Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer gave a marvelous speech at AIPAC this evening. The speech was magnificent, and Schumer deserves full and great credit for delivering it with obvious passion and conviction. Among other things, he talked about the need to educate young people on the history of Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
EXCERPT:
Over the past five years we've watched the specter of anti-Semitism rise again in Europe. Where it seems to live in the soil as their original sin neo-Nazi gangs march in the streets of European capitals. Members of parliament from London to Budapest run and win on platforms that actively promote hostility towards Jews and other religious minorities. European Jews are now thinking twice before they wear a yarmulke in public or hang a mezuzah in their doorframe, echoes of our people's dark history in Europe are growing louder and louder.
What is happening in Europe is an outrage and it ought to be condemned by leaders of the world from every faith and nationality but anti-Semitism has always simmered just a bit beneath the surface in Europe. It's far more shocking to see this scourge rear its ugly head here in our dear country, America, re-emerging with the strengths that we haven't seen in decades. All of us have read the news reports; far too many among us have seen this scourge firsthand in our own communities. Synagogues are graffitied with swastika and slurs it seems almost on a daily basis.
Jewish cemeteries vandalized, sacred ground desecrated, white supremacists and extremists on the far right on our college campuses holding rallies and distributing leaflets in an effort to recruit young people to join the ranks of organized bigotry. Even the community centers where we send our children for preschool and swim meets and summer camps have been targeted by a wave of bomb threats that, regardless of the suspect's religion or nationality, have struck fear in the hearts of a community already on edge. The darkest and most hateful fringes of our society from the far left to the far right are newly emboldened. We cannot stand for this.
To the parents who are worried for your children's safety, to the young people who have never seen anything like this in your lifetime, to the older generations who are ever weary about history repeating itself, please know this: The perpetrators of these heinous acts will be brought to justice and we will show these cowards who traffic in hatred and bigotry that America, in America good triumphs over evil, fear mongering and tolerance and intimidation will not be condoned.
I am committed to doing everything in my power to combat these threats wherever they may rise and in whatever form they take. Recently, at my urging, the Federal Communications Commission announced that Jewish community centers and other at-risk organizations have been granted special emergency waivers that make it easier for law enforcement to access caller ID information to help identify, track down and prosecute these criminals. Congress must also remain committed to providing funding for vulnerable institutions through the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. Last year this program allocated $20 million for emergency preparedness, to non-profit and religious organizations. These dollars save lives, so I will work to ensure this crucial funding is increased.
Now, while we continue to address these threats we must not lose sight of the many forms that anti-Semitism can take. The violent attacks I just mentioned are so despicable, so motivated by hate that the anti-Semitic aspect cannot be ignored, but anti-Semitism can sometimes be cloaked, hidden by certain movements, that professional bias, but suspiciously hold Israel to a different standard than any other nation. There is no greater example than the pernicious effort to harm Israel through boycotts, divestment and sanctions, the BDS movements.
Three years ago I stood before you and called out the BDS movement for what it really is: a deeply bias campaign to delegitimize the Jewish state. Its supporters, whether they know it or not, are practicing a modern form of anti-Semitism, no less. What is anti-Semitism? It's the double standard. Everyone could farm but the Jew could not. Everyone could live in Moscow, but the Jew could not. Everyone could get a college degree but the Jew could not. Every nation can live in peace but the Jewish nation cannot. They seek to impose boycotts solely on Israel and not on any other nation. The BDS movement condemns Israel but willfully turns a blind eye to nations who actually violate human rights, even and especially in the Middle East.
I ask these so-called social justice crusaders, where are your boycotts against Iran, a country that sponsors terrorism around the globe, executes dissenters and hangs them from construction cranes in city squares? Where are your boycotts against the scores of Arab nations where journalists are routinely jailed, homosexuality is punished by prison and physical abuse? Where are your boycotts there?
The State of Israel is all too frequently measured by a different standard than the rest of the world. Make no mistake, these boycott efforts have one goal and only one goal: to delegitimize the State of Israel. And I pledge to you, that I will continue to fight these boycott efforts tooth and nail, not only because they are unjust and immoral, they are counter-productive in achieving a truly lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
In my home-state of New York, the state legislature passed a law saying if your business or university boycotts Israel the State of New York will boycott you. I applaud the governor and state legislature for passing those laws and I'm calling on every other state to do exactly the same thing and fight BDS for the pernicious movement that it is. There's one other place where this cloaked anti-Semitism lurks and that is in the halls of the United Nations.
