100+ Rabbis Call On North Carolina's Democrat Party To Reject Its 'Hateful Anti-Zionism
The signatories said the Democrats' decision has "shocked us to our core."
A full page ad ran in the Charlotte Observer was signed by more than 100 rabbis from throughout the United States, calling on fellow Jews “not to support or collaborate with North Carolina's Democratic Party leadership until they renounce” the party’s executive committee’s resolution that favors an arms embargo on Israel.
Titled “Nationwide Rabbinic Protest Letter Against the NCDP’s Recent Vote for Arms Embargo,” it has signatories representing synagogues, universities, Jewish federations, and religious organizations in the US. It accuses party leaders of taking a “biased” and “morally unsound” position that singles out Israel while ignoring threats posed by its adversaries. It urged the party to reject “hateful anti-Zionism.”
It reminded the newspaper's readers that Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel once marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s to advance civil rights and racial harmony. It also noted, "Jewish federations, Jewish Community relations councils, charity organizations, civic organizers, families, and companies have always stepped forward and partnered with leaders from every walk of American life to fulfill our age-old commitment to making this world a better place."
The party is chaired by Anderson Clayton, and board members include Jonah Garson, Kimberly Hardy, Elijah King, Melvin Williams, and Denise Chaney.
The rabbis stated that the executive decision to take "biased measures against Israel and the Jewish people has shocked us all to our core. Your judgement to single Israel out in such an unprecedented, one[sided way rewards Israel's adversaries, is a de facto declaration that Israel is the only country that is not allowed to defend itself, and is simply a prejudice that we cannot live with. Saying that the decision threatens Israel, a "foreign ally", puts "strategic American alliances at risk across the globe. Together, we collectively all proclaim this fundamental Aemrican principle, "all have a right to bear arms when attacked, especially religious minorities.
They said that many rabbis of North Carolina were met with a "cold shoulder and a callous silence that are all too familiar to us from our dark, tragic history with antisemitism."
We are deeply troubled by the accounts of the treatment of local Jewish leaders and Jewish members of the North Carolina Democratic Party.
They calls on all Jews, and "any person who stands against hate to to support or collaborate with North Carolina's Democratic Party leadership" until it renounces the arms embargo against Israel. Likewise the rabbis asked for an apologize for the the party's refusal to "meaningfully engage with vulnerable minority populations, our fellow Jewish North Carolinians. "We also call on all Americans to call out this discriminatory behavior and to avoid working with the leadership of the [party] until they renounce this hateful anti-Zionism in their midst and until they stop decisively singling out the one Jewish State of Israel.”
Among the signatories are: Yosef Blau and Zvi Romm of Yeshiva University. There are representatives of Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox congregations.
Tensions continue to grow between the Democratic Party, nationally, and Jews and Christians who support Israel and deplore Muslim terrorism.
