Chicagoland Pro-Israel Political Update

If you are allodoxaphobic, this newsletter might not be for you



December 2, 2018

Happy Hanukkah--no matter how you spell it.

Pro-Israel groups are opposing Sen. Rand Paul's (R-KY) attempts to block aid to Israel.

Comparisons to asylum-seekers and Jews fleeing the Holocaust are valid. They are not the same situations--the Holocaust was unique--but lessons from the Holocaust can and should be applied to other situations.

Sign the petition calling on leaders of the Women's March to resign.

Climate change is a real threat, but Trump and the Republicans remain in denial.

Don't miss Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat at NSS Beth El on December 4. Details beneath the Video Clip of the Week.

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Friends,

Pro-Israel groups are opposing Sen. Rand Paul's (R-KY) attempts to block aid to Israel. The Kentucky Republican is using his senatorial prerogative to block legislation formalizing the 10-year Memorandum of Understanding negotiated between the U.S. and Israel. Yes, senators can do that. Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) called on Republicans to stand with Democrats in opposing this dangerous obstructionism. AIPAC and Christians United for Israel also oppose Paul's hold. CUFI even made a video; it's blunt, as you'd expect from CUFI, but it's accurate.

Rand Paul is an outlier; he does not represent the views of the Republican Party on aid to Israel. This could not happen in the House, where members do not have the procedural power that senators have. Republicans are in the majority in the Senate, so it is up to them to find a way to clear this procedural hurdle and get aid to Israel moving.

Michael Koplow points out that Paul seems to think that eliminating assistance to the Palestinian Authority will reduce Israel's need for American aid, but the reality is that the PA's existence helps Israel's security rather than harms it.

Should we compare the plight of asylum-seekers in the so-called caravan to the plight of Jews fleeing the Holocaust? Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) thinks that Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was wrong to make this comparison, but officials from the U.S. Holocaust Museum and HIAS seem to think that Ocasio-Cortez's analogy was valid. Former ADL head Abe Foxman said that Ocasio-Cortez "did not trivialize the Holocaust. She compared the two people who became refugees fleeing their homes due to danger or fear. There is nothing inappropriate in that comparison."

I'm going to go with the experts on this one. The Shoah was unique and it happened to a particular people at a particular time in a particular place, but if acknowledgement of its particularity prevents us from learning universal lessons, we rob ourselves of the ability to prevent future, albeit not identical, tragedies.

Dr. Deborah Frip, President of Teach the Shoah Foundation, writes that "If we believe that any comparison to the Holocaust is offensive, then we will never learn the lessons of the Holocaust...The purpose of Holocaust education is to be able to make accurate and apt references to the Holocaust. We must make these comparisons, and we must use them as a call-to-action to stop bias before it leads to suffering and violence."

Instead of sending soldiers to fire tear gas, Trump should have sent immigration officers to quickly process their asylum applications. We used to wonder how the U.S. could have turned away so many people fleeing for their lives during World War II and why more Americans did not speak out. Now we know.

Climate change is a real threat. The latest U.S. climate assessment shows that many of the predicted impacts of global warming are now becoming reality. Just last month, Trump questioned whether global warming is man-made. But what can you expect from a guy who watched the eclipse without sunglasses? At least he didn't say, " I'm not a scientist, man." If you agree with Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, you owe it to yourself to read this fact-check.

The Republican Party is the only climate-science denying party in the world (it is also the only major democratic party in the world that opposes the principle of universal health insurance). Max Boot l eft the Republican Party, and Boot admits he was wrong about climate change--why can't other conservatives, even after the latest report? JDCA is demanding Congress take action. You should too.

There is not much that we as individuals can do to stop climate change, but if we act collectively, we have a chance. The best thing you can do to stop climate change is to vote against Republicans. Yeah, that sounds kind of partisan. But it's true.

Speaking of science-- I couldn't resist.

Sign the petition calling on Women's March leaders to resign. If they don't, find a march that has publicly disassociated itself from the national march and march with them instead. Teresa Shook, a founder of the Women's March, is urging everyone to read and sign this petition. The petition not only contains an excellent summary of the anti-Semitism and other problems plaguing the March, but also lists the sponsoring organizations--if you are a member of any of those organizations, let them know how you feel. If you are opposed to anti-Semitism, you have a stake in this and a right to speak up.

Did you miss last week's newsletter? Here it is.


Twitter Thread of the Week. David Rothkopf .

Facebook Post of the Week. Bryan Behar.


See Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat on December 4. He will be discussing his new book on Jimmy Carter at 7:45pm at NSS Beth El in Highland Park for free. Details here.

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