Columnist Lynn Schmidt was right to point out the historical incongruences in Rep. Cori Bush’s campaign remarks in her Feb. 4 op-ed column, “No, Rep. Bush, the war in Gaza is not about white supremacy."
The war in Gaza is not about white supremacy. Jews have been persecuted by white supremacists since times immemorial. Think of the Nazis or the Ku Klux Klan. It’s the Jews were among those they were after.
Israel is in a war it didn’t start, with Hamas — a terrorist organization sworn to annihilate all Jews. Israel’s goal is to ensure that a tragedy like Oct. 7 will never happen again, and to rescue the remaining hostages.
Bush said: “[T]his is not about antisemitism. It’s not about whether I hate Jewish people or not, because I absolutely don’t.†Yet, when she blames Israel for the war and gives a pass to Hamas despite the barbaric crimes it committed as it slaughtered 1,200 people, then this is about the Jews and antisemitism.
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Since Oct. 7, the world has seen a staggering increase in antisemitic speech, anti-Jewish violence and demonstrations glorifying Hamas terrorists. Data from American Jewish Committee’s upcoming State of Antisemitism in America report shows 78% of American Jews say they feel less safe in the U.S. Members of the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Jewish community, some of them constituents of Rep. Bush, are no strangers to these statistics.
The hate is real. It’s high time for Bush to take responsibility for what she says. Words matter.
Mike Lefton
Creve Coeur
President, American Jewish Committee of ºüÀêÊÓƵ