J Street Day 3: The Dennis Ross Speech, the J Street Response, and My Final Thoughts about J Street
On J Street’s third day, the long awaited speech by Dennis Ross opened the day, at a large plenary that, this time, had major press attendance. If anyone hoped that Ross would say anything other than the usual State Department boilerplate, they must have been bitterly disappointed. Nevertheless, even Ross’s tepid speech seemed to be too much for the majority of the J Street attendees, who evidently thought it was too pro-Israel. The whole purpose of his presence there was made clear by Morton Halperin, who introduced Ross by telling the audience that the Obama administration had promised that as long as President Obama is in office, someone from his administration would attend their national conferences. In that regard, it almost didn’t matter what he said; all that was required was that he, or someone else from the administration, was there. The purpose was to legitimize J Street as kosher. But since the organization is to the left of the administration, it allows the Obama team to depict themselves as in the center, and as friends of Israel, and not echoes of J Street.
In his presentation, which clocked in at little over half an hour, Ross began by talking about the Middle East and Egypt, without any mention of Israel or the Palestinians. The area, he said, was undergoing a remarkable transformation, in which a few months seemed like an eternity. Some governments like Mubarak’s fell, while in Libya, the leaders were taking a “desperate and irresponsible response to legitimate demands.” We must, Ross said, think of the Middle East in new ways, since “the world is changing.” He then quoted Obama, as well as Hillary Clinton, from past statements. These could have easily been found from old press clippings, and of course, were not necessary to repeat. His purpose, it seems, was to make it appear that the Obama team was on top of things and prescient, rather than what was actually the case: having to respond to developments about which they were caught by surprise.
“The status quo,” Ross went on, “is not sustainable.” Dissent could not be stifled, and the old tactics used by dictators could not be carried on any more. There had to be openness for political space in Egypt. Mubarak tried to silence opposition, he said, and failed. The rebellions started when police broke into an internet café, took out a blogger critic, and then murdered him. A web space built in memoriam soon had half a million readers, due to the Google executive in Egypt who got worldwide fame for his role in starting up the rebellion.
No one, Ross noted, predicted how fast events would move. The tyrant Mubarak thought that change would be gradual because of the level of repression, and would not be overnight. But when dissent is not allowed, they found out that frustration that was pent up would soon explode. Ross was gratified to find that at the square, Muslims and Christians alike prayed together, in harmony because of their joint desire to be rid of their oppressors. The Obama administration, he claimed, had told Mubarak from the beginning that he had to open up his system and lift Egypt’s emergency law that had been intact for decades. “Unfortunately,” Ross said, “Mubarak chose not to heed our warnings.” Again, Ross’s intent was to make the Obama administration seem on top of things, and to make it clear that it was not their fault Mubarak did not listen to them.
Now, the United States favored a broad outreach to all in Egypt, and stood for a negotiated transition. This was a delicate phase, and the U.S. had to reassign its aid to Egypt to be used for help in creating a democratic transition and recovery. “Now,” he said,
“is not a time to cut aid to Egypt,” since the stakes are enormous in the region. Ross applauded what he called the “professionalism” of the military, and its decision to safeguard the population. The U.S., he noted, saws the military as a source of stability in this transition period.
The goal now is to carry out the transition to peacetime rule by civilians. The U.S., he stressed, had excellent ties to Egypt’s military that would be continued. They must learn that “repression does not pay.” That meant credible reform and maintaining the peace treaty with Israel that the military always had supported. He was glad to cite as a positive sign the decision of the rulers of Bahrain to engage in a national dialogue, as well as Algeria’s decision to lift its nineteen-year-old emergency law. These steps were “credible” measures on the way to reformed societies. Those who use violence, Ross said, must stop immediately. His comments reminded me of nothing less than Rodney King’s plaintiff cry, “Can’t we all just get along?”
Ross then assured the audience that he and his colleagues regularly met at the State Department, and had study sessions where they looked at the different areas and focused on how to help the Middle East achieve reform. State, it seemed, was just another think tank in which they sat around studying things. “We have,” he assured everyone, “close and ongoing contact with the regional players.”
Ross praised the UN’s condemnation of Libya, and its urging that the regime be brought before the International Criminal Court. Egypt, he said, had broken the circle of isolation. Finally, turning to what he had not mentioned before — Israel — Ross said they had to go beyond the cold peace Egypt had with Israel in the past, and he warned that if change did not keep on developing, only the extremists would benefit.
