BY Abraham Cooper Harold Brackman, THE HILL
African American and Jewish members of Congress, led by Reps. John Lewis (D-Ga.), Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.), Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), Will Hurd (R-Texas) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), announced the formation of a Congressional Caucus on Black-Jewish Relations.
American Jews — reeling from two deadly attacks on synagogues, violent attacks on Jews on the streets of New York City, and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan’s vocal attacks on Jews and Judaism — should welcome this initiative as a ray of hope against the backdrop of gathering storm clouds.
So, too, should African Americans who have made substantial social and economic gains since Martin Luther King Jr. led the crusade for civil rights a half-century ago. Today, African Americans and Jews still top the FBI’s annual list of groups targeted for hate crimes, and their houses of worship have been targeted by violent racists. Both have much to gain from reinvigorating the historic alliance of African Americans and American Jews.
While we all agree that a new interfaith, inter-racial caucus should champion efforts to protect every house of worship and to support programs that help all those in need to fulfill the American Dream, there is no clear consensus about how, and even whether, to respond to the phenomenon of anti-Jewish and extreme anti-Israel rhetoric emanating from some members of Congress.
Consider freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who drew attention by accusing Jews of attempting to hypnotize the world by using money’s corrupting power, and tweeted in reply to a journalist’s remark about American politicians supporting Israel: “It’s all about the Benjamins baby.”
Now, Omar has announced that she plans to join the African American-Jewish caucus. Yet, virtually in the same breath, she launched a rhetorical barrage designed to sink this ship before it even left port by smearing Zeldin as a racist. Zeldin has called out Omar for anti-Semitism, but has failed to motivate his fellow House members to denounce her by name.
Omar and her supporters claim to oppose anti-Semitism but refuse to acknowledge their anti-Zionist views are a form of anti-Semitism, as defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, a definition adopted by dozens of countries. Omar’s cure for Jew-hatred is akin to announcing a war on cancer but first insisting on removing a new deadly manifestation — anti-Zionism — from the symptoms of the disease.
There can be no broad-based coalition against anti-Semitism that decouples attacks on Israel from the other forms of Jew hatred.
To stop anti-Semitic tropes and virulent libels from poisoning the roots of the new effort for a vibrant African American-Jewish coalition for civil rights, the movement must adopt as a foundational cornerstone the “Three Ds” of Natan Sharansky, Israel’s iconic crusader for the freedom of Soviet Jews. Sharansky took his stand against the Three Ds to signal when legitimate criticism of Israel crosses the line into anti-Semitism:
- Double Standard — singling out Israel for criticism while ignoring egregious behavior of human rights abusers such as Iran, China, Cuba and Venezuela;
- Delegitimization — denying Israel’s legitimacy as an equal member of the family of nations and fundamental right to exist; and
- Demonization — distorting Israel’s actions by insidious, false comparisons with the Nazis or South Africa’s apartheid regime. And now, in 2019, we can add the latest big lie: the ludicrous allegation that Israel is a nation of white supremacists. That would be quite a trick, considering that “white (Ashkenazic) Jews” actually are in the minorityin the Jewish State.
Ultimately, the success of the African American-Jewish caucus will depend on people rejecting demagoguery. Instead, we must embrace the enduring truths of others’ pain and hope, and commit anew to our common struggle towards a better future for all.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper is the associate dean and director of global social action for the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
Harold Brackman is a historian and longtime consultant for the Simon Wiesenthal Center and its Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles.
@ Hugo Schmidt-Fischer:
I first thought “Moses and Keturah” which didn’t sound right, so looked it up…..had got mixed up. So I put in Abraham…. and forgot about Moses/Tzipporah.
It was only really a “throw-away comment anyway. Thank you for the correction.
Edgar G. Said:
What about Moses and Zipporah?
@ Bear Klein:
I think you knew damned well what I meant, and decided to ignore it. You also conveniently neglect to re-print the follow -up post where i mentioned the 2 young murdered Jews. Besides, in the first, which I expected you to understand and clarify by ” I assume you meant King” there was a clear chronological order from Abraham to Lincoln to Martin Luther (King)…………..
