Tuesday, January 17, 2017
Elder of Ziyon
From: Jeremy Ben-Ami, J Street
Date: Tue, Jan 17, 2017 at 12:17 PM
Subject: Some political news that's actually positive
And a very similar email from the "US Campaign for Palestinian Rights," a BDS umbrella group.
You may not have seen it on the news, but J Street recently scored an important achievement on Capitol Hill.
...Those who pay close attention to the political conversation around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the two-state solution noted that something significant took place in the House of Representatives. While a resolution criticizing the Obama administration's abstention at the UN Security Council did pass, many principled Members of Congress protested and refused to support it.
When the bill came up for a vote, 80 Members voted against it, while four voted present.
This is a major shift in the conversation about US policy and what it truly means to be pro-Israel. Before J Street was founded, one-sided, inaccurate and unhelpful resolutions like this one would have passed with near unanimous support.
Those days are over. Increasingly, thanks in part to the work of J Street, Members of Congress know that they have the political space and support to engage in honest and substantive debate about what kind of American leadership is best for securing Israel’s future.
Last week, we let you know about an imminent vote in Congress on H.Res.11 to object to the US decision to abstain on UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which reiterates the illegality of Israeli settlements.Hundreds of you called your Representatives urging them to oppose H.Res.11, and your advocacy paid off!
Even though the resolution passed, the 80 votes registered against it was the largest no vote on any Israel resolution since the US Campaign started in 2002. With 342 Representatives voting in favor of Israel’s colonization drive, this might not seem like progress, but believe me, it’s a huge step forward in breaking the nearly unanimous support for Israel on Capitol Hill.
Both of these groups are thrilled that they got 80 members of Congress to vote against the bill. But J-Street claims that they were opposing it because they are pro-Israel, and the Palestinian group says that they were opposing it because they want to see Israel disappear.
If J-Street is "pro-Israel," why are they campaigning for the same things that anti-Israel activists are?