The U.S., he said, “has an unshakable commitment to Israel’s security.” This blanket statement received only a smattering of applause, as most of J Street sat silent. Ross noted that the United States gave Israel the Iron Dome anti-rocket system which Israel used to protect itself against rocket attacks from its enemies. Israel, he said, had to be strong given the changes in the region, and he warned that the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians became more and more intractable as time passed. Thus our “efforts to promote peace are ongoing and intense.”
Continuing on the topic, Ross said that the clock was ticking, and that a two-state solution that met the needs of both sides had to be adopted quickly. Israel faced the demographic clock that would make it irrelevant and that challenged the “Zionist dream of building a Jewish and a democratic state.” Second, younger leaders were emerging, and they would no longer accept an enduring occupation by Israel of Palestinian land, and thus the hope for peace would fade. Leaders had to emerge who saw peace as a real possibility, and who would accept co-existence of both Palestinians and Israelis.
The region needed leaders who were pragmatists, rather than rejectionists, and who accepted the national aspirations of both people. There could be no reform without peace, and continued conflict would interfere with the process of reform. In the ’90s, he said, Shimon Peres had spoken of building a new era of cooperation, and now decades later than opportunity had to be seized. “Reform and peace,” Ross said, “go hand in hand.”
Turning to Iran, Ross offered no new insights, instead choosing again to quote words of Hillary Clinton and President Obama. The administration, he said, was “keeping its eye on the ball in Iran,” which one would hope is certainly the case. If Iran did not show it was stopping a nuclear buildup, pressure would be increased. “We remain determined,” Ross said, “that Iran not get nuclear weapons.” He said nothing, however, about any military options being kept on the table, simply repeating instead that “we will not be deflected from that goal.”
At the end of the speech, a short dialogue between Halperin and Ross took place. Halperin asked if there should be a new peace initiative. Ross said any such action had to be defended and supported by all parties, and again cited a recent speech by Secretary Clinton. Each side, he said, had to work in parallel directions. He cautioned that unilateral moves, such as the Palestinian announcement that they would announce creation of a state on their own, were counter-productive, since such moves would not produce an agreement that would work. Both sides, he said, had to have their needs addressed through negotiations.
Turing to the Palestinian authority, Ross praise both Abbas and Fayyad for making a serious effort to create a government that was not corrupt and was helping the West Bank develop. There was, he said, a dramatic transformation of the Palestinian public in its attitude towards their own leaders. Ross did not address what everyone listening knows, which is that from all accounts, the support these leaders have is still rather minimal.
Great job, Ron, in enemy/useful idiot territory. You are hereby allowed to apply for “combat pay.”
The reason there is so little “diversity of opinion” at a “J”ihad Street event is because since its Fall 2009 conference this organizations has shown its “true colors. It is a Jewish led jihadi organization. NO self respecting Jew, no self respecting member of the US Congress, will ever go near this group again. If “J”ihad Street was able to count members of Congress, the way AIPAC does at its “Roll Call” during its big annual DC confab, it would do so. It cannot because most members of Congress would NEVER show up.
As you write, this organization has plenty of money. It will be able to pay students to shoow up. Other than the roster of hate-Israel groups listed in “participating organizations”, and the hate-Israel organizations from which its “confirmed speakers” hail (all listed on its web site), no sentient person with show up at this group’s meetings, or that or any of its “participating organizations such as the nefarious New Israel Fund or Americans for Peace Now.
This is a confab for delusive Western apologists, witless sycophants of political Islam, the willfully blind, appeasers and collaborators.
After all, who wants to show up anywhere where a speaker says with a straight fact that Israel can live with a nuclear iran since Iran is not planning to annihilate Israel!
Let’s face it, “J”ihad St. would NEVER permit Palestinian Media Watch, the organization that keeps tabs of what PA/PLO/Fatah/Abbas say to their own people vs what they tell the US/West. Team PA/Abbas curriculum and political/media rhetoric of nothing but incitment to hate and violence: rabid anti-Semtiicm and justification for murdering Jews, terror worship and honoring terrorists, delegtimization of the existence of Israel by saying Jews have NO historical connection to any part of the land, even Tel Aviv!.
Nope. “The Palestinisns – in their own words”, is something neither “J”ihad St. nor ANY participating organizations would EVER permit. That is why only anti-Semites, rabid left wing anti-Zionists, and the occassional delusional type a la Ross are the only ones that will show up at a “J”ihad St. event.
