Comments on: A cul de sac called J Street

By: Maskil

Maskil — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:32:14 +0000

@Kung Fu Jew Thanks for trying to get a response for me. By some accounts, the conference was an anti-Israel hate-fest. According to others, a gathering of concerned, critical (if somewhat naive) pro-Israel/pro-peace activists. So which is it? Or do we need to wait for the dust to settle? Is there an anti-Israel/Semitic/Zionist element in J Street that needs to be purged, following which it will reflect the legitimate concerns of many Jews about Israeli policies? Or is it simply born in sin and totally unsalvageable? Does it have the potential to become the voice of critical supporters of Israel, or do we have to get used to toeing the “my country, right or wrong” line?

By: ck

ck — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:26:21 +0000

Jesus H. Christ KFJ – “a rare and beautiful moment of intellectual honesty on Jewlicious” – talk about a back handed compliment! Larry’s an awesome guy and like the rest of us here, intellectually honest to the extreme. I mean, wtf, do you think we’re liars? Promoting positions we don’t believe in?? We’ll go and see things first hand whenever we have the chance. But if we don’t experience it first hand, we can still express an opinion! And even if you disagree with it, you can’t assert that it is innately dishonest! That’s like Richard Silverstein saying that i am a liar because I state an opinion that he is anti-Israel. He can claim all he likes that he isn’t, but if it is my honest opinion that he is, well that’s not dishonest, is it? Lyon expressed a valid opinion, one that may not be based on first hand experience, but one that touches on issues that ought to be addressed or at least seriously contemplated by J Street and its supporters. And if you have any criticism of what he wrote, you are strongly urged and encouraged to voice them. I’ll won’t delete any of it. But try to stick to valid criticism. If you’re going to paint us all with one big brush by calling Jewlicious intellectually dishonest, either back it up or stick to issues that are germane. What Larry did isn’t remarkable. None of us had any issues with his going to J Street and reporting as he saw fit. Nothing he wrote had to be pre approved or edited. That’s how we roll here. Nothing dishonest about that.

By: Kung Fu Jew

Kung Fu Jew — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:07:16 +0000

I would really like to hear an enlightened answer to Maski’s question:

OK, so if not J Street, then who? We still need an organisation to fill the role of being pro-Israel (even pro-Zionist), while not neglecting the peace and social justice agendas and taking a critical stance towards some of the less-inspired policies of successive Israeli governments.

I think it was a rare and beautiful moment of intellectual honesty on Jewlicious when Larry attended and blogged the J Street conference. Instead of relying on second-hand accounts and spurious accusations (such as Roth above), Larry displayed curiosity and courage to put the hype to the test. He came and met us himself.

It’s a shame few others on Jewlicious seem capable of doing the same. What happened to that spirit?

By: Joshua

Joshua — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:41:05 +0000

Seth, what do you mean by “infiltration” at UM? I may need to tell my brother (who goes there) about that.

By: themiddle

themiddle — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:34:46 +0000

Uh, Fnord, David is referring to this sentence: “Much as Jews for Jesus distorts the definition of membership (Jews) in order to expand its tent of adherents” and referring to the attack on Jews for Jesus as anti-Semitism. It isn’t anti-Semitism.

I guess I should add that as far as I know, none of the writers here are either Lieberman or Netanyahu supporters. I don’t even have a clue who the other writers here “support.” Instead of making generalizations without any information, you should really spend some time reading the contents on this site.

By: Fnord

Fnord — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:52:04 +0000

David: You see, to these folks you are a self-hating Jew if you dont accept that your jewish identity must by necessity mean support for Benjamin Nethanyahu and Lieberman. Go to Jerusalem Post, read the talkback comments and see the folks you are dealing with here.

By: david

david — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:10:40 +0000

@themiddle In my opinion the comment is anti-semitic for exactly the reasons I stated. This kind of hatred of Jewish people needs to stop immediately.

By: Seth Levy

Seth Levy — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:37:33 +0000

J Street’s infiltration of my campus (The University of Miami) has forced me to sever ties with many of my Jewish friends and even an organization I have worked with since day one. They are a despicable group who has no place on any campus.

By: Maskil

Maskil — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:43:34 +0000

OK, so if not J Street, then who? We still need an organisation to fill the role of being pro-Israel (even pro-Zionist), while not neglecting the peace and social justice agendas and taking a critical stance towards some of the less-inspired policies of successive Israeli governments.

By: themiddle

themiddle — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:17:14 +0000

There was nothing anti-Semitic in that comment.

Um, can somebody call me and tell me what the Jewlicious Board of Directors is and why I’m not on it?

By: Stopping Jstreet

Stopping Jstreet — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:30:28 +0000

A cul de sac called JStreet…

Today, most political roads seem to lead to Washington DC. Once there, you will also discover that nearly every letter of the alphabet enjoys a real road or street named after it in one or more of the four quadrants of the city. Poor letter J does not …

By: david

david — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:13:32 +0000

When you write “distorts the definition of membership (Jews),” you are making an anti-semitic comment by attempting to place all Jewish people into a single category you call “the definition.”
Please stop your anti-semitism now.