Shame on Senator Van Hollen and Shame on J Street!

At the J Street convention in Washington last week, a sitting U.S. senator took the stage and declared that pro-Israel Americans who are members of AIPAC are “neither pro-American nor pro-Israel.”

It was a shocking smear from Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, reminiscent of the worst tropes of dual loyalty levied at our community.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the senator’s slander received a standing ovation from the J Street audience.

As a Jewish communal leader and a fierce pro-Israel advocate, I am disgusted by Senator Van Hollen’s accusation. Equally beyond the pale was its enthusiastic reception from an organization that mistakenly claims to represent the majority of the Jewish community.

The idea that Jews who advocate for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship are somehow less loyal to their country — less authentically American — has been used to marginalize and endanger Jewish communities for centuries. These libelous accusations have followed us across every country we have ever called home. From Eastern Europe to the Middle East to the United States, these comments rhyme with libels and defamations we have been subject to across the globe. They have been used to justify exclusion, persecution and violence against Jews from time immemorial.

Just because a sitting U.S. Senator invoked these tropes at a J Street conference doesn’t make them less antisemitic.

J Street says it represents the views of most Jewish Americans. It raises money on its commitment to Jewish values and to building a safer world for Jewish people. But the Jewish community is under attack by some of the very people J Street continues to platform and promote.

Now, J Street has given license to declare that pro-Israel advocacy and supporting AIPAC makes you un-American. I, for one, am offended. Shame on Senator Van Hollen.

I’m not asking J Street to love AIPAC. I’m asking them to draw the line. What Senator Van Hollen said runs counter to the values that the Democratic party and American liberalism cherish. He owes the pro-Israel community an apology and J Street should publicly condemn his remarks.

We have a responsibility — especially in this divisive and dangerous political climate — to call out this kind of language no matter who says it or which side of the aisle they are on.

The far-right has long used the dual loyalty smear to isolate and endanger Jewish communities. Senator Van Hollen is using the same tried and true slur to alienate Jews who support Israel, just this time from the opposite flank. Organizations who want to be taken seriously among American Jewry must take seriously those who use antisemitic and dangerous rhetoric and threaten our place in this country.

J Street and Senator Van Hollen have failed Israel and America…again.