J Street’s Jeremy Ben-Ami: No Zionist Hero
Let’s acknowledge that in the political debates among American Jews about Israel’s policies, J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami brings lots of yiches to the table (that’s a Yiddish word meaning enhancing one’s credibility through family connections). In fact, Ben-Ami is not above reminding people of his Zionist bloodlines in order to advance his organization’s agenda of pressuring Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian lands.
Last week he sent a mass e-mail to his supporters announcing that he would be testifying in front of a Knesset committee and explaining why J Street “deserves to carry the tagline ‘pro-Israel.’” He said he would tell the Israeli parliamentarians that he “started J Street because of my family’s deep four-generation connection to Israel and because of the importance I place on there being a secure national home for the Jewish people that promotes the Jewish and democratic values on which I was raised.”
Ben-Ami’s paternal grandparents were, indeed, Zionist heroes. At great personal risk they moved from Czarist Russia to the Land of Israel as part of the First Aliyah (wave of immigration) of the late nineteenth century. They were among 66 Palestinian Jewish families who defied the warnings of their own community’s leaders and purchased a large plot of land from Arab effendis in 1909 on the sand dunes north of Jaffa. The families then conducted a lottery on the beach to distribute the plots on which they would build their individual homes — thus laying the foundation for Tel Aviv, the “first Hebrew city.” Two years ago Tel Aviv’s municipality celebrated the centennial of the city’s founding. Ben-Ami and his children took part in a ceremony reenacting the 1909 lottery on the beach along with other descendants of the original Jewish families.
Writing about the event in the New York Times, Ben-Ami hailed his grandparents’ generation of Zionist settlers who created Tel Aviv as a center of Jewish learning, culture, and commerce. But he then contrasted that noble achievement with the allegedly atavistic attitudes toward the Palestinian Arabs of the “Netanyahu/Lieberman government.” Further, Ben-Ami bemoaned the fact that “in America, reflexive support for Israel’s every move — no matter how morally questionable or strategically counterproductive — continues to guide the established institutions and voices of the American Jewish community. Critics of Israeli policy are too often labeled enemies of the Jewish people, rather than engaged in open and intelligent debate over what is best for Israel and for U.S. interests in the region.”
Jeremy’s father, Yitzhak Ben-Ami, was also a Zionist hero and a rebel. Growing up in Tel Aviv in the 1920s and 30s, the elder Ben-Ami dissented from the official Jewish leadership’s political line and joined Irgun Zvai Leumi, the underground military organization that frequently retaliated forcefully against Arab attacks and eventually launched an armed revolt against the British mandatory authority. Ben-Ami spent most of the war years in the United States as one of the leaders of an Irgun delegation trying to build international support for transforming Palestine into a Jewish state.
When news of the Nazi extermination plan for Europe’s Jews was confirmed by the U.S. State Department in November 1942, Ben-Ami and his colleagues suspended their Zionist activities and threw all their energies into publicizing the plight of the remaining European Jews under threat of annihilation. Known also as the “Bergson group” (after their leader Peter Bergson) they established the Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe and launched a public lobbying effort to pressure the Roosevelt administration into trying — by any diplomatic or military means available — to rescue the remnant of European Jewry.
The Committee attracted support from Jews and non-Jews alike and from across the political spectrum (including celebrities such as writers Ben Hecht, Max Lerner, and I.F. Stone, Democratic Congressman Will Rogers Jr., and the prominent Republican Senator Guy Gillette). Aside from the Roosevelt administration’s calculated indifference, the biggest obstacle the Emergency Committee faced in trying to make rescuing European Jews part of America’s war aims was the hostility and obstructionism of large parts of the Jewish establishment.
No single figure did more to undermine the Committee’s work than Rabbi Stephen Wise of Temple Emmanuel, undisputed boss of several national Jewish organizations and often referred to as “King of the Jews.” On the day that Ben-Ami and his colleagues were leading 100 orthodox rabbis in a demonstration in front of the White House to protest the Roosevelt administration’s inaction on rescue, Wise was advising administration officials that the Bergson group “did not represent Jewish thinking in America.” Wise viewed the young Palestinians and their American supporters as interlopers and even tried to get Ben-Ami and his colleagues deported. Accused by Wise of being a draft dodger, Ben-Ami then enlisted in the American Army.
To compare Jeremy to his father is to believe that lipstick on a pig is an effective beauty treatment.
Whereas his father UNDERSTOOD who the enemy were and what needed to be done to beat them back, Jeremy has allied ! himself with said enemy, despite his protestations to the contrary.
