editorials
Mr. Biden, Define Antisemitism
P resident Joe Biden’s heart is in the right place in the
fight against antisemitism. He has been forceful in
his condemnation of the deep-seated hate that drives
antisemitism, he has shown compassion toward its victims
and he has made clear his administration’s commitment
to structure an “ambitious” and “comprehensive” plan to
address antisemitism.

Biden has used all the right words. For example, he has
promised that “hate will not win” and referred to the rising
tide of antisemitism as “a stain on the soul of America.”
He has also delivered on many of his antisemitism-
related promises, like increased federal funding to
help secure Jewish institutions and the appointment
of an ambassador-level special envoy to monitor and
combat antisemitism.

So why is it that the much-ballyhooed White House
national antisemitism strategy is having difficulty defining
antisemitism? The most widely accepted working definition of
antisemitism is the one developed by the International
Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. That definition is
simple, straightforward and clear: “Antisemitism is a
certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed
as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical
manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish
or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward
Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
The IHRA definition has been adopted or endorsed by
1,116 global entities, including 42 independent nations,
30 U.S. states, seven Canadian provinces, numerous
U.S. cities and counties and a host of national and
international organizations. But the Biden administration
is facing pressure from some on the left to use a different
definition of antisemitism, or none at all, out of fear that
the IHRA definition ― which identifies some forms of
anti-Zionism as antisemitism ― does not leave sufficient
space for critique of Israel and could violate the right of
free speech.

Israel is not mentioned in the IHRA definition. But it
does figure prominently in the non-binding “illustrations”
that accompany the working definition: “Denying the
Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by
claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist
endeavor,” is one example. It points to the fact that
anti-Zionism is often used to cloak antisemitism. And that
is unquestionably true.

For us, the debate is a distraction. Nothing in the IHRA
definition limits or restricts legitimate, civil, non-Jew-
baiting criticism of Israel. We have seen that to be
the case in vivid color over the past several months.

Thus, notwithstanding the uniform adoption of the IHRA
definition across the world, there has been no chill in
the criticism of the Israeli government and its planned
judicial overhaul or other protests against the Netanyahu
government. All without a whiff of antisemitism.

Opponents of Israel are free to criticize Israel all they
want. They can criticize its leaders. They may criticize
its policies. They can criticize its actions. They may even
criticize its food and its music. They just can’t do any of
that by invoking antisemitic arguments, images, tropes
or hate.

If anti-Zionists can’t be critical of Israel without being
antisemitic, that’s their problem. But any strategy to
fight antisemitism needs a clear definition of exactly
what it is fighting. The IHRA working definition is the
gold standard. ■
I n the runup to last week’s much anticipated presidential
elections in Turkey, press reports focused on the prospect
that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s two-decade-long
iron grip on leadership, and his increasingly autocratic
style of governance, might be replaced.

The reports highlighted the popularity of the candidacy
of a kinder, gentler leader named Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who
promised to bolster the country’s democracy, stabilize its
economy, reduce tensions with foreign allies and return
to consensus leadership rather than the centralized
decision-making favored by Erdogan.

The May 15 election results didn’t match the hype.

Erdogan got 49.5% of the vote, Kilicdaroglu got 44.9%
and a third candidate, Sinan Ogan, got 5.2%. Since no
candidate crossed the 50% threshold needed to win,
a runoff election between the two top vote-getters
is scheduled for May 28. And because Ogan’s right-
wing supporters will likely vote for Erdogan in the
runoff, Erdogan is projected to win with close to a
double-digit margin.

Erdogan has a long history of political success. He first
gained national prominence as the mayor of Istanbul,
the country’s most populous city, and used that post
as a springboard to the position of prime minister
and then president.

In the ensuing years, he has become a deeply polarizing
figure who has been accused of diluting democracy by
10 MAY 25, 2023 | JEWISH EXPONENT
using repressive tactics against civil society and the media
while concentrating power in his presidency. Critics are
concerned with the poor state of the Turkish economy,
marked by high inflation, as well as the government’s
weak response to devastating earthquakes that killed
more than 50,000 people in Turkey and neighboring
Syria. Supporters say that Erdogan has modernized the
country through massive infrastructure projects and that
he has brought Islam back into public life in Turkey.

And then there is the sometimes confusing and fluid
foreign policy component of Erdogan’s rule. Through
NATO and other historic relations Turkey has been allied
with the West. But there are holes in that alliance. While
Erdogan condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and
sent aid to the Ukrainian government, he refused to join
Western sanctions on Russia and instead expanded trade
ties with Russia and drew closer to Russian President
Vladimir Putin.

Erdogan has also sparred with the United States over
Syria policy and regularly disparages Washington in
his public speeches. And although Turkey is a NATO
member state, Erdogan has used his NATO blackball vote
to hamper the alliance’s expansion by delaying Finland’s
ability to join and refusing to accept Sweden.

Kilicdaroglu promised to improve relations with the
West and make Turkish foreign policy less personal. That
potential breath of fresh perspective is not likely to occur.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey
Instead, Erdogan will remain in power. He will further
tighten his control in Turkey as he sews uncertainty in the
West and further cultivates his associations with other
authoritarian regimes.

