Gaza, Skepticism And J Street
Juan Cole surveys the American debate over the week-long Israeli war in Gaza and finds something surprising: The Israeli propaganda blitz around their attack
Jul 31, 2020897.1K Shares12.1M Views
Juan Cole surveysthe American debate over the week-long Israeli war in Gaza and finds something surprising:
“„The Israeli propaganda blitz around their attack on Gaza has been greeted with uncharacteristic skepticism by the American public and even by some of the mainstream US press.
Juan attributes that to a couple of things, first among them is the uneasiness of a lot of the American Jewish community over the attack, but he spends most of his post wondering whether the debacles of the Bush administration have made the public less eager, on the whole, to accept blithe assertions that the war is necessary. I think, though, he is right on the former point.
Unlike in previous Israeli conflicts, liberal American Jewry has an emerging institutional apparatus, led principally by J Street, the progressive Jewish lobby. True to its initial purpose, J Street has been out in front for the past nine days, in the press and in its online pressure efforts for an immediate ceasefire, ensuring that the American debate over the war doesn’t get hijacked by right-wingers who pass along the canard that support for war is support for Israel. For that effort, they and their allies have been criticized in rather harsh termswithin the Jewish community, but there’s little sign of backing down. That’s given non-Jewish American progressives some breathing room to argue for a saner approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without having to fend off charges of being somehow anti-Israel. These things are kind of hard to quantify, but so far it looks as if J Street isn’t doing so badly during its first test.
Paolo Reyna
Reviewer
Paolo Reyna is a writer and storyteller with a wide range of interests. He graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies.
Paolo enjoys writing about celebrity culture, gaming, visual arts, and events. He has a keen eye for trends in popular culture and an enthusiasm for exploring new ideas. Paolo's writing aims to inform and entertain while providing fresh perspectives on the topics that interest him most.
In his free time, he loves to travel, watch films, read books, and socialize with friends.
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