And now we have Z Street
Can there ever be too many pro-Israel organizations? Apparently not.
The latest is Z Street, which from its name appears to be a response to J Street (which, of course, was itself a response to many of the traditional mainstream pro-Israel groups).
Created by activists Lori Lowenthal Marcus of Philadelphia and Allison Rowen Taylor of Los Angeles, Z Street's Web site describes the organization with this description:
No more appeasement, no more negotiating with terrorists, no more enabling cowards who fear offending more than they fear another Holocaust. Z STREET is for those who are willing not only to support -- but to defend -- Israel, the Jewish state.
The Web site also contains a 14-point charter stating the group's principles. Among them:
- "The firm belief that there can be no compromises or agreements with, and no concessions to, any Terrorist Entity or any individual Terrorists"
- The branding of "those members of the world community" who fail to "actively condemn" threats against Israel as "active or passive supporters of a second genocide against the Jewish people."
The group says it is not intended to supercede other Zionist organizations, but "serve as an alternative to many mainstream and other Jewish organizations that, to meet donors' requirements or for ideological reasons, cannot affirm the principles set out in the Z STREET charter."
The group also redefines Zionist in the charter, calling a Zionist "one who affirms that Israel is a the homeland of the Jewish people and is and must remain a Jewish State," but also adding that a Zionist "believes that the government of Israel must not make concessions to, or engage in negotiations with, terrorists, terrorist entities or terror sponsoring states which either implicitly or explicitly seek to destroy the Jewish State of Israel."
The organization is already planning a rally in front of the White House on Oct. 27, which is the same week that J Street, joined by 11 other progressive pro-Israel groups, is holding its first annual conference.
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What does Z Street wish to accomplish that isn’t already being accomplished by ZOA and like-minded organizations? Thanks.
More power to Z Street! I remember my mother telling me that during the Holocaust when she lived in New York, she was appalled at the Jewish non-response to attacks on Jews in Europe, because of impotent American Jews and their leaders who were terrified lest someone look their way menancingly if they protested on behalf of their fellow Jews. Let’s hope that cowering in the face of anti-Jewish threats or as J Street does, joining the anti-Zionist enemy - is not the only response of US Jews nowadays.
I have eagerly joined Zstreet and I do not know what other groups are doing, but I love the statement of standing up and standing out as Jews. And I pray we will do and be what the charter declares. Perhaps the “other groups” will be inspired
by Zstreet and join up or with us, and become a firebrand that will cause the whole world to admire and respect Israel and Jews around the globe
Check out New Voices’s post on Z Street at http://blog.newvoices.org/?p=754!
I don’t see the point of creating a new organization unless Z Street believes its mission or philosophy is significantly different than that of the ZOA. I know Mort Klein personally and it seems that Z Street’s ideas mirror his so why not combine forces with ZOA and strengthen their impact rather than dividing the community’s efforts and wealth and creating redundancy? The Jewish world already has too many organizations doing the same things and in these philanthropy-challenged times, it’s something we should be avoiding.
I agree with the posters who see it as a rather foolish ZOA splinter group.
There’s already enough division amongst Jews when so many (such as a couple on this thread, and Z-Street’s early statements) spend much of their time attacking other Jews and Jewish groups as if they were collaborators, rather than debating the best way to achieve common goals.
It’s a quite immature, nationalistic approach which such aggressive groups tend to take, and I notice no proposals for paths of action for Israel within Z-Street’s announcements.
As for the initial post by Allyson from Z-Street - the organization is clearly not just about Iran as you suggest, which you would see if you had read the Charter...a bit of PR ‘spin’ there I would suggest…
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allyson rowen taylor
07/18/09 02:51 PM
The response to our message has been amazing, and we are going to “rock the boat” as we will not play the politically correct game of appreasment, dhimmitude, or self sacrifice for peace. We Jews, and All Israeli’s, Jewish, Christian, BaHai and Arab are under threat of Iran’s nukes, and terrorism. For any group to not acknowledge this threat is just moronic. Z Street is the alternative to living with your head in the sand.