- Banned
- #1
shades of the 1930's
As the first results of the U.S. presidential election were released on November 8, the Union of French Jewish Students, which goes by the acronym UEJF, posted a worried note on its website.
“Donald Trump, through his racist, anti-Semitic, sexist, conspiracy-theorist, xenophobic, misogynist, anti-abortion, pro-death penalty and torture positions, is a threat to human rights, peace, the economy, and global security,” the Jewish students’ statement reads.
Populism is also “threatening French democracy,” UEJF’s president, Sacha Ghozlan, was quoted as warning. “Being vigilant is not sufficient anymore.” French Jews, he said, must confront “the distrust and anger of voters in order to save what is left of our democracy.
The French students are not alone in their concern. For many European Jews, Trump’s victory is a signal that Europe’s struggle with ethno-nationalist populism is spreading to America, the land most of them viewed as the world’s redoubt against this tide.
“The rest of the world looks toward America for guidance and expects that a mature democracy such as the U.S. safeguards against the election of people like Trump,” said Jonathan Ornstein, executive director of the Jewish Community Center in Krakow, Poland.
Observers have noted some similarities between Trump’s anti-establishment rhetoric and the efforts of some European parties to discredit their countries’ elites. “Political correctness became a dirty expression in Hungary, and in America in certain circles it also became a dirty expression,” said Rabbi Ferenc Raj, a Holocaust survivor who is the founding rabbi of Congregation Bet Orim, in Budapest, and also serves as rabbi emeritus of Congregation Beth El, in Berkeley, California. “People almost everywhere are disappointed,” he added, noting that leaders like Trump “emphasize the differences that divide us.”
Europe’s Jews Look at Trump, and See Their Own Surging Extremists
As the first results of the U.S. presidential election were released on November 8, the Union of French Jewish Students, which goes by the acronym UEJF, posted a worried note on its website.
“Donald Trump, through his racist, anti-Semitic, sexist, conspiracy-theorist, xenophobic, misogynist, anti-abortion, pro-death penalty and torture positions, is a threat to human rights, peace, the economy, and global security,” the Jewish students’ statement reads.
Populism is also “threatening French democracy,” UEJF’s president, Sacha Ghozlan, was quoted as warning. “Being vigilant is not sufficient anymore.” French Jews, he said, must confront “the distrust and anger of voters in order to save what is left of our democracy.
The French students are not alone in their concern. For many European Jews, Trump’s victory is a signal that Europe’s struggle with ethno-nationalist populism is spreading to America, the land most of them viewed as the world’s redoubt against this tide.
“The rest of the world looks toward America for guidance and expects that a mature democracy such as the U.S. safeguards against the election of people like Trump,” said Jonathan Ornstein, executive director of the Jewish Community Center in Krakow, Poland.
Observers have noted some similarities between Trump’s anti-establishment rhetoric and the efforts of some European parties to discredit their countries’ elites. “Political correctness became a dirty expression in Hungary, and in America in certain circles it also became a dirty expression,” said Rabbi Ferenc Raj, a Holocaust survivor who is the founding rabbi of Congregation Bet Orim, in Budapest, and also serves as rabbi emeritus of Congregation Beth El, in Berkeley, California. “People almost everywhere are disappointed,” he added, noting that leaders like Trump “emphasize the differences that divide us.”
Europe’s Jews Look at Trump, and See Their Own Surging Extremists
