The self-declared mission of J Street, the dovish "pro-Israel, pro-Peace" lobby that just concluded its first national conference this week, includes redefining the meaning of the term "pro-Israel." For too long, the organization's founders and supporters argue, right-wing elements in the Jewish community have abused the term to hijack the debate and tarnish mainstream, sensible advocates of a two-state solution.
J Street's "pro-Israel" bona fides were questioned almost immediately after its launch, and with good reason. For starters, the organization took needlessly provocative stands, like backing the decision to stage the play, Seven Jewish Children, which compares the suffering of Jewish youth under Nazi Germany to that of Palestinians in the occupied territories. J Street initially stayed out of the controversy surrounding the appointment of Chas Freeman chairman of the National Intelligence Council. (Freeman is a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia who ran a think tank that published the infamous "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy" paper by professors Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer.) But it rushed to Freeman's defense after he backed out and issued a stinging broadside against his critics, whom Freeman alleged were working on behalf of "a powerful lobby determined to prevent any view other than its own from being aired." J Street Executive Director Jeremy Ben-Ami echoed Freeman's attack: "In their view, intimidating those who would otherwise speak their mind on Israel is the ultimate service to protect and defend the state of Israel."
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