Yesterday I showed how enthusiastic J-Street members were in applauding Palestinian intransigence.
Compare that to this speech by Hawaii senator Brian Schatz, where the applause for pro-Israel positions like supporting Israel’s right to exist and maintaining Israel’s military edge were muted or nonexistent, but supporting the Iran deal and demanding that the US take in Syrian refugees were greeted rapturously.
Altogether, the representative of a terror organization received far more adulation than a Jewish senator who supports Israel’s right to exist.
(You might argue that Schatz didn’t pause enough after saying his pro-Israel positions so the audience couldn’t applaud as much. Perhaps, but I would argue that he knew his audience – he is a professional politician and knows how to elicit applause with a pause, and he didn’t want to risk an awkward silence.)
Schatz also made a pro-J-Street argument, claiming falsely that the Zionist crowd is unwilling to engage in debate and that this is undemocratic. No, we are happy to engage in debate – of all J-Street was doing was asking for debate there would be no shortage of people willing to argue for Israel against it. But J-Street is actively trying to undermine Israel’s democracy while pro-Israel organizations support it. That’s the issue.
Which he knows is true, because AIPAC always supported the Israeli government, left or right. It is J-Street that is manifestly undemocratic.
J-Street isn’t a pro-Israel organization. It is simply a leftist group that is trying to split the American Jewish community to oppose Israeli policies.
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