But when it comes to whether or not we give J Street the Palestinian stamp of approval, we can take a different approach. The two-state Oslo process is not flawed because of mistakes in execution. It is a failure because it was never meant to provide for Palestinian self-determination.
Moreover, we Palestinians in America have gained too much pushing our narratives to let up now. We have, through persistence and intelligence, changed the conversation about Palestine here, profoundly so. We cannot now accept the discourse of a pro-Israel lobby group that declares that we shouldn't have full democratic rights in all of our homeland, but rather merely a quarter of it, and only if we "behave."
To be clear, I'm not asking anyone to boycott J Street. On the contrary, let's talk to them. Let's push them. Most importantly, let's make sure they understand what we will accept (full freedom) and what we will not (conditional freedom). We don't need to abandon our core values, our rich history, and our precious principles.
We've worked too hard for that.
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