JustASC

This is an unfortunate sign of the times: Mindy Stein, National President of Emunah of America (the women’s religious Zionist organization), is asking UPenn Hillel to rescind a speaking invitation to Jeremy Ben-Ami, head of J Street, and asking others to do the same. Apparently Penn Hillel is feeling the heat on this one –  director Jeremy Brochin has posted a statement “Regarding Presentation of J Street at Steinhardt Hall.”

The assumption of Stein’s upset, and Jennifer Rubin’s here, is that J Street is so far out of the mainstream that they should be denied forums by Jewish organizations lest they be given “legitimacy.”  But even if you accept as true the worst things its critics are saying about J Street (and for a good summary, go to  J Street’s own web site here), I’m not sure what harm is done by renting a hall to a person at a university and letting Ivy League students figure it out for themselves. What are we protecting them from, exactly?

As for the legitimacy argument – I’m not even sure what that means, or who gets to decide. What are the “spoils” of gaining legitimacy? In this context, I think ”legitimacy” means you are perceived as speaking to or for a Jewish audience, one that is significant in terms of size or influence, and thus your ideas themselves need to be taken seriously or at least into account. Those who challenge J Street’s legitimacy want to deny this significance or influence, or nip it in the bud. Why? What’s at stake? What harm do they anticipate should J Street be seen as representative of a certain population or idea?

Honestly, I would like to see J Street’s critics articulate this for me. I think if they are going to challenge J Street’s legitimacy, they should also explain the specific effects should J Street gain legitimacy. And not just say “it’s not in Israel’s interests.” Jews and Jewish groups, like Israelis, remain deeply divided in terms of politics. Ostensibly, one side or the other will turn out to be wrong and thus “bad for Israel.” But we don’t challenge their legitimacy. What is it about J Street?

Here’s the text of Stein’s letter to Brochin, which she distributed to a synagogue listserv in Teaneck:

I implore you to reconsider and rescind your invitation to Jeremy BenAmi, the Executive Director of J Street. When Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, was invited to address the J Street Conference in October, Israel’s response was that he should decline the invitation. In an article, “J Street and Michael Oren: It’s about legitimacy”,

 [Actually, the article was titled "J Street and Michael Oren: It's about legitimacy, stupid" -- ASC]  

dated October 21, 2009, Ami Isseroff wrote: “One could argue that addressing J Street was an opportunity for dialogue. It would allow Ambassador Oren to address J Street supporters, many of them college students, and explain why J Street policies are not “pro-Israel” and are in fact harming Israel and why comparing IDF soldiers to Nazis is not “pro-Israel.”

[Stein's punctuation is iffy, but Isseroff's original quote ended here. -- ASC]

However, his presence, as well as Ben Ami’s presence on your campus, would give them the legitimacy that they are so desperately seeking and would present them as a”Kosher” pro-Israel organization.

J Street is generously funded from Arab sources and support from the American Iranian Council, and the Israeli government has determined that the policies J Street advocates are not in Israel’s best interests.

Mindy Stein

National President of Emunah of America

Member of the Conference of Presidents

Penn Hillel’ statement on the J Street invitation is after the jump.

Presentation of JStreet at Steinhardt Hall

Statement Regarding Presentation of J Street at Steinhardt Hall

Issued January 24, 2010

Not long ago, the J Street organization requested to rent space in Steinhardt Hall for a regional meeting and nationwide Webcast on February 4th. The Hillel of Greater Philadelphia Executive Staff and board leadership considered J Street’s request and applied to it the same criteria we would apply to other Jewish communal organizations making the same request: that they accept and subscribe to the Hillel International statement that “Hillel is steadfastly committed to the support of Israel as the Jewish state with secure and recognized borders and as a member of the family of free nations”; that they do not advocate actions that will materially harm Israel or its representatives such as boycotts, sanctions or judicial action; and that present their views with civility.

Consistent with its academic orientation and location on the university campus, Hillel of Greater Philadelphia provides a platform for speakers with different points of view on Israel. As examples, last year we hosted Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, Jewish Agency for Israel Chairman Natan Sharansky, Knesset member Effi Eitam, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer, Prof. Daniel Pipes, Prof. Ken Stein, Israeli Vice Counsel Ishmael Khalidi, media trainer Neil Lazarus, Jerusalem Post journalist Khaled Abu Toameh, and writer Nonie Darwish, among others. Individually, these speakers represent a diverse set of views, experiences, and perspectives on Israel; together they represent an exciting conversation of the meaning and direction of Zionism.

It is important to emphasize that, as with all of our speakers, J Street’s use of our facility does not constitute an endorsement by Hillel of the policies of the group or of the opinions expressed during its meeting. Moreover, the J Street program under question is not part of our ongoing Israel education activities and Hillel is not sponsoring this particular event. Nevertheless, we believe it is important that all voices that abide by our principles regarding Israel’s right to exist as the nation-state of the Jewish People have an opportunity to express their opinions in our building as long as they commit to maintaining civility in their presentations.

We at Hillel view our education mission as being one of enriching the lives of Jewish college students and providing them with exposure to points of view regarding Israel consistent with our mission so that they may have all of the information they desire to understand the complexity of the world in which we live. We take pride in both the role we play in engaging Jewish students in the issues of the day and the way we model an inclusive Jewish community that will keep them engaged as they mature into adulthood. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss this matter further.

Jeremy Brochin

Director

Penn Hillel

jbrochin@pennhillel.org