politics to go

Keith Ellison and Democratic abandonment of its Jews

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Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison is a leading contender to become the new chairman of the Democratic Party. He’s garnered endorsements from party leaders such as Senator Charles Schumer of New York, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, as well as President Obama.

A supporter of Lewis Farrakhan with a track record of being both anti-Israel and anti-Semetic, should Ellison garner the spot it would be another signal of the Democratic Party moving to become the anti-Israel party, something urged in 2011 by the Center for American Progress.

As Caroline Glick of the Jerusalem Post recently wrote, “Ellison’s association with the Nation of Islam dated back at least since 1989 and stretched at least until 1998. During that period, he not only knew about the Nation of Islam’s Jew hatred, he engaged in it himself.”

During Ellison’s run for congress in 2006, the Washington Post reported that he had defended Farrakhan against accusations of anti-Semitism in 1989 and 1990 and also called for reparations for slavery (referring to affirmative action as a “sneaky” form of compensation.

During Ellison’s initial congressional campaign, Scott Johnson (of the well-respected Power Line website) exposed Ellison’s anti-Semitism and work with Louis Farrakhan in a piece for the Weekly Standard. Johnson described an incident that occurred in February 1997 when Ellison was a practicing attorney:

“Ellison appeared as a local spokesman for the Nation of Islam with the last name ‘Muhammad.’ He spoke at a public hearing in connection with a controversy involving Joanne Jackson of the Minnesota Initiative Against Racism (MIAR). Jackson was alleged to have said, ‘Jews are among the most racist white people I know.’ Jackson denied making the statement or insisted that it had been taken out of context. Ellison appeared before the MIAR on behalf of the Nation of Islam in defense of Jackson’s alleged statement.”

Johnson used excerpts of Ellison’s statement printed in the Minnesota Star-Tribune, and the full text of the statement published in the Minneapolis Spokesman-Recorder, to report that Ellison said, “We stand by the truth contained in the remarks attributed to [Ms. Jackson], and by her right to express her views without sanction.” He finished his comments with, “Also, it is absolutely true that merchants in black areas generally treat black customers badly.”

The last sentence alluded to another of Jackson’s alleged statements, providing a personal basis for characterizing Jews as “the most racist white people” she knew.

Since entering Congress, Ellison has used every opportunity to slam Israel.

For example, in 2010, he convinced 53 other Democratic congresspersons to sign the infamous “Gaza 54” letter to President Obama, which falsely accused Israel of wreaking “collective punishment” on Gaza residents and demanded that President Obama pressure Israel to lift the Gaza blockade.

In 2014, Ellison was one of only eight members of Congress to vote against a bi-partisan bill to provide $225 million for Israel’s “Iron dome” missile defense system (395 voted for it).

Ellison has been a featured keynote speaker at many BDS events, and there are many more examples of his anti-Israel and anti-Semitic actions.

Interestingly, while the Anti-Defamation League has made very public claims of anti-Semitism against Trump adviser Stephen Bannon based on one unsubstantiated charge by his ex-wife, the ADL has been silent about the possible election of Ellison as DNC chair despite his track record of defending Farrakhan’s anti-Semitism, making anti-Jewish comments of his own, and his anti-Israel actions in the Congress. But then again, in 2011 the ADL asked Jews to pledge not to criticize Barack Obama’s anti-Israel policies. Their treatment of Bannon vs. Ellison reinforces the ADL’s image as caring more about protecting progressive politics than protecting the Jewish people. 

Ellison was on the 2016 Democratic Party platform committee and tried to insert language criticizing Israel for her “occupation” of Palestinian lands. Ellison’s attempt was defeated by Clinton supporters, possibly because they feared the language would cause Jewish donors and voters to recognize the former secretary of state’s history of opposing Israel. After his defeat in the platform committee, Ellison, in an interview with NPR’s Amy Goodman, mourned his loss  of the occupation plank, and threw in some lies about the Jewish state and Gaza for good measure:

REP. KEITH ELLISON: Well, I think that it is important that, you know, the United States state that we don’t think that the occupation of the — what will be the Palestinian state should continue. I don’t think there’s any fear of using the O-word, if you will. I mean, Ariel Sharon used it. You know, the U.N. uses it. I mean, it’s a commonly used phrase to describe what’s going on. I think we could have also made some stronger statements about the—

AMY GOODMAN: What is that word?

REP. KEITH ELLISON: Occupation.

AMY GOODMAN: That they’re not using the word “occupation”?

REP. KEITH ELLISON: Right. I think that there is a humanitarian crisis going on in Gaza. In fact, you know, the — because of the electricity power plant has been destroyed, the sewage is not being processed, and raw sewage is going up into the Mediterranean. In fact, it’s so bad that it’s flowing up into north, and the Israeli desalinization plant is not able to use its — that plant, because of the sewage that is in the Mediterranean coming from Gaza, because Gaza cannot process their own sewage at this point, because of the horrible situation that is going on there. 

What the Ellison forces did accomplish was to keep these four pro-Israel planks removed in 2012 from being reinserted in 2016, including these:

• The United States and its Quartet partners should continue to isolate Hamas until it renounces terrorism, recognizes Israel’s right to exist, and abides by past agreements.

• The creation of a Palestinian state through final status negotiations, together with an international compensation mechanism, should resolve the issue of Palestinian refugees by allowing them to settle there, rather than in Israel.

• All understand that it is unrealistic to expect the outcome of final status negotiations to be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949.

In 2011, Politico reported that the Center For American Progress, which at the time was run by Hillary Clinton’s future campaign manager John Podesta, was fighting with the more mainstream Democrats about Israel. They want to change the party to the anti-Israel party. When one considers the “walk-backs” to the 2012 platform which were maintained in 2016 and the support for the anti-Israel, anti-Semitic Keith Ellison for the chairman of the Democratic Party, it seems as if the Center for American Progress is getting its way.

The only remaining question is will American Jewry, which overwhelmingly (and sometimes blindly) supports the Democratic Party, finally wake up and smell the truth.

Jeff Dunetz is a columnist for The Jewish Star.