I think the video goes a bit too far; one can and should criticize these NGOs but this goes over the line by using individuals' names and photos. It can easily appear to be inciting against them. But J-Street is seizing on this to insist not on taking the video down or asking for an apology - they want to use this as an excuse to shut down Im Tirtzu altogether!
Their statement is incredibly disingenuous:
Let us be clear: J Street condemns incitement in all of its forms and over the past couple of months has repeatedly called on Palestinian leadership to refrain from incendiary statements that seek to fuel or justify violence.Indeed, J-Street's site has a couple of pages that condemn Palestinian incitement, but they have no audience for this message. It is a smokescreen to make them look even-handed, but J-Street is not lobbying Congress to pass bills to punish Palestinian incitement, for example. Its J-Street U division talks about incitement, though - it accuses Jews, including American Jews, of doing most of the incitement!:
When we read reports of this incident, we were deeply disturbed that such violence had unfolded on a street many of us knew so well. Yet many of us were not surprised. While our Jewish community regularly speaks out against incitement against Jews within Palestinian society – as we should – when it comes to Palestinians, we often hear rhetoric of broad generalizations and even prejudice, racism, and dehumanization. We hear this language on the streets of Jerusalem. And we hear it too often in our day schools and synagogues.J-Street's statement concludes with a call to shut down Im Tirtzu:
There is a democratic and Jewish way to conduct the vital debate we need to have at this critical juncture for Israel, the US and the world. But the hateful way in which Im Tirzu pursues its agenda should have no place and no support from the Jewish community here or in Israel.Isn't it wonderful that J-Street is now pretending to care about Israeli democracy, when its entire purpose is to subvert an Israeli democracy that consistently votes for leaders that J-Street hates?
J-Street believes that supporting politicians who give political cover to terror groups is perfectly OK.
J-Street's co-founder says that maybe the entire idea of a Jewish state in the Middle East isn't a good idea, and it thinks that is perfectly OK.
A J-Street speaker and member of their advisory panel goes further and says that Israel should not exist and Jews should live as a minority in a hostile Arab Palestine - and that is perfectly OK, with no one on the stage challenging it.
When J-Street U members are told that Zionism is racist, they don't bother to disagree - and that is perfectly OK.
Act against how Israeli citizens vote, promote those who want to destroy the Jewish state and demonize those who support it - those maxims must be the "democratic and Jewish ways" of J-Street.
