O pinion
Jewish Americans Deserve
Hate Crime Protection, Too
BY DOV ZAKHEIM
ON MAY 20, President Joe
Biden signed the COVID-19
Hate Crimes Act, which had
been passed overwhelmingly
by both houses of Congress.

The act was a forceful response
to the disgraceful attacks on
Asian Americans by bigots who
blamed them for the COVID-19
pandemic, which had originated
in China. In passing the act,
members of both parties in the
House and Senate demonstrated
that they can do the right thing,
at least once in a while.

Nothing of the sort appears
to be contemplated in response
to the attacks by Palestinian
sympathizers on Jewish-
American persons, synagogues
and restaurants during and after
the latest Israel-Hamas conflict.

In Los Angeles, pro-Palestinian
attackers threw punches and
bottles at diners at a kosher
sushi restaurant. In New
York’s heavily Jewish Diamond
District, Palestinian supporters
threw fireworks at Jews from a
car amid a violent street alter-
cation. Hamas supporters also
beat a Jewish man in New York’s
Times Square, sending him to
hospital with severe injuries.

They threatened Jewish residents
in a heavily Jewish Miami neigh-
borhood. Video surveillance
at Chicago’s Persian Hebrew
Congregation, which was
defaced by attackers, captured
two people, one carrying a stick
and another holding a sign that
read “Freedom for Palestine.”
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM In each of these cases, and
others, the pro-Palestinian
attackers had no idea whether
their Jewish targets were
supporters of Israel. Indeed,
polls have shown that a majority
of Jewish Americans support the
creation of a Palestinian state
alongside the state of Israel. No
matter. Those who support the
Palestinian cause attacked their
victims merely because they
were Jews. In so doing, they
confirmed that their hatred of
Israel extends to all Jews every-
where, as indeed, Hamas has
made clear in its own charter.

All told, the Anti-Defamation
League has reported at least 200
possible antisemitic incidents in
the United States since the onset
of the fighting between Israel and
Hamas. Nevertheless, despite the
ongoing upsurge in attacks on
Jews, especially against so-called
visible Jews — that is, bearded
Jews who dress in black suits,
or merely Jews who will sport a
small yarmulke or wear a star of
David necklace — the leadership
of the Democratic-controlled
Congress has done little more
than issue sympathetic tweets.

Congress has done virtually
nothing to condemn the attacks,
much less legislate against them.

One reason for Congressional
inaction is that the pro-Pales-
tinian attackers have the support
of the so-called progressive
Democratic Left. Democrats
in the House have a five-seat
majority, while the ultra-Left
“squad,” which is blatantly anti-Is-
rael and pro-Palestinian, now
boasts six members. While U.S.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at
least has tweeted her condemna-
tion of anti-Jewish attacks, several
of her squad colleagues have not
even gone that far. Not surpris-
ingly, therefore, Speaker Nancy
Pelosi cannot afford to alienate
these progressives by pressing for
legislation that would bring into
sharper focus attacks on Jews by
Palestinian sympathizers.

Another reason
for Congressional inaction is that
Democrats are reluctant to criti-
cize some of their own progressive
legislators, even when the likes
of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar issue
blatantly antisemitic tweets.

Indeed, in the aftermath of one
such tweet, the House actually
did consider a draft measure
to condemn antisemitism.

Nevertheless, under pressure from
progressives, the Democratic
House leadership watered the
measure down so that in its final
form it included not only antisem-
itism, but also Islamophobia and
discrimination against Latinos,
Asian Americans, Muslims,
Hindus, Sikhs, Pacific Islanders,
Native Americans, immigrants
and the LGBTQ community. That
the resolution had been rendered
entirely meaningless is evidenced
by the fact that despite its having
included Asian Americans,
Congress recognized the need for
separate legislation geared solely
toward anti-Asian bigotry and
hate crimes.

Democrats are fond of
pointing out the cowardice
of those of their Republican
colleagues, who slavishly support
Donald Trump and all that he
stands for. They are right to do
so. On the other hand, it is high
time that Democrats showed
some courage of their own.

They should put an end to their
own cowardly appeasement of
an increasingly belligerent left,
and finally pass legislation that
would severely punish those who
would verbally and physically
abuse their fellow Americans
simply because they happen to
be Jewish. l
Dov S. Zakheim served as the
undersecretary of defense and
chief financial officer for the
Department of Defense from
2001–2004 and as the deputy
undersecretary of defense from
1985–1987. He is vice chairman of
the Center for the National Interest.

JEWISH EXPONENT
KVETCH ’N’ KVELL
Israel Must Preserve Conditions for Future
Two-State Solution
IN RESPONSE TO Curtis Pontz’s thoughtful op-ed in the May
13 edition, you had me at “Peace a Dream Until Palestinians
Accept Israel’s Legitimacy.” You express confidence “that once
the Palestinians accept the Jewish people’s right to their own
nation, which means agreeing to share the land of Palestine with
the Jews, the great majority of Israeli Jews will fall in line with
Palestinian aspirations for nationhood ...”
For many years, I expressed the same point of view, describing
such acceptance as the Palestinians’ version of former Egyptian
President Anwar Sadat’s transformative trip to Jerusalem in
1977. To be honest, though, today I also worry about Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s often-repeated pledge
that a Palestinian state will never arise so long as he is in power.

His Likud Party, the dominant political force in Israel today, is
officially opposed to Palestinian statehood. Shouldn’t acceptance
of national legitimacy go both ways?
And what of the settlement project, which has relocated
hundreds of thousands of Israeli Jews into the heart of the West
Bank (Judea and Samaria)? I am concerned that if the Palestinian
Sadat moment comes — whether next month, or next year, or in
another generation — there will be no land on which Palestinians
will be able to realize their aspirations for nationhood.

That is why I strongly believe Israel would be well served
to preserve the conditions for a future negotiated two-state
outcome. Without a change in its settlement policy, Israel’s
character as a majority Jewish and democratic state is gravely
at risk.

Martin J. Raffel | Langhorne
Hamas’ Goal: Forcing Israel to Respond
No commentator has remarked on the idea that Hamas is
responsible for the deaths in Gaza, but here’s a thought: Hamas
knows that with their first rocket aimed at Israel there will be a
massive response, as Israel has a right to defend itself, and the
only way to stop the Hamas rockets it to retaliate.

If Hamas knows that Israel will respond with aircraft and bombs,
Hamas could choose to refrain from sending rockets to Israel. By
sending rockets, Hamas invites the Israeli aircraft to come to
Gaza. Hamas shares responsibility for the deaths in Gaza. l
David Broida | Bryn Mawr
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