Letter: Reader criticizes sponsorship of JStreet event

Anyone providing a platform to the anti-Israel group, J Street, for addressing the St. Louis Jewish Community could be considered careless at best. But when the JCRC sponsors such an event it is deplorable. What I find even more disturbing is that the moderator, a board member of JCRC, had ample opportunities to voice a disclaimer on behalf of the JCRC that it neither endorsed nor promoted the J Street agenda, but, yet he failed to do so. In fact, his demeanor suggested that he fully embraced it.

In politics, if you wish to understand the motives behind any group just follow the money. The same holds true for J Street. When an anti-Israel billionaire, George Soros, is the main supporter of J Street, it does not bode well for Israel. When major donors with Arabic sounding names, contribute over $10,000 each, one can logically assume that they do not have Israel’s best interest at heart. With supporter such as Richard Abdoo, Nidal Ayyat, Zahi Khouri, Ali G. Adumaini, to name a few, J Street’s claim of being a pro- Israel group appears bogus at best.

J Street deeds speak louder than their words in uncovering their anti-Israel agenda. As reported in the Jerusalem Post, J Street endorsed the performance of Seven Jewish Children, an outrageous, 10-minute play written by British playwright Caryl Churchill. The play draws a direct line from the Holocaust to Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.

True to its anti-Israel agenda, J Street continues to support “indirect ways to engage” with Hamas, a terrorist group whose charter seeks the destruction of Israel. At the same time, they continue to criticize harshly Israel’s anti-terror military offensives.

But what is even more disturbing to me was the appearance of Collete Avital, an Israeli political figure (Labor Party), with Jeremy Ben-Ami, founder and President of J Street. Avital echoed the phrase used by President Jimmy Carter. Talking about the treatment of Palestinians by Israel, she characterized it as apartheid. This is shameful.

All Israeli leaders since Prime Minister Menachem Begin have agreed on a two-states solution, including the present Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Peace, however, will come to the region only when the Palestinians recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish State.

JCRC, you screwed up in sponsoring the J Street event and you owe all of us who support Israel an apology.

Neil Dunski, Ph.D., Chesterfield