Yonatan Shechter, a junior at Hampshire College, said the ultra-liberal Massachusetts campus is inhospitable to terms like “Zionist” and that when his former organization, the Union of Progressive Zionists (which has been absorbed into J Street U), dropped that last word of its name, “people were so relieved.”
Shechter said that J Street U allows students who support Israel to have an address on his campus, adding that nothing more to the right exists or would be sustainable and the only other Jewish student group “is decidedly not political… they won’t go beyond having felafel on Independence Day.”
Relieved? I’m disgusted. This is Absolutely pathetic. Just what is wrong with young Jews these days that they are so self-hating and ashamed of their Judaism? No other ethnic or religious group has this problem.
Later, Ben-Ami described his organization’s goal as one that includes changing the nature of the debate about Israel in America to one of a big-tent approach where different viewpoints and perspectives were welcomed.
As if that’s not already the case.
“It is our goal to change traditional conversations when it comes to Israel and to broaden the notion that there is only one way to express love and concern for it,” Ben-Ami said to applause. “We are here to redefine and expand the very concept of being pro-Israel. No longer should this ‘pro-’ require an ‘anti-.’”
He read letters of support from President Shimon Peres and opposition leader Tzipi Livni, neither of whom were able to attend but both of whom expressed support for including a wide swath of American Jews in the issues connected to Israel.
“For too long, our voice - the voice of mainstream progressive Jews on Israel - has been absent from the political playing field in Washington and around the country,” Ben-Ami told the crowd, noting that many have focused on other issues.
It is a total fallacy that only “right wing” views regarding Israel have been heard, quite the contrary in fact. The left has been dominating the discussion on Israel, especially on campus, for years. And those groups regarded as “right wing” such as AIPAC are not really on the right at all. AIPAC supports the creation of a palestinian state and the removal of Jews from Judea and Samaria. How can that be described as remotely a right wing position? It is necessary for J Street to paint with a broad brush any views about Israel in opposition to theirs as "right wing" in order to make it appear they are in the middle, mainstream. But of course it is J Street which holds views that are extremist and out of the mainstream. Even the most left wing party in Israel, Meretz, supported the Gaza war which J Street opposed and J Street also opposes even sanctions against Iran and favors dialogue with hamas. How can these positions be considered moderate in any way? What a prick Ben Ami is.
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