Not to be lost in the discussion re Jihad Street is what Ross LEFT out regarding the overall ‘transformation’ in the Middle East.To be sure, masses are rising up against their leaders.HOWEVER, nothing was said about these masses and what their ultimate aspirations are, other than painting them as aspiring ‘democrats’, ala the Google dupe, implanted by Obama surrogates(Google is VERY close to the Obama regime).They are NOT western democrats.
Moreover, there was NOTHING spontaneous about these uprisings, despite the blathering media and the rhetoric spoken by Ross, a veteran retread of all things Middle East.These demos were planned over 2 yrs ago, in fact, American union heads have been heard crowing about this very fact-Andy Stern’s weekly visits to the White House were NOT for coffee and cake.The fact of the matter is that Obama’s community organizing boots have been firmly implanted in Egypt and elsewhere, all in order to create a cascade of international worker union members.By stirring them up they have PURPOSEFULLY unleashed a tsunami,a chaos which is very important for the ultimate upending of capitalism.
While the leftist and Obama fawning media obsesses over the youth and their messages, they FAIL to articulate what message is most important to said youth-economic gains via SHARIA.They are very clear about their desire to wipe away any vestiges of secular dictators, intent on implementing true Islam via Sharia and all its ‘benefits’.
This IS precisely why the Iranian Hitler and his surrogates are completely backing the protesters, even while suppressing their own.Paradoxically, many youth in Iran want to remove the boot of Shariah and their repressive regime, the polar opposite of what many of the other protesters are vying for.Irony does not even begin to describe this, but Orwellian surely does.
Machiavellian designs are afoot(what else is new…) and the Middle East will be more explosive than ever for decades to come.This is also a fact.
“The fact of the matter is that Obama’s community organizing boots have been firmly implanted in Egypt and elsewhere, all in order to create a cascade of international worker union members.By stirring them up they have PURPOSEFULLY unleashed a tsunami,a chaos which is very important for the ultimate upending of capitalism.”
There’s crazy … and then there’s wingnut crazy.
Van Jones and Andy Stern would beg to differ, they indicated on tape the scenario I depicted.I heard it myself via YES satellite tv!!
Don’t believe me, it matters not a damn to me.What matters is that the slumbering masses understand what they are up against.
Left wing nuts never believe that their ‘dear leaders’ have evil inclinations.Well, they do!!
“The U.S., he said, “has an unshakable commitment to Israel’s security.” This blanket statement received only a smattering of applause, as most of J Street sat silent.”
Tells you everything you need to know about the antisemitic scum who comprise “J Street”. Oh, some of them are Jewish you say? So what?
Tells you everything you need to know about why the overwhelming majority of American Jews are turned off by wingnut spewings and will continue to vote Democratic.
Joseph, you are a TROLL…..
Check web site Palestinian Media Watch. http://www.palwatch.org This is the organization that keeps tabs on what PA/PLO/Fatah/Abbas tell their own people vs what they tell the US/West. The curriculum and political/media rhetoric of hate of rabid anti-Semitism, justification for Jew murder, incitement to terror and worship of terrorists, and turning history upside down by denying any and all Jewish connection to ANY of the land, even Tel Aviv!
This is what “moderate” Palestinian leadership says to its own – in its own words. Only Hamas, Hezbolleh, Muslim Brotherhood, al Qaeda, Council on American islamic Ralations (CAIR) would approve of this kind of stuff. The talk about Team PA/Abbas having “reformed” is strictly mythology. This is incitement to terror through and through.
Make EVERYONE you know, especially those too busy to “get involved” become intimately familiar with this material. Invite PMW to make a presentation to the largest possible audience in your community. Congress has heard the presentation so it is certianly worthy of a presentation at your communal or religious organization. Don’t bother with a room full of “activists”. Get the word OUT. The only thing Team PA/Abbas is great at is “taqquia”, islamic approved deception. They have done a great job at deceiving the US/West about have “reformed”, wanting peace, etc.
Anyone who wants a safe, secure and PERMANENT peace will get busy exposing Team PA/Abbas for the stealth jihadis that they really are because it will will change EVERYTHIING. Once people know that ideologically the faux “moderates” are no different than Hamas/Hezbolleh/Muslim Brotherhood, only the tactics are different, the world will stop pressuring Israel and start pressuring Team PA/Abbas to CHANGE COMPLETELY.