Aligned with radical leftists, Jeremy is marching in lockstep with radical Islamists-all for Israel’s ‘own good’.
One cannot miss his treachery as he surrounds himself with people who ALL believe that re-establishing modern Israel was a ‘historical mistake’.One cannot feign friendship for Israel when one supports Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood genocidal goals.
IF one has concern for victims of rape one cannot at the same time support the rapist in court-for whatever reason!
Therefore, let us call Jeremy what he is-a self loathing, deluded Jew,possibly afflicted with daddy issues, and certainly NOT a friend of Israel.
This is precisely why MK Danny Danon(a true Jewish patriot)has led the charge in the Knesset to expose J Street’s treachery.To wit, they are finally ! becoming persona non grata in Israel, hopefully within US Jewry too-but I wouldn’t count on it as they are wedded to liberal delusions as their religion of choice.
Sol I remember you from Ramparts, what a great magazine w well done graphic layout. You were New Left and so was I. My father was a NYC teacher and union man until he died. He manned their election time Democrat phone banks. But he always supported Israel plus we have religious (Haredim) relatives there. In retirement he loved to visit Israel and go to Hebrew schools there. My mother was forced brought to the McCarran Senate committee which was the parallel of the much reviled HUAC. She pleaded the Fifth all the way through , I read the Fed Gov’t printed transcript years ago
So why my testimony? I am uber conservative old school these days and am disgusted by anything J Street. Bunch of young bought off self-seekers. Pitiful.
Even more galling is the fact that J Street’s damage is accompanied by a phony siren song of victimhood.
Seems that their Palestinian pals have taught them well.
“…the Jewish and democratic values on which I was raised.”
For people such as Jeremy Ben-Ami, “democratic values” = Neo-Marxist hatred of anything or anyone productive and self-sufficient. “Jewish” = elements of Judaism cherry-picked for their apparent agreement with neo-Marxist dogma. Put the two together, and you get the subterranean abomination that is J-Street.
Ben-Amii pere et fils is the stuff of a novel.
The poor chap does not understand those gushing “progressives” are anti-semites, objectively. He cannot read it through their Sovietized jargon, obsessions, and Western cultural arrogance. Israelis do not understand anit-semitism, they do not have a feel for it. He should shut up about the “pro Israel” stuff and milk the stupid leftwing bigots for everyt
One is inevitably reminded of another Jew with Zionist bonafides in the family, who works with those who are no friends of Israel: Rahm Emanuel. Emanuel’s father was also in the Irgun; like Jeremy Ben-Ami, Rahm Emanuel too was brought up in the United States.
When, during the campaign, one tried to point out Barack Obama’s many anti-Israel connections—his pastor Jeremiah Wright, who publishes Hamas screeds in his church newsletter, Weatherman Bill Ayers and PA apologist Rashid Khalidi (both of whom have helped finance “Gaza flotilla” boats), and the Hamas phone-banks which ran fundraising for Obama—many people would dismiss these connections by saying, “but look—he has Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff!”
I’ve not seen any evidence that Emanuel did anything to counter the more anti-Israel voices among Obama’s chosen advisors (or, for that matter, in Obama’s head), but now that Emanuel has left the administration I wonder what new fig leaf the Obama apologists will come up with.
Uh, if Ben-Ami’s grandparents were among those who “purchased a large plot of land from Arab effendis in 1909 on the sand dunes south of Jaffa” that would hardly have laid the foundation for Tel-Aviv, as Tel-Aviv is NORTH of Jaffa. What is true is that many of Jaffa’s Jews decided to build their own town as they were fed up with the abuse they experienced at the hands of the Arabs.
Your are right Raymond. Don’t know how I got that wrong, since I have written about the lottery before and, of course I know Tel Aviv well. And I also noted that the Jews were attacked in Jaffa.
Ben Ami is a former Howard Dean campaign volunteer. He is not the man with the vision. That would be David Fenton. (Ben Ami told Moment Magazine that Fenton gave him the idea). Fenton is a scary, hard left guy. His clients include most of the new “Interfaith” UN crowd.
http://wwwtwosetsofbooks.blogspot.com/2011/03/match-names-with-faces-meet-real-live.html
About the prosecution of the Jews in Europe~ perhaps it would be useful to remember a bit more of the history, (and the history of the Christian Catholic Church) so that one could ponder about things which have never been without a reason.