Transcript: http://www.policyconference.org/article/transcripts/2017/schumer.asp
EXCERPT:
Over the past five years we've watched the specter of anti-Semitism rise again in Europe. Where it seems to live in the soil as their original sin neo-Nazi gangs march in the streets of European capitals. Members of parliament from London to Budapest run and win on platforms that actively promote hostility towards Jews and other religious minorities. European Jews are now thinking twice before they wear a yarmulke in public or hang a mezuzah in their doorframe, echoes of our people's dark history in Europe are growing louder and louder.
What is happening in Europe is an outrage and it ought to be condemned by leaders of the world from every faith and nationality but anti-Semitism has always simmered just a bit beneath the surface in Europe. It's far more shocking to see this scourge rear its ugly head here in our dear country, America, re-emerging with the strengths that we haven't seen in decades. All of us have read the news reports; far too many among us have seen this scourge firsthand in our own communities. Synagogues are graffitied with swastika and slurs it seems almost on a daily basis.
Jewish cemeteries vandalized, sacred ground desecrated, white supremacists and extremists on the far right on our college campuses holding rallies and distributing leaflets in an effort to recruit young people to join the ranks of organized bigotry. Even the community centers where we send our children for preschool and swim meets and summer camps have been targeted by a wave of bomb threats that, regardless of the suspect's religion or nationality, have struck fear in the hearts of a community already on edge. The darkest and most hateful fringes of our society from the far left to the far right are newly emboldened. We cannot stand for this.
To the parents who are worried for your children's safety, to the young people who have never seen anything like this in your lifetime, to the older generations who are ever weary about history repeating itself, please know this: The perpetrators of these heinous acts will be brought to justice and we will show these cowards who traffic in hatred and bigotry that America, in America good triumphs over evil, fear mongering and tolerance and intimidation will not be condoned.
I am committed to doing everything in my power to combat these threats wherever they may rise and in whatever form they take. Recently, at my urging, the Federal Communications Commission announced that Jewish community centers and other at-risk organizations have been granted special emergency waivers that make it easier for law enforcement to access caller ID information to help identify, track down and prosecute these criminals. Congress must also remain committed to providing funding for vulnerable institutions through the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. Last year this program allocated $20 million for emergency preparedness, to non-profit and religious organizations. These dollars save lives, so I will work to ensure this crucial funding is increased.
Now, while we continue to address these threats we must not lose sight of the many forms that anti-Semitism can take. The violent attacks I just mentioned are so despicable, so motivated by hate that the anti-Semitic aspect cannot be ignored, but anti-Semitism can sometimes be cloaked, hidden by certain movements, that professional bias, but suspiciously hold Israel to a different standard than any other nation. There is no greater example than the pernicious effort to harm Israel through boycotts, divestment and sanctions, the BDS movements.
Three years ago I stood before you and called out the BDS movement for what it really is: a deeply bias campaign to delegitimize the Jewish state. Its supporters, whether they know it or not, are practicing a modern form of anti-Semitism, no less. What is anti-Semitism? It's the double standard. Everyone could farm but the Jew could not. Everyone could live in Moscow, but the Jew could not. Everyone could get a college degree but the Jew could not. Every nation can live in peace but the Jewish nation cannot. They seek to impose boycotts solely on Israel and not on any other nation. The BDS movement condemns Israel but willfully turns a blind eye to nations who actually violate human rights, even and especially in the Middle East.
I ask these so-called social justice crusaders, where are your boycotts against Iran, a country that sponsors terrorism around the globe, executes dissenters and hangs them from construction cranes in city squares? Where are your boycotts against the scores of Arab nations where journalists are routinely jailed, homosexuality is punished by prison and physical abuse? Where are your boycotts there?
The State of Israel is all too frequently measured by a different standard than the rest of the world. Make no mistake, these boycott efforts have one goal and only one goal: to delegitimize the State of Israel. And I pledge to you, that I will continue to fight these boycott efforts tooth and nail, not only because they are unjust and immoral, they are counter-productive in achieving a truly lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
In my home-state of New York, the state legislature passed a law saying if your business or university boycotts Israel the State of New York will boycott you. I applaud the governor and state legislature for passing those laws and I'm calling on every other state to do exactly the same thing and fight BDS for the pernicious movement that it is. There's one other place where this cloaked anti-Semitism lurks and that is in the halls of the United Nations.
Transcript: http://www.policyconference.org/article/transcripts/2017/schumer.asp
