J Street Takes on Hagee and Lieberman

I have only recently discovered the orginazation JStreet.org, and found them to be a refreshing alternative to the Joe Liebermans of the world, so I've included their recent email as a way to introduce them, get their message out and get your imput.

Dear J Street Supporter,
When John McCain renounced Pastor John Hagee's endorsement last week, you thought Hagee would be banished from mainstream American politics, right? Wrong!

Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut is still standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Pastor Hagee, the same man who preaches Hitler was only doing God's bidding.

This July, thousands of Hagee followers will head to Washington for an "Israel Summit" where they will demonstrate the strength of their alliances across Capitol Hill -- and Lieberman is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at their banquet dinner.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Senator Lieberman has:

• Compared Hagee to Moses, calling him "A man of God....Like Moses," in his address to Hagee's "Israel Summit" last year.
• Spoken regularly with donors and supporters of CUFI on conference calls.
• Regularly defended Rev. Hagee's extremism in the media, citing his so-called "pro-Israel" credentials.

Max Blumenthal writes today in the Huffington Post, reminding us of the depth of Lieberman's ties to Hagee. How can Joe Lieberman continue to stand with a man who preaches that Hitler was only doing God's bidding in the Holocaust? Sign our petition to Joe Lieberman telling him not to speak at Hagee's Israel summit in July.

This is the same John Hagee who has said:
• On Muslims: "All Muslims have a mandate to kill Christians and Jews."
• On Hurricane Katrina: "I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that."
• On women: "Do you know the difference between a terrorist and a woman with PMS? You can negotiate with a terrorist."

Lieberman's excuse for Hagee's outrages? He's "pro-Israel." To us, Senator Lieberman, an alliance with John Hagee is not what it means to be pro-Israel. Hagee opposes Israel giving up a single inch of land to achieve peace and he supports military action against Iran. Why? Well, according to Hagee, Armageddon will begin in Israel any day now. Following a great war, where Israel will be covered in a "sea of blood," Jews will be offered "the opportunity to receive Messiah, who is a rabbi known to the world as Jesus of Nazareth." Hagee's group also funds Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories, a major obstacle to a two-state solution peace process.

Those positions serve Hagee's particular brand of apocalyptic theology, but not the best interests of Israel or the region. At J Street, we believe that Israel's security and survival depend on resolving its conflicts with its neighbors through diplomacy and by making the compromises necessary to establish a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Joe Lieberman should know better. Tell him yourself -- sign our "Don't go, Joe" petition right now.
Isaac Luria
Online Campaigns Director, J Street

P.S. As a Jewish American, it has been very upsetting for me on a personal level to watch Senator Lieberman draw so close to some of the worst people and ideologies in the so-called pro-Israel community. Much too often lately, some of the Jewish community's most prominent leaders are willing to trade away what the Jewish community has traditionally stood for in American politics - justice and equal rights for all - for support on Israel. Joe Lieberman's recent drift toward Hagee embodies this disappointment for me.