J Street U

The Pro-Israeli, Pro-Palestinian Pro-Peace, Pro-Democracy, campus organizing arm of @jstreetdotorg.

[J Street @jstreetdotorg]

The fight against antisemitism and the fight against Islamophobia go hand in hand.

We rightly ask politicians and leaders to take antisemitism seriously. But we, the American Jewish community, must be just as forceful in rejecting anti-Muslim fearmongering, including in Republican Senate nominee Mike Rodgers’ latest attacks against El-Sayed.

[Rep. Seth Moulton Press Office @RepMoulton]

The settler violence and intimidation afflicting the West Bank must end. There are serious questions that need to be answered about the role of the Israeli military in abetting the most recent acts of extremist violence we’ve seen.

Rep. Moulton and 114 other House Democrats are calling for answers.

[J Street U @jstreetu]

No child should face barbed wire and settler violence just to get to class. J Street welcomes this powerful letter from 115 House Democrats led by @RepRaskin calling on Netanyahu to remove settler barriers blocking students in Umm al-Khair.

[Rep. Jamie Raskin @RepRaskin]

In the West Bank village of Umm Al-Kheir, children trying to go to school are met with barbed-wire fencing set up by settlers to block their path. A majority of the House Democratic Caucus is asking Prime Minister Netanyahu to remove the fence now, stop settler harassment and end this violation of the right of Palestinian children to go to school. https://t.co/llnXfTJyk8

[J Street U @jstreetu]

Join us in signing this letter from the Jewish community in support of Mohsen. 2/2

https://t.co/tuYdHO1i7v

[J Street U @jstreetu]

The Trump Administration is threatening to deport Mohsen Mahdawi because he supports Palestinian rights.

Trump is using these arrests and deportations as a guise for antisemitism and is thrusting Jewish students into an uncomfortable situation that doesn’t make them safer. 1/2

[Jeremy Ben-Ami @JeremyBenAmi]

I just signed this letter from the Jewish community in support of Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi, and I hope you’ll join me.

The Trump Administration is threatening to deport Mohsen because he supports Palestinian rights and the freedom of his own family, his own people.

But just because you don’t like what someone says or believes doesn’t mean they lose their right to say it.

You don’t have to agree with Mohsen. But we should all defend his right to speak. Please join me and sign:

https://t.co/FOgVEAj7rY

[Jeremy Ben-Ami @JeremyBenAmi]

There's been a lot written and said by folks who have no idea what the College Democrats are, what their meeting this weekend was all about or how the students reacted to Hasan Piker.

@jstreetdotorg's Adam Deakin was there - and shares his perspective:

https://t.co/6EfR76vsGg

[Jeremy Ben-Ami @JeremyBenAmi]

This weekend, J Street U co-sponsored the College Democrats of America convention. Since it was announced that Hasan Piker would be speaking, some have sought to portray our participation as an endorsement of his views.

That is simply false.

J Street disagrees with much of what Hasan Piker says and with the way he says it. We won't hesitate to say so. But we also reject the notion that the right answer to his invitation is to abandon the very spaces where the next generation of Democratic leaders is debating these issues.

Our mission is not to preach to the converted. It is to ensure that a pro-Israel, pro-peace voice is heard wherever the future of American politics is being shaped. If we leave those conversations to others, we shouldn't be surprised when the loudest and most polarizing voices dominate them.

Let's also dispense with the misinformation. J Street U was one of many conference sponsors. Our sponsorship amounted to a couple thousand dollars for an exhibit table. We had no role in choosing speakers, no approval over the program and no say in who was invited to address the conference. Suggesting otherwise is either uninformed or intentionally misleading.

Some of our critics don't object to this particular conference. They object to J Street. They have spent years trying to convince people that there is no room in American Jewish life or Democratic politics for a pro-Israel movement that also insists on Palestinian rights, opposes the occupation and believes diplomacy is stronger than perpetual war. They won't succeed.

Too many people want young Americans to believe there are only two choices: defend every action of the Israeli government or reject Israel altogether. That is a false choice, and it is one J Street was founded to reject.

We will continue to show up. We will continue to engage. We will continue making the case for a future in which Israelis and Palestinians can both live in freedom, security and peace. And we won't be intimidated into surrendering that conversation to voices we disagree with – or to critics who would rather see us stay home.

[J Street U @jstreetu]

It’s ending the horrific atrocities against Palestinians that are driving support away. 2/2

[J Street U @jstreetu]

No PR strategy can solve Israel’s political problem.

