The signpost is up: J Street is in Boston.

The left-of-center group - which bills itself as pro-Israel, pro-peace - has been welcomed with a seat at the Israel roundtable of local Jewish leaders, sponsored monthly by the Jewish Community Relations Council.

And Feb. 4, it will hold a kickoff event at Temple Ohabei Shalom in Brookline.

Janette Hillis-Jaffe started work as the New England regional political director for J Street on Jan. 1.

"I've met with folks from AIPAC and [the American Jewish Committee], and I felt very welcome," Hillis-Jaffe said. "There are no rivalries, and I don't think there will be any. The Boston Jewish community is known for being able to embrace a lot of different perspectives."...

...Now, people can choose among three ways to become involved: J Street U, which so far has a presence at Harvard, Brandeis and Tufts universities; J Street Local, for grassroots organizing and education; and J Street PAC, established as a separate entity to allow for political contributions.

Hillis-Jaffe said she would be working mainly with J Street PAC, which requires a minimum annual donation of $1,800 for membership.

"We get involved and take positions on political races," said Hillis- Jaffe. "A group like AIPAC doesn't." ...

150-200 people (?170). They are tired of being "silenced" by the current "extreme right wing" Jewish establishment such as AIPAC. This isn't just a one-issue thing but an entire political movement which will change and transform American Judaism [they say]. Tikkun Olam the most important Jewish values [The old catch-all that never means what they say it means.]. Important to treat the minority (Pals) well even tho we weren't treated well when we were the minority. Democratic Israel very important, just as important as survival. Two-state solution w/a 'secure Israel' imperative.

J Street's "Statement of Principles" include creating an Iraeli-Syrian peace agreement, a "comprehensive regional peace that builds on the Arab Initiative" (I assume they mean the Saudi proposal), and U.S. diplomacy based on partnership with the "EU, the 'Quartet', and others". They state that creating a 'Palestinian' state will require "unprecedented levels of international economic and political support to succeed, including to resolve [sic] the refugee issue within the new Palestinian state and in current host countries".

Good luck with that, J Street!

'Rabbi' Tova Spitzer gave the shehechiyanu blessing.

Someone asked how they could influence the Israeli gov. It was explained to him that as US citizens, J Street could only influence the US gov.

[X] asked a question re the rights of displaced persons, the former residents of Gush Katif and reminded the audience that Jews are the real 'Palestinians'. He was told that J Street welcomes open dialogue but they weren't going to get into specific issues right now. [See video in Hillel's post.]

The food was great and lots of it, good wine, everything supposedly kosher.

There were approximately 200 people at the U of Penn tonight when J Street launched their opening event. The presentations were all well articulated, spoke of everyone's dream of peace, and how there needs to be room for debate...room for "wrestling with Israel even as we hug Israel." A great analogy indeed. I think that everyone agrees that there is room for vibrant debate about Israel.

The presentations conveyed J Street positions, which include ending the Gaza "blockade," pressuring President Obama to exhibit leadership and press for a two state solution, with peace and justice for everyone.

But for me, there were several unanswered questions, including the following:

First, how does J Street justify pressuring the democratically elected government of another country (Israel) to change its policies, through lobbying elected officials in the United States?

Second, how can people living in the safety of the United States make policy decisions for another country, possibly endangering their citizens?

Finally, what is J Street asking of the Palestinians? We know that J Street has an agenda that asks Israel for a full variety of concessions. But what about the Palestinians?

I tried to find out what Ben Ami thought. I asked him the three questions that were on my mind, but did not get answers. The one thing he said, was that the situation in the current state is not working. On that we agree, each of us having different interpretations as to why the conflict continues, and the question of how to bring about peace still remains the challenge. It seems that J Street wants to "force" peace, even though Israel has no partner.

Also clearly missing from the presentation tonight was any reference to terrorism, incitement, or the Hamas charter. I am confused as to why J Street would ignore the present "elephant in the room" dangers. I suppose if they focus on the threats, they could not move forward with their dreamy, though dangerous agenda.