Interesting Al Jazeera piece

[YOhio]

So this Palestinian kid and his buddies make random phone calls to people in the U.S. before every primary urging them to vote for Obama. I don't know what to make of it. It's just interesting.

[MikeWaters]

I think Obama might be least beholden to American Jewish interests, therefore most likely to bring peace to Israel/Palestine.

[Indy Coug]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

I think Obama might be least beholden to American Jewish interests, therefore most likely to bring peace to Israel/Palestine.

What biases a US president may or may not have is a gigantic red herring as far as Israeli/Palestinian relations go.

[TripletDaddy]

It is interesting and somewhat ironic to see Palistinian political activism geared towards US elections, yet not so much towards promoting a system of elections in the Middle East.

[YOhio]

Originally Posted by TripletDaddy

It is interesting and somewhat ironic to see Palistinian political activism geared towards US elections, yet not so much towards promoting a system of elections in the Middle East.

That's kind of what I took away from the piece. It seemed like there was so much naivete in that kid. He truly believed that peace was going to come through Barack Obama.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Originally Posted by TripletDaddy

It is interesting and somewhat ironic to see Palistinian political activism geared towards US elections, yet not so much towards promoting a system of elections in the Middle East.

Shirley, you can't be serious. You don't think Palestinians in West Bank would love to vote in Israeli elections? They are required to pay income tax, BTW.

[TripletDaddy]

Originally Posted by Jeff Lebowski

Shirley, you can't be serious. You don't think Palestinians in West Bank would love to vote in Israeli elections? They are required to pay income tax, BTW.

I was referring more to Arab countries, but your point is well taken.

Since we are on the topic, what do you suppose is the ideal BUT practical solution to the Palestinian issue? This conflict has been raging since I was alive, so at this point, I honestly do not know.

I know that hardline rhetoric calling for Israel to be wiped off the map was abandoned by moderate Arabs long ago.

A creation of a Palestinian state would require Jews to give back land, yet they seem to express little willingness to do so.

Ideally, what is the endgame?

[MikeWaters]

Last evening on NPR, they had a piece on a new pro-Israeli lobby, called J Street.

They said that they are different in that they actually want peace.

I thought that was interesting.

[TripletDaddy]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Last evening on NPR, they had a piece on a new pro-Israeli lobby, called J Street.

They said that they are different in that they actually want peace.

I thought that was interesting.

They must be an offshoot of the website J Date, where the goal there is to get a piece....

[MikeWaters]

J Street was founded to promote meaningful American leadership to end the Arab-Israeli and Palestinian-Israel conflicts peacefully and diplomatically. We support a new direction for American policy in the Middle East and a broad public and policy debate about the U.S. role in the region.

J Street represents Americans, primarily but not exclusively Jewish, who support Israel and its desire for security as the Jewish homeland, as well as the right of the Palestinians to a sovereign state of their own - two states living side-by-side in peace and security. We believe ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is in the best interests of Israel, the United States, the Palestinians, and the region as a whole.

J Street supports diplomatic solutions over military ones, including in Iran; multilateral over unilateral approaches to conflict resolution; and dialogue over confrontation with a wide range of countries and actors when conflicts do arise. For more on our policy positions, click here.

J Street will advocate forcefully in the policy process, in Congress, in the media, and in the Jewish community to make sure public officials and community leaders clearly see the depth and breadth of support for our views on Middle East policy among voters and supporters in their states and districts. We seek to complement the work of existing organizations and individuals that share our agenda. In our lobbying and advocacy efforts, we will enlist individual supporters of other efforts as partners.

J Street is itself a 501(c)(4) organization and is part of the J Street family of organizations, which includes an independent, legally unconnected Political Action Committee, JStreetPAC.

http://jstreet.org/about/about-us

This piece is damning towards the current Jewish lobby that they are seeking to supplant.