of “the Other”, the humanism of Rabbi Hillel, etc., etc.  But Ben Ami has no answer for the increased terror following the Gaza withdrawal, for Hamas and Hezbollah rockets other than unrelenting pressure on Israel to cede land and to cede it immediately.  And, like all self-styled “Progressive” Jews he ends by truncating the famous passage from Deuteronomy:

“Justice, justice shall you pursue..”

Of course, the complete passage reads,

“Justice, justice shall you pursue so that you may live and possess the land that G-d is giving you.”

I asked a  Rabbi at the J Street conference last October if he could quote the complete sentence.  He could not.

In a last minute desperate email blast J ,Street’s Messiah-in-Charge, Jeremy Ben Ami is exhorting the troops to fight back against “right wing extremists”. Playing the martyr card, which he has from the inception of J Street, Ben Ami, whose group secretly received hundreds of thousands of dollars from donors like George Soros and whose coffers are overflowing with dollars from Israel haters, will try to convince an audience in Newton, MA this evening that his is the voice crying in the wilderness, beset by powerful, conservative and xenophobic Jews.

In Democrat-laden Massachusetts, his message will be spun by the Boston Globe and WBUR, the local NPR affiliate. What galls him the most, however, is the fact that a REFORM synagogue told him to get lost. Granted, the rabbi’s decision was no doubt prompted by the threat of members resigning and pulling their funding (which is their democratic right of course), but to have been shown the door by a Left wing synagogue is the real threat that Ben Ami fears.

Like Andy Griffith in A Face in the Crowd, Ben Ami’s Waterloo may have ooccurred when Eli Lake of The Washington Times broke the story a few months ago that Ben Ami lied about his funding sources. Now, in true demagogic style, he’s trying to make lemonade out of Soros’s lemons. Yes, he took the money and lied about it, but so what? It’s all about saving Israel from the dark forces of the Right. How much longer Ben Ami can fool the American Jewish community is anybody’s guess, but one thing is for sure: His mask is beginning to slip even among his knee-jerk followers.

Duncan Kennedy, tenured Harvard Law School Professor and Carter Professor of General Jurisprudence, and, of late, Israel basher-in-residence at the nation’s most prestigious university, has called for BDS vis a vis Israel, not only at the governmental level but at the “civil society” level – in other words, let’s boycott and demonize individual Jews like visiting academics, artists, etc.
He called for punishing Israeli Jews at a “Justice for Palestine” discussion of the two-state solution along with Professor Noah Feldman, Harvard’s wunderkind who never saw an ulema he couldn’t admire. Having a “debate” between Kennedy and Feldman is rather like having Joy Behar debate Whoopie Goldberg.

Quickly abandoning the Obama administration’s advocacy of the two-state model, Kennedy shifted to the “binational” model, which, according to every sober or earth-residing analyst, signals the effective end of Israel and the Jewish state. Apparently that would sit quite agreeably with the good professor who professes to have nothing but good intentions for Israeli Jews. According to his expert prognostications, once the Zionist entity is eliminated, a democratic model of toleration – akin to Swiss confederation will follow. When asked to supply a template for such a Middle East utopia he could not cite one. Perhaps he was thinking of that bastion of democracy, Egypt and its Swiss-style treatment of Christian Copts, or Syria and its exemplary treatment of Nestorian Christians, or Iraq, that utopia in which Sunni and Shia get along famously, or perhaps Iran and its model of toleration for its Ba’hai citizens or its homosexuals. Perhaps he was thinking of Lebanon, the Iranian-Hezbollah client state. No matter, we’ll worry about that later. For now, let’s hurt those demonic Israeli Jews in favor of the sainted Palestinian Arabs.

When asked why 100% of his vitriol was aimed at Jews and ignored Arab incitement that has gone on unabated since and before the Oslo fiasco, he replied that “Palestinian incitement was an insignificant issue.”

And this person is teaching young minds the tenets of “universal justice”.

