(New York, NY — August 14, 2020) — StandWithUs strongly condemns the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) for subjecting New York City Council candidates to an antisemitic litmus test.
Last week a DSA leader wouldn’t say if Israel had a right to exist. Now this. This is anti-semitism. Plain and simple. https://t.co/6xqcYQnDHl
— Max Rose (@MaxRose4NY) August 13, 2020
With anti-Semitism on the rise, this question is irresponsible and divisive. Visiting Israel is not a political choice. For many NYers it’s where their families live or where they visit religious sites that are holy for people of many faiths https://t.co/5YqpTTJqjS
— Grace Meng (@Grace4NY) August 14, 2020
My response to the questionnaire: "When @JCRCNY brought me to Israel for the first time back in 2015, I spoke to both Israelis and Palestinians, and among Israelis, spoke to both Arabs and Jews… https://t.co/mQQuhMnw1C
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) August 14, 2020
“NYC DSA’s hateful agenda would ban council members from visiting Israel even to see friends and family or connect with Israelis as people,” said Carly Gammill, Director of the StandWithUs Center for Combatting Antisemitism. “Why are anti-Israel extremists so desperate to prevent political leaders from seeing the region for themselves? Because they’re trying to dehumanize Israelis and dismantle Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. We call on all candidates endorsed by the DSA to unequivocally denounce this antisemitic litmus test.”
NYC DSA’s bigoted “questionnaire” follows a recent interview where the co-chair of the organization refused to affirm Israel’s basic right to exist. The organization also officially supports the global boycott campaign against Israel which seeks to eliminate Israel and violate the rights of Jewish people to self-determination in their ancestral home.
StandWithUs applauds political leaders in New York for speaking out against the NYC DSA’s antisemitism. We will continue to combat hatred against Jews in all of its forms across the political spectrum.
About StandWithUs
StandWithUs (SWU) is an international, non-profit and non-partisan Israel education organization that works to inspire and educate people of all ages about Israel, as well as challenge misinformation and fight against antisemitism.
Through university fellowships, high school internships, middle school curricula, conferences, materials, social media, educational films and missions to Israel, StandWithUs supports people around the world who want to educate their schools and communities about Israel.
Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Los Angeles, the organization has chapters and programs on 5 continents, including the U.S., Israel, UK, Canada, South Africa and Brazil.
For the last 7 years, SWU has consistently received the highest possible ratings from Charity Navigator (4 stars) and Guidestar (Platinum).
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