You like to keep “worrying at a bone” …don’t you…?
@ Edgar G.:
Edgar G. Said:
This was what you wrote that I responded to. I provided you info you requested. Why you take offense I do not understand, I will leave it as your issue as politely explaining is not helping.
@ REMONTBawJB REMONTBawJB: Send to Spam
@ Bear Klein:
Too bad, Bear…I can’t help it that you’re an American…As the old song went..”We all can’t be Irish”…(not that I care…..just having a little joke).
In future I’ll spell everything out very carefully…one letter at a time. I never heard him called MLK, but have heard him called “Dr.”…Made no difference to me, as I have my own doctor…and besides, he didn’t know anything about…for example, treating what Julian Rose called “toenail poisoning” (—she ate a sick fish)….or even “spinal maginnis” ..!!
By the way…did you think that Martin Luther, the Jew-Hating priest, was connected to the 2 young Jews who were murdered after one of King’s marches….just interested to know if you saw any connection…??
@ Edgar G.:Simply did not understand you. Martin Luther King was known by Americans as Dr. King or his whole name or MLK but not Martin Luther. I had not a clue the first time I read it.
@ Bear Klein:
I should have guessed…but I was hoping you’d just respond saying…”I assume you meant Martin Luther King”…but you, didn’t…… I even showed a timeline from Ancient to modern times….AND mentioned the 2 young Jews who were kidnapped and murdered sometime during a march etc.whose bodies were found buried, some years
later………….But ….no. Bear is Bear….
I won’t use any more Yiddishisms.
Incidentally, and I posted it here a long time ago…..I have books by freed slaves with Jewish owners who sent them to work for others, to earn money, and buy their freedom,so as to show the neighbours it was legit.
@ Ted Belman: Thanks, Ted
@ Edgar G.:No wonder I do not understand you. You spoke about
Martin Luther KING was the US civil rights person. You often write things I do not understand. Martin Luther King makes sense but Martin Luther was not understandable. I did NOT have the foggiest clue what you were writing about.
Also when you mix yiddish words with English or Gaelic (joke) I do not necessarily understand. Some Yiddish (a little) I get usually when it is like the Hebrew words.
@ Adam Dalgliesh:
I have done everything I am suppose to do to block him so I just asked my techie to do it.
@ REMONTBawJB REMONTBawJB: Ted, why isn’t this in the Spam folder? This guy keeps spamming Israpundit.
@ REMONTBawJB REMOBawJB:
Hello….I’m looking for some Hawaii auto insurance…….. I haven’t driven lately…since 1998 about…..but I heard from a guy that things are easy to fix over there…It was a guy named O’Meara..or maybe O’Barma, …something like that.. He said you’d know who he was…
So……Wadda ya think….??
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@ Bear Klein:
BEAR- PULEEEZE,,,,,, I said it just recently…you just don’t seem to read my posts with understanding of the content. Your comment above is totally extraneous.
I wrote it down clearly….”THE MARTIN LUTHER CAMPAIGN”…That covers the period you are krechtzing about…………..
You know that after the Bourbon Restoration, Tallyrand said….”They learnt nothing….and forgot nothing”… Well, I learn much… and forget little.
And wonder of wonders….I even recall the young Jews who became missing…and whose bodies were found some years after……
Still..I am always appreciative of being corrected. as you pointed out, I am old…(but my mind is still young)
@ Edgar G.:In the 1960s Civil Rights Movement in the USA many Jews helped the Blacks in their quest for civil rights. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/jews-in-the-civil-rights-movement/
I didn’t know there was a historic alliance between Jews and Blacks. Except maybe…between Abraham and his (possibly) black wife Ketura, the brief period before. during and a while after the American Civil War, and the VERY brief time during the Martin Luther campaign.
Surely this could not be called historic…… I’d appreciate more information than I have.
This is a fraud. What is Lee Zeldin involved with these democrats? What’s wrong with him? There’s not alliance to be had with anti-Semites or those who are apologists for them.