Betrayal by Democrats
In response to NJJN’s editorial “Democrats move to staunch attrition” (Feb. 5), it must be reported that on Feb. 5 the Combating BDS Act of 2019 passed in the Senate by a 77-23 vote.
The no votes included 22 Democratic senators and one Republican, Sen. Rand Paul; that amount is half of the membership of the Democratic caucus in the Senate.
The Democrats who voted no included five of the declared presidential candidates: Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Elizabeth Warren.
There is obviously no effective “staunching” going on, just more betrayal by our Democratic Party friends, which has been manifesting itself since the Obama administration left Israel unsupported at the UN Security Council in December 2016 and allowed the passage of a resolution declaring the Kotel to be occupied territory.
The dissenting Democrats used a freedom of speech First Amendment argument to justify their no votes, which also included voting no to U.S.-Israel defense cooperation measures that were part of the bill.
Boycotting Jews and companies that do business with Israel is not freedom of speech, it is anti-Semitism. There is no gray area here and certainly it is a matter for the Supreme Court to decide, not these senators.
Nothing could make the growing appeasement of the progressive far-left by the Democratic Party and their anti-Israel, anti-Semitic agenda more clear than this vote.
While we wish Ann Lewis success in her efforts (Lewis is co-chair of the newly formed Democratic Majority for Israel), it is apparent that the best way to staunch this trend is for Jews to protest to their Democratic representatives and vote Republican.
Stan Rosen
Marlboro
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