J Street Snapshots

I offer snapshots of images and impressions from the first national J Street Conference.

·    11500 peace activists – including hundreds of young people – cheering for the essential ideas that there is more than one way to be passionately “pro-Israel,” and that strong advocacy for a long-term peace agreement between Israel and her neighbors is essential to Israel’s own well-being.

·      One speaker after another, both American and Israeli, voicing deep concern for the ongoing vibrancy of Israel as a Jewish democracy if the occupation of the West Bank were to continue.

·      Jeremy Ben-Ami, the founder of J Street, convincingly declaring the birth of a new movement, which would allow a new pro-Israel voice to be heard.

·      A deep sense of urgency that the status quo is harmful to all parties and that the time to achieve a two-state solution is now.

·      A passionate “town hall conversation” between Jeremy Ben-Ami, and Rabbi Eric Yoffie, the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, including a few strong points of disagreement but all in a respectful and thoughtful tone.

·      Many speakers, both Israeli and Palestinian, expressing their conviction that large majorities in both communities desire peaceful co-existence between a secure, Jewish state of Israel and an independent, sovereign State of Palestine, living side by side in peace.

·      A panel of Israeli political leaders urging us to make our voices heard, speaking of how much impact American public opinion has on the formation of Israeli policy.

·      An Israeli peace activist asserting that efforts to boycott Israeli products or divest from Israel do great harm to the cause of peace in Israel and Palestine, because it strengthens the hands of those who lack trust in the peace process.

·      Questions about the emerging reality that the new generation of American Jews are less defined by ethnic identification and less moved by fear-based narratives of the Jewish experience than were their parents.

·      Two protestors standing outside the conference hotel, holding signs saying, “J Street Nazis.”

All in all, three days of exhilaration.  On the plane on the way home, a man grilled me on why anyone would be hopeful now, since, after all, violent conflict has been part of the human experience since the beginning of time.  He had a point, of course.  Still, I pray that the energy of this conference will soon bear fruit in progress toward a peaceful future for the people of Israel and Palestine.