J Street kicks off annual meeting amid U.S. block of settlement condemnation

[Violet_Crumble]

The leftist pro-Israeli lobby J Street kicked off its second annual conference in the Conventions center in Washington, D.C. on Saturday night, with over 2000 participants in attendance, including about 500 students.

The event was preceded by controversy following J Street's call to the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama not to veto the UN Security Council resolution condemning the settlements construction.

However, Washington did veto the resolution, while issuing strong rebuke of Israel's settlement policy, making clear the decision was made out of conviction that the resolution would only harm the peace process by leading each side to fortify in their positions.

Dennis Ross, the U.S. president's special aide, is scheduled to adders the conference on Monday.

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/j-street-kicks-off-annual-meeting-amid-u-s-block-of-settlement-condemnation-1.345960

[kayecy]

1. A Securiy Council veto is only available to a select few states......

.... making clear the decision was made out of conviction that the resolution would only harm the peace process by leading each side to fortify in their positions.

A Securiy Council veto is only available to a select few states......It is usually only used in an extreme circumstance.......Was this an extreme circumstance?


Qote:
"The UNSC veto system was formalized at the Yalta Conference, 4-11 February 1945,and was established in order to prohibit the UN from taking any future action directly against its principal founding members."

[azurnoir]

2. The veto is the privilege of the P5

or 5 permanent members of the UNSC which would be the UK, France, China, Russia, and the US

[oberliner]

3. J Street Conference: Clapping for Hate?

There’s a plenary going on right now at the J Street Conference that’s exploring the present democracy movements in the Middle East. Good stuff. Something everyone–and especially the peaceniks here–can get behind. The first two panelists gave unsurprising speeches supporting democracy and the peace process, which elicited some token cheers from a mostly silent crowd.

Then Mona Eltahawy, a vocal journalist from Egypt, started speaking–and there the niceties ended. Here are some things she said about the revolution in Egypt. She began:

“This is not about Israel. None of this is about Israel.”

But this, after all, is J Street, so she started talking about Israel. Here’s what she said:

“The hatred against Israel will not end” from Egypt until the Palestinians have freedom.

Then the pro-Israel crowd started cheering. She repeated a similar statement, and the crowd cheered even more.

This is a problem. I understand that this crowd, to put it lightly, dislikes the occupation. I know they want to see a Palestinian state. But if they’re serious about being pro-Israel, or even about being pro-peace, they need to be anti-hatred.

It is wrong–for anyone–to cheer for hate. It is wrong, at a pro-Israel conference, to cheer someone who professes her hatred for Israel–not her disappointment, not her concern, but her hatred. She can hate whoever she wants. And if J Street wants her to come to their conference and speak at a major session, they can do that too. But when she comes to that pro-Israel conference, starts talking about hatred for Israel and draws the loudest cheer from the crowd, that’s bad. It’s bad for J Street and it’s bad for J Street’s supporters if they intend to show their support for the Jewish state.

http://blog.newvoices.org/?p=7027