"Isaac Luria", the shadowy voice of J Street tasked to rally the uninformed, wants Obama's Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner (you know, the tax-evading Geithner) to follow up on the NY Times' non-story about tax exempt U.S. charities funding projects in Judea and Samaria. Even according to the Times story, there's no beef there, and certainly, no legal violations. According to the paper,

Alex Safian of CAMERA goes into detail here. J Street's "Vice President of Communications and New Media" goes on to say that

Apparently unconcerned over funding by many of its constituent organizations, like The New Israel Fund, to groups that openly call for the destruction of Israel and the legitimization of Hamas, J Street is engaged in a desperate attempt to deflect attention away from two current stories that reveal just how Israel-hating the group really is. Building a synagogue or clinic in Ofrah - according to J Street - is terrorism but funding universities in Ramallah that glorify the Sbarro pizzeria bombing of 2001 is just fine with Mr. Luria (or Ms. Luria - who knows who that is?)

First J Street embarrassment:

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) recently came out with a report that compares Israel with the worst regimes of the 20th Century - including Nazi Germany. So what else is new for lefty theologians? What else is new involves the noble Presbyters citing J Street as a "sign of hope." Panic struck their Washington offices and prompted Rachel Lerner, J Street VP to "reject" the report. Yet again, J Street is forced to publicly distance itself from the reality of its constant Palestinian cheerleading and the consequences of its anti-Israel program. How many times does J Street's have to be unmasked before everyone sees its true face? Remember the college branch of the organization that promptly dropped the "Pro Israel" brand from its website? Remember the ringing endorsement of Stephen Walt of "The Israel Lobby" canard?

Next embarrassment: Jeremy Ben Ami's former PR firm, Fenton Communications, abruptly dropped its al Fakhoora campaign. This richly funded program, under the guise of "student education" sought to demonize Israel following Operation Cast Lead and more recently, became the U.S. branch of the Turkish IHH whose thugs precipitated the Mavi Marmara incident on the high seas. One of al Fakhoora's stated purposes was to:

Naturally, Hamas' use of human shields in schools, hospitals and private homes was not to be investigated.

The year after Senior Vice President, Ben Ami left the firm, Fenton signed a lucrative PR deal with the Sheikhess of Qatar (those wonderful folks who bring you al Jazeera and Sheikh Yusuf -"burn the gays" - Qaradawi) How about a little investigation there? Over 10 Fenton executives registered as agents of a foreign government to gain the contract. Let Ben Ami answer a few questions about his involvement in this "Pro Israel" adventure. Considering many of the current donors and members of his advisory board (like the "Pro Israel" Robert Malley and Saudi attorney Nancy Dutton) Ben Ami's outreach to the Dons of Doha is entirely conceivable.

Incidentally, the "transparent" J Street - aside from cloaking its spokesperson - is virtually impossible to contact. No phone number is listed and when you finally find a number, you get a recording. Ben Ami's former firm, Fenton, is similarly unresponsive. Six phone calls went unanswered.

[Crossposted from JStreetJive.]