YDA Jewish Caucus

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 5, 2008
Contact:
Stephanie Hausner, (914)980-1747, secretary@yda.org, Executive Director, YDAJC

YDAJC Launches RJCWatch.org
Blog to Document the Inaccuracies and Hypocrisies of the Republican Jewish Coalition 

New York, NY – Every year, the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) shows time and time again that it puts partisan interests above Jewish concerns and that they relentlessly attack anyone with whom they disagree, sometimes using only half-truths and drastically misleading statements. As Jews, we have long since known the dangers of misinformation.
Republican Jewish Coalition Watch will play the critical role of documenting the inaccuracies and hypocrisies of the RJC throughout this election and into the future. For each advertising campaign and email the RJC puts out, we will catalog both accurate statements and misleading remarks. We attempt to document these statements by referring to non-partisan neutral sources.
There is perhaps no better example than the RJC’s often conflicted relationship with Joe Lieberman. When Joe Lieberman was running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2000, the RJC took out a full-page ad in the New York Times attacking him and attempting to link him to Louis Farrakhan (New York Times. October 5, 2000). Yet when Lieberman was challenged in the Connecticut primary by Ned Lamont in 2006, the RJC quickly used the opportunity to attack the Democratic Party and claim that “America and Israel  worse off” for his loss (http://www.rjchq.org/media/pics/lieberman.ad.jpg).
Republican Jewish Coalition Watch is a project of the Young Democrats of America Jewish Caucus.

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The Young Democrats of American Jewish Caucus is an organization dedicated to building the young Democratic Jewish political community. YDAJC seeks to engage young Democrats in issues of particular Jewish concern and to invigorate young Jews to engage in politics from a progressive Democratic perspective. YDAJC accomplishes this task through a combination of education, awareness, and social interaction as well as political advocacy on issues of Jewish concern. Please visit us athttp://www.jewishcaucus.org.

(YDAJC Press Release)

An award in Memory and Honor of the Late Chairman Lantos

We have lost an incredible advocate and an amazing man and leader for not only the Jewish Community, but for all people.  Chairman Tom Lantos leaves a legacy and commitment of fighting for many important issues that include, human rights, civil rights, ending genocide in Darfur, combating anti-Semitism and Israel’s safety and security.  The news coverage, memorial service, and public statements from the past week only begin to touch upon the great legacy that he has left behind.

The Young Democrats of America Jewish Caucus has instituted the Tom P. Lantos Award to not only honor his memory, but to remind all of us what is possible and what we can do when we have great people like Chairman Lantos who dedicate their life to public service.  

The Tom P. Lantos Award will be given annually to a public figure who exemplifies Chairman Lantos’s dedication to public service and who serves as an advocate for individuals who cannot speak for themselves.

All of our blessings and deepest sympathies go out to his wife Annette, his daughters, and his grandchildren. Chairman Lantos will be dearly missed.

Democrats must succeed in 2008. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. The last seven years, a turbulent downward spiral of the American Government, led by an incompetent, unpredictable, unrelenting demagogue has been three steps back from the two forward steps of the last great American president, William Jefferson Clinton.

Young Democrats, especially Young Jewish Democrats, have a lot riding on this election. Political strategists will tell you that the highest voting block in America is the Jewish population, but the lowest is young Americans. While young Jews don’t necessarily fall into the second category, the Jewish Caucus of the Young Democrats of America has a responsibility to get its constituency to the polls on November 8, 2008.

Eight ( major Democrats have announced their intention to seek next year’s (200 nomination, including a Hispanic, and African American, and a woman (Others have announced, but have withdrawn). While no Jew declared his/her intention to run, our interest is no less peaked. Competition is appreciated, desired, and truly compelling, but a Democratic ticket will not officially be named until August 28, 2008, and thus, the first issue that the Jewish Caucus takes aim at: Why have Americans become subject to 2-year long campaigns?

YDAJC cannot condone the expenditure of over $420 million (up to now) by candidates who have been announcing their candidacy since December 2006. As important as spreading one’s message is and while YDAJC would never consider telling people where to send their money, $420 million over the previous year could be spent on much more than political messages. America has a growing homelessness epidemic, rising college tuition costs that are being passed onto its’ high school graduates, and the continued disparity between the upper 1% of Americans and the impoverished of not only our own country, but our neighbors on this continent and across the globe.

That withstanding, there will be an election in the fall of 2008, and Young Jewish Democrats will be out in droves to elect our next president. The issues we are most concerned about are not much different that the rest of America; 1) The War in Iraq & the US’s strained relationship with our allies and the Middle East 2) Ending the Genocide in Darfur and 3) Immigration Reform.

