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WOMEN' S
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Challenging J Street
Film states case against liberal group.
Ben Cohen
JNS.org
I
S
ince its founding in 2008, J
Street, the liberal Jewish advo-
cacy group, has been trying
to convince American Jews that it is a
credible and more ethical alternative
to traditional pro-Israel organizations
like the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee (AIPAC).
J Street believes there is a constituency
for its work among those American Jews
who are generally supportive of Israel
but queasy over certain of its policies,
most obviously creating and sustaining
Jewish communities in the West Bank.
The key question raised by the film
The J Street Challenge is what it means to
be "pro-Israel" not on a personal level,
but within the context of the politi-
cal lobbying and advocacy that swirls
around American policy toward the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And when
you examine J Street's record, it becomes
very hard to dispute Professor Alan
Dershowitz's assertion that the organiza-
tion — despite its much-vaunted tagline
— is "neither pro-Israel nor pro-peace
There are J Street's funders. As the
film documents, ferocious critics of
Israel like the hedge-fund billionaire
George Soros and Genevieve Lynch,
a board member of the pro-Iranian
regime National Iranian-American
Council, have donated significant sums
to the group.
And although it says it is opposed to
the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
(BDS) campaign against Israel, J Street
S
Street Challenge: The Seductive Allure
of Peace in Our Time 7 p.m. Tuesday,
May 6, at the Maple Theater, Maple
and Telegraph roads in Bloomfield
Township.
Tickets can be obtained at www.
jschallengedetroit.eventbrite.com for
$10 or $18 at the door.
Following the showing, the produc-
ers of the film, Avi Goldwasser and
Charles Jacobs, will answer questions.
Featured in the film are professors
Alan Dershowitz and Ruth Wisse of
Harvard, Rabbi Daniel Gordis of the
Shalem Center, Caroline Glick of the
Jerusalem Post and Bret Stephens
invites you to experience an exciting and
inspiring two-part women's series!
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Saturday, May 10 at 7:30 p.m.
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we will conduct a ceremony of
empowerment & healing. There is no
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A CELEBRATION OF WOMEN
Saturday, May 31 at 1 p.m.
Join Karen Taylor Good and
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FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS AND TO RSVP, VISIT SHIRTIKVAH.ORG
❑
DETROIT
JEWISH NEWS
1-11
Ben Cohen is the Shillman Analyst for
JNS.org.
The J Street Challenge
Coming To Maple Theater
tandWithUs-Michigan and
the Zionist Organization of
America-Michigan Region
will be presenting the film The J
IN THE MONTH OF MAY
Congregation Shir Tikvah
maintains close ties
with those who advo-
cate collaboration with
the BDS movement in
targeting West Bank
settlements, like the
writer Peter Beinart
and the corporate law-
Alan
yer Kathleen Peratis.
Dershowitz
And as Dershowitz
points out, you "rarely" hear J Street
praising Israel. A far more familiar
refrain consists of slamming Benjamin
Netanyahu's government as an obstacle
to peace, or opposing tougher sanctions
on the Iranian regime — positions that
don't raise an eyebrow when articulated
by anti-Israel groups, but which sound
rather discordant coming from a group
that claims to support Israel.
But is that how the J Streeters them-
selves view it? Since no J Street repre-
sentative appears in the film, it's hard to
say for sure. J Street told me Ben-Ami
was not interviewed because he was not
available at the time the producers sug-
gested. The absence of a direct interview
with Ben-Ami, in which he answers the
points raised by J Street's critics, slightly
blunts the film's impact.
The most heartening aspect of the film
consists of young, pro-Israel activists
eloquently expressing why they distrust J
Street. Seeing and hearing the next gener-
ation of genuinely pro-Israel Jewish lead-
ers is reason enough to give The J Street
Challenge an hour of your time.
JN
1912390
I
of the Wall Street
Journal along with
other experts.
J Street has
been seeking
inclusion in the
Conference of
Presidents of Major
Charles
American Jewish
Jacobs
Organizations. A
secret ballot had been scheduled for
Wednesday, April 30 (after this week's
JN deadline). J Street needed two-
thirds of a quorum (75 percent of the
membership) to get admitted.
For further information, call the
ZOA Michigan Region at (248) 661-
6000; or StandWithUs-Michigan at
(248) 325-5306 (voicemail) or email
standwithusmichigan@gmail.com .
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May 1 • 2014
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