NOVEMBER 7 • 2019 | 11
Nazis as “very fine people” as
he did in the wake of the 2017
white supremacist rally in
Charlottesville, Va., that killed
Heather Heyer and injured
dozens more. But he has con-
stantly invoked centuries-old
anti-Semitic tropes before
Charlottesville and since.
He told a Jewish audience,
“You’
re not going to support
me because I don’
t want your
money … You want to control
your politicians, that’
s fine.
”
He referred to Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
as “your prime minister”
while speaking to a group of
Jewish Americans. He claimed
American Jews who support
Democrats demonstrate
“either a total lack of knowl-
edge or great disloyalty.
” This
list doesn’
t even touch on the
numerous Jewish Americans
he has repeatedly vilified and
blamed for our country’
s ills.
Why must we sound the
alarm over remarks like
these? Why are they danger-
ous? Again, it is instructive
to recall Kristallnacht. The
United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum puts it
best: “Kristallnacht was a turn-
ing point in the history of the
Third Reich, marking the shift
from anti-Semitic rhetoric
and legislation to the violent,
aggressive anti-Jewish mea-
sures that would culminate
with the Holocaust.
”
We cannot afford to wait.
The anti-Semitism of this
administration should be of
unique concern to the Jewish
community because it aims
to pit us against other com-
munities and each other — to
divide us when it’
s most crit-
ical that we stand together
against white supremacy.
We must loudly and consis-
tently call out anti-Semitism
in all its forms — whether it
comes from our adversaries
or our friends, and whether it
is promulgated intentionally
or unknowingly. We have a
responsibility to honor the
memories of the victims of
Kristallnacht and other atroc-
ities by speaking out, even
when it’
s not easy. And we
must strive to do so in a way
that truly fosters understand-
ing.
As a member of Congress,
I have worked to encourage
these conversations which,
while sometimes uncomfort-
able, ultimately bond us to
one another in friendship. On
this solemn anniversary, let us
recommit ourselves to these
responsibilities so that, togeth-
er, we might build a safer,
more compassionate world.
Andy Levin is the U.S. representative
for Michigan’
s 9th Congressional
District.
KRISTALLNACHT continued from page 6
November 21 & 22 2019
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