J Street’s Hypocrisy On Israeli Independence Day
Jeremy Ben-Ami, J Street’s founder and President, sent out Yom Ha’aztmaut greetings by email today. Because, you know, J Street is pro-Israel and all.
Jeremy Ben-Ami
Friend —
Today marks 68 years since Israel’s founding as a modern independent state.
For some, Israel’s rebirth after 19 centuries of exile is nothing short of a divine miracle.
For others — like me — Israel’s existence is a testament to the hard work of real people against enormous odds.
Israel is here thanks to the tremendous sacrifices of soldiers and civilians honored yesterday on Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day, and at a very real human cost to the Palestinian people that one day will be fully acknowledged.
Israel’s future too will be shaped by the people who live there, perhaps with input from those of us abroad who support them.
That is the essence of Zionism: for the first time in two millennia, the Jewish people control their own fate in their own land. . . .
Anyone familiar with J Street will recognize the absurdity of its President writing that last line. The way that J Street functions is to lobby the US government, asking it to pressure the Israeli government to take actions that do not reflect the will of the Israeli population, expressed through the democratic process. J Street actively works against the ability of Israeli Jews to “control their own fate in their own land.”
The proposition that Israelis are the best people to judge what is in their own best interests carries no weight with J Street. J Street asks Americans to support engagement with Hamas, asks the US government to brand Israeli building in Jewish neighborhoods outside of the green line illegal, and urges President Obama not to veto a UN Security Council resolution to resolve the conflict. In other words, it exists for the very purpose of subverting Israeli democracy.
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