Abou-Chedid Responds To Lenny Ben-David's Smears

Nightmare On J Street

Asking "why can't Arab Americans work for peace, too?", Rebecca Abou-Chedid wrote a post in Foreign Policy responding to Lenny Ben-David's smear piece at Pajamas Media.

In what Media Matters Action Network Senior Fellow MJ Rosenberg termed a "a drive-by hit job," Ben-David attacked J Street for occasionally accepting donations from Arabs and Muslims (including Abou-Chedid). 

Rebecca Abou-Chedid responded masterfully:

This week, former AIPAC and Israeli embassy official Lenny Ben-David published an article revealing that I had given a donation to the "pro-Israel and pro-peace" organization J Street. Because I am of Lebanese descent, this clearly indicates that my dollars must be intended to advance some pernicious anti-Israel agenda -- and that J Street must be the vehicle for those aims.

[...]

But why on earth should J Street be ashamed to have the support of Arab-Americans like me? And why should Arab-Americans worry that participating in the political life of their country and exercising their freedom of speech might -- simply because of their ethnicity -- harm the candidates and causes they hold dear?

[...]

Those Arab Americans who support J Street, like myself, do so because we are eager to work with an organization that views us as partners and does not seek to perpetuate the divisions and pathologies of the Middle East here in the United States. Contrary to Ben-David's assertions, those of us who work in coalition to support President Obama's efforts are not the ones with explaining to do.

Earlier this week, Media Matters Action Network rebutted Ben-David's shameful attack on J Street.