“I would like a commitment to use the office of the president to ensure Congress passes legislation not only condemning anti-Semitism but protecting houses of worship and other religious organizations from anti-Semitic acts and appropriating resources to strengthen the security protecting Jewish institutions and buildings.”
“We’ve all been at our rabbi’s house for some event. The thought of somebody coming in with a machete and just hacking away is truly terrifying. And I think that’s why that attack, as well as the Jersey City attack, felt different than the Pittsburgh Tree of Life shooting. In some sick way, an attack on a religious institution is almost more expected than an attack on somebody’s home or at a supermarket.”
“I would say the president has done a pretty good job of addressing anti-Semitism. I think he’s been a strong supporter of the State of Israel. I think, substantively, he’s been very friendly and very good to the Jews. On the other hand, when I look at the Democratic Party, I see a party that is not only unwilling to disavow anti-Semites but openly embraces them. You have Congresswomen who are talking about being hypnotized by the State of Israel and being unwilling to walk that back. You have a caucus that’s unwilling to take them to task for blatantly anti-Semitic comments.”
“Anti-Semitism is one area where the far-right and far-left kind of meet. Both sides are responsible in that sense. The far-left tends to be aggressors online but who knows where that could be originating from—it could be foreign influence. The far-right tends to be more likely to carry out violent, anti-Semitic attacks.”
“Some people say they love Jews, but they don’t like Israel. But if a person is anti-Israel in the sense of being against the Jewish state and they support BDS they are anti-Semitic 100 percent. BDS is absolutely like what the Nazis did in Germany in terms of discriminating against Jewish businesses.”
“I think President Trump’s record speaks for itself. It is obvious that he has supported Israel and Jewish causes for the past three years unequivocally; he doesn’t flinch. “
“I cannot stand ‘the squad.’ I cannot stand where they’re coming from. And then there’s Bernie Sanders who I don’t understand at all. He worked on a kibbutz and members of his family on his father’s side were killed by Hitler. I don’t know why he became a socialist. If he’s elected, it will destroy the country.”
“It’s the far-right that holds marches and says ‘Jews will not replace us.’ It’s the far-right who are unabashedly anti-Semitic and racist. No question about it. But I don’t let the left off the hook either. I marched in Washington the day after the inauguration. I had my pink hat and I was very proud. But when two of the organizers ended up defending Louis Farrakhan and refused to condemn the anti-Semitism, I stopped paying attention to them. I push delete every time they send me something. And ‘the squad’ needs an education. Ilhan Omar apologized after one anti-Semitic comment and then proceeded to make a couple more, and that is not okay with me. I would love to sit down with her or ‘the squad’ and talk about what they’re doing, and how they’re splintering the left.”
“The rise of hate attacks against Jews in our country is appalling. It’s not only the shootings and stabbings but the fact that in my synagogue we have to have a police officer during Shabbat services. We’re living in a time where we feel so unsafe to be Jewish in our community that we have to pay a law enforcement officer to stand outside of our shul. That for me is the most frustrating thing of all. You can’t even live a normal life when you feel that you’re constantly having to watch your back.”
“I do believe the BDS movement is inherently anti-Semitic. I don’t think it’s just about rights for Palestinians. I think it’s anti-Semitic in its roots and that’s where the folks who are driving it are coming from.”
“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.”
