“President Trump didn’t invent this stuff, but he’s certainly been the cheerleader-in-chief. He has been a catalyst and encourager for the spread of hate and racism in a way that I’ve never seen before. All we have to do is watch Trump’s rallies. They’re very violent. They really remind one of the Nuremberg rallies under the Nazis. They are not so dissimilar.”
“In general, when politicians talk about anti-Semitism, they mix it up with this greater concept of overall hatred and bigotry. Anti-Semitism has always been a unique and pernicious disease. It is not the same thing as discriminating against Muslims or African Americans. It’s its own unique thing. And too often politicians conflate all of these unacceptable attitudes without singling out a hatred (toward Jews), which is and always has been a special pathology of the human condition.”
“Anti-Semitism on left is about policy, it’s not racial. The far-right thinks we are a different race. In Israel, they are not treating Palestinians equally. They are second-class citizens. I’ve been there many times and it’s like South Africa under Apartheid. People who feel the Israeli government is treating people like second-class citizens are not anti-Semitic. I don’t take it personally if they hate me. I don’t support Israel (politically) right now but I still buy Israeli products and would fly El Al.”
“Historically, I was far more concerned about white nationalism on the right. Trump’s part of it—he’s a reflection of it. He’s brought it out into the open. But I’ve been doing reading about the divestment movement on campuses and it just doesn’t make sense to me that Israel is the country that’s attacked for human rights when there’s mass genocide going on in other parts of the world. Yet somehow Israel is the one that’s targeted both in the United Nations and with divestment. I do see that coming from the left, which is the direction I lean so it concerns me.”
“We need a decent person, someone with integrity, who ends up in the presidency and then has the moral standing to be able to start addressing some of these issues. For me, anyone on the Democratic side would be able to accomplish that, whether they’re my favorite candidate or not. As we’re seeing in Washington every day right now, we just need different leadership at the top that tells the truth and really tries to bring some decency, caring and compassion back into our government and in our national discourse.”
“I think Democrats need to do a better job of not getting on the Republican bandwagon that characterizes Representatives Omar and Pressley as anti-Semites, which they are not. It’s dangerous when this rhetoric refers to them as anti-Semitic simply because they critique Israel.”
“I think the so-called squad is just spreading vile lies. They are working to undo the good things that Israel does and the good things that American Jews do. Representatives Rashida Talib and Ilhan Omar are plain out supportive of terrorists. They don’t hide it and they’re not ashamed of it. I also think Bernie Sanders is a shame as a Jew. I am ashamed to call him a member of the tribe. I think he is more concerned with people who want to kill his ancestors and future generations and just somehow refuses to see anything in reality.”
There’s so much for the candidates to cover, and every issue is important. I’m not so self-centered as to think that all they need to talk about is anti-Semitism. I think most candidates have addressed it with a quick answer or correspondence with organizations like the Anti-Defamation League or American Jewish Committee. Bernie Sanders has fallen short on addressing leftist anti-Semitism or really understanding why some Jews feel that there is anti-Semitism on the left.
“I’m very concerned; the number of incidents that we’ve seen across the country is alarming. Anti-Semitism is something that many people thought was in the past or was less of an issue today. It’s been a real wake-up call. We had a community meeting at the temple after one of the attacks in New Jersey. All of the Jewish facilities around town have invested in security measures—doors are locked, people filter through just one door. We are more often hiring armed off-duty Des Moines police officers on regular Shabbats. So, yeah, I would say I’m very, very alarmed.”
