Jerusalem – Abraham Foxman, who headed the Anti-Defamation League for 27 years and worked there for 50, defended US President Donald Trump on Monday from accusations that he is to blame for Saturday’s massacre at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
In an interview with The Jerusalem Post at the capital’s King David Hotel, Foxman, who was in touch with Trump for many years but not since he was elected president, said he did not believe Trump is an antisemite. He said he believes Trump loves the Jewish people and cares about Israel.
But Foxman said the president does not understand the consequences of his political rhetoric, and that when Trump speaks about issues like immigration, globalization and gun control, it ignites bigots like Pittsburgh murderer Robert Bowers, who opposed Trump because he saw him as controlled by the Jews.
“We need to not blame Trump but engage him,” Foxman said. “He has said the right things on antisemitism this week. But he needs to change the rhetoric he uses to explain his policies, which gives millions of bigots a rationale for their bigotry. I think this is doable, but we won’t accomplish it if we put the blame for Pittsburgh on him. We need to sensitize him, so he’ll realize his words can harm his [Jewish] children and grandchildren.”
Foxman said Trump did not create Bower or Charlottesville, Virginia, the site of the August 2017 white supremacist rally. He said they were there before Trump, but he did embolden them.
“Trumpism legitimized the bigots to come out of the sewers and gave them a platform to play on,” Foxman said. “Trump is part of the problem but not the problem. We have to make him not the problem because we don’t want to politicize antisemitism, which is a disease of both the Left and the Right.”
JPOST VIDEOS THAT MIGHT INTEREST YOU:
Foxman said the murders in Pittsburgh should shock people because of their carnage and enormity, but should not surprise anyone because antisemitism has never gone away and never will. He said there was a reason ADL has trained thousands of law enforcement officers and facilitated hundreds of seminars at synagogues and other Jewish institutions.
When asked why such a harsh attack would take place now, Foxman listed five recent changes that ended, what he called, the containment of latent antisemitism that has infected millions of Americans.
He said political antisemitism has risen under the guise of being anti-Israel, and the removal of established taboos in the civil establishment, the undermining of the credibility of the media, the Internet informing people of previously unreported antisemitic incidents, and finally the lack of memory of the Holocaust all added to the timing of the attack.
“The memory of the Shoah protected Jews from antisemitism because it added to its containment,” Foxman said. “But ‘never again’ was never a mandate. It was a wish. No survivor would say ‘never again’ was guaranteed, and the further you move away from the Shoah, the less it’s guaranteed.”
I don’t blame trump by himself it is the envirement he encouraged and his republican allies who did this
Not once did you hear about Obama’s association with Reverend Wright, Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton. But it’s all Trump’s fault. You see he’s really a Nazi and hates Jews.
The hypocrisy being spewed from the left is astounding!
TWO YEARS of Democrats Calling For Assassinations And Hate – Here Are The Facts
Democrats didn’t care when Madonna said she had thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House.
Democrats didn’t care when Kathy Griffin posed with a mock severed head of President Trump.
Democrats didn’t care when dozens of people were shot to death at a Jason Aldean concert.
Democrats didn’t care when Congressman Steve Scalise was shot at a baseball game.
Democrats didn’t care when Robert De Niro said “somebody needs to take out Trump”.
Democrats didn’t care when Carole Cook said “Where’s John Wilkes Booth when you need him?”
Democrats didn’t care when Republican candidate Rudy Peters was attacked by a man with a switchblade.
Not once did you hear about Obama’s association with Reverend Wright, Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton. But it’s all Trump’s fault. You see he’s really a Nazi and hates Jews.
The hypocrisy being spewed from the left is astounding!
When all is said and done, the shooter is responsible for his actions.
How could any one say that President Trump is at any way responsible for any anti semitism. It’s so backwards that its ludicrous. He is very pro Israel and Pro Jewish. Anyone that is accusing President Trump of this is just showing that they dont appreciate someone that is giving so much. I’m ashamed of these liberals.
Obama and Hillary created the divisiveness and it was amplified by the media. Obama and Hillary could do/say no wrong whereas anything Trump does or says is spun as evil.
Why do 70+% of Jews vote Democratic when that party has now turned to Socialism/Communism and will take away what all the Jews earned and give it away to immigrants and free loaders??
We bring it on ourselves.
Abe, you made enough money. Why are you doing this?! No principles, everything for sale if price is right?!