YDAJC takes clear, concise positions on all 3 of these issues:

• The War in Iraq was a mistake. We must begin to bring our troops home as soon as logistically and realistically possible, leaving the Iraqi security forces responsible to patrol and protect their own land. It is America’s continued presence in Iraq that the region is considered “unstable”. Because of the unimaginable hard-headedness of our President, relationships with foreign allies have been strained, and America has taken what can almost be considered a “go at it alone” attitude. We must invite our allies to the diplomatic table, accept the embarrassment of our actions, and take the necessary non-military actions necessary to bring stability to the country.

• As many as 400,000 people have been killed in Darfur. Another 2.5 million have been driven from their homes and into danger. The threat of rape, torture, murder and malnutrition pursue the women and children of Darfur wherever they flee. The comparisons to the Holocaust are clear and need not be spoken. World leaders must unite now to end the genocide and establish a lasting peace in Darfur. It is not as difficult as it may seem for the YDAJC to tell President Bush to pull troops from Iraq, and then tell him and UN Sect. General Ban Ki-Moon to put a UN Peacekeeping Force into Sudan.  We have no qualms about the fact that military force, coupled with increased diplomatic pressure and humanitarian aid must be utilized to end this horrific 4-year genocide. Our next President must make this a priority of his/her administration.

• Once upon a time, Jews were the mass immigrants of this country. Hard work, dedication, family values and a close relationship with G-d is still the backbone Jewish Americans (Democrat and Republican alike) stand on today. The YDAJC does not consider any human being “illegal”. Any human being who wishes to create a better opportunity for his/her family or themselves should be afforded such opportunities. The YDAJC opposes the continued creation of bureaucratic barriers on the path to citizenship. Congress and the next President must work diligently to forge a clear path to citizenship to all prospective immigrants. It is up to the individual to adhere to the laws and precepts of our country, but the cultural differences and potential national pride that new Americans bring to this country is what has made the “salad bowl” so beautiful and delicious.

Favorable candidates to the YDAJC will be able to prove competency on the issues stated as well as on all other topics of national interest. America needs a strong leader who will implement public policy that improves the quality of life for all Americans. America needs a leader who will listen to the real constituents, not the special interests and their lobbyists. We are at a crossroads in our country. The promise of uniting as opposed to dividing was broken a long time ago. America’s next great leader not only has to lead for the next 4 (possibly years, but they will have to reach into the past and take action to heal the wounds of the current administration.

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency published a really interesting opinion piece by Naomi Chazan, former deputy speaker of the Knesset, arguing that the dialogue that American Jews regularly have about Israel should be brought out into the public sphere.

It does often seem that frequently diverging views about what policies are good for Israel get transformed into a monolithic opinion when organizational leaders speak to the press or to non-Jews.  I have heard the argument that the nuance and discussion within the Jewish community would simply make Jews look weak on Israel.  Do you think this is true?

How should we address what we do see as Israel’s flaws in the public sphere and is Naomi right that we need that discussion to be public?  Or should we stick to the region of near-universal support, namely that Israel has a right to exist?

(JTA) 

Seven of eight Jewish members on a U.S. congressional committee voted for a resolution to recognize the Armenian genocide.

The non-binding resolution, which recognizes the World War I massacre of Armenians by Turkey as genocide, passed the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday by a closer than expected vote, 27-21. The resolution is likely to go to the full House.

The only Jewish member to vote against was Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.), who cited among other reasons Turkey’s close relationship with Israel.

The measure was expected to pass by a much wider margin but faced a last-minute lobbying blitz by the Turkish government and the Bush administration, which marshalled all eight living former secretaries of state to oppose it.

Turkey has threatened to downgrade military ties with the United States if the measure passed, and intimated it would do so with Israel, too.

The closeness of the committee vote suggests it will be more difficult to pass the resolution when it comes to the House floor. Turkey’s Jews have pressed U.S. Jewish groups to oppose the measure. U.S. Jewish organizations have held back from lobbying but some groups, including the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League, have said a congressional resolution recognizing the genocide would be a strategic blunder.

Jewish congressmen who supported the resolution included the committee chairman, Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), the only Holocaust survivor in Congress. Others, including Reps. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) and Ron Klein (D-Fla.), cited Holocaust remembrance as a reason for their votes.

(JTA) The Conservative movement’s highest legal body moved to allow commitment ceremonies for gays and the ordination of gay rabbis.

