J Street’s New Ad – The Community of Hypocrisy

J Street’s new 30 second TV ad begins with “While chaos and violence in the Middle East grow….” The ad then actually pretends to condemn “fear mongering.” This is a profoundly hypocritical path. I say “pretends” because clearly the opening statement accompanied by appropriate music is designed to scare progressive voters into the belief that only the J Street path could possibly avoid “Chaos and Violence.” I would call that “fear mongering.” It is much like an alarm company saying, “If you don’t have our alarm system, your family is in danger.” There is no difference.

From this ridiculously hypocritical beginning, J Street’s ad continues with images of violence: first an explosion at an Israeli gas station, then a video of Israeli troops landing on the Mavi Marmara (during the flotilla incident), followed by a scene of masked Palestinian gunmen and of stone throwing. Then J Street states that “America’s chorus of No ignores reality.” J Street quotes Sarah Palin as saying that “The Jewish settlements should be allowed to expand.”

J Street’s commercial acts as if J Street’s primary opponents are Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, and Joe Lieberman. Suddenly, this is not about Israel, but about American politics. Surely there are major Jewish figures both in America and in Israel who could have been quoted as saying something along the lines of “Israeli cities should be allowed to grow,” which is what Palin meant in context. In fact Palin said in 2008 that “A two state solution is the only solution” and Joe Lieberman, pictured next to her in this J Street hypocrisy, said in his official policy:

Advancing the Middle East Peace Process. Senator Lieberman believes that the United States should continue to take an active role in negotiating a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Specifically, he maintains that a two-state solution – in which Israel lives side by side in peace with a democratic Palestinian state – ultimately provides the only appropriate framework for resolving this longstanding challenge.

J Street is attacking them as if they opposed peace, not simply as if they opposed J Street’s path to it. Rush Limbaugh is quoted out of any context at all as saying, “Who is imposing what on whom?” Which is interesting considering that it seems that J Street’s answer to that question is that the US should be imposing J Street’s solution on Israel. We have no idea what Limbaugh himself meant or even about what issue he was speaking. Limbaugh is simply being used as representative of someone whom J Street’s supporters will not like. His words are irrelevant, but his presence in the ad is an act of fear mongering by J Street saying in essence, “If you don’t vote for Obama, you’re going to get this guy instead.”

Then J Street quotes Mike Pence as saying, “There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza.” This is done because J Street believes it a laughable statement, but it is a serious one because the impact of calling something a “humanitarian crisis” is profound and calling the situation in Gaza a humanitarian crisis is profoundly negative propaganda against Israel. This is not to say that things are wonderful in Gaza. They are not and the average person faces hardship. However a humanitarian CRISIS it is not. Leaders of the Israeli government including Ehud Barak and Danny Ayalon have made this case rather convincingly and the opening of a brand spanking new Gaza Mall full of products for sale must make one question both the unavailability of products and construction materials, much less the absence of wealth and prosperity, in Gaza. Malls are closing in cities around the United States because of the recession, but a new mall opened this week in Gaza. That speaks to prosperity, not to humanitarian crisis.

For a moment, let us think of what a humanitarian crisis is. Haiti after the earthquake was a humanitarian crisis. The Tsunami in Southeast Asia was a humanitarian crisis. Sudan is amid a humanitarian crisis. What do these have in common? Thousands upon thousands of people dying or potentially dying from starvation and disease. How many die from starvation and disease in Gaza? From starvation, virtually none, if not none. In 2007, the last time figures were calculated, the life expectancy of someone born in Palestinian Territories was 73.46 years placing the Palestinian territories as a whole, 77^th on the list of nations, better than Hungary, China, Saudi Arabia, Jamaica, Jordan, Brazil, Lebanon, Turkey, the Philippines and well 109 other nations!!! While Gaza’s specific figures are likely less favorable than for the West Bank, there are not tens of thousands in danger of dying of starvation or disease.

Finally comes the most important line in the ad, “Do they speak for you?” That is the real question. It doesn’t matter what was said. The crux of J Street’s ad is whether or not you feel represented by Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh. It is an anti-Republican fear mongering ad that has little if anything to do with Israel. How do I know this? Because at its end President Obama is quoted as saying, “Two states living side-by-side in security,” something that Palin herself would say is important and has many times. J Street pretends that she and the others included in the ad seek the opposite, that this statement by the President distinguishes him from Palin and the others, as well as distinguishing J Street from its opponents. It does not. This is an extraordinarily disingenuous ad.