Our goal: NO peace “talks” until Team PA/Abbas toss out its inciteful curriculum and politcal/media. Taling to PA/PLO/Fatah/Abbas is talking to those that are ideologically identical to people we brand terrorists – an act of appeasement that will take us exactly where appeasement has let before – WAR.
maybe they were not clapping because they believe that real security for a jewish state necessarily involves that state doing as much as it can, as opposed to as little as it can, to avoid ruling over large numbers of non-Jews. and that supporting real security for israel necessarily involves exposing those who support Jewish rule over large numbers of non-Jews as the true enemies of jewish nationalism (zionism).
The other deep, dark, dirty little secret is that the Palestinians do not want a state.
Not if it has to exist alongside Israel.
Their continuous clamoring that they do want a state has got one of the most effective long-term propaganda ploys ever devised.
Should be: “…has got to be one of the…”
Ron, do you support the settlement of the West Bank by Israel?
I don’t mean the occupation of the West Bank until such time as a firm peace is made. I mean the settlements.
Gary Rosen will never answer a substantive question like that.
Gary Rosen: Yes, indeed, Ross’s statement of America’s support for Israel draws, at a putatively pro-Israel meeting, tepid applause. Meanwhile, some months ago I saw Sarah Palin on CSPAN speak at some conservative conference. She lauded Israel as a friend and ally of the US, an embattled democracy, a nation that shares our values, etc….and the crowd rose to its feet, cheering.
J Street for some Jews is what the Ethical Culture movement was decades ago religiously, a way out without admitting that you’re on the way out. As Ron says, the Israel J Street says it supports is an imaginary one. I looked on J Street’s website recently to see if I could find any statement condemning Palestinian action outright and without the usual “both sides…” trope. I also looked for a statement that could be construed as unabashedly pro-Israel without the “both sides” bit or qualification upon qualification.
I can’t say there aren’t any; I can say I couldn’t find any.
It is an ancient propaganda ploy to covertly create (or nurture) a group more extreme than oneself that then attacks one for being not radical enough. This way one can sell oneself as the reasonable moderate.
I have a feeling J Street is that type of group.
The reason there is so little “diversity of opinion” at a “J”ihad Street event is because since its Fall 2009 conference this organizations has shown its “true colors. It is a Jewish led jihadi organization. NO self respecting Jew, no self respecting member of the US Congress, will ever go near this group again. If “J”ihad Street was able to count members of Congress, the way AIPAC does at its “Roll Call” during its big annual DC confab, it would do so. It cannot because most members of Congress would NEVER show up.
As you write, this organization has plenty of money. It will be able to pay students to show up. Other than the roster of hate-Israel groups listed in “participating organizations”, and the hate-Israel organizations from which its “confirmed speakers” hail (all listed on its web site), no sentient person will show up at this group’s meetings, or that or any of its “participating organizations such as the nefarious New Israel Fund or Americans for Peace Now.
This is a confab for delusive Western apologists, witless sycophants of political Islam, the willfully blind, appeasers and collaborators.
After all, who wants to show up anywhere where a speaker says with a straight fact that Israel can live with a nuclear Iran since Iran is not planning to annihilate Israel!
Let’s face it, “J”ihad St. would NEVER permit Palestinian Media Watch, the organization that keeps tabs of what PA/PLO/Fatah/Abbas say to their own people vs what they tell the US/West. Team PA/Abbas curriculum and political/media rhetoric of nothing but incitment to hate and violence: rabid anti-Semticm and justification for murdering Jews, terror worship and honoring terrorists, delegtimization of the existence of Israel by saying Jews have NO historical connection to any part of the land, even Tel Aviv!.
Nope. “The Palestinisns – in their own words”, is something neither “J”ihad St. nor ANY participating organizations would EVER permit.
That is why only anti-Semites, rabid left wing anti-Zionists, and the occassional delusional type a la Ross (who thinks Palestinian leadership has “reformed”) are the only ones that will show up at a “J”ihad St. event.
RR 2/24: “…J Street was unable to get senior Israeli politicians to attend….”
RR 2/28: “J Street, despite its proclamations, does not allow much diversity in its conference presentations.”
Not too good at connecting the dots, are you, Ron?
Ross repeats the crucial fallacy behind the peace process. Ron, in your report today and yesterday you mentioned the speakers, including Dennis Ross saying that the clock was ticking because of the demographic reality that Palestinians would outnumber Jews. A similar message came from the foreign minister of Luxemborg yesterday as well in an interview with the JPost.