Anat Biletzki of Tel Aviv University

If J Street sponsors any more events like the one they did at Yale recently, we’ll have to add their name to the old joke:

“Your check is in the mail”
“I did not have sex with that woman”
and
“J Street is “Pro Peace”
Yale Students for Justice for Palestine (read wipe Israel off the map) along with J Street brought the one-woman show, Anat Biletzki to New Haven this week. In describing Anat, YSJP left out a few critical parts of her CV. Namely, that she chaired B’Tselem and Israel’s Communist Party.
Biletzki’s vocabulary rarely includes “Hamas” or “Terror”. Last year at Harvard’s Israel bashing “Gaza Symposium”, Biletzki, along with her comrade, Richard Falk of the U.N., used her time at the lectern to fault – believe it or not – every, traditional Israel-hating NGO (Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International among others) for not being tough enough by not leaping to brand Israel a “Pariah State.” No anti-Israel position is too extreme for the Tel Aviv University philosophy professor. To the delight of the benighted and frenzied students, she cited only one culpable party in the Gaza War.
Biletzki is also a zealous supporter of SABEEL, the Anglican-Palestinian ministry whose leader, Naim Ateek compares Israel to Pontius Pilate and the Palestinian Arabs to the crucified Jesus.

Not to be outdone by Biletzki’s one-woman screed, J Street has scheduled a forum hosting, arguably, the UN’s most anti-Israel personality- John Ging of UNWRA, the United Nations Works and Relief Agency, the majority of whose employees owe their allegiance to HAMAS. He directs the expenditure of $450,000,000 towards the world’s only refugee population designated a special case by the UN. For nearly 60 years, UNWRA has been providing cover and material support for the most anti-peace elements in Palestinian society. The organization’s record on support for terror is amply documented.

Ging famously fanned the flames of Israel hatred when he falsely accused Israel of deliberately shelling a UN school during Operation Cast Lead in 2009. Ging was a major source for the widely discredited Goldstone Report.

What’s next on J Street’s radar? A reception for Khaled Meshaal or a birthday party for Hassan Nasrallah? It’s all for Peace, baby.

Smiling Dan, The BDS Man
In a statement that pays homage to the Dickensian legal labyrinths of Jarndyce v. Jarndyce, The New Israel Fund couldn’t resist the temptations of BDS any longer. Thus, their recent pusillanimous language on allying itself with the BDSers:

“NIF supports an end to the occupation of Palestinian territories as a central tenet of the strategic framework in which we operate. The tactics known as ‘boycott, divestment and sanctions’ (BDS) are designed to pressure Israel to end the occupation, but NIF believes these tactics to be unproductive, inflammatory and ineffective because of the difficulties in defining an approach that is not overly broad, does not delegitimize Israel and will achieve the long-term goal.
Although we will continue to communicate publicly and privately to our allies and grantees that NIF does not support BDS as a strategy or tactic, we will not reduce or eliminate our funding for grantees that differ with us on a tactical matter. NIF will not fund BDS activities nor support organizations for which BDS is a substantial element (JSJ emphasis) of their activities, but will support organizations that conform to our grant requirements if their support for BDS is incidental or subsidiary to their significant programs.”

Ah so- if Adalah or The Coalition for Women for Peace, e.g., engage in BDS activities (which they already have), then NIF will continue to fund them, titrating the volume of those activities and, mirabile dictu, coming to the inevitable conclusion that they do not represent a substantial element of their activities. That’s a guarantee of support for BDS. NIF has now publicly crossed the line into BDS territory.

And what of their official ally and big brother, J Street? Will Ben Ami end its relationship with NIF? Hardly. As with the Soros scandal, he will spin and spin, sensing the warm feelings his members have for BDS and will similarly prevaricate and support NIF.

At some point in the not too distant future Ben Ami & Co. will pull of the masks entirely and satisfy the needs of their constituents by fully endorsing BDS instead of furtively supporting it.
Strapping on his backbone, Jeffrey Goldberg, at least this time, has it quite right.

