Tuesday, November 3, 2009

J Street Version of Doublespeak

The US House of Representatives, by a vote of 334 to 36, passed a non-binding resolution on Tuesday condemning the Goldstone Report and calling for the Obama administration to to oppose unequivocally any endorsement or further consideration of the report. In a peculiarly phrased opinion, J Street expressed its opposition to the House resolution:

"J Street is unable to support House Resolution 867 regarding the Goldstone Commission report on Operation Cast Lead.

J Street would be able to support a resolution that:

Recognizes the history of bias against Israel at the United Nations, the flaws in the original mandate to the Goldstone Commission, and the dangers in pursuing resolutions in multilateral fora with a track record of anti-Israel bias;

Condemns the series of one-sided resolutions adopted by the UN Human Rights Council;

Expresses support for the people of southern Israel who were traumatized by years of constant rocket and mortar fire as well as for the people of Gaza who are suffering greatly from the effects of both the military operation and the ongoing blockade of Gaza;

Correctly acknowledges that the Commission’s original mandate was adjusted by Judge Goldstone himself and accepted by the Human Rights Council to include a focus on the conduct of both sides, and that the report included the first-ever exposure by a UN body of war crimes and human rights violations by Hamas;

Calls on both the Palestinians and Israelis to launch independent investigations into their conduct during Operation Cast Lead;

Calls on the US government to attempt to defeat in the General Assembly any resolution which unfairly focuses only on Israel and

Calls on the US government to state unequivocally that it will veto in the Security Council any resolution which refers charges against Israel and Israelis to the International Criminal Court.

We urge members of the House to consider changes in the Resolution in line with the positions above".

http://www.jstreet.org/blog/?p=697

Now have a look at the House resolution:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=hr111-867

Excuse me, but doesn't the House resolution say almost exactly all of these things? Is J Street splitting philosophical hairs or traversing a slippery slope, hoping to please unnamed donors while pretending it is "pro-Israel"?

General James Jones, Obama's national security advisor, who was the keynote speaker at J Street's first conference, pledged, “You can be sure this administration will be represented at all future conferences.”

My question for General Jones: Which passes into oblivion first, J Street or the Obama administration?

2 comments:

  1. Good point, Jeffrey! Jones has no doubts in eternal mutual love between Obama and J Street. How can he be so sure, if the organization is independent?

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  2. House version of the resolution is MUCH more critical to Goldstone report, J Street tries to make it look innocent and almost objective ("Commission’s original mandate was adjusted by Judge Goldstone himself and accepted by the Human Rights Council to include a focus on the conduct of both sides"). It is almost like Goldstone deserves a reward for this report. Thank you for the links.

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