Joke Street

Today is April Fools Day, so I thought I would write about one of the biggest jokes in the world: J Street.

J Street is an organization that claims it is pro-Israel and pro-peace. At first glance, its platform is commendable. According to its website, J Street supports a two state solution based on the Green Line, is against the expansion of settlements in Judea and Samaria, condemns terror against Israel and its citizens, and vehemently opposes the BDS movement.

But as the saying goes, actions speak louder than words.

At its fifth annual national conference in Washington last week, J Street hosted a number of speakers who are not only critical of Israel (which there is nothing wrong with), but demonized and delegitimized Israel.

One of the speakers at the conference was Saeb Erekat, the chief negotiator of the Palestinian Authority, which uses American aid money to pay stipends for convicted terrorists. The same Saeb Erekat who claimed Hamas is not a terrorist organization, despite its charter quoting the Koran for justification of genocide of the Jewish people. The same Erekat who rejected Israel as a Jewish state and claimed his ancestors were in Israel for 5,500 before Joshua came along, despite him belonging to clan from modern day Saudi Arabia.

Next on J Street’s list of speakers was former Secretary of State under George Bush Sr., James Baker, who infamously said “F*ck the Jews, they didn’t vote for us anyway”. The same James Baker who advocated for punishing Israel for attacking Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981, a move that helped prevented Saddam Hussein from acquiring nuclear weapons before the Persian Gulf War. The same James Baker who banned Benjamin Netanyahu from the State Department building in 1990. The same Baker who co-wrote a report calling for downgrading ties with Israel in favor of ties with Syria and Iran, a move Obama seems to be implementing. The same Baker whose legal firm defended the Saudis in a lawsuit regarding the 9/11 attacks.

Other speakers included Maha Mehanna, who called Israel’s actions against Hamas this past summer a “crime against humanity”, while remaining silent about Hamas’ actions that provoked the Israeli response. There was Matt Duss who compared Israel’s blockade against Hamas to segregation. There was (of course) Peter Beinart, who called for Obama to take punitive actions against Israel, such as freezing assets.

To top it all off, there was Marcia Freedman, who basically called for the end of Israel as a Jewish state, saying that Israeli Jews should instead live as a “protected minority” in an Arab-controlled Palestinian state instead. She believes this despite the way non-Arab minorities across the Middle East are treated by Arabs. She believes this despite a study conducted by the ADL finding that 93% of Palestinians harbor anti-semitic views and that all 10 of the most anti-semitic countries are all Arab countries. After she gave her speech, Freedman was applauded, by people who are supposed to support Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. It is amazing that an organization that claims to be for two states gives a platform for someone who calls for one state. Yet, J Street has declined to allow many other supporters of the two state solution, such as Alan Dershowitz, to speak at their conference.

The mask has finally slipped off. Happy April Fools Day J Street, you aren’t fooling anybody but yourselves!