My last post alluded to a dust-up where J Street U dropped the term “pro-Israel” from its slogan. Trouble is, that never happened:
The national board of J Street U neither discussed nor voted on any action to remove the term “pro-Israel” from our platform, policy or the way we describe ourselves at J Street U’s national conference.
Thanks to Ira Stup of J Street U for clarifying this point in person with me. J Street U never voted to drop “pro-Israel” from its slogan – they were never bound by J Street’s branding in the first place.
The messaging flexibility that J Street U chapters are given is important; it’s a recognition of the vastly different circumstances in which conversations and programs about Israel-Palestine take place on different campuses. J Street U remains a Zionist organization, but, like J Street, takes a politically pragmatic approach to preserving Zionist ideals, in that they don’t blindly stick to slogans when those slogans are counterproductive to their goals. For too long, organizations have labeled themselves “pro-Israel” with the intention of excluding others. J Street and J Street U continue to stay true to their Zionist philosophy, but don’t exclude others from using that label as well. To me, this is what sets them apart from other organizations, and, even when I disagree with some of their policies, makes me a supporter.
