J Street’s college group is co-sponsoring this weekend’s College Democrats of America convention that will feature far-left, antisemitic influencer Hasan Piker.

J Street U, the student organizing arm of J Street, “is proud to sponsor and participate in the College Democrats Convention,” Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of J Street, told Jewish Insider on Friday, hours after Piker was announced as the convention’s “surprise speaker.” 

The two-day conference began in Washington on Friday.  

“We had no role in the selection of speakers and we’re sure there will be speakers — including Hasan Piker — with whom we disagree,” said Ben-Ami. “Being in venues like this is even more important when there are participants with whom we disagree. Failing to show up would be an abdication of our responsibility to make the case for our pro-Israel views.”

Despite facing scrutiny over comments including justifying Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks, calling Orthodox Jews “inbred” and asserting that America deserved 9/11, Piker has recently been invited to speak at several high-profile events, including at The New Yorker‘s annual festival and at the Yale Political Union. 

During his speech Saturday evening at the conference, Piker distanced himself from the mainstream Democratic Party, condemning “Democrats who compromise, who conciliate and who betray us,” to loud applause. “No more to the Democrats who collaborate and cooperate with the fascists, who will fund ICE, who will fund Israel … we don’t need those Democrats anymore,” Piker said.

The College Democrats’ convention is hosting several speakers who hold extreme anti-Israel views, including Democratic Socialists of America activist and Arizona congressional candidate Deja Foxx, commentator Kat Abughazaleh, gun-control activist and former DNC vice chair David Hogg and Democratic Socialists of America-endorsed congressional nominee Melat Kiros.

Georgia state Rep. Ruwa Romman, a Palestinian-American legislator with a long record of anti-Israel activism, will also be speaking.

The lineup also includes elected officials who have been critical of Israel’s policies, such as Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO).

The College Democrats of America is the official collegiate arm and student outreach branch of the Democratic National Committee. Neither group responded to a request for comment from JI about their decision to invite Piker. 

California state Sen. Scott Wiener announced on Thursday that he is stepping down from his role as one of the co-chairs of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, capping off nearly two weeks of controversy and frustration among Jewish leaders in the state after the San Francisco Democrat declared Israel’s actions in Gaza to be a genocide. 

Wiener said in a statement, which was obtained by Jewish Insider, that the decision was prompted in part by the fallout of his genocide comments.

“My campaign is accelerating, and my recent statements on Israel and Gaza have led to significant controversy in the Jewish community. The time to transition has arrived,” Wiener said. He will remain in the role until Feb. 15.

Wiener, who is running for Congress in a competitive Democratic primary to fill the seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), has long declared himself a progressive Zionist while also criticizing the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s actions in Gaza. 

But after a candidate forum this month where his two competitors were quick to say Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, Wiener faced pressure from his left to use the word himself, and released a video a few days later changing his stance. 

“I’ve stopped short of calling it genocide, but I can’t anymore,” Wiener said. A coalition of local and statewide Jewish advocacy groups responded with a statement saying his position “is both incorrect and lacks moral clarity.” 

Wiener said Thursday that the American Jewish community “is navigating an extremely difficult moment in time,” and called for more dialogue.

“As we move through this moment, it is even more important for Jews here and globally to foster open dialogue and acceptance of disagreement, even on the hardest of issues,” Wiener said. “Since I stated my view that the Netanyahu government committed a genocide in Gaza, I have had many in-depth conversations with members of the Jewish community with a range of perspectives. While many in the community strongly disagree with my view, I am grateful for their willingness to engage with me and hear my perspective, showing once again the deep respect for difference in our community.”

In an interview with Politico this week, Wiener said he had avoided using the word “genocide” until now because of the harm and hurt it would cause the Jewish community. 

“Until now, I have not used the word genocide really for two reasons: First of all, it is an extremely sensitive issue in the Jewish community,” Wiener said. “And [second] particularly because the word genocide has been weaponized against Israel and against Jews for a long time. There are people who think Israel’s mere existence is genocide.” 

He said he’s heard from Jewish voters and leaders in the days since who are unhappy with his statement, but asked them to remember his record.

“If you’re mad at me, if you feel betrayed, I respect and honor that. But just also remember how many times I’ve gone to the mat for this community, and the bullets I’ve taken for this community,” Wiener said. 

