The New Wing of the "pro-Israel, pro-Peace" Lobby Comes to Town
J Street deceives others in order to falsely represent and promote itself.
The Weekly Standard
by Lori Lowenthal Marcus
February 10, 2010
The "new," "progressive" voice of the "pro-peace and pro-Israel" lobby
known as J Street has had its "pro-Israel" label questioned by many
observers, and even some of its own have shed that label. J Street has
now also revealed it doesn’t keep its word to trusting Jewish
organizations.
On Thursday, February 4, 2010, J Street launched a new "grassroots"
divisionJ Street Localwith an event at the University of
Pennsylvania, which was webcast to twenty other locations.
The event involved a deception by J Street leadership on the local
Hillel and the surrounding Jewish community. When it was discovered
that J Street planned to have its new division roll-out from the Penn
Hillel, many Israel supporters were concerned that the outside world
would assume that Hillel had endorsed J Street, especially because J
Street would be webcasting live from there to cities across the
country. Not to worry, said J Street to the local Hillel leadership:
We promise not to mention that we’re using your facility, and to make
clear in our written and oral statements that Hillel does not endorse
us. That condition was agreed uponit was "not just a promise, it was
an agreement"according to Rabbi Howard Alpert, the executive director
of all the Philadelphia area Hillels. On the strength of that
essential agreement, Hillel went ahead and rented J Street its space.
And then? J Street’s Ben-Ami said exactly what he’d promised not to
saythat he was speaking "here at Penn Hillel"and failed to say a
word about what he’d promised solemnly to make clear: that Hillel does
not endorse J Street or its message.
In short, J Street manipulated the Hillel of Greater Philadelphia (of
which I am a board member) into leasing to them space in the Hillel
building for their J Street Local launch by entering into a firm
agreement, and then ignoring that agreement to Hillel’s detriment. J
Street’s deception made Hillel’s carefully planned and extensive
pre-event efforts to soothe concerned donors, students, and others
that there was noand that it would be made very clear that there was
noconnection between Hillel and J Street.
Within hours of the event J Street sent out thousands of releases and
emails urging everyone who was not present at the launch to go to its
website and watch the video. The video of Ben-Ami’s remarks is still
up on his website, and the textthat is, the pre-drafted statement,
not an extemporaneous slipis
(After remonstrations by the HGP executive director, after thousands
of emails and press releases were sent out without the agreed-upon
disclaimer, days later a terse note went up in the site under the
video box that Hillel had not endorsed the speech. But “Penn Hillel”
is still in the video and in the transcript of Ben-Ami’s speech.)
Now we know: J Street will deceive and damage the central organization
representing Jewish life on college campuses in order to falsely
represent and promote itself. Perhaps the rest of J Street’s
exaggerations and misrepresentations fall under the rubric of clever
marketing. Lying, manipulation and damaging Hillel’s reputation
should be beyond the pale.
Lori Lowenthal Marcus is president and co-founder of Z STREET.
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