http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1009/Gillibrand_Schumer_drop_out_of_J_Street_conference.html

This article in Counterpunch should put this “debate” to rest.
Michale Neumann:

Antisemites have flocked to criticism of Israel precisely because criticism of Israel is so amply justified. Criticism of Israel isn’t a great disguise because the critics are sleazebags. Quite the contrary: it’s a great disguise because criticizing Israel is not only correct, it’s the right thing to do. The more-than-overwhelming majority of those who criticize Israel are genuine humanitarians, genuine enemies of oppression and ethnic nationalism, genuine fighters for justice. The more obvious this has become, the more antisemites get on board.

http://www.counterpunch.org/neumann10292009.html

The J-Street conference as described reminds me of a Brit-Zedek conference I went to years ago. I was new to the issue, had only recently come to a stance very critical of Israel, and was excited to be at this gathering of people who (so I thot) shared my view.

What I found was a whole day of workshops about Jews. What should Jews do? The one workshop scheduled by a Palestinian was canceled.

So often the question becomes tribal – what is good for the Jews?
You have genocidal folk like Israel’s leaders and you have less than-genocidal people who think not all Palestinians should be killed; let a small number be kept alive on bantustans. [the "two-state solution"]

In fact, the only honest appraisal is that the Palestinians are in a struggle for liberation, like peoples all over the world have fought for their liberation from oppression.
One is either for Palestinian self-determination or against it.
There is no middle ground.
It is not possible to have a Jewish state and have Palestinian self-determination. This is what Richard, and J-street, and the “Two-staters” want.
They want a Jewish state and they want a clear conscience.

Not possible.