If Israel wants to rebuild support among young Americans, the answer isn’t spending millions on communications firms or influencers. 1/2

https://t.co/b88YIobax7

[Phil Gordon @PhilGordonDC]

If anything, I think the situation is somehow even worse than @Rob_Malley describes below.

1. It is impossible to overstate how quickly and comprehensively the US has undermined deterrence and squandered its leverage over Iran. As recently as last summer, the US and Israel were able to decimate Iran's nuclear program while barely eliciting a military response. It was only Trump's decision to roll the dice on regime change that led a cornered regime to start attacking its neighbors and close the Strait, grabbing a stranglehold on the world economy. That genie can never be put back in the bottle.

2. It is also impossible to have confidence in the team that negotiated the shoddy and imprecise MOU. If the US didn't want Iran to control the Strait it shouldn't have agreed to a document that said "the Islamic Republic of Iran will make arrangements" for safe passage in the Strait or "with no charge for 60 days only." Iran's attacks on shipping are outrageous but so was the US failure to clarify what it expected in exchange for the massive financial relief the MOU promised.

3. It would be bad enough if the current standoff reflected each side's confidence that the other would cave. Iran probably does believe that, given Trump's track record and the degree of pain it can inflict on the US economy, especially ahead of midterm elections. But for all the bravado Trump probably does not believe Iran will soon cave. That could lead him down the much more dangerous path of military escalation--and counter-escalation by Iran.

4. The lesson of the failed MOU is that Iran is not willing to cede control over the Strait even in exchange for extraordinary concessions from the US (unrestricted oil sales, unfrozen assets, possibility of tolling after 60 days, etc.). Beyond revenue, Iran demands control and recognition of its authority that it could use at any time for leverage on other issues, including Lebanon, nuclear negotiations, and relations with its neighbors. That is what Trump rightly objects to--but can't seem to do anything about.

5. The proposed offramp of Iran ceasing attacks in exchange for US scaling back efforts to develop alternative shipping routes is unlikely to work. Iran is determined to cease attacks only in exchange for genuine control. And it's hard to see how (or why) we would persuade other Gulf States to refrain from developing alternatives to dependence on the Strait (a process that is already well underway, and essential).

6. This leaves Trump with no good options, following the original sin of launching a reckless, unpopular, illegal war based on the strategic miscalculation that Iran's regime would fall or had no options to respond. Forming a coalition to defend the principle of freedom of navigation and punish Iran for attacking its neighbors would be an obvious way forward, but is virtually impossible because Trump has so alienated all our allies, himself violated international norms and laws, demonstrated diplomatic malpractice, and sought to make other countries pay to help get him out of the mess he created. Ultimately he will likely end up ceding control of the Strait to Iran, and it's only a question of how much pain we will all have to endure in the meantime.

[Jeremy Diamond @JDiamond1]

Just in: the Israeli soldier who assaulted my cameraman @cyrilthps was issued a “formal command reprimand,” but avoided criminal charges.
Israel’s military police investigated but prosecutors ultimately decided to kick this over to the disciplinary process
https://t.co/2nx8bcptZG

[Jeremy Ben-Ami @JeremyBenAmi]

One more thought about @RoKhanna's trip to the West Bank.

Some in the pro-Israel advocacy world are expressing outrage that the Congressman spent this visit hearing only the Palestinian side of a complex story.

That's a curious criticism.

For decades, AIPAC and other organizations have sponsored trips to Israel that exclusively presented the Israeli narrative. Rarely if ever did participants spend any time in Palestinian communities in the West Bank or engage seriously with the realities of occupation.

At @jstreetdotorg, we've long believed that's a mistake. The only way to understand this conflict is to hear from both peoples: Israelis living under the threat of terror and war, and Palestinians living under occupation. That's why our delegations meet with leaders and communities on both sides of the Green Line.

If you believe every trip should present a balanced picture, I agree. But that standard should apply consistently - not only when someone chooses to spend one trip listening to Palestinians after decades in which the Palestinian experience was too often left out altogether.

[J Street @jstreetdotorg]

This is why we reject an immigration agenda built on fear, intimidation and force.

