J Street's comment on the events of this weekend

[karynnj]

I think this is valid for this forum, because it is the statement of the liberal lobbying group, which is trying to counter AIPAC's influence on the legislature. My synagogue had the J Street head of new media speak to us. One comment I remember is that he said that something like 80 percent of the American Jewish population agrees with J Street's, not AIPAC's positions. But, to the legislators etc AIPAC is by far the organization they hear. J Street has been against the blockaid for years. This blockaid started when Bush was President after the bombing of Gaza and made repairing the damage from the bombing difficult.

Yesterday, they put out the following statement:

J Street is deeply shocked and saddened by reports that at least 10 civilians have been killed and dozens more wounded (including Israeli soldiers) this morning as Israel intercepted a naval convoy bringing humanitarian supplies and construction materials to the Gaza Strip.

<snip>
This shocking outcome of an effort to bring humanitarian relief to the people of Gaza is in part a consequence of the ongoing, counterproductive Israeli blockade of Gaza. J Street has been and continues to be opposed to the blockade – believing that there are better ways to ensure Israel’s security and to prevent weapons smuggling than a complete closure of the Gaza Strip.

We do not know yet what the impact of today’s incident will be on the just-restarted peace process, on Israel’s relations with the international community, or on the health of Arab-Jewish relations within Israel itself.

We do know, however, that today is one more nail in the coffin for hopes of ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict peacefully and diplomatically and for preserving Israel’s Jewish and democratic character. We urge President Obama and other international and regional leaders to take today’s terrible news as an opportunity to engage even more forcefully in immediate efforts to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

http://www.jstreet.org/blog/?p=1094

It is obvious to me that a large part of this effort was to bring attention to a blockade that most of the world really is oblivious to. Given the damage to buildings in Gaza, how do you justify not letting cement to fix them in? Sure, they could have gone to Ashod, as some suggested, but the stuff they were bringing was on the contraband list.

That blockade has made life in Gaza intolerable. The list is pretty arbitrary and in early 2009, when Senator Kerry and Teresa went into Gaza to personally see the damage (they were not allowed to take their own protection - only the UN's), he found from truckers stopped at the border that pasta was not allowed in. He spoke to Israelis on his return and per Haartez, it was allowed in.

However, an incident occurred last week at a crossing into the Gaza Strip that gave a very different impression to a senior observer. When Senator John Kerry visited the Strip, he learned that many trucks loaded with pasta were not permitted in. When the chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee inquired as to the reason for the delay, he was told by United Nations aid officials that "Israel does not define pasta as part of humanitarian aid - only rice shipments."

Kerry asked Barak about the logic behind this restriction, and only after the senior U.S. official's intervention did the defense minister allow the pasta into the Strip. The U.S. senator updated colleagues at the Senate and other senior officials in Washington of the details of his visit.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1066821.html

(At the time, I commented, "This was after Clinton and EU officials have officially asked Israel to not stop humanitarian aid from reaching the Gaza strip. It also does show precisely why his visit was extremely important. It made it clear that the US was watching and getting first hand information." Over a year later, it seems that Israel has not been swayed by US concerns. Note in case of confusion, "Barak" here is Ehud Barak, not a misspelling of the President's name.)

[Poll_Blind]

1. K&R!

PB

[femrap]

2. k and r

I commend J Street. They bring sanity to the situation.

[slipslidingaway]

3. knr nt