J Street: Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace, Pro-Bickering

A guy, Daniel (no last name was given), of J Street responded to the letter I wrote asking J Street not to quibble with the Anti-Defamation League over minor things:

Thank you for the impassioned comments and offering of support for J Street’s views on [Sarah] Palin’s comments.  Yes, her comments were irresponsible and even bizarre.  To say that many Jews in the next days and months will move to Israel and the settlements ignores all the politics of the situation.  We do take issue with the idea that ADL and Abe Foxman’s  comments are of little concern. Please read our statement again. Foxman’s disregard for J Street is an attempt to squash debate over this topic that has been dominated by a monolithic lobby for too long. J Street aims to open up political space to discuss these issues, Foxman is attempting to close this space.

While Daniel might be right, I still say J Street should choose its battles more wisely.

To the ADL and J Street: Stop the Meaningless Bickering

I sent the following e-mail to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL):

Doesn’t the Anti-Defamation League have anything better to do than to criticize J Street’s reaction to Sarah Palin’s idiotic statement on the Israeli settlements in the West Bank? There is real anti-Semitism and racism in this country, including an increasingly publicized case in California of a high school that has allegedly turned a blind eye toward constant and unbearable anti-Semitic abuse against a Jewish student.  I did a search for that indecent on the ADL’s website and found absolutely nothing.  I did a search on “J Street” and found 119 results.  Unless J Street becomes guilty of bigotry on the same level as the other bigoted statements the ADL justly monitors, I suggest that the ADL leave J Street alone.  This bickering about who loves Israel more does not help Israel and it does not make the ADL look good.

I then sent the following to J Street:

As you are aware, there is a degree of suspicion in the pro-Israel community about whether J Street is a threat to the more established pro-Israel organizations such as the ADL.  I would hope that to avoid this suspicion, J Street would make critical statements concerning the ADL only if it was absolutely necessary.  I was sad, therefore, to read [director of J Street] Jeremy Ben-Ami’s open letter to Abe Foxman [director of the ADL] in response to his criticism of J Street’s stance on Sarah Palin’s idiotic views on Israeli settlements.  Foxman is not J Street’s only critic and if J Street responds to everything anyone says about it, I fear that the organization may become irrelevant.  Furthermore, the Israeli settlements are an important issue, but Sarah Palin’s crazy views are not! I cannot understand how two important Jewish organizations are fighting over something so trivial! This endless bickering about who loves Israel more does not help Israel and it does not make the J Street look good.  I wrote an email to the ADL expressing similar views.