Fact checking J Street and its critics

by Ami Eden May 2, 2014 jta.org


NOTE: A calmer look at the recent events.

1) Claim: J Street is beyond the communal pale

J Street might not have rounded up the votes, but in defeat it put to bed the argument that the group falls outside of the communal mainstream. If the Reform movement, the Conservative movement, the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Council of Public Affairs (a body bringing together the largest synagogue movements, several national organizations and scores of local community relations councils) say you belong in the Conference of Presidents, then by definition you are operating within the communal tent. You got a problem with that? Don’t shoot the messenger — take it up with all of the above, not to mention the prominent Jewish and Israeli figures associated with the organization.

2) Claim: J Street is more left wing than the other dovish members in the Conference of Presidents

I’ve heard the arguments, but I don’t see it. Other groups in the conference have pushed for the U.S. government to exert pressure on Israel. J Street hasn’t endorsed a settlement boycott, or even sort of endorsed settlement boycott in contrast to Americans for Peace Now. And in sticking by the Obama administration’s side on Iran through various policy shifts, J Street has at times found itself to the right of some of those on the left in the Conference.

3) Claim: J Street is just like any other left-wing group Please CLICK HERE to keep reading

Read more: http://www.jta.org/2014/05/02/news-opinion/the-telegraph/fact-checking-j-street-and-j-streets-critics#ixzz30abBOA3p

Passover, Anti-Semitism, and Rising Above Hate

the Algemeiner April 11, 2014

NOTE: Another thoughtful peace on understanding our place in the world. 

In 419 BCE, the Persian king Darius issued a decree concerning the Jewish garrison at Elephantine on the Nile Delta (near the cataracts of what is now called Aswan). It was directed towards the governor, Arsames, and instructed him to make sure that the Egyptian priests of Khnum did not attack the Jews or try to stop the Passover celebrations at the Jewish temple there. You may well wonder at the prospect both of a Jewish military garrison in Egypt two-and-a-half thousand years ago, and at a Jewish temple where sacrifices were made outside of Jerusalem. But that’s for another time.

Tension between the Egyptian priests and Jews was exacerbated by the Jewish tradition of slaughtering sheep, something the Egyptian religion forbade; this Egyptian antipathy is explicitly stated in the Torah (Genesis 46 and Exodus 8:22). Sadly, nine years later, with Arsames no longer there, the priests of Elephantine destroyed the Jewish temple and its population.

Alternative versions of the Exodus have existed for a long time. Just as alternative narratives about the Middle East proliferate nowadays. Each has its own agenda, some constructive and some destructive. Hecataeus, an Egyptian historian who lived around 320 BCE, talks about bands of exiles coming to Egypt, being driven out, and then taking over an uninhabited Judea. They were led by a man called Moses who founded a new religion that Hecataeus described as unsocial and intolerant!  CLICK TO KEEP READING

Israel Makes American Jews Crazy

Posted on 03/24/2014 @ 08:28 AM

By Kenneth Cohen

in Israel Forever Blog

"Israel Makes American Jews Crazy."

I have heard it said by activists that Israel makes American Jews crazy.

I agree. Israel makes us crazy. Why so?

Kenneth Cohen

Why do moderate, thoughtful, liberal minded people - who usually support all the "right" political and social causes get so emotional when it comes to Israel?

The reasons always seemed obvious to me, but I have come to realize that many non Jews don't understand that it isn't a matter of just rooting for the home team.

It is about survival. Survival of Israel but also survival of the Jewish people everywhere. It isn't that we see Israel as "the last, best chance" for our survival. It is our *only* chance for survival. If, God forbid, Israel goes under, it will be the end of our long trek through history.

Yes, some tiny Chasidic enclaves in some of our major cities will survive, but that will be about it. We will become a small "opting out" people like the Amish.

Consider this: there are fewer Jews in the world today than there are Muslims in Karachi, Pakistan.

There are about 14 million Jews in the world. Roughly half of those now live in Israel. The majority Jewish children in the world are Israeli. Of the Jews outside Israel, about half don't give two hoots about being Jewish. They are assimilated. At the time of Jesus there were about 20 million Jews in the world, about 10% of the Roman Empire. CLICK THIS TO KEEP READING

Farrakhan’s Saviours’ Day In Detroit Preceded By 58 Weeks Of Hate

February 21, 2014 ADL Anti-Semitism Blog

Read this here:

NOTE: not much to this article, just enough to get you really boiling before Sundown. I keep hoping this guy will just fade away, but no such luck. This rabid anti-semitism may seem "over the top" to some but to others, including followers or those who are just cruising the web for this sort of hate speech, Mr. Farrakhan provides fuel for the fires of hatred.