@Lash,
If they weren't demands, they certainly weren't about other options for the Palestinians other than renouncing their Right of Return for a two state solution. Where, exactly, did he leave the "method of mutual freedom" open?
jewishcurrents.org
How to Fight Antisemitism
November 11, 2019 Bernie Sanders
ON OCTOBER 27TH, we marked one year since the worst
antisemitic attack in our country’s history, when a white nationalist
walked into the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and murdered
11 people and injured six others. The murderer acted on a twisted
belief that Jews were part of a nefarious plot to undermine white
America—a plot to assist in the “invasion” of the United States by a
caravan of migrants from Latin America. This vicious lie about an
“invasion” had been repeated endlessly in right-wing media, on Fox
News, across the internet, and, most disgracefully, by the president
of the United States.
Yes, President Donald Trump’s own words helped inspire the worst
act of antisemitic violence in American history.
The threat of antisemitism is not some abstract idea to me. It is very
personal. It destroyed a large part of my family. I am not someone
who spends a lot of time talking about my personal background
because I believe political leaders should focus their attention on a
vision and agenda for others, rather than themselves. But I also
appreciate that it’s important to talk about how our backgrounds
have informed our ideas, our principles, and our values.
I am a proud Jewish American. My father emigrated from Poland to
the United States in 1921 at the age of 17 to escape the poverty
and widespread antisemitism of his home country. Those in his
family who remained in Poland after Hitler came to power were
murdered by the Nazis. I know very well where white supremacist
politics leads, and what can happen when people do not speak up
against it.
Antisemitism is rising in this country. According to the FBI, hate
crimes against Jews rose by more than a third in 2017 and
accounted for 58% of all religion-based hate crimes in America. A
total of 938 hate crimes were committed against Jews in 2017, up
from 684 in 2016. The New York Police Department reported in
September that antisemitic hate crimes in New York City have risen
by more than 63% in 2019 and make up more than half of all
reported hate crimes. Just last week, on November 4th, we learned
that federal authorities had arrested a man in Colorado they believe
was involved in a plot to bomb one of the state’s oldest
synagogues.
This wave of violence is the result of a dangerous political ideology
that targets Jews and anyone who does not fit a narrow vision of a
whites-only America. We have to be clear that while antisemitism is
a threat to Jews everywhere, it is also a threat to democratic
governance itself. The antisemites who marched in Charlottesville
don’t just hate Jews. They hate the idea of multiracial democracy.
They hate the idea of political equality. They hate immigrants,
people of color, LGBTQ people, women, and anyone else who
stands in the way of a whites-only America. They accuse Jews of
coordinating a massive attack on white people worldwide, using
people of color and other marginalized groups to do their dirty
work.
This is the conspiracy theory that drove the Pittsburgh murderer—
that Jews are conspiring to bring immigrants into the country to
“replace” Americans. And it is important to understand that that is
what antisemitism is: a conspiracy theory that a secretly powerful
minority exercises control over society. Like other forms of bigotry
—racism, sexism, homophobia—antisemitism is used by the right
to divide people from one another and prevent us from fighting
together for a shared future of equality, peace, prosperity, and
environmental justice. So I want to say as clearly as I possibly can:
We will confront this hatred, do exactly the opposite of what Trump
is doing and embrace our differences to bring people together.
Opposing antisemitism is a core value of progressivism. So it’s very
troubling to me that we are also seeing accusations of antisemitism
used as a cynical political weapon against progressives. One of the
most dangerous things Trump has done is to divide Americans by
using false allegations of antisemitism, mostly regarding the US–
Israel relationship. We should be very clear that it is not antisemitic
to criticize the policies of the Israeli government.
I have a connection to Israel going back many years. In 1963, I
lived on a kibbutz near Haifa. It was there that I saw and
experienced for myself many of the progressive values upon which
Israel was founded. I think it is very important for everyone, but
particularly for progressives, to acknowledge the enormous
achievement of establishing a democratic homeland for the Jewish
people after centuries of displacement and persecution.
We must also be honest about this: The founding of Israel is
understood by another people in the land of Palestine as the cause
of their painful displacement. And just as Palestinians should
recognize the just claims of Israeli Jews, supporters of Israel must
understand why Palestinians view Israel’s creation as they do.
Acknowledging these realities does not “delegitimize” Israel any
more than acknowledging the sober facts of America’s own
founding delegitimizes the United States. It is a necessary step of
truth and reconciliation in order to address the inequalities that
continue to exist in our respective societies.
It is true that some criticism of Israel can cross the line into
antisemitism, especially when it denies the right of selfdetermination
to Jews, or when it plays into conspiracy theories
about outsized Jewish power. I will always call out antisemitism
when I see it. My ancestors would expect no less of me. As
president, I will strengthen both domestic and international efforts to
combat this hatred. I will direct the Justice Department to prioritize
the fight against white nationalist violence. I will not wait two years
to appoint a Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism,
as Trump did; I will appoint one immediately. I will also rejoin the
United Nations Human Rights Council, which Trump withdrew from.
The United States should not be sitting on the sidelines on these
important issues at the UN; we should be at the table helping to
shape an international human rights agenda that combats all forms
of bigotry and discrimination.
When I look at the Middle East, I see Israel as having the capacity
to contribute to peace and prosperity for the entire region, yet
unable to achieve this in part because of its unresolved conflict with
the Palestinians. And I see a Palestinian people yearning to make
their contribution—and with so much to offer—yet crushed
underneath a military occupation now over a half-century old,
creating a daily reality of pain, humiliation, and resentment.
Ending that occupation and enabling the Palestinians to have self-
determination in an independent, democratic, economically viable
state of their own is in the best interests of the United States, Israel,
the Palestinians, and the region. My pride and admiration for Israel
lives alongside my support for Palestinian freedom and
independence. I reject the notion that there is any contradiction
there. The forces fomenting antisemitism are the forces arrayed
against oppressed people around the world, including Palestinians;
the struggle against antisemitism is also the struggle for Palestinian
freedom. I stand in solidarity with my friends in Israel, in Palestine,
and around the world who are trying to resolve conflict, diminish
hatred, and promote dialogue, cooperation, and understanding.
We need this solidarity desperately now. All over the world—in
Russia, in India, in Brazil, in Hungary, in Israel, and elsewhere—we
see the rise of a divisive and destructive form of politics. We see
intolerant, authoritarian political leaders attacking the very
foundations of democratic societies. These leaders exploit people’s
fears by amplifying resentments, stoking intolerance and inciting
hatred against ethnic and religious minorities, fanning hostility
toward democratic norms and a free press, and promoting constant
paranoia about foreign plots. We see this very clearly in our own
country. It is coming from the highest level of our government. It is
coming from Donald Trump’s tweets, and from his own mouth.
As a people who have experienced oppression and persecution for
hundreds of years, we understand the danger. But we also have a
tradition that points the way forward. I am a proud member of the
tradition of Jewish social justice. And I am so inspired when I see
so many Jewish people picking up this banner, especially the
younger generation of Jews, who are helping to lead a revival of
progressive values in our country. They see the fight against
antisemitism and for Jewish liberation as connected to the fight for
the liberation of oppressed people around the world. They are part
of a broad coalition of activists from many different backgrounds
who believe very deeply, as I always have, that we are all in this
together.
Bernie Sanders is a United States senator from Vermont and a
candidate in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.