What that means for what appeared to be improving
Turkish-Israel relations is unclear, as the Jewish state will
join other Western powers as they wait to see Erdogan’s
next steps following what is likely to be a significant
reelection victory next week. ■
wikicommons.com / Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
Erdogan, Yet Again



opinions & letters
Assault on LGBTQ Rights
Must be Countered
Rabbi Benjamin David
A s we approach Pride Month, we are collectively
witnessing a widespread public assault on LGBTQ
rights. As a rabbi, this terrifies me, as it should you.

Recent legislation enacted in Florida forbids teachers
from using the word “gay,” denies the public appearance
of drag shows, limits pronoun usage to those associated
with one’s biological sex and instructs teachers not to
educate children on matters relating to sex or sexuality
that are outside of heterosexual practice.

These laws, in addition to similar measures set to
take effect in Texas, fly in the face of my understand-
ing of Judaism, human rights and basic decency. This
Pride Month, against this heinous backdrop of intoler-
ance, we are obligated to recommit ourselves to the
aggrieved LGBTQ community.

June has been recognized as Pride Month ever
since the Stonewall Riots in the summer of 1969. These
riots followed a police raid of the popular gay bar, the
Stonewall Inn in New York City; it was the birth of a
movement and a loud cry for acceptance. This came,
of course, at a time of great unrest and transition in the
United States, a time when marginalized communities
gained their voice and spoke unequivocal truths to
power. From Rosa Parks to Harvey Milk, change was
in the air.

We are the heirs of these change-makers. More
than 50 years since Stonewall, Pride Month becomes
an opportunity for us to re-up our commitment to and
support of the LGBTQ community.

We do this precisely as Jews. Indeed, as we were
strangers in the land of Egypt, we know well what it
means to be diminished, othered and cast out as threat-
ening and altogether dangerous. The Jewish story is no
doubt replete with instances in which we were made
May 18 Poll Results
Shavuot begins on May 25.

Which dairy treat are you looking
forward to in celebration of the
giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai?
to feel less than, belittled and worse than that because
of how we looked, how we prayed, the holidays we
observed, the food we ate and the language(s) we
spoke. We know what it means to experience hate.

Amid the darkest chapter of our people, we were
dehumanized outright, turned into numbers and carica-
tures: a yellow star, a kippah, glasses and the stereo-
typical large nose. Our sense of self was denied as was
every Jewish soul’s distinctive identity, personality and
story. The Shoah so nearly erased Jews and Judaism
as a hate machine, with zero tolerance for difference,
sought to eradicate us once and for all. Thank God we
are still here and here to ensure that all peoples are
protected from ignorance and those set on persecution.

I come to Pride Month not only as a rabbi and a Jew,
not only as the grandson of Holocaust survivors but as
an engaged American citizen seeking a society predi-
cated on greater compassion and understanding. This
is the America in which I want my children to live. This
is the America in which I want our religious school and
nursery school children to live.

Pride Month has us recognize not only the extraor-
dinary contributions of the LGBTQ community to our
broader world but how our LGBTQ friends enrich our
synagogue life by their mere presence, life experience
and wisdom. We are commanded once and again to
“love our neighbor” and to “welcome the stranger,”
and I am glad that synagogues around the world have
moved gradually away from homophobic policy-mak-
ing and egregious exclusion. These profoundly Jewish
obligations are to transcend politics, our limited silos,
even our comfort level.

I write this at a moment in time that is wrought with
prejudicial thinking and the rights of the LGBTQ commu-
nity are very much in peril. When, in Florida alone, books
that educate children about LGBTQ relationships are
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Rabbi Benjamin David is the senior rabbi at Reform
Congregation Keneseth Israel.

letters Israel’s Future in Doubt
Michael Oren, the author of “2048, the Rejuvenated
State,” must have written his book prior to Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest rejuvenation
(“What Will Israel Look Like in 2048?,” May 4).

After having given the settlers’ movement a green
light to not only expropriate land, the settlers have
destroyed Palestinian orchards. The extent of land
expropriation is such that a two-state solution is
impossible. Netanyahu is trying to eviscerate the Supreme
Court and avoid jail. Will the democratic state
even last till 2048? Oren describes the haredim
as an existential threat to the state of Israel. It’s all
concerning. Saving democracy, living with the Palestinians,
women’s rights, secular rights and non-Orthodox
rights are all at risk on this current trajectory. ■
Nathan Farbman, Philadelphia
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What did you think about
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Cheese-filled burekas
banned, gender-affirming therapies are outlawed and
personal pronouns are determined by the state rather
than the individual, we must say “‘enough!”
As people in power seek to shutter and/or boycott
businesses that are inclusive of the LGBTQ commu-
nities and politicians seek to undermine and devalue
people due to their sexuality, we must not look away.

Nor can we justify such behavior by selectively reading
our sacred texts while ignoring the massive tome of
laws repeatedly directing us to love, embrace and
support each other.

I take my cues from the great rabbinic sages who
preceded me — those who stood tall amid the civil
rights movement and as Russian Jewry was under
siege; they had the courage once and again to align
themselves with the maligned and stand up tall for the
mistreated. We all should. Now is the time. ■
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