With the endorsement Wednesday of three conflicting teshuvot, or halachic responsa, by the movement’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards — two upholding the longstanding ban on homosexuality and one permitting ordination of gay rabbis and commitment ceremonies — it’s likely that other rabbis will now begin performing such ceremonies, comfortable in the knowledge that they enjoy halachic sanction from the movement’s highest legal body.

Read more at http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=17355&intcategoryid=4

(Washington Jewish Week) Did the massive and controversial Republican Jewish Coalition advertising campaign work?

Not according to national exit polls.

American Jews last week voted even more overwhelmingly Democratic than in previous congressional races, according to those surveys. But the RJC is arguing that its own Election Day poll showed Jewish support for the GOP holding steady from previous years despite a strong Democratic tide, and that its ads did make an impact on the Jewish electorate.

Read more at http://www.washingtonjewishweek.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=6253&TM=34896.11

Why are there so many women in the congressional Jewish caucus?

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) cuts to the chase. It’s the Jewish-mother factor, she says: They get things done.

“Is it surprising that a Jewish mother would be in the U.S. Congress?” Schakowsky asks with a laugh. “We know how to do things. We state our minds. Often we come from educated and successful backgrounds.”

Jewish women outpace their non-Jewish counterparts in the Congress, both in terms of the relative Jewish population in the United States - about 2 percent - and in terms of the male-to-female ratio in Congress.

Women hold 67 of the 435 seats in the US House of Representatives, or about 15 percent. Of the 26-member Jewish contingent, seven are women, more than 25 percent.

They are Schakowsky; Susan Davis (D-Calif.); Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.); Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.); Jane Harman (D-Calif.); Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.); and Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.).
Continue reading Jewish Women on Rise in Congress - From the Jerusalem Post…

(JTA) Jews increased their numbers by two in the U.S. Senate and at least four in the U.S. House of Representatives. U.S. Rep. Bernie Sanders, an Independent who was backed by the Democrats, won Vermont´s Senate seat. U.S. Rep. Ben Cardin, also a Democrat, was projected to win Maryland´s seat. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, an Independent in Connecticut who has pledged to vote with the Democratic caucus, also won. Another two Jewish incumbent senators are up for re-election this year and were projected to win: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.); and Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) The wins would raise Jewish representation in the Senate to 13, the most Jews that body has had. There were 26 Jews in the House in the last Congress. Six Jewish Democrats — in Florida, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Arizona, Kentucky and New Hampshire — were projected to win freshman bids. That means at least 30 Jews will serve in the House in the next Congress, with Cardin and Sanders ascending to the Senate.

U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman defeated Ned Lamont, the cable TV magnate who used anti-Iraq war sentiment to best Lieberman in the Democratic primary. Lieberman, who backed the Iraq war, ran as an independent but pledged to vote with the Democratic caucus. Exit polls suggested Lieberman, the first Jew to feature on a viable presidential ticket in 2000, garnered 60 percent of the Jewish vote and Lamont garnered 40 percent. Lieberman had drawn significant pro-Israel funds and Jews from around the region went to Connecticut to help get out the vote.
Continue reading JTA Election Update…

Hey everybody,

It’s that time of year again. Tomorrow, we get another chance to shape the future of our great nation. In the past 6 years, we have experienced some of the worst times in our nation’s history. Not only have we seen record deficits and been exposed to a culture of fear, but we have watched the erosion of our most fundamental rights. As Jews, we know first hand the importance of respecting the legal and political safeguards on executive power and we understand why the separation of church and state is at the core of what it means to be American. It is our responsibility to exercise another of our critical rights, in order to protect the rest of them.

By voting tomorrow, you have a chance to stand up and say that civil liberties are important, that America is not a fundamentally “Christian Nation,” but a pluralistic one, and that our country needs a new direction. Though the last six years have been ample evidence for why we need a change, Republican’s continue to pile on the reasons. For the latest winner, I would like to refer you to Republican Representative and US Senate Candidate Katherine Harris who prayed to “bring the hearts and minds of our Jewish brothers and sisters into alignment.”

Listen to the full prayer at http://www.stanford.edu/~jpasek/HarrisPrayer.mp3, and if anyone asks you why Jews vote Democratic, just point them this way.

But whatever you do, don’t forget that everything comes down to turnout. Even if 90% of Americans know in their hearts and in their heads that we are staying the wrong course in Iraq and at home, we can only change things if we get people to the polls. Elections are sometimes decided by 1 vote, and making sure that you vote and that all of your friends vote is the most important thing you can do.

Here’s to real change in 2006,

Josh Pasek
Chair, YDAJC