Sister Souljah, Jewish Style

Just to be clear, Rabbi Yoffie's recent criticism of J Street in The Forward should be understood as an attempt by the URJ, which has taken shots for drifting too far from the "mainstream consensus" on Israel within the Jewish community, to Sister Souljah the peace camp. This is not to say Yoffie's criticism is insincere, just that political calculations and ramifications are very much a part of 'playing the blame game' on Gaza. Every group's statement on Gaza will be combed over by the watchdogs of each ideological cohort to see if group X or group Y has passed the ideological litmus test... and woe betide the purveyors of 'moral equivalency' as they will have fury rained down on them by both left and right. Yoffie knows the game better than anyone and wants to make absolutely sure that we know the rumors about his organization aren't true, and here's where the URJ really stands. (Where it stands might change, of course, but you can't think long-term when you're navigating a minefield.)

Basically it comes down to this: every war 'over there' is an opportunity for Jewish organizations 'over here' to wear their hearts on their sleeve, to make a political statement, to prove their unwavering fealty to Israel and to Zionism, on the one hand, or on the other their enlightened disdain for Israeli militarism and the occupation. Of course these expressions of loyalty and conviction can be made at any time, but it is only when Israel is at war that American Jewish hawks and doves really get to prove their mettle.