The first Christian communities in Judea, Rome and North Africa, in Egypt, Greece etc.~ they suffered a great deal from the Jews. While Romans were quite tolerant towards many religions of the many nations, they were quite serious about the services to the Roman gods, as established by the government of Rome. These gods were to safeguard the Roman Empire, care for the prosperity and happiness, honor the rule of law and order. All citizens of Rome had to present to the local government agencies the Certificate of Sacrifice (libellus). Only the Jews were exempt from this, since Rome recognized the old Jewish religion and its right. The Jewish communities in Rome in Nero’s time were more than enthusiastic to pointing out to the authorities the Christians, who were reluctant of getting the libellus. As a well known fact- many of the Christians ended as a lion food in the Coliseum and hundred other places where they took their martyrdom. It wasn’t any better in the times of Marcus Aurelius ( the great Emperor- philosopher) his son Comodus, or in Decius or Valerian who launched an anti- Christian plan- the Jews played quite a role in the executions and prosecutions of Christians, especially in the urban arias. Don’t think it has been forgotten in the heart of hearts of the Christians. The blood of martyrs is still honored and remembered.
Then came the time, when the Jews, who rejected their own God, came to conclusion of joining the other side, and the religions of Marx and Lenin came about. From being Orthodox Christian country, Russia turned to a Soviet land and the Christians were slaughtered by millions, slaughter being led by Leon Trocky, Kamenev, Vladimir Lenin and the likes. Millions of Christians died.
You can have a Jewish martyr victim stories about the Holocaust every year coming from Hollywood etc., but perhaps there has been only once a Christian martyr story.
And some of the Jewish posters would just laugh at them.
Don’t be so sentimental about the Jews- don’t forget – Soros and David Axelrod, and brothers Emmanuel have been in charge in the red White House for quite a while.
The Lord will protect Israel, but the Jewish people all over the world would have to answer for their deeds of evil.
Ben-Ami’s need to be accepted as pro Israel is much more insidious than a misguided idea that he knows better than Israel’s elected leaders, her population and her military and academic experts. If they are seen as Jews (however defined) who with to destroy Israel they will be dismissed as just another bunch of nutters and Obama and the Democrats will have no use for them and their Arab backers will find somewhere else to invest their money and the Jews will ignore them.
Given their lies about funding I would be very sceptical about their membership figures.
the real enemies of zionism are not people like ben-ami, but rather people who want a hated minority or bare-majority of jews to rule over millions of arabs. many of them are reading this blog.
a separate, or “new” palestinian state in the west bank, gaza and arab neighborhoods of jerusalem is the ONLY way out of this dilemma. even bigger enemies of zionism are those who give lip service to the idea of two states while encouraging forces (like the settlers) who for religious reasons do everything possible to make a peace settlement impossible.
No, the real anti-Zionists are the ignorant little Jew-baiters like mark*s who compare Israel to Nazi Germany. Note here that when Palestinian savages slit the throat of a three-month old Jewish baby mark*s blames it on da Joooos.
There would have been a “two-state” solution long ago if it weren’t for the Palestinians rejecting and sabotaging it at every turn. In case you haven’t noticed, mark*s, the Hamas barbarians who constitutue “Palestine’s” elected government explicitly call for the murder of Jews in their charter – not Israelis, settlers or Zionists, but Jews. They don’t want just a “one-state” solution but a one-state no-Jews solution – truly the Final Solution that you yourself no doubt fervently desire.
no gary, i NEVER signed the following document!
https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/einstein/1948/12/02.htm
indeed, being a zionist, i beg to differ with einstein and the others. a Jewish-majority settler state about the size of the 1949 armstice line (+ the Old City) is totally justified morally in my opinion, and has been at least since late fall 1945, when the Nuremberg Trials started and the truth came out. the whole point, cowboy, is that while you can certainly protect yourself from the indians and their tomahawk raids, you need to make clear your distaste for and disinterest in ruling over them and also understand their rage against dispossession. just how much of the united states would YOU be willing to give back to the apaches, or the black muslims?
“the Hamas barbarians…explicitly call for the murder of Jews in their charter – not Israelis, settlers or Zionists, but Jews.”
Pretty sure they don’t have a problem with Neturai Karta, as well as the indigenous Jews that lived in Palestine for centuries and were never keen about the zionist project anyway. but anyway, who cares? the third or forth most powerful military in the world can certainly handle hamas and their spear chuckers, and the citizens of a Palestinian state will have strong incentives to cooperate economically and otherwise with their Jewish neighbor, provided their state is viable and truly sovereign.
” just how much of the united states would YOU be willing to give back to the apaches, or the black muslims?”
This is incoherent. Are you comparing Israelis to Americans, or the Black Muslsims? Well, you’ve always been an idiot.
