The entire Democratic Oregon congressional delegation—both senators and five of the state’s six members of the House—issued a statement on Wednesday “on antisemitism and hate.”
The seven politicians cited two recent attacks being probed as hate crimes, antisemitic vandalism at the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, and a fire at a playground associated with a daycare associated with a center for African immigrants and refugees.
“Next month marks the 90th anniversary of the Nuremberg Laws, a shameful moment in recent global history when Nazi Germany etched the persecution of Jews into law,” stated the Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, and Democratic Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, Val Hoyle, Andrea Salinas, Janelle Bynum and Maxine Dexter.
“The world’s failure to respond to those laws is a sobering reminder of how injustice can take root when silence prevails,” they stated. “We cannot make that mistake again.”
After invoking the Holocaust, the seven Democrats said that it was OK to attack the Jewish state.
“We should not, however, equate legitimate and necessary criticism of the current Israeli government with antisemitism,” they stated. “Each of us will keep speaking out against Benjamin Netanyahu elevating his self-interest above all else, fueling a humanitarian crisis in Gaza with widespread hunger, malnutrition and a devastating loss of life—all while hostages remain in Hamas’s horrific captivity.”
“Legitimate criticism of a foreign country’s policy and its leaders can never devolve into prejudice against any one person or group of people, such as the swastikas scrawled at the Oregon Jewish Museum or torching a daycare that serves immigrant and refugee children,” they said. “No one should ever be targeted because of who they are.”
Rep. Cliff Bentz (R-Ore.), who has been a strong supporter of Israel and Netanyahu, did not sign the letter.
