It is cruel, hurtful, counterproductive and horribly wrong to falsely accuse someone of anti-Semitism who is in fact working tirelessly to combat anti-Semitism and who is a great friend of the Jewish people.
Unfortunately, these sorts of Orwellian “anti-Semitism” accusations seem to be hurled more and more frequently these days.
The latest example was the reader letter last week falsely accusing our state Sen. Elaine Phillips of not caring about Jewish constituents and of running an anti-Semitic campaign last year.
During just her first 100 days in office, Senator Phillips prioritized and sponsored and was the moving force who obtained passage of two bills in the New York State Senate to combat anti-Semitic boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS).
Senate Bill 2493 would “prohibit student organizations that participate in hate speech, including advocating for the boycott, divestment and sanctions of Israel and American allied nations from receiving public funding.”
Senate Bill 2492 would restrict the state from contracting with or investing in “persons and businesses that promote or engage in activities to boycott American allied nations” including Israel. (Both bills are now awaiting action by the Assembly.)
In addition, Sen. Phillips introduced legislation to ensure that students are taught about the Holocaust.
In addition to leading the fight in the state Senate to combat anti-Semitic, Sen. Phillips has attended numerous educational programs in our community about combatting BDS — one of the most virulent forms of anti-Semitism today.
I’ve often seen Sen. Phillips at these events, and spoke to her there and witnessed firsthand how much she cares about these issues.
The importance of Sen. Phillips’ work to combat BDS and college anti-Semitism cannot be understated.
The Nazis started their hateful assault on the Jewish people with an anti-Semitic boycott on April 1, 1933.
Designated terror groups Hamas and the PFLP, and the Palestinian Authority/PLO are the real sponsors behind campus anti-Semitism.
Congressional testimony last year revealed that “Students for Justice in Palestine” — which is the major group promoting campus anti-Semitism, including calls on college campuses for “Death to the Jews,” “Jews out of CUNY” [City University of New York] and “Zionists out of CUNY” — is funded by American Muslims for Palestine — which is run by the same officials who helped run the charities that funneled millions of dollars to designated terrorist group Hamas. (By the way, Hamas has not abrogated its charter calling for the murder of every Jew.)
Anti-Semitism accusations should be reserved for real anti-Semites.
Painful false accusations (perhaps made for partisan reasons) should not be inflicted upon those people who are working to stamp out anti-Semitism.
Combatting anti-Semitism should be a non-partisan issue.
Our local community recently provided a wonderful example of such non-partisanship, when Democrats and Republicans came together to pass the Town of North Hempstead’s anti-BDS law.
Please note that the Zionist Organization of America works on these issues on a nonpartisan basis. My letter should not be deemed to be an election endorsement of any candidate. (In any event, there is no State Senate election this year.)
Elizabeth (Liz) Berney, Esq.
Great Neck
Berney is the Long Island-Queens Executive Director of the Zionist Organization of America.
