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The RJC Weekly Newsletter

August 15, 2019

Your weekly look at the latest news, analysis,
and RJC activities around the country.

— Featured —

Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN).

Tlaib and Omar Barred from Entering Israel

The Israeli government announced today that it would deny entry to Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN), two outspoken supporters of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.

The two congresswomen intended to arrive in "Palestine" this weekend and visit Hebron, Ramallah, Bethlehem, and East Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount, according to media reports. The trip was planned under the auspices of Miftah, an organization headed by a longtime Palestinian activist and Palestinian National Council legislator, Hanan Ashrawi.

In July, Reps. Omar and Tlaib sponsored a House resolution supporting boycotts, which was aimed at supporting boycotts of Israel.

Two years ago, Israel passed a law that forbids granting entry visas to foreign nationals who call for economic, cultural or academic boycotts of Israel or of Jewish businesses in the West Bank.

Over the past week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed 41 Democratic members of Congress and 31 Republican members to Israel, including dozens of freshmen members. The overlapping trips, led by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), respectively, were specifically designed to introduce members of Congress to Israel. Reps. Tlaib, Omar, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez refused to participate in the trip.

In a statement today, Prime Minister Netanyahu said:

As a free and vibrant democracy, Israel is open to critics and criticism, with one exception: Israeli law prohibits the entry into Israel of those who call for and work to impose boycotts on Israel, as do other democracies that prohibit the entry of people who seek to harm the country. In fact, in the past the US did this to an Israeli member of Knesset, as well as to other public figures from around the world.

Congresswomen Tlaib and Omar are leading activists in promoting the legislation of boycotts against Israel in the American Congress. Only a few days ago, we received their itinerary for their visit in Israel, which revealed that they planned a visit whose sole objective is to strengthen the boycott against us and deny Israel’s legitimacy. For instance: they listed the destination of their trip as Palestine and not Israel, and unlike all Democratic and Republican members of Congress who have visited Israel, they did not request to meet any Israeli officials, either from the government or the opposition.

A week ago, Israel warmly welcomed some 70 Democratic and Republican members of Congress, who expressed broad bipartisan support for Israel, which was also demonstrated a month ago in a resounding bipartisan vote against BDS in Congress.

However, the itinerary of the two Congresswomen reveals that the sole purpose of their visit is to harm Israel and increase incitement against it.

In addition, the organization that is funding their trip is Miftah, which is an avid supporter of BDS, and among whose members are those who have expressed support for terrorism against Israel.

Therefore, the Minister of Interior has decided not to allow their visit, and I, as Prime Minister, support his decision.

The RJC supported the Israeli decision, stating:

[T]his decision is about Israel following Israeli law, and two freshman Democratic Members of Congress that choose to support BDS and traffic in anti-Semitism. Their itinerary shows that they had no plans to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu, anyone in his cabinet, anyone in the Knesset, or anyone from any opposition party. The purpose of their trip was to use Israel as a backdrop to promote their radical agenda; they clearly had no intention of going to visit Israel with an open mind. The fact that these two are members of Congress doesn’t excuse their choice to support a movement that seeks to destroy the only democracy in the Middle East. It would be unfair to expect Israel to treat them differently than anyone else applying to visit the country.

Our support for Israel's decision has been cited by ABC News, JTA, Jerusalem Post, The Algemeiner, The New York Jewish Week, and the left-wing outlet Vox, among others.

Auschwitz concentration camp.

Countering Anti-Semitism

There were two important developments in the fight against anti-Semitism in the US this week.

First, the US State Department updated its definition of anti-Semitism. The previous definition listed ten examples of anti-Semitism, including: "making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews;" "denying the fact, scope, mechanisms, or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust);" and "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."

The revised definition adds this example: "Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis."

In July, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) made a speech on the floor of the US House in opposition to the anti-BDS resolution (which later passed 398-17). In those remarks Tlaib likened boycotts of Israel to boycotts against Nazi Germany during World War II and against South Africa during apartheid.

Marc A. Thiessen goes straight to the heart of the Israel-Nazis comparison in an op-ed this week at the Washington Post. He writes:

Just a few days ago, I sat in the former SS headquarters of the Auschwitz concentration camp with Piotr Cywiński, director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. Speaking beside a window overlooking the gas chamber and crematorium where countless souls perished, he explained that there is no difference between hatred of Israel and hatred for Jews.

“It's the same old story with some different words,” he said. “If you are speaking with somebody who is defending some anti-Israeli ideologies, maybe not in the first minute, maybe not in the second minute, but in the third minute you will find that the same old story accusing Jews of every bad thing in the world. For me, that's very, very clear. I never saw any anti-Israeli theory that was not anti-Semitic.”

...I can’t see why people feel free to compare Israel to the Nazis,” Cywiński said. “I don’t want to comment on it on an intellectual level. It’s simply an insult. It’s an insult to the victims and an insult to the survivors and an insult to a whole country, to a whole society.

...In Washington, congressional Democrats have struggled to confront anti-Semitism within their own ranks. Cywiński said the rise of left-wing anti-Semitism is not surprising. “Do not forget that the Nazi Party in Germany was a party of workers,” he said. “We are many times thinking about the Nazis as far-right. They were also very deeply speaking … to the left, using some leftist language.”

The whole article is well worth your time.

The second noteworthy development was the decision by the California State Board of Education (SBE) to scrap a proposed Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC) and replace it with an entirely new draft.

The proposed ethnic studies curriculum was riddled with anti-Jewish and anti-Israel issues. The Associated Press reports: 

Jewish lawmakers complained that the proposed lessons are anti-Semitic, while a conservative critic says capitalism is presented as a “form of power and oppression.” The clash comes as a law requires the state to adopt ethnic studies, which view history through the lens of diverse cultures.

...For instance, the proposed curriculum has lessons on identifying Islamophobia and other forms of discrimination but does not include ways to identify anti-Semitism. Song lyrics included in the draft also seem to support the stereotype that Jews control the news media, the caucus said.

“It would be a cruel irony if a curriculum meant to help alleviate prejudice and bigotry were to instead marginalize Jewish students and fuel hatred and discrimination against the Jewish community,” the 14 caucus members said in a recent letter.

The curriculum also included a suggested lesson asking student groups to research social movements. One prompt leads to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, according to the Sacramento Bee. 

Eighty-three Jewish and pro-Israel organizations signed an August 7 letter urging the California Department of Education to take action to change the proposed curriculum, saying:

...[T]here is considerable evidence showing that the kind of anti-Zionist propaganda and activism promoted in the ESMC is strongly linked to acts of anti-Jewish hostility...

Unless and until safeguards are put in place for ensuring that its drafters will not be permitted to use the model curriculum to promote political, ethnic or religious enmity towards any group, or to weaponize high school students to take action based on such enmity, we fear that whatever model curriculum is adopted by the IQC will have an enormously negative impact on the state’s high schools, colleges and universities for years to come.

The effort to stop the proposed curriculum united a wide range of Jewish communal groups, pro-Israel organizations, and groups concerned about anti-Semitism on college campuses.

RJC is Hiring Field Staff for 2020 Outreach

The Republican Jewish Coalition is hiring field staff for our advocacy efforts in support of President Donald J. Trump’s reelection in various battleground states.

If you (or someone you know) have relevant political experience and a strong desire to make an impact at the grassroots level that will win the White House in 2020, CLICK HERE for details and application information.

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