Apparently the powers that be, like Mr. Ross, are a decade behind in their information. Census figures for the past 5 years in Israel show that Jewish birthrates have climbed and Arab birthrates have fallen. The demographic argument for making a peace deal as soon as possible has been refuted. Hopefully someone in Israel’s leadership is clued in to the emerging reality that Jewish natural increase will soon be outpacing Palestinian natural increase.
“The demographic argument for making a peace deal as soon as possible has been refuted.”
You are correct that the demographic argument has been undermined in recent years, and not just due to convergence of Arab and Jewish birthrates. We also now understand that the original thesis was based on questionable data coming out of the PA. But if the focus is on the demographic balance between the Med and the Jordan, it gets more complicated. Creation of a Palestinian state will increase pressure within Jordan, Syria and (especially) Lebanon to drive descendants of the original Arab “refugees” back to the new Palestine. And *that* will create a serious mess that virtually no one has considered.
so steve, given the more favorable demographics, do you support annexing the west bank and making its inhabitants israeli citizens, with full political rights? if no, why not?
In the past year, “J”ihad St. has SELF delegitimized. How to put it completely out of business? Check web site Palestinian Media Watch. http://www.palwatch.org This is the organization that keeps tabs on what PA/PLO/Fatah/Abbas tell their own people vs what they tell the US/West. The curriculum and political/media rehtoric of hate of rabid anti-Semitism, justification for Jew murder, incitement to terror and worship of terrorists, and turning history upside down by denying any and all Jewish connection to ANY of the land, even Tel Aviv.
Let’s stop working so hard at “defending Israel”. Let’s show the world what the pretend “moderate” Palestinian leadership says to its own – in its own words.
Make EVERYONE you know, especially those too busy to “get involved” become intimately familiar with this material. Invite PMW to make a presentation to the largest possible audience in your community. Congress has heard the presentation so it is certianly worthy of a presentation at your communal or religious organization. Don’t bother with a room full of “activists”. Get the word OUT.
Exposing Team PA/Abbas for the stealth jihadis that they really are will change EVERYTHIING. Once people know that ideologically the faux “moderates” are no different than Hamas/Hezbolleh/Muslim Brotherhood, only the tactics are different, the world will stop pressuring Israel and start pressuring Team PA/Abbas to CHANGE COMPLETELY.
Our goal: NO peace “talks” until Team PA/Abbas toss out its inciteful curriculum and politcal/media rhetoric and adopt one of ecumenism such as: “all men and women are created euqal irrespective of religion”!
Was anyone really surprised that if Ross was representing the administration his speech would be rather tepid? I still do not think that Ross should be attacked the way he usually is in the Pajama Media Blog. I think he is a pretty decent friend of Israel and knows the score but he is a diplomat after all.
Dennis Ross either doesn’t “know the score” or he is intentionally disregarding all evidence mitigating against any possibility of Palestinian acceptance of the need to co-exist with a Jewish State.
Under the rubric of “think positive”!! Since it’s better than thinking negative (or confronting inconvenient facts).
Besides, I’m sure that Ross is absolutely certain that peace is good for Israel!!
(Which is precisely the reason why Israel’s “Partners-in-Peace” will never agree to it…. But hold on; what is their definition of “peace,” again?)
In short, his entire perspective is built on faulty assumptions.
At this point in time, it should be clear. It isn’t of course. In fact, the opposite.
Mr. Radosh and Mr. Simon, I would very much like to hear what you think the end game in the West Bank should be.
Taking it on faith that a Palestinian state would be another Gaza seems to doom Israel and the Palestinian Arabs to eternal war.
eternal war is exactly what they want.
As opposed to markus who wants a quick war that kills all da Joooos.
The conflict is unsolvable. The best that can be hoped for is to manage it. The productive, educated Palestinians left for the West or Gulf Arab states. What remains is mostly an unproductive, resentful and violence-prone population. What little is produced there is primarily through partnerships with Israeli firms. If international aid dried up, Gaza and the West Bank would soon resemble Yemen. That is the reality whether Dennis Ross and the others spinmasters are willing to admit it.
Um it’s a “plaintive” cry, not a “plaintiff.”
Just sayin’.
PS to Adina K, I’ve just gotten a copy of Olso Syndrome per your suggestion.
Thanks, Freedomlover, for your elegant and incisive statements.
Re demographic arguments: I would suggest that the Readership google Yoram Ettinger to obtain his viewpoints on the current demographic perspectives and the fallacies inherent in the most popular ones re the socalled growth of Palestinian Arabs.