Published: 26 April 2021
Last updated: 4 March 2024
IF AN ORGANISATION COULD be so blessed, J Street might have just celebrated its barmitzvah. America’s leading voice for progressive Jewish politics marked its 13th anniversary in November. Last week’s National Conference contained a mixture of solemnity and celebration which marked an organisation that has truly come of age.
The conference marked a major gathering of progressive Democrats. More than two dozen members of Congress participated, including party leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer as well as progressive stalwarts like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
While the celebration was stoked by J Street’s role in the Democrats’ winning both the White House and Congress, the solemnity revolved largely around the intractable Israel/Palestine conflict, the diminished voice for peace in Israeli politics, and the rise of anti-Semitism and violent white supremacy in the US.
J Street has worked hard to elect progressive Democrats and was lauded for that effort by the many of the legislators present. Janice Schakowky (Dem, Illinois) waxed on about how J Street came to her rescue in her first campaign in 2010 and, through its support, changed her life. Today, she said, countless candidates ask her “how can I get the endorsement of J Street?”
Former Texas Congressman and 2020 presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke agreed, saying “no organisation had a bigger impact on me in my time in Congress than J Street… the way you do the work centred in people and volunteers and experiences cuts through the cynicism of Washington, DC.”
Peter Welch (Dem, Vermont) praised the organisation as “essential in creating space for necessary debate and for continued discussion of the two-state solution [and] of the wisdom of annexation or the impact of settlements.”
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in a pre-recorded address, said J Street was “playing a vital role.”
J Street arrived on the scene in 2007 as a more liberal alternative to what the Washington Post described as the “conservative-leaning” American Israel Public Affairs Committee, known as AIPAC. J Street styled itself as the “political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans… advocating policies that advance a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
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As the unilateral steps taken by Trump and Netanyahu narrowed the prospects for two states in recent years, J Street’s message and organising became vitally important for the more than 70% of Jews who support the Democrats and hold more liberal views on the Middle East.
Former Obama national security advisor Ben Rhodes characterised the Trump era as one in which “both the Israeli right and the Republican Party became more extremist… criticism of Israel became out of bounds.” As AIPAC lurched further to the right in tacit support of the Trump/Netanyahu agenda, increased polarisation gave J Street greater relevance as the centrist/progressive alternative.
As the Times of Israel described the conference, “the once marginal left-wing, pro-Israel group seeks to position itself as the leading lobby on Middle East policy in the post-Trump era.” Haaretz agreed, concluding that “J Street now arguably represents the majority voice for the majority party in the United States”.
As the Times of Israel described the conference, “the once marginal left-wing, pro-Israel group seeks to position itself as the leading lobby on Middle East policy in the post-Trump era.”
Despite the recent prominence of alternatives to the two-state solution, at the J Street conference it was alive and well. One would be hard-pressed to find any of the participating legislators who did not state clearly their support, in the words of Majority Whip James Clyburn, for “a negotiated two-state solution and safeguards for the aspirations of both peoples”.
All were unequivocal in confirming President Biden’s support for a two-state solution. Abbas said his recent conversation with Biden affirmed the administration’s support for two states and its rejection of unilateral action by any party.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was also on hand, repeating his long-standing call for two-states negotiated around the 1967 borders and insisting that peace could be achieved if leaders of the two sides would sit down together and hash it out.
However, there was also robust discussion of a confederal model for the two states, which was noted by the headline in 972 magazine: “J Street finally wants the US to think beyond the two-state solution”.
An inspiring aspect of the conference was the energy, optimism, and commitment of a host of young activists.
But conference participants were clear that a confederation was, as Dartmouth political economist and commentator Bernard Avishai put it, “not an alternative to a two-state solution. It is actually the only way to make a two-state solution work.”
To political analyst Dahlia Scheindlin, a confederation would entail “two sovereign states who agree to a loose, voluntary association in order to manage certain shared interests… two equal states in partnership… balancing the need for two separate states with the reality of interdependence.”
An inspiring aspect of the conference was the energy, optimism, and commitment of a host of young activists. Sarah Jacobs, at 31 the youngest Jewish member of Congress, spoke of the challenge of living in a society where she has all the privileges that come with white skin while faced with “white supremacists who don’t think I’m white.” She was one of a number who spoke of the importance of progressive Jews “recognising your privilege and retaining solidarity with suppressed groups.”
Among the many nuggets of insight presented were the call by Jewish Currents editor Peter Beinart for the unmasking of “anti-Palestinian” bigotry. Offering a new angle on current debates about the definition of anti-Semitism, Beinart insisted that “I don’t trust the people with anti-Palestinian bigotry to be writing the definition of anti-Semitism”.
Surprisingly perhaps, the most eloquent and inspiring voice may have been that of actress Debra Messing (best known as Grace in Will and Grace), who closed the second plenary describing the fight “for the strength of our democracy, for the rights of refugees, and [for] a society that delivers on its promise of equal justice for all, for putting humanity at the heart of our diplomacy and for the right of Palestinians and Israelis to live in freedom and peace.”
“We recognise,” Messing concluded, “that we are stronger when we stand in solidarity with others and when we join a shared and righteous fight… the moment calls for bold action.”
Messing’s words describe the deep moral foundations of the progressive Jewish vision for American politics, a vision to which J Street and its many members and affiliates are enthusiastically committed.
Photo: The J Street annual conference held this month
