Why no comments on the J Street blog?
What are they afraid of?
Will they discover that the pro-Israel bloggers outnumber the anti-Israel bloggers, and that J Street speaks not for the “silent majority,” but for a tiny minority of Jews?
Probably.
Open ’em up to comments, boys. Moderated is fine by me; that’s what I use.
Good point. I notice the same thing with a lot of the MSM stuff — like reports by Fox, Reuters, and AP on the current goings-on in Gaza: No place for comments.
As you suggest: Just what ARE they afraid of?
Hamas has only one goal: the destruction of Israel. But somehow the present situation is the fault of the Bush administration. Someone has to give these people at J street a urine test.
I only got three sentences in and I’d seen enough. The most irritating part is the lame attempt to establish non-anti-Israel cred right off the bat:
“While this morning’s air strikes by Israeli Defense Forces in Gaza can be understood and even justified in the wake of recent rocket attacks…”
…which is then profoundly contradicted by everything that follows.
This J-Street crew doesn’t have the cojones to drop the pretense. It also makes for an incoherent policy statement.
btw Meryl, I’ve never seen you blog better than these past two days – great stuff, thank you!
Same here.
threepeat on the compliment.
Apologies, Meryl, I sent you the J Street mailing before I checked the website; you’ve already seen it.
Since 1967 I have taken a grim interest in watching Jewish leftists twist themselves around to try to be pro-Israel while maintaining their progressive credentials. This takes the cake.
I like the bit about extremists in Gaza. First, does anyone remember that recently we were told Israel had to deal with Hamas and make concessions because it was democratically elected? This is what they got and the Gazans can’t claim they didn’t know Hamas would do anything other than what it has.
I also like the bit about punishing innocent Palestinians for those extremists. In the same sense, my late uncle, who was a bomardier on a B-17, punished innocent Germans for the actions of their government. It’s not “collective punishment” Mr. Luria, it’s “making war,” a war the other side clearly wanted.
And as to innocents, I don’t know what the claimed death toll is this evening, nor would I place a lot of credence in any Palestinian-supplied figure. But this morning the Palis themselves were claiming 270 dead of whom fifteen, they said, were innocent civilians. Ergo most of the dead are Hamas and as to them, I think I have already quoted William Sherman: “War is the remedy our enemies have chosen and I am giving it to them.”
Meryl,
That’s exactly what they’re afraid of people noting.I am still amazed at the self hating left wing Jews.I know God is supposed to protect fools,but these idiots pontificating while they’re safe is nauseating
When I was a kid dreidels were made from lead casting, heavy enough to give a good solid spin. Given the timing of the operation, could this be the origin of the name of the operation – “Cast Lead”?
[blush] Thanks for the kind words.
Tzvi, it’s from an Israeli Hanukka song.
j-street = leftist kapos
remember it was the jewish section of vi lenins communist party that murdered the russian jewish comm, they did the dirty work of murdering rabbi’s, teachers, and other jewish leaders. something the liberal jewish elite will never tell you.
When Hamas legalized punishments more appropriate to the Middle Ages, or late antiquity at the very least, what did the folks at J-Street have to say about it?
I received an e-letter from Isaac Luria of J Street–forwarded to me. I hasten to assure readers of this blog that I have no sympathy for that group whatsoever.
For some reason I can’t provide a link to the entire letter but I forwarded it to Meryl under separate cover and if she thinks it’s worth posting she can do that. I do recommend checking out their website, though, if only to examine a mindset that is willfully blind, one that will hold onto its progressive credentials come what may.
But for me the most fascinating part was this:
“I felt immediate pressure from friends and family to pick a side. Did I think that Israel’s actions were fully justified or disproportionate? Did Hamas bring this on itself by firing rockets and provoking Israel or are the strikes an act of aggression against a people trapped in misery and poverty? Couldn’t I see who’s right and who’s wrong?”
This is the quintessence of what passes for leftist ideology. The Palestinians have become an approved victim group and thus between their effort to kill Jews and destroy Israel, and Israel’s efforts not to be killed or destroyed, he isn’t able to choose sides.
Later he writes, “Even in the heat of battle, as friends and supporters of Israel, we need to remember that only diplomacy and negotiations can end the rockets and terror and bring Israel long-term security and peace.”
In my younger years I would have replied to this and asked him: Precisely what sort of diplomacy and negotiations do you suggest that haven’t already been tried? And do you think that the reason Germany and Japan were once militantly aggressive and are now peaceable democracies is because of diplomacy and negotiations?
Of course this is the group that asserted that Hillary Clinton speaking alone at an anti-Iran rally was nonpartisan, but Sarah Palin speaking alone because Hillary reneged was beyond the pale.
This is what is considered progressive in the Jewish community, one reason why I don’t feel any guilt at all about abandoning the habit of a lifetime and voting for McCain.