I guess that’s the headline. Not that it’s really news. What the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) mostly seems to be doing is campaigning for Biden. And I’m sure that its flacks will say that there’s a lot of behind the scenes stuff. Meanwhile they’ve ceded the scene.
The Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) has affirmed that it will not support Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) in her upcoming primary, but did not provide a endorsement to her chief primary opponent, progressive Antone Melton-Meaux.
Omar is set to face Melton-Meaux, who has been critical of Omar’s anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements, in an Aug. 11 primary for Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District.
When asked by JNS about whether JDCA would be taking on Omar, executive director Halie Soifer instead chose to comment on the activities of the Republican Jewish Coalition, rather than to explain why her organization is not endorsing the opponent of an incumbent who has a record of anti-Semitic remarks.
“On the day that it was publicly revealed that [U.S. President] Donald Trump gave a green light to Chinese concentration camps, and just days after it was reported that the RJC refused to get involved in the primary opposing not one but two Republican candidates in Georgia with ties to neo-Nazis, the RJC [Republican Jewish Coalition] should explain why they’re spending more than $10 million to re-elect someone who emboldens neo-Nazis, including those running for office,” she said.
That’s what partisan discourse about anti-Semitism looks like these days. It’s the old joke about the Russian telling the American that he can also go to the Red Square and call Reagan a jerk. Condemning antisemitism by partisan Jewish groups within their own group has become as rare as hen’s teeth. In all fairness, the JDCA has Democrat in its name. The Jewish part just means it gets Jews on board.
The JDCA could send a warning to Omar, but that’s not really its job.It claims to advocate for Jews within the Democrat Party, but in practice it advocates for Democrats within the Jewish community.
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