Call out anti-Semitism

I am happy to hear people speak out against anti-Semitism but doing so in the pages of NJJN is no act of courage, particularly when it is used as a political lance pointed at one side to advance a candidate’s interest rather than as an honest criticism of where the danger comes from today.

In over 1,100 words Tom Malinowski finds a mere 20 in his op-ed to acknowledge that anti-Semitism comes from the Left as a “denial of Israel’s right to exist and the conflation of Zionism with racism” (“Morality and decency trump demagoguery,” Aug. 2). As a member of that Left, perhaps he could have spoken more dramatically about how widespread and insidious this is. Perhaps he could have spoken about opportunities he has taken to confront the issue within this community and among his supporters. I couldn’t help but notice that his concerns about anti-Semitism and Israel do not rate even a mention on his campaign website.

Malinowski was not hesitant to name domestic and foreign names on the Right, but failed to call out the UK’s Jeremy Corbyn and a Labour Party unable to adopt an international anti-Semitism definition or a French government committed to masking and denying the increasingly deadly acts within its own borders.

Finally, Malinowski declares that he “would do everything in [his] power to take [his] party back” if it were taken over by white supremacists and the like. I challenge him to act so boldly now and recognize that the Democratic Party is in danger of being taken over by the anti-Semitism that he acknowledges from the Left. We saw the Democratic Party pushed to the edge on these issues at its 2016 National Convention and can only fear what 2020 will bring.

Summit

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