Looking for Trouble

New Jewish-American lobby pro-Israel and pro-peace

A reader comment about my blog on American Israel Public Affairs Committee, AIPAC, pointed out that there is new Jewish-American lobby called J Street that “seeks to present a different viewpoint on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that is more cognizant of the rights of the Palestinians.” He’s right. It is very different from AIPAC.

Here is how this new lobby describes itself:

“J Street is the political arm of the pro-Israel, pro-peace movement.

“J Street was founded to promote meaningful American leadership to end the Arab-Israeli and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts peacefully and diplomatically. We support a new direction for American policy in the Middle East and a broad public and policy debate about the U.S. role in the region.

“J Street represents Americans, primarily but not exclusively Jewish, who support Israel and its desire for security as the Jewish homeland, as well as the right of the Palestinians to a sovereign state of their own – two states living side-by-side in peace and security. We believe ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is in the best interests of Israel, the United States, the Palestinians, and the region as a whole.

“J Street supports diplomatic solutions over military ones, including in Iran; multilateral over unilateral approaches to conflict resolution; and dialogue over confrontation with a wide range of countries and actors when conflicts do arise.”

As stated on its web site, the group’s positions on two key issues that have long stalled the peace process are encouraging.

On the status of Jerusalem: “Jerusalem’s ultimate status and borders should be negotiated and resolved as part of an agreement between official Israeli and Palestinian authorities and endorsed by both peoples.

“J Street would support the approach outlined in the Clinton parameters and other models of a two-state solution under which the Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem would fall under Israeli sovereignty and the Arab neighborhoods would be under Palestinian sovereignty. Negotiations have produced creative ideas for resolving the hardest issues, including sovereignty and management arrangements for the Old City and the Holy Basin.”

On settlements: “Israel’s settlements in the occupied territories have, for over forty years, been an obstacle to peace. They have drained Israel’s economy, military, and democracy and eroded the country’s ability to uphold the rule of law.

“Continued settlement growth undermines the prospects for peace by making Palestinians doubt Israeli motives and commitment, and by complicating the territorial compromises that will be necessary in final status talks. The arrangements that have been made for the benefit of settlers and for security – checkpoints, settler-only roads, the route of the security barrier – have all made daily life more difficult for Palestinians, deepening hostility and increasing the odds of violence and conflict. A majority of Israelis have recognized this reality and oppose settlement expansion, yet their views have been outweighed by a small, vocal pro-settlement minority.

“J Street supports President Obama’s call for an immediate and total freeze of settlement construction.”

An Oct. 30 Reuters story described J Street as “a new pro-Israel lobby for the liberal majority of American Jews (78 percent voted for Obama) who do not feel represented by traditional pro-Israel advocacy groups, chief of them the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.”

For the sake of peace and justice for Palestinians and Israelis, let’s hope that that liberal majority of American Jews flock to J Street.