Poet booted from J Street meet for comparing Guantanamo to Auschwitz

Posted: October 20, 2009

Rightardia has been following J-Street since it formed. It is a progressive Jewish organisation that offers a counterpoint to the Zionist organisation AIPAC. Two of three American Jews support Obama which is an important development for peace in the Middle East.  Five days ahead of the leftist pro-Israeli lobby J Street's first National Conference in Washington, D.C., the controversies continue to mount. The Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren refuses to attend the conference, despite the open letter issued by the organization's Executive Director Jeremy Ben-Ami; but over the weekend the lobby took one more step to appease critics. The poetry session, featuring three artists - Kevin Coval, Tracy Soren and Josh Healey, scheduled as part of the "Culture as a Tool for Change" track, was canceled. Apparently, the event was nixed following a reminder by a conservative blogger that Healey, a Jewish activist and poet, compared Guantanamo prison to Auschwitz. J-Street's Ben-Ami issued the following explanation: "As a matter of principle, J Street respects the dissenting voice that poetry can represent in society and politics. We acknowledge that expression and language are used differently in the arts and artistic expression when compared to their use in political argumentation. Nevertheless, as J Street is critical of the use and abuse of Holocaust imagery and metaphors by politicians and pundits on the right, it would be inappropriate for us to feature poets at our Conference whose poetry has used such imagery in the past and might also be offensive to some conference participants." In an interview with Haaretz, Josh Healey didn't conceal his disappointment. "I had a conversation with 'J Street' staff, and they explained that they are playing the game - Washington politics, and seeking legitimacy. And they are not willing to fight this battle. I was born in Washington, so I'm not surprised to become Van Jones of J Street," (U.S. President Barack Obama's "green jobs czar" who resigned over the controversy about his past political associations). "So Van Jones resigned, but did the right wing stop attacking Obama? On one level, I understand them - it's easier to get rid of the poet, who cares? But as an artist and a Jewish activist, it's a matter of principle. If you're trying to be an alternative to AIPAC - don't behave like AIPAC." "I told them I don't think it's the legitimacy they want, because it's not the legitimacy that makes change. When you're trying to make change, you must expect that some people will push back. But they kick out their allies - and I still consider myself an ally. I'm not personally offended - I'm politically disappointed. It's ironic that we were invited to perform and be a part of the dialogue at the track 'The culture as a tool for change.' But we can't even have this dialogue. The Jewish community acts like children, with smear campaigns and name-calling. I am not surprised by the right wing attacks - but that J-Street went along with it and accommodated it."

See the rest of the article at : http://haaretz.com/hasen/pages/natashaBlog.jhtml?itemNo=1122325&contrassID=134&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=1&listSrc=Y&art=1

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