Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2008

From: J Street <info@jstreet.org>

Word on the Street: This first edition of the J Street newsletter "Word on the Street" includes:

- A special message from J Street Executive Director Jeremy Ben Ami

- "Heard on the Street" - J Street's take on recent events concerning American Mid-East policy.

- "Coming down the pike" - What to expect from J Street in the coming weeks

- "J-Links" - Some must read links on our issues from the past few weeks. (See www.JStreet.org)

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A special message from J Street Executive Director, Jeremy Ben Ami

What an amazing first 6 weeks! We are well on our way to creating a new political voice for sensible American policy in the Middle East.

You are one of tens of thousands of people now on our email list. Hundreds of you have donated. Hundreds have written words of encouragement. Some are asking how to volunteer! The outpouring of support has been very meaningful to each J Street staff member, and also to me personally.

Perhaps most inspiring: We have already had our first victory. The same afternoon that we started our petition to John McCain to reject the endorsement of Pastor John Hagee (the man who said that God sent Hitler to force Jews to move to Israel), John McCain did exactly that.

Then, we turned to Senator Joe Lieberman's all-too-deep ties to Pastor John Hagee. Sen. Lieberman has called Hagee "a man of God" and regularly speaks with Hagee's so-called pro-Israel group Christians United for Israel. Tens of thousands of J Street supporterssigned our petition to Joe Lieberman demanding that he withdraw his commitment to deliver the keynote address at Hagee's Group's conference in July. We also produced a video pressuring Lieberman to end his relationship with Pastor Hagee.

Joe Lieberman has not cut his ties with Hagee, so we're going to have to turn up the heat. We'll be in touch soon, especially in the run up to the Christians United for Israel (Hagee's group) conference in July, with new ways to urge Lieberman and others to reject Hagee.

Changing American foreign policy doesn't happen overnight. It will take lots of hard work - but with the dedicated support of thousands of Americans like you, we're well on our way.

We're so glad you're with us. Stay tuned for upcoming J Street campaigns.

- Jeremy

Jeremy Ben Ami

Executive Director, J Street

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Heard on the street: J Street's Take on Recent Events

A series of speeches this week to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee put American Foreign Policy towards Israel and the Middle East center stage in the Presidential campaign. John McCain used the occasion to dismiss the value of diplomacy and to outline an "all stick, no carrot" approach to conflicts across the Middle East. It is becoming clearer that McCain's approach would look very similar to the Bush Administration's failed approach to foreign policy in the Middle East.

On the other hand, we were encouraged to see that Senator Barack Obama embraced many of J Street's positions. In particular, he was explicit on his support for a two-state solution and on his opposition to new settlements. He also committed to supporting the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians starting on Day 1 of his Presidency.

Senator Obama also called on the US to support the renewed Israeli-Syrian peace negotiations, which the Bush Administration has refrained from doing thus far. Senator Obama also emphasized that the importance of trying hard-headed diplomacy with Iran, and then pushing sanctions if those negotiations were to fail.

We were disappointed, however, by the Senator's call for an "undivided Jerusalem." The timing of his remarks was particularly unhelpful, given the Israeli and Palestinian leaders are negotiating at this very moment the future of Jerusalem.

The final status of Jerusalem is a topic for direct negotiations between the parties, not for the speeches of Presidential candidates. Any serious attempt to outline the parameters of such a resolution - such as, for instance, the "Clinton parameters" of 2000 - recognizes that the Arab parts of Jerusalem will most likely end up under Palestinian rule and possibly as the capital of the Palestinian state. The simplistic catch phrase "undivided Jerusalem" is too lightly thrown about in American politics, without recognition of the impact these words have in the region and around the world. We were somewhat reassured by the Senator's later clarifications of his remarks, saying that he would leave the issue of Jerusalem's future up to the negotiating parties.

These speeches came after what is now an infamous speech by George Bush at the Knesset, where he - for all intents and purposes - labeled Senator Barack Obama and all those who favor tough diplomacy with Iran "appeasers." We called him out on that.

Then came news that, despite American objections, Israel and Syria have opened direct talks for the first time in eight years. J Street is deeply supportive of these direct talks and believes the US should be an active partner in the negotiations. We were pleased to see an oped by Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts supportive of greater US involvement in the Syrian talks. We'll be looking for ways to support American engagement in the coming weeks and months.

Coming down the pike: What to expect from J Street and JStreetPAC in the coming weeks.

J StreetPAC will announce its first endorsements of the political season during June.

J Street will continue to pressure Senator Joe Lieberman and others to cut all ties with Pastor John Hagee as the Christians United for Israel convention gets closer.

J Street is keeping an eye out for ways for us to advocate for a smart and tough approach to Iran.

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ABOUT J STREET

J Street is the political arm of the pro-Israel, pro-peace movement. 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. Learn more at <www.JStreet.org>.

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