“What’s Not to Believe?”

“I did not have sex with that woman”

“J Street is Pro Israel”

The embattled and embarrassed leader of J Street, Jeremy Ben Ami found himself in the middle of a firestorm of attention – most not to his liking – when he was abruptly ejected from a Reform – yes, a Reform synagogue last week near Boston. A group of congregants from Temple Beth Avodah in Newton, MA expressed their concern and outrage that a man whose organization has done so much to undermine the security of the Jewish State would be honored by an appearance at their synagogue. Still reeling from the explosive revelation that George- “Jews and Israel cause antisemitism” – Soros was a major funder of J Street, Ben Ami, the consummate Washington insider and spinmeister took those lemons and tried to make lemonade.
Try as he might to “turn the page” on the Soros affair, Ben Ami was dogged at every turn by pointed questions about the billionaire pirate’s funding. Deborah Becker – of all places – the local NPR affiliate, WBUR, pressed him on his obvious lying about the hundreds of thousands of dollars poured into J Street as did the editor of The Jewish Advocate, Steve Maas. The only people buying what J Street was selling, it would seem, were his lieutenants and the gathered faithful.

Squirm #1:

Anyone who believes that George Soros is “Pro Israel” deserves Ben Ami as Fearless Leader. As a lawyer, Ben Ami should know never to ask a question whose answer you are unsure of. Had the controllers of the evening permitted, virtually the entire Advisory Council of J Street would have been revealed as denigrators of Israel:

Rob “Arafat saved my dad” Malley, Henry “Israel is the only Apartheid regime in the Western world” Siegman, Morton “Let’s Sell Goldstone to Congress” Halperin, Daniel “Israel was a mistake” Levy, Robert “Arabist” Pelletreau, Milton “Support Palestinian Resistance” Viorst, Ayelet “Obama is radiant” Waldman, to name just a few.

Exactly how Ben Ami can persist in his “Pro Israel” chicanery must be a testament to the incredible gullibility of his robotic fans. In this exchange with Mr. Maas, Ben Ami faults Arab countries but absolves the Palestinians. Moreover, Arafat, the commander of Palestinian terror against Israel, the assassin of U.S. diplomats, simply “made mistakes.” Note that in a speech at the Tufts Fletcher School of diplomacy one hour prior to his appearance in front of a Jewish audience, Ben Ami made no mention whatsoever of Arab state aggression, Palestinian Arab complicity or even of Arafat and his “mistakes.”

Squirm #2:

Palestinians represent to Ben Ami – as they do to his blind followers – a cipher, a collective, sainted, third world native people something like native Americans, blameless and ever-suffering at the hands of perfidious Jews. Only when pressed, will Ben Ami acknowledge even Arab states’ enmity towards Israel. No better proof of J Street’s purpose as a Palestinian Arab support group can be offered.

No evening would be complete without the mantra of “Social Justice” of course. On Planet J Street, SJ , naturally, applies only to Palestinian Arabs. And who are the Jews to dictate to them that they must allow Jews to become citizens of their future democratic paradise? Jews must “understand’ the legitimate hatred of Arabs. Unbelievable.

Squirm #3:

More to follow.

These Won’t Help

Nor Will This
What do Alan Dershowitz and Marty Peretz have in common these days? Choose from the following list:

(a) They’re both part of the Harvard community

(b) They’re both “public intellectuals” (whatever that means)
(c) They’re both outspoken
(d) They’re both Islamophobes and bigots
(e) They’re both obviously Jewish
(f) They’re both proudly Liberal

According to the MSM and the university establishment, a through e are correct, but f is now seriously in question by the intellectual powers that be. In almost parallel instances, Peretz and Dershowitz have been cast in the roles of the “Jew among the intellectuals.” The common thread that unites the two right now is their staunch defense of the Jewish State, Israel. And for that reason, alone, they have been sent out into the wilderness burdened with their people’s guilt.

