VOA标准英语2009年-US Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace Lobby Holds Its F

By Jeff Swicord
Washington
03 November 2009

For decades, AIPAC (The American Israel Public Affairs Committee) has been the pro-Israel lobby in the United States, bolstered¹ by a massive membership -it says 100,000 - among America's six million Jews. But now there's a new player. J Street calls itself the pro-peace, pro-Israel lobby in Washington.  Last week, the group held its first ever national convention, attracting prominent Jews from the U.S. and Israel. The conference in the nation's capital drew more than 1500 enthusiastic participants in what some are calling the beginning of a movement and a new way of advocating for the stalled Middle East peace process.

 
Jeremy Ben-Ami
"We want the United States and the international community actively² at the table. We want this conflict to end!" Jeremy Ben-Ami said.

Ben-Ami is Executive Director of J Street, addressing the group's first ever national conference. J Street says it's the new pro-Israel lobby in Washington. It supports an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a two-state solution.

It was formed 18 months ago. Since then, J Street has picked up broad support in the U.S. and in Israel, although not from Israel's government.

The group says its rapid ascent³ reflects a split in the American Jewish community with more and more American Jews favoring a Palestinian state and an end to Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank. 

Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip last January shocked many American Jews, the group says.

Others became disillusioned⁴ with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's perceived lack of interest in the peace process and his refusal to stop Jewish settlement. 

Many say they have grown tired of the unconditional⁵ support of Israel by other pro-Israel organizations.

 
Susan Adelman
"Every time I attempted to raise any questions, you were seen as an anti-Semite, anti-Israel, or a self-hating Jew," Susan Adelman says, "And I am none of those things."

Ben-Ami says he wants Israel to thrive as a Jewish state. He believes that is only possible through a peace agreement and the creation of an independent Palestinian state. He cautions time is running out. "Within a certain number of years, whether it is a decade or less, we don't know, there will be more non-Jews than Jews between the Jordan and the Mediterranean," he says, "At that point Israel loses the chance to be both a democracy and a Jewish home."

J Street's broad support reaches all the way to the White House.

 
James Jones
President Barack Obama's National Security Advisor⁶ James Jones was keynote speaker at the conference. He said the administration is supportive of J Street. "If there were one problem that I would recommend to the president, that if he could do anything he wanted to solve just one problem, this would be it," Jones said.

Members of Congress as well as former Israeli generals and members of Knesset, Israel's parliament, also attended.

Colette Avital, a former Israeli ambassador, says most American Jews support the peace process. "Up to 79 percent of American Jews consistently have supported peace policies. Certainly they are supportive of the Obama Initiative to push the peace process foreword," she said.

J Street has it's detractors. AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, declined our request for an interview. AIPAC has long been the pro-Israel lobby in the U.S., bolstered by support from Israel's government.

AIPAC and other conservative Jewish organizations view J Street as out of step with the interests of Israel. 

On the last day of the conference, participants lobbied more than 100 members of Congress. They told lawmakers that the U.S. should press forward with the peace process and a two-state solution. 

Elliot Paul Rothman is from Boston. He met with several representatives, including one from Pennsylvania. "He recognized that he needs a lot of information to keep him up-to-date about what is happening in Israel which is not his field, but basically he has already been a supporter of J Street," he said.

J Street proclaimed its first national convention a success and plans to keep the momentum⁷ going. But its staying power is unsure.

1 bolstered   

v.支持( bolster的过去式和过去分词 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助

参考例句：

• He bolstered his plea with new evidence. 他举出新的证据来支持他的抗辩。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The data must be bolstered by inferences and indirect estimates of varying degrees of reliability. 这些资料必须借助于推理及可靠程度不同的间接估计。 来自辞典例句

2 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

3 ascent   

n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高

参考例句：

• His rapid ascent in the social scale was surprising.他的社会地位提高之迅速令人吃惊。
• Burke pushed the button and the elevator began its slow ascent.伯克按动电钮，电梯开始缓慢上升。

4 disillusioned   

a.不再抱幻想的，大失所望的，幻想破灭的

参考例句：

• I soon became disillusioned with the job. 我不久便对这个工作不再抱幻想了。
• Many people who are disillusioned in reality assimilate life to a dream. 许多对现实失望的人把人生比作一场梦。

5 unconditional   

adj.无条件的，无限制的，绝对的

参考例句：

• The victorious army demanded unconditional surrender.胜方要求敌人无条件投降。
• My love for all my children is unconditional.我对自己所有孩子的爱都是无条件的。

6 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

7 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。