Polizeros contributor Byron DeLear attended the recent J Street (“the political home for pro-Israel pro-peace Americans”) conference in D.C., a three year old lobbying group with a decidedly more pro-peace message than the troglodytes at AIPAC.
A potent meme emerged at the conference, which, for me, accurately frames the debate between the two rival Jewish-American advocacy organizations.
“Global Israel”—carried by J Street—and, “Greater Israel”, by AIPAC (a.k.a., Future v. Past).
There is a considerable amount of competitive back-and-forth between adherents of these two groups (putting it mildly), both claiming the mantle of being pro-Israel, but in different ways.
That AIPAC is increasing their attacks on J Street simply shows that the J Street message is starting to get through.
The J Street CEO said in his opening address
“The time has come for Israel to choose among three things: being a Jewish homeland, remaining democratic, and maintaining control over all the land between the Jordan and the Mediterranean. Israel can have only two of the three. It can only be both Jewish and democratic by giving up the land on which a Palestinian state can be built in exchange for peace.”
DeLear adds
The clock is ticking out due to domestic demographic realities and international political pressure. The increasing growth of inflexible nationalist attitudes and unyielding religious fundamentalism on all sides of the conflict—combined with a global crescendo calling for an end to human rights abuses—has put the status quo on an untenable tract.