Blinders tightly on - J STREET'S ONGOING RESPONSE TO THE ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
AND ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CRISIS
Dr. Aaron Lerner 13 November 2023

Shackle the IDF by rewarding the use of human shields.

Not a word against the violent prevention of the evacuation of some Gazan
civilians to safety or against those Gazan civilians who choose to sacrifice
their families as human shields.

Instead of condemning their bosom buddies in the Palestinian Authority for
supporting and praising Hamas for the October 7th massacre J Street gives
them a pass and wants to reward them with a sovereign state.

J Steet calls to effectively to cut off aid to Israel via amorphous
"guardrails".

J Street opposes any response to "alternative viewpoints" - aka calling for the destruction of
Israel.

At a time that it is so important to stand for Israel, J Street stands for
something else.

One can only hope that people who contributed to J Street in the past in
good faith keep their checkbooks shut when J Street calls for funding in the
future.

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J STREET'S ONGOING RESPONSE TO THE ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR AND ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN
CRISIS
https://jstreet.org/j-streets-response-to-hamas-attacks-israeli-palestinian-
crisis/

In a moment of crisis and war for Israelis and Palestinians, and with events
on the ground and in Washington moving fast, it is extremely important for J
Street to be clear about where we stand, what we are advocating for, and
what we are encouraging the Biden Administration and Members of Congress to
do.

J Street has been consistently advocating for a range of policies and
legislation to advance our core principles and priorities in this moment:

1. We condemn Hamas unequivocally and support Israel's goal of removing the
organization from operational control of Gaza, within the bounds of
international law. Hamas is a despicable, inhumane terrorist organization.
It has committed - and continues to commit - crimes against humanity. The
organization's leadership must be held accountable and cannot remain in
operational control of Gaza post-conflict. That said, Israel's response to
Hamas must differentiate between Hamas and the civilian population of Gaza.

2. We support making every possible effort to secure the immediate release
of hostages. A temporary "humanitarian pause" in the fighting should be
utilized to permit productive negotiations around hostage release.

3. We support the President, the EU and many others who are urging an
immediate and meaningful humanitarian pause in the fighting to permit robust
assistance to be arranged for Gaza's civilians. In addition to permitting
diplomatic pursuit of hostage release, a pause now and further pauses later
can give time and space for creation of specific safe zones for civilians to
leave the areas of heaviest fighting with a guarantee of being able to
return, and for humanitarian relief to get into those safe zones.

4. We support a massive commitment to humanitarian relief by the United
States that matches its commitment to security assistance for
Israel. Congress should approve a supplemental assistance package that
includes significant, designated assistance for Gaza civilian relief. The US
commitment to humanitarian relief should at least approach its commitment to
security assistance for Israel. US funding of weapons and equipment for
Israel brings with it responsibility for the well-being of the civilians in
harm's way.

5. We support consideration of alternative strategies and tactics for
removing Hamas from operational control of Gaza that minimize harm to
Palestinian civilians. The relentless air campaign and the invasion underway
on the ground have killed and will kill thousands - even tens of thousands -
of noncombatants. By taking a pause in its actions, Israel can consider
alternative strategies and hear more from military veterans of recent urban
combat in Iraq among others offering alternatives.

6. We support the Biden Administration's efforts to prevent regional
escalation. Regional actors from Hezbollah to Iran and other loosely
affiliated groups may try to expand the field of fighting. The Biden
Administration is right to send clear diplomatic and military signals that
it does not want escalation but will not hesitate to respond appropriately
to those who try to take advantage of or expand this crisis. The Biden
administration must continue as well to press Israel to end settler violence
and provocations on the West Bank, aimed at driving Palestinians from their
land and villages in particular in Area C while attention is focused on
Gaza.

7. We urge the White House and Congress to impose clear guardrails on
Israeli policy as it works to secure further security assistance from
Congress in a supplemental aid package. These include ensuring that Israel:
take all possible measures to minimize civilian casualties and harm;
facilitate robust humanitarian aid; enact zero tolerance for settler
violence and bring a halt to all provocative policies and actions on the
West Bank and East Jerusalem; and acknowledge that post-conflict
arrangements will ultimately result in the creation of an independent
Palestinian state.

8. We call on the President to outline a clear vision to resolve the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This conflict did not start on October 7th. It
has no military resolution. Only courageous diplomacy to achieve a political
resolution leading to a Palestinian state can end this conflict and provide
the meaningful security both people crave and the freedom Palestinians must
have from occupation, settlements and
blockade, and we believe the President should commit to
recognition of a Palestinian state and lay out a clear vision now of the
path to statehood that establishes the rationale for removal of Hamas from
operational control of Gaza and clarifies the future the United States
envisions.

9. We urge leaders of all communities - Jewish, Arab, Christian, Muslim and
more - to condemn antisemitism and Islamophobia and to express empathy for
the suffering of all caught up in this conflict. We are deeply concerned by
the upswing in antisemitism, and hate generally, around this conflict. 21st
century communications are driving people to extremes, and bad actors are
stoking the divisions. All Palestinians cannot be held responsible for the
actions of Hamas or other Palestinian groups nor can all Jewish people be
held responsible for the actions of the state of Israel.

10. We call on leaders in politics, education, business and other fields to
refrain from silencing opinions they do not like. Freedom of speech is the
cornerstone of democracy, which must not be a victim of this conflict. Our
commitment to fighting antisemitism is ironclad. We believe efforts to
silence legitimate criticism of Israel's policies by labeling critics of
Israeli policy antisemitic only undercuts our efforts to counter this
scourge. This admonition applies as well to Israel where we oppose efforts
by the government to crack down on organizations expressing alternative
viewpoints.

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IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis

Since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on Arab-Israeli relations

Website: www.imra.org.il