On October 26 to 29, J-Street, the “pro-Israel, pro-peace” organization, which presents a dovish, more vocally anti-occupation alternative to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) , held its annual conference in Washington D.C. As a Mexican, Ashkenazi Jew living in The United States, I was one of almost 4,000 participants to attend.
J-street’s main battlefield is within the U.S, but progressive American Jews, invested in Israel, should reach out to like-minded voices in other parts of the diaspora.
The conference offered a stage for the big and small names of the American and Israeli center-left. Missing from the stage were Jewish voices of other corners of the world, especially Latin America. This contrast with AIPAC — speakers who attended the 2019 AIPAC conference included: Mr. Claudio Epelman, Executive Director, Latin American Jewish Congress, and Ms. Leah Soibel CEO, Fuente Latina (US born, of Argentinian descent, and writes for a Spanish audience).
And non-US progressive-Jewish organizations are growing. consider Latin-American Progressive Jews for Peace (J-AmLat by its Spanish acronym), started in Israel in 2017 by Jews of Latin American heritage, and headquartered in Israel. Since its foundation, the organization has expanded, via local chapters, across the Americas, and it now has active members in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Israel, Mexico and Uruguay.
Jose Hamra, co-founding member of the local organization’s chapter in Mexico, commented:
“We don’t yet have relationship with J-street (other than sharing the J), but we have shared values. We both defend the legitimacy of Israel and the possibility — and need — for a peace agreement based on two states.
The nature of the organizations is different, in that J-AmLat does not pretend to be a lobbying group, we are aiming to articulate the voices of Latin American progressive Jews across countries in the region.
But in more than one occasion we’ve talked about broadening our relationship with similar organizations, like J-street. To share content, and discuss organizing and fundraising strategies…”
Progressive-Jewish voices in smaller communities could significantly benefit from having their voices amplified, especially given that these liberal Jewish organizations are frequently having to push back against very insular, very unflinchingly pro-Israel, communities back at home. As Jose Hamra told me:
“ I don’t want to generalize, and every community within every country in Latin America has its own social dynamics, but the leadership of Latin-American Jewish communities, in general, aligns with the official Israeli discourse.
In the case of Mexico, in the 1990s, the community would celebrate the Oslo accords, and then, a few years later, label as anti-Semites or traitors those who dared question the occupation. For most Mexican Jews, the possibility of being pro-Israel and anti-occupation, or pro-Israel, pro-Palestine doesn’t exist.
Even so, there are a growing number of Mexican Jews willing to break free of these institutional ties, searching for points of view of dozens within progressive voices in Israel, and openly critical of the positions of Netanyahu’s government”
As progressive American Jews seek to push the conversation on Israel to the left, efforts should be made to reach out to like-minded Jewish organizations in other parts of the world. To build a wide, international progressive Jewish- network, and help amplify the center-left voices of those living in smaller communities in the diaspora.
A seamless step may be to start with the neighboring communities, south of the border. Together, Latin America Jewish communities represent the third largest diaspora in the world.