J Street's Jeremy Ben-Ami Engages In Cowardly Censorship

By Timothy D. Naegele[1]

As Israel's butchery of non-Jews in the Middle East continues unabated[2], one might think that Ben-Ami would promote free speech instead of trying to stifle it. After all, J Street's college students who comprise J Street U are on the front lines and cutting edge of this debate, where free and unfettered speech are essential.[3]

At Berkeley and other college campuses, free speech is "dead and buried," notwithstanding the fact that the "Free Speech Movement" began there before it spread nationwide.[4] Surely, if J Street's student arm is to have any integrity and impact, its students must be free to express their unfettered views.

Israeli thugs like those at OpenWeb censor everything.[5] At Ben-Ami's new forum of choice, Substack, he is "censoring" comments there too. If the debate with respect to Israel's multi-decade butchery and atrocities was not front and center in rising anti-Semitism globally, Ben-Ami might be given some slack.

But innocent Jews outside of Israel are bearing the burden of the Apartheid state's actions. American Jews are Americans; they are not Israelis. I owe zero allegiance to the countries of my ancestors; and the same thing is true of many Jews with respect to Israel's atrocities.[6]

While Ben-Ami was born in the United States, his father served with Irgun; and his family helped to found Tel Aviv. Thus, it is understandable if he has divided loyalties. But the world does not. It condemns the butchery of Benjamin Netanyahu, the "Settlers" and rabid Zionists.[7]

Our President Franklin D. Roosevelt and General George Marshall opposed the creation of Israel; and they were correct and omniscient. Perhaps Ben-Ami needs to consider retirement. The toll of having to respond to those ignoramuses who would ban all comments that are critical of the Apartheid state may be too much for him, which is sad to see.

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[1] Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the United States Senate's Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass). See, e.g., Timothy D. Naegele Resume-21-8-6 and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/accomplishments/ He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University. He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at The Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal (see, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commendation_Medal#Joint_Service). Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Law, and Who's Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years (see, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/articles/ and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/articles/), and studied photography with Ansel Adams. He can be contacted directly at [email protected]

[2] See, e.g., https://www.timesofisrael.com/experts-say-gaza-at-worst-case-scenario-famine-about-to-cause-widespread-death/ ("Experts say Gaza at 'worst-case scenario,' famine about to cause 'widespread death'")

[3] See, e.g., https://jstreet.org/j-street-u/ ("J Street U")

[4] See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2023/10/19/is-free-speech-dead-and-buried-at-berkeley-and-elsewhere/ ("Is Free Speech Dead And Buried At Berkeley And Elsewhere")

[5] See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2024/07/08/ban-openweb-where-the-truth-goes-to-die/ ("Ban OpenWeb, Where The Truth Goes To Die")

[6] See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2023/10/31/americas-jews-are-americans/ ("America’s Jews Are Americans")

[7] See https://open.substack.com/pub/jeremybenami/p/answering-ezra-kleins-challenge-can?utm_source=direct&r=bu8l8&utm_campaign=comment-list-share-cta&utm_medium=web&comments=true&commentId=139797445 and https://t.co/IyIjFxsfUY and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2015/12/31/is-israel-doomed/ ("Is Israel Doomed?")