DJOP: Trump’s latest comments sadly add to his encouragement of anti-Semites and racists(Sept. 23/2020) — The board of the Democratic Jewish Outreach PA (DJOP) said today that a report in today’s Washington Post “only adds to the proof that Donald Trump encourages anti-Semites, racists, white supremacists and violent persons who want to divide American society.”
Jill Zipin, DJOP Chair, said in a statement that the Post’s story “is consistent, sadly, with Trump’s observation that the torch-bearing marchers shouting anti-Semitic and anti-Black slogans in Charlottesville included “very fine people.”
The Post reported:“In unguarded moments with senior aides, President Trump has maintained that Black Americans have mainly themselves to blame in their struggle for equality, hindered more by lack of initiative than societal impediments, according to current and former U.S. officials.
“After phone calls with Jewish lawmakers, Trump has muttered that Jews ‘are only in it for themselves’ and ‘stick together’ in an ethnic allegiance that exceeds other loyalties, officials said.”
Zipin stated:“It is no coincidence that the most violent attack on the Jewish community in U.S. history took place in Pittsburgh after Trump warned falsely of an invasion at our southern border, or that according to the Anti-Defamation League we’re seeing the highest number of anti-Semitic hate crime since the tracking of them began more than 40 years ago.”
In contrast to Trump’s record, she said, “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris consistently have condemned anti-Semitism and racist remarks. They will not tell American Jews that Benjamin Netanyahu is ‘your Prime Minister’ or that Israel is ‘your country.’”
The DJOP is a federal political action committee formed in 2008 to support progressive candidates and legislation and sponsor programs on contemporary issues. Its work is driven by the traditional Jewish values of the pursuit of justice and the principle of tikun olam, Hebrew for “repair of the world.”Serving with Zipin on the DJOP board are David Broida, William Epstein, Brett Goldman, Adam Kessler, Dina Lichtman, Rabbi Seymour Rosenbloom, Martin Raffel, Nina Rosenthal and Burt Siegel.