The Liberal Zionist J Street lobby group officially withdrew its support on Friday for Michigan’s Democratic congressional nominee, Rashida Tlaib, after she embarrassed the group by publicly rejecting the failed two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Tlaib, who is the daughter of Palestinian immigrants to the United States and is positioned to become one of America’s first Muslim congresswomen, also called for a reduction in foreign aid to Israel.
J Street, which essentially functioned during former President Barack Obama’s eight years as the Jewish mouthpiece for American empire in the Middle East, has found itself out in the cold since Donald Trump took office in 2016. Compounding the challenges facing the lobby group, much of the Democratic party has begun to shift left and away from America’s imperialist two-state approach.
The egg on J Street’s face for endorsing Tlaib was just the most recent reminder of how politically weak and out of touch the group has become, largely due to its stubborn refusal to move past the two-state solution.
“J Street will not endorse candidates who don’t endorse the two-state solution,” the organization announced.
“After closely consulting with Rashida Tlaib’s campaign to clarify her most current views on various aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we have come to the unfortunate conclusion that a significant divergence in perspectives requires JStreetPAC to withdraw our endorsement of her candidacy,” the group’s statement read.
“While we have long championed the value of a wide range of voices in discussion of the conflict and related issues, we cannot endorse candidates who come to the conclusion that they can no longer publicly express unequivocal support for the two-state solution and other core principles to which our organization is dedicated.”
J Street has two major problems today. The first is its rigid commitment to a very specific policy that’s already failed many times over and that Israelis and Palestinians are finally moving on from. J Street’s stubborn refusal to entertain any alternatives to a “two-state solution” – coupled with its loss of proximity to the White House – has caused it to become politically irrelevant.
The second is that J Street espouses an ideology that makes it antagonistic to both the progressive and pro-Israel communities in the US, two camps it desperately tries to make itself part of but can’t not experience rejection and disdain from.
During her race for the Democratic nomination in the state primary, Tlaib actively sought an endorsement from J Street, which also allocates financial support for those who back JStreetPAC, the group’s political action committee. In order to win a vote of approval by the JStreetPAC’s board, Tlaib underwent the group’s extensive vetting process, which included personal interviews.
But since August 7, when Tlaib won the Democratic nomination for Michigan’s 13th congressional district, her statements in the press have sharply contradicted the two-state positions she represented to J Street.
Since no candidate participated in the Republican primary, Tlaib is expected to win the seat. The district, which includes Detroit and its suburbs, has not sent a Republican representative to congress since 1947.
In a Tuesday interview with In These Times magazine, Tlaib endorsed a one-state solution and supported the free speech rights of BDS activists, who push for Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel.
“One state,” she said in response to a question about whether she supports a one- or two-state solution. “It has to be one state. Separate but equal does not work. I’m only 42 years old but my teachers were of that generation that marched with Martin Luther King. This whole idea of a two-state solution, it doesn’t work.”
A day earlier, Tlaib told Britain’s Channel 4 that she supported slashing US military aid to Israel.
The congressional candidate humiliated JStreetPAC by accepting its help and then immediately violating its three key principles for endorsement, which include support for the US prioritizing diplomacy toward a two-state outcome between Israel and Palestinians, support for continued US aid to Israel and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority and opposition to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
The abrupt and radical shift in Tlaib’s positions following her primary win were welcome by real leftists and Palestinian activists, who had previously criticized her for seeking J Street’s endorsement.
