A group of more than 1,500 Orthodox rabbis thanked the handful of Democrats who condemned the anti-Semitic comments made by members of their party, but expressed concern with the Squad’s prominence in the Democratic Party.
The Coalition for Jewish Values, which represents 1,500 traditional rabbis, said “hateful rhetoric against Jews has increased” since the Squad “first arrived in Congress in 2019.”
“What we see now is a Republican leadership anxious to condemn statements that lack sensitivity, while their Democratic counterparts are giving blatant hatred a pass. An ‘all-of-government effort’ will require Democrats to expunge the bigotry that has been permitted to fester within their ranks, and these four representatives should be commended for speaking out,” said Rabbi Dov Fischer, the group’s western regional vice president.
He thanked four Democrats, including Minnesota’s Rep. Dean Phillips, who criticized the “inflammatory rhetoric” from legislators on both sides of the aisles in a letter sent to President Joe Biden.
On the one hand, the letter criticized Democrats who called Israel an “apartheid state” that commits “acts of terrorism,” but also referenced Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s comparison of COVID-19 restrictions to “what happened in Nazi Germany.”
The Rabbis objected to this equation, since Greene has been marginalized by her party and removed from her committee assignments while the Squad remains popular and influential. They called Greene’s comments “insensitive,” but said they share “none of the obvious bigotry of the remarks against Jews and Israel” made by the Squad.
It is the “hateful bias” demonstrated by the Squad and pro-Palestinian demonstrators that “now motivates violent attacks against Jews in American cities,” the group said.
“We understand that the writers, all Democrats, had to castigate members on both sides for political reasons. Yet despite their doing so, these four Jewish representatives were unable to get any fellow Democrats, or even one from outside the Jewish community, to join them,” said Fischer. “That silence carries a frightful message. The Democratic party must do more, and do so immediately, to reverse the tide of anti-Semitic hatred now sweeping the country.”
Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, a member of the Squad, was the one who accused Israel of committing acts of terrorism and was applauded by the Muslim Brotherhood, a foreign terrorist organization.
Fellow Squad member Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan was praised by Biden as a “fighter” after she accused Israel of “apartheid.”
“When a person claims that the world’s only country with Jewish and Arab government officials, members of legislature and Supreme Court Justices is an ‘apartheid’ state,” said Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer, chairman of CJV’s Rabbinic Circle, “the hate and demonization are obvious.”
Anna Miller
Anna Miller is a marketing intern at Alpha News and is majoring in entrepreneurship.
