Democrats, Don’t Take Us For Granted

To: Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi
Senate Democratic Leader, Chuck Schumer
House Majority Leader, Steny Hoyer
Members of Democratic National Committee

Subject: Democrats, Don’t Take Us For Granted

Our parents and grandparents continued voting for Democrats even after Franklin Roosevelt’s refusal to rescue Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust. But we haven’t forgotten. We Jews are an ancient people with a strong tradition of remembering our history.

Our generation supported Obama and both Clintons but we’re also the generation that won’t be fooled again.

When Barack Obama became president, Mitch McConnell vowed, and too often succeeded, in leading Republicans to defeat/obstruct every initiative of Obama’s administration. Democrats decried, rightly, the Republican failure to work across the aisle for the good of our country.

Now, we see the current Democratic leadership following the same kneejerk mentality of rejecting measures that would benefit our country, not for lack of merit, but simply because they are sponsored by Republicans.

Republican Senators Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton and Republican Representative Mike Gallagher introduced bills for recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan heights. We don’t need to describe for you the strategic significance of the Golan, for America as well as Israel. Nevertheless, as of May 6, 2019, all cosponsors of both the Senate and the House bills are Republicans.

Why are only Republicans supporting these bills? Where are the Democrats? This is the worst kind of partisan politics-the Mitch McConnell/Donald Trump kind. Although the Democrats pronounce their support for this legislation when the media is watching, somehow they don’t follow through by signing on as cosponsors of the bills.

In recent weeks, Israeli citizens have been assaulted and terrorized by approximately seven hundred rockets launched from Gaza by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. In contrast to strong denunciations from Republicans, and a few Democrats with Jewish constituencies, the response from the nation’s Democratic leadership has been anemic, non-existent or worse.

As for the “worse” Democratic responses, who can beat Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, proving once again that Hitler was right when he claimed that a big lie repeated often enough would be accepted as truth. Surely you Democratic leaders know that when Palestinians fire rockets into Israel, it is not “Israel who unjustly oppress and target Palestinian children and families. #FreePalestine” as tweeted by Tlaib.

Surely you know that the “Palestinians” weren’t providing a “safe haven for Jews, post-the-holocaust…” as Tlaib claims. Surely you know of the Arab collaboration with Hitler and that in 1948 Israel was attacked by Arab armies. Were these murdering hoards, vowing to wipe Israel off the map, providing “safe haven?”

Yet, you, Congressman Hoyer pretend that Tlaib’s historical distortions are “taken out of context.” Why don’t you do what we are doing and confront her with the truth as we confront you? Instead you ask Republicans, who are rightfully calling a lie a lie, to apologize. This is schoolyard politics whereby you automatically disagree with opponents even when they are correct. Do you really want this lie to be repeated so new generations of children will grow up believing antisemitic distortions as “truth?”

We would ask the same of you, Speaker Pelosi. In addition to your defense of Tlaib, you persist in denying Ilhan Omar’s vile antisemitism. Omar has been spewing classic antisemitic tweets invoking ugly accusations regarding Jewish control of Congress, dual loyalties and greed. Yet you persist in saying she’s “not antisemitic,” as you did in an interview on CNN with Christianne Amanpour.

You know these women are antisemitic. You are being misguided by political expediency, as you were in choosing an imam, with a long and well documented history of antisemitism, to give the opening prayer before Congress. Surely you could have found a Muslim cleric without such a blemished record.

We can understand why the Democratic Party would court Muslims, an important minority with a right to representation like every other group. But we expect you to take a principled and absolutely unequivocal stand against antisemitism within the Party, just as you oppose every other form of bigotry. The issuance of insincere “apologies” from these two Congressional representatives and/or denial from you Party leaders that antisemitism is not really antisemitism doesn’t fool anyone.

Furthermore, we understand and agree with the need to defeat Donald Trump, that he has eroded our democratic system and moved it toward autocracy. However, we will not vote for a candidate who is not strongly and boldly pro-Israel, or support a Democratic Party that is willfully blind, tepid or waffling in its direct denunciation of antisemitism.

On the Democratic National Committee website, under “Groups,” you list the following:
• African Americans
• Asian Americans
• Rural Americans
• Native Americans
• LGBT Americans
• Latino Americans
• Women
• Union Members

Is there no place on your list for Jews? Have you already thrown us under the bus?

Menachem Begin said, “I am not a Jew with trembling knees. I am a proud Jew with 3700 years of civilized history.”

Wake up Democrats. Americans Jews are also proud Jews and we won’t be fooled again.

Sincerely,
Dr. Judith Davis
Dr. Mort Kissen
Huntington NY

References upon request