“Pretty sure they don’t have a problem with Neturai Karta”
I’m sure you’re jim-dandy with Neturai Karta, Noam Chomsky and Dan Burros. Those are your kind of Jews. Do you want the direct quote from the Hamas charter where they call for the murder of Jews? Wouldn’t make a difference to you anyway, facts never mean sh*t to Jew-baiters.
As usual, total refusal to recognize Palestinian and Arab rejectionism and the fact that Israel is up against not only the Palestinians but the entire Arab world plus Iran with their enormous oil wealth and 30 or 40 to 1 population advantage. You’d be a legend in your own mind, if you had a mind.
i was comparing israelis to the europeans colonialists who settled america, and the palestinians to the american indians. As well as to black muslims. The black muslim analogy is relevant because, its true, many arabs came to palestine after european zionists began to settle in the palestine prior to the establishment of the state of Israel just as american blacks similarly followed the european settlers to america. that doesn’t mean those arabs were inclined to put out the welcome mat to millions of NEW European and American Jewish settlers, with political and property rights superior to their own, after the establishment of the Jewish state.
my point is that palestinian rejectionism of a two-state solution has been understandable. most arabs in palestine prior to the establishment of israel didn’t live in the west bank or gaza, they lived within or near the borders of the land that the 1947 UN partition gave to the Jews. edward said’s family home was in west Jerusalem, and was taken by Israel in 1948 not 1979. why should they not feel a grievance about the fact that I, as an American Jew, have the right to purchase the land their home stood on at any time, and they do not?
that doesn’t mean that israelis should pack up their bags and go home, or lay down and die, or embrace dhimmitude. but they should understand the roots of the arab grievance and, especially given that arabs make up a much greater proportion of the population in the area, they should see it in their strategic interest to give a significant part of it back to the arabs.
anyway, i always love pissing you off.
Hey Biruta,
Where did you learn your Roman history, from “Gladiator”? And wasn’t Leon Trocky a cab driver in Brooklyn?
I suggest you take your Jew-hatred elsewhere or maybe just skulk back into the sewer you climbed out of.
“my point is that palestinian rejectionism of a two-state solution has been understandable.”
You’ve been loudly browning your panties for years that it is *Israel* that won’t accept a 2-state solution but you’re jim-dandy with Palestinian rejectionism. A perfect example of the hypocrisy and incoherence of antisemites.
Blame everything on da Jooos? Check.
Refuse to condemn even the most savage terrorism perpetrated by groups sworn to the annihilation of the Jews? Check.
Refuse to acknowledge the *real* ethnic cleansing in the Middle East – the persectution and decimation of Jewish communities in Arab countries that have existed for thousands of years? Check. There are millions of Arabs living in “Palestine” and they are better off than most of their Arab “brothers” who live in bloody, abominable human rights hellholes as current events are now so vividly proving. But you won’t catch mark*s saying anything bad about mass murderers like the Assads. He’s A-OK with their crimes because they’re not Jewish. He will now lie and try to say the is “against” scum like the Assads, but you look at his posts and they are 99% hysteria about da Joooooos.
And I loved it when I jacked you up and made you tell the truth for a change, that you compared Israel to Nazi Germany. Of course you went right back to weaseling out of it. That’s why you’re a weasel, because you weasel.
apologies if i offended any other jewish readers. gary, your nose is getting longer. nothing you say about me is true.
israeli rejectionism and palestinian rejectionism both make peace unachievable, but palestinian rejectionism is more understandable: they’re the losers, they’re the one’s who were driven off their lands or left, and the longer they remain under Israeli rule, while breeding prolifically and remaining politically intransigent, the more pressure there will be for Israel to annex the West Bank and Gaza and become a non-Jewish majority state. Israeli rejectionists who insist on holding on to “Judea” and “Samaria” are ironically the biggest threat to Zionism, since such land grabbing creates facts on the ground that make a two state solution — the only way to preserve Jewish majority state in the long run — impossible.
“It became all the more grotesque when Beinart, in his J Street speech, cited Rabbi Wise as his own liberal Zionist hero.”
I had occasion to hear Beinart debate Steve Rosen, formerly of AIPAC, at our synagogue. Beinart also waxed lyrical about the “Zionism” of Martin Buber and Judah Magnes – two intellectual voices of the 1940s who promoted a bi-national state of Arabs and Jews. Even though that would have ultimately meant Jews living as a minority, those two notables still found little support from the Arab side. It’s no surprise it garnered little support from the Jews either outside of the left, yet Beinart apparently wants to see that sort of Zionism revived.
I fully agree completely!!