So, this past week Chuck Schumer makes a speech in which he calls for Israelis to dump Netanyahu and bring in a governing coalition that will find some way to protect the Zionist state from terrorism without demolishing the Arab and Palestinian cities in the Gaza Strip.
Schumer is identified by GOP-leaning media as ‘America’s top Jewish leader.’ And this media goes on to say how the war in Gaza has got the Democrats all worried about the 2024 election because, after all, the Democrat(ic) Party will be in all kinds of trouble if it doesn’t have the support of America’s Jews.
Here’s my question: Since when did Chuck Schumer become a ‘top leader’ of America’s Jews? Is it simply assumed that if you’re a politician who comes from New York that this puts you in a Jewish leadership position? In that case, how come Donald Trump isn’t considered a ‘top leader’ for the Jews? He may live in Florida, but everyone knows he’s from New York.
Let’s get serious, okay? Want to get an idea of who really constitutes the ‘top leadership’ of the Jewish community in the United States? You can meet them all right here. This organization, the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations (CPM) which has been in business for more than 50 years, brings together the leadership of virtually every Jewish organization of any size in the United States, and together, the total membership of the 54 organizations which belong to the Conference probably represent more than half of America’s 5.9 million Jewish adults.
Of all the various ethnic populations in the United States, Jews are somewhat unique in the strength and resources of their organizational network which first appeared when more than 2 million Jews came to America from Eastern Europe between 1880 and 1922. Almost immediately upon their arrival, Jews put together self-financed social welfare programs, medical services, educational activities, and political lobbying efforts, all of which were simply the American version of similar groupings which had existed on the ‘other side.’
The degree to which American Jews self-financed their continued adhesion to Jewish culture and Jewish heritage expanded enormously when the Zionist state became an independent nation-state after 1948. Nobody has been able to come up with a definitive number, but I would probably be understating the amount of money sent to Israel by American Jews if I were to peg the overall total at somewhere around $150 billion bucks.
So, given the longstanding relationship between American and Israeli Jews, and given the importance of the organizations whose leadership comprises the people who together run the CPM, you would expect that their website would contain some messaging about what’s going on in Gaza, right?
Here’s the latest statement from the Conference: “The Jewish State has a security and moral imperative to continue this campaign, as evidenced by the IDF’s successful rescue of two hostages just days ago. US assistance has been vital to the effort thus far, including the deployment of naval strike groups and aircraft carriers, multiple provisions of arms, and diplomatic efforts. With the war in its fourth month and 134 hostages remaining in the hands of terrorists, the US cannot lag in its support of this strategic ally.”
This statement tells us that the heads of such organizations as the American Jewish Congress, the Anti-Defamation League, HIAS, ORT and other groups which have traditionally made strong efforts to repair and promote social welfare of both Jews and non-Jews in the United States is equally concerned about the situation in Gaza and would certainly step up behind Schumer’s call for an end to the Netanyahu Parliamentary regime.
Isn’t that what you would think? Yea, as Grandpa would say ‘vais nisht’ (read: who cares.)
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