Every loss of life at the hands of Trump’s ICE forces demands accountability and full transparency. As American Jews, we know the consequences when governments turn entire communities into targets.

https://t.co/zw0FwRzT6p

[Jeremy Ben-Ami @JeremyBenAmi]

A few thoughts on what happened to @RoKhanna this week in the occupied West Bank.
First, despite the claims of Israeli Ambassador Yehiel Leiter and others, @jstreetdotorg had nothing to do with organizing Congressman Khanna's visit.
That said, J Street regularly takes Members of Congress and other policymakers to the very same communities Congressman Khanna visited.
What he described is exactly what we have repeatedly witnessed: intimidation, harassment, threats of violence from extremist settlers – and when the IDF arrives, too often the response is to chase the visitors away rather than to stop the harassment.
These are frightening experiences. They also reflect a deeper reality.
The most extreme settlers increasingly operate with impunity, while the institutions responsible for enforcing the law are too often controlled or influenced by the very movement they should be policing.
More and more respected Israelis and Americans are seeing this reality with their own eyes. The challenge now is building the political will to change it.
Congressman Khanna also described being questioned about his religion and singled out because of his name and appearance.
That should concern anyone who cares about Israel's future. Racism and discrimination have become too common a feature of life under occupation, and ignoring that reality does Israel no favors.
When Israel's Ambassador responds by attacking an American Member of Congress – and gratuitously attacking J Street as well – he isn't strengthening support for Israel.
Israel is losing support across the American political spectrum. The answer isn't to attack critics. It's to address the policies and realities that are driving the criticism.
It is essential that American elected officials see the West Bank for themselves and understand how American weapons and taxpayer dollars intersect with the reality Palestinians experience every day.
J Street will continue bringing policymakers to witness that reality firsthand.
As Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove said this week after visiting the same area: "To be a Zionist is to refuse to turn a blind eye to what is done in the Jewish State's name."
It isn't anti-Israel to shine a light on the horrors happening on the West Bank. It's an expression of moral responsibility.
The only durable way for Israel to rebuild support among Americans, Jewish Americans, and friends around the world is not through attacking those who criticize what’s going wrong there.
It is through a different policy: ending the occupation, guaranteeing security and dignity for both peoples, and putting Israelis and Palestinians back on a credible path toward the creation of an independent Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in the context of a comprehensive, regional solution.

[Jeremy Ben-Ami @JeremyBenAmi]

J Street also welcomed Rahm Emanuel's speech.

Curious whether @DemMaj4Israel is also embracing the parts where Rahm said:

• "Unconditional support...has been our mistake."

• We need "a fundamentally new and different approach" to the U.S.-Israel alliance.

• The decision to abandon the JCPOA and rely on military force left Israel "less safe today, not more."

• The failed "two-state solution" should become a "23-state solution" -  that makes a Palestinian sovereignty a central part of regional normalization, rather than using normalization to sidestep the Palestinian issue.

• Israeli settlers, officials, banks and companies involved in West Bank violence and illegal settlements should be sanctioned.

• The U.S. should end taxpayer subsidies for Israel's defense budget and treat Israel like every other trusted ally.

Those are all Rahm Emanuel's positions. Are they now DMFI's too?

[J Street @jstreetdotorg]

Bruce Blakeman’s attack on Brad Lander – a Jewish leader deeply committed to Israelis and Palestinians alike – is corrosive and wrong.

No amount of vitriolic language from Blakeman or others will erase the fact that a growing number of American Jews reject the false choice that fighting for Israel’s future means abandoning the Palestinian people.

Voters in New York will see through these cynical and offensive comments, which have no place in our politics.

[J Street @jstreetdotorg]

After months of war, thousands of Lebanese civilians are dead and dozens of Israeli soldiers have been killed. Yet Hezbollah still poses a threat. It’s clearer than ever that endless fighting isn’t delivering security.

There is another path: Enforce the ceasefire, support the reformed Lebanese government and Lebanese Armed Forces, and pursue diplomacy to isolate and weaken Hezbollah.

Tell Congress: It’s time to end the war in Lebanon.

​​https://t.co/kyzm5SstJa

[Etan Nechin @Etanetan23]

In his victory speech, Lander spoke about meeting with Israeli activists who do protective presence in the West Bank:

“In Congress, I will try to carry a fraction of the courage that they carry. I will be one of the Jewish members of Congress most willing to stand up for Palestinian human rights. And I will stand firmly against bigotry aimed at Jews. Those are not two different jobs. They are the same job.”

[J Street U @jstreetu]

4/ The perpetrators of unchecked settler terror, not the people who stand with its targets, should face justice and accountability. Not the other way around.

[J Street U @jstreetu]

1/ As extremist settlers harass and attack Palestinian families in the West Bank, protective presence activists – Israelis, diaspora Jews and allies from around the world – are showing up in courageous solidarity, refusing to look away.

[J Street U @jstreetu]

3/ In the West Bank, Jewish protective presence activists are putting the values they were raised on into action: Standing with families under threat, documenting violence and insisting on dignity in real time.