When Jeremy Ben-Ami founded J Street in 2008, he wished to provide an alternative voice within the mainstream American Jewish community for pro-Israel supporters who were also deeply invested in reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians. These aims are important, as AIPAC, the larger pro- Israel lobby group in Washington, often does not focus enough attention on the Palestinian’s plight, alienating a large segment of the young American Jewish population.
However, at this year’s J Street conference I saw a different picture.
At one of the endless sessions on the Israeli occupation, Fatah’s Husam Zomlot exclaimed, “As for the refugee issue, how do you want me to sign a deal with my own hands that would compromise the rights of two-thirds of the nation? Why do I have to compromise? What do the refugees want? Some of them want to return to their original home, but all of them want one thing: full recognition of the nakba [“catastrophe”] that has befallen our people.”
Zomlot’s declaration for the right of return and refusal to compromise on the contentious issue of refugees received sustained and loud applause. Zomlot’s wishing for the right of return, that would allow millions of descendants of Palestinian refugees from 1948 to reenter Israel, would provide the Arabs with a majority within Israel and destroy the Jewish state. This sentiment was received with cheers among J Street’s extremely left-wing activists.
Canada has its own collection of useful idiots with the same goal by the name of JSpace Canada
h/t Meryle K.
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