For decades both have been stalwart standard bearers of Liberalism and the Democratic Party. Peretz, as owner and editor of the venerable magazine, The New Republic and Dershowitz as Harvard’s Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, “attorney for the damned” (and occasionally, the well-heeled), have supported Democrat candidates since time immemorial. Both supported and campaigned vigorously for Barack Hussein Obama for President. Their big “L” liberal credentials are long established.

Dershowitz, whose books and speeches in defense of Israel are legion, spends a good part of every presentation on the Middle East conflict establishing his Liberal bona fides ranging from the Civil Rights struggle to women’s rights, not to mention the rights of Palestinians to their own state. Peretz has lent his name and money to the campaigns of Al Gore and John Kerry. If this is the case, then what was their unpardonable offense that led to their rapid and precipitous fall from grace?

Both men have fallen prey to the current hysteria and witch hunting of those who would root out any dissenters from the prevailing tyranny of “Islamophobia.” and moral relativity. “Jews” (used advisedly) like Glenn Greenwald of Salon and MJ Rosenberg of Media Matters have placed themselves in the vanguard of the Jewish Left which will brook no defense of Israel or dissent from their alliance with Islam.

Peretz has since apologized for his comments of last month:
“But, frankly, Muslim life is cheap, most notably to Muslims,’’ He went on to say:“. . . I wonder whether I need honor these people and pretend that they are worthy of the privileges of the First Amendment which I have in my gut the sense that they will abuse.’’

Sadly, an investigative door was opened by his comments, but quickly shut. Considering the pervasive death cult practiced by many radical Muslims, both of their own lives and the lives of innocents – both Muslim and non-Muslim – the “cheapness” of life among them might have been worth exploring. If it were not for 9/11 and the 16,000 additional terrorist attacks that have occurred since that date, none of us would be having a discussion on the nature of the politico-theology called Islam. And considering recent polls in the Muslim world that show an overwhelming number of adherents favoring strict Shariah Law, his other point about the First Amendment seems particularly valid for discussion. As to whether Muslims should be granted the benefits of our Constitution, he has made this apology:

” I wrote that, but I do not believe that. I do not think that any group or class of persons in the United States should be denied the protections of the First Amendment, not now, not ever. When I insist upon a sober recognition of the threats to our security, domestic threats included, I do not mean to suggest that the Constitution and its order of rights should in any way be abrogated. I would abhor such a prospect. I do not wish upon Muslim Americans the sorts of calumnies that were endured by Italian Americans in connection with Sacco and Vanzetti and Jewish Americans in connection with communism. My recent comments on the twisted Koran-hating reverend in Gainesville will give evidence of that. So I apologize for my sentence, not least because it misrepresents me.”

All to no avail. Peretz and Dershowitz now occupy the Ninth Circle of the Left. No matter what apologies are forthcoming, they bear the stain of incorrect politics. And that was evident at a recent book event at Boston’s venerable Old South Church at which Dershowitz discussed his novel, The Trials of Zion” along with Palestinian Arab-American, Susan Abulhawa and her novel, “Mornings in Jenin” (whose original title was “The Scar of David” – no kidding). Ms. Abulhawa’s presentation quickly descended into a screed against Israel and Jews complete with David Ben Gurion’s genocidal comments which have long been exposed as forgeries. No amount of left-wing merit badges could spare Dersh the ire of the crowd. Even when he cited the incontrovertible evidence that the Palestinians’ national hero for decades, Haj Amin al Husseini, was an active participant in the Holocaust, urging Hitler and Himmler to murder the Jews even faster than they were doing – the graying, pony-tailed, faux-Jewish crowd were screaming for Dershowitz’s blood. In true Stalinist fashion, they tried to silence him, but he gave as good as he got.

But like Van Helsing’s garlic or wolfsbane, the magic amulet of correct, left wing beliefs will prove ineffective in warding off antisemitism. It’s time Alan Dershowitz realized that he has been expelled from academia’s garden of eden. He’s fighting the good fight, however as is Marty Peretz.