Israel Matzav

Convincing the World that they're not pro-Israel

If anyone still needed convincing that J Street is not pro-Israel, this article by Joel Mowbray ought to be the last straw.

J-Street suffered a humiliating defeat yesterday on Capitol Hill -- which means Israel scored an important victory.

The George Soros-funded "pro-Israel" group inexplicably mobilized its machinery to oppose a bipartisan letter that merely called on President Obama to pressure the Palestinian Authority to end its longstanding practice of inciting its people to commit terrorism against the Jewish state.

Even in a town where tin-eared stupidity is commonplace, essentially protecting the PA's ability to encourage violence against its Jewish neighbors is jaw-dropping.

The straightforward letter, authored by Reps. Steve Rothman (D-NJ) and Steve Austria (R-OH), asks Obama to pressure PA President Mahmoud Abbas to "fully renounce any and all Palestinian incitement against Israel and the Jewish people."

...

Urging Congressmen not to sign the Rothman-Austria letter, a J-Street memo circulated on March 18 claimed that it was "beneath reasonable standards of accuracy and objectivity" because it failed to talk about Israel's misdeeds and all the positive actions from the PA. That mentality is what defines J-Street: Israel's negatives must always be highlighted, while the PA should be put in the best possible light.

While J-Street complained that the letter didn't give credit to the PA for increasing security cooperation with Israel, the "pro-peace" outfit neglected the repeated instances captured by Palestinian Media Watch of Abbas and his officials--including "man of peace" Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad--honoring and glorifying "martyrs."

Perhaps the most baffling attack J-Street leveled against the Rothman-Austria letter, though, was that it didn't mention that Abbas "has twice attempted to renew the activity of the Israeli-Palestinian-American committee for preventing incitement created at the Wye conference." Since when does a government leader need an international conference to have the people on his payroll stop encouraging children to kill their neighbors?

Then again, it's difficult to single out any one part of what was a deeply misguided endeavor that, in essence, provided cover for incitement to violence. It's a tactical blunder that likely will haunt them long into the future, as it makes it removes from J-Street any notion that it is "pro-Israel."

A Democratic staffer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, summed up nicely the general attitude of many offices that joined the letter with the obvious question: "At the end of the day, what possible justification could there be for not telling the PA to end incitement?"

Heh.

Of course, the bigger question is that given that J Street reflects the will of the Obama administration, what possible justification could the Obami have for not telling the PS to end incitement?

Labels: J Street, pro-Israel pro-peace

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:27 AM