A spokesperson for Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), a co-chair of the Senate antisemitism task force, told Jewish Insider on Wednesday that the Coast Guard had assured Lankford in recent weeks that the service would be correcting its policy to make clear that swastikas would be banned — before reverting this week to a policy that had prompted criticism from Lankford and other lawmakers.

Lankford and antisemitism task force co-chair Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) spoke to Coast Guard commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday last month after initial reports that the service would begin classifying swastikas and nooses as “potentially divisive” rather than explicitly banned hate symbols. The Coast Guard has now reverted back to describing the symbols as “potentially divisive,” The Washington Post revealed on Tuesday.

“This is not complicated,” the spokesperson said late Wednesday. “The senator was provided assurances that the policy was corrected and there is no reason why there should be conflicting policies in place. Hate symbols have no place in America or in the Coast Guard.”

Earlier in the day Wednesday, Lankford told JI he was working to connect with the Coast Guard to clarify the situation. He said he’d had several conversations with Lunday, as recently as last week, and was “surprised that this is still an issue” because Lunday had been “exceptionally clear with where the Coast Guard policy actually is, that swastikas [are] absolutely prohibited, a noose would be prohibited. He’s been very, very, very clear on it.”

He said that Lunday had been very responsive to his questions and was clear that “we would never, ever allow anything like that to be able to exist, because that’s divisive and we consider it absolute hate.”

Few other Republicans have spoken out publicly about the latest policy change. One exception has been Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), a co-chair of the House antisemitism task force, who said that Lunday will need to answer for the change.

“Now that we know this is policy, it shows complete tone-deafness on the Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security,” Bacon said. “In light of the horrific events at Bondi Beach and as a chair of the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, I will continue to stand against antisemitism in all forms. Admiral Lunday will have to clarify his Nov. 20 memo condemning this policy in light of the now-enacted policy from the Commandant at his upcoming confirmation hearing.”

Lunday, currently serving in an acting capacity, had a confirmation hearing in the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation committee in November and was reported favorably out of that committee, but at least two Senate Democrats have placed holds on Lunday’s confirmation, which was expected for a vote this week, according to The Washington Post.

One of the co-founders of the Track AIPAC account and website that has gone viral in online anti-Israel circles is a former campaign staffer for a series of far-left lawmakers, she revealed in an interview on Wednesday. The group’s founders had previously remained anonymous.

Cory Archibald, who founded the Citizens Against AIPAC Corruption PAC before merging with Track AIPAC, described herself in an interview with the “Breaking Points” podcast as a former campaign staffer for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and former Reps. Cori Bush (D-MO) and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), all members of the anti-Israel Squad.

Casey Kennedy, Archibald’s other co-founder, said in the interview that numerous members of Congress have reached out to the group to start a dialogue.

The Track AIPAC founders also said that they plan to expand their efforts to tracking individual pro-Israel donors’ political spending generally.

Asked about accusations that it is antisemitic to demand, as Track AIPAC does, that AIPAC register as a foreign lobbying organization — given that AIPAC’s members and leadership are American citizens and do not take direction from the Israeli government — the two did not directly address the issue.

“I would say it is not antisemitic to stand against an ongoing genocide that’s being perpetrated with American backing,” Kennedy responded.

The Track AIPAC account has also faced criticism for a range of extremist posts and comments, such as one recent post criticizing Israeli-American citizen and IDF soldier Itay Chen, who was killed by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and whose body was taken hostage for more than two years.

“Itay Chen was an American-Israeli citizen who chose to join the Israeli military to partake in ethnic cleansing and genocide abroad,” the account posted on X, in response to a post from Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) honoring the release of Chen’s remains last week.

The co-founders said in the interview that the criteria for receiving an endorsement from their group, which has thus far endorsed around three dozen Senate and House candidates, include commitments to rejecting support from AIPAC, Democratic Majority for Israel, the Republican Jewish Coalition and various other pro-Israel groups; supporting the recognition of Palestinian statehood; “enforcing the Leahy laws to make sure that we’re not sending weapons to be used in war crimes” and overturning the Citizens United decision.

The PAC raised $139,000 between January and the end of June.