Stiff opposition from influential Jewish groups that accuse him of anti-Semitism could derail the chances of the Left-leaning Congressman Keith Ellison, frontrunner for the chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Several Jewish community leaders have, however, strongly defended him.
As the party struggles to find a leader and a programme that would revive it from the ruins after a disastrous election season, Mr. Ellison – African American and the first Muslim in the U.S. Congress – has garnered support from Senator Bernie Sanders, several other leaders, and labour unions. But President Barack Obama and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton are reportedly not enthusiastic about his candidacy. They may support longtime favourite, Labour Secretary Tom Perez, who is expected to run. The DNC leadership race could thus turn out to be yet another contest in which an insurgent faces off with the establishment, a defining dynamic of U.S politics this year.
Sanders supporter
Mr. Ellison was a strong supporter of Mr. Sanders in the Democratic presidential primary. Setting the backdrop to the establishment’s pushback against Mr. Ellison are allegations that he defended leaders of the Nation of Islam – an African American protest movement – who were accused of racism and anti-Semitism in the 1990s.
Some Jewish groups also accuse him of being an opponent of Israel and criticise him for having voted against additional U.S. funding for Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system in 2014. His strong support of the Iran nuclear deal is also under scrutiny.
A 36-second transcript from 2010 when he ran for Congressional reelection surfaced last week, provoking Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an organisation that resists anti-Semitism. “The U.S foreign policy in the Middle East is governed by what is good or bad through a country of 7 million people. A region of 350 million all turns on a country of 7 million. Does that make sense? Is that logic? Right? When the Americans who trace their roots back to those 350 million get involved, everything changes,” Mr. Ellison is heard saying. He has explained that the comments were edited out of context and be believed that Israel and the U.S.-Israel relationship should be “key considerations in shaping U.S. policy in the Middle East.”
‘Deeply disturbing’ comments
ADL has described his original comments “deeply disturbing and disqualifying,” while prominent Jewish donor to the Democratic Party Haim Saban – he reportedly gave $12 million to a Super PAC supporting Ms. Clinton in the presidential campaign – said Mr. Ellison would be “a disaster for the relationship between the Jewish community and the Democratic Party.”
Progressive leaders of the Jewish community, particularly from Mr. Ellison’s home State of Minnesota, say these allegations are unfair after he has revised his radical positions of younger days and even apologised for some. The issue has triggered a debate in Israel too.
Knesset member backs him
Tamar Sandberg, a member of the Israeli Knesset, wrote on Facebook : “From personal experience I can say that Ellison’s position on Israel is the same as on every other issue: a progressive position, peaceful, promoting justice and equality, opposing racism, Anti-Semitism, chauvinism and homophobia of any kind and from every direction. His example is exactly what the international Left needs in order to face the wave of right-wing populism: a clear and unapologetic Left, which unites struggles between minorities, and does not allow us to be divided and conquered …. A Left that holds a determined and uninterrupted view, that does not exclude Israel from its commitment to these values. ….These allegations are nothing more than a part of the recent wave of allegations against the Left and against Muslims that have become so popular, and every one of them needs to be dismissed.”
