In recent days, Congressman Keith Ellison (pictured), a leading candidate to Chair the Democratic National Committee, has been described as everything ranging from a great friend of Israelto an anti-Semite. "The Simon Wiesenthal Center is, of course, deeply concerned about Congressman Ellison's early defense of anti-Semite, Nation of Islam's Louis Farrakhan, his interaction with extremistclerics in the Middle East and his comments alleging that Israel dictates US Middle East policies," said Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper, Dean and Founder and Associate Dean of theSimon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish Human Rights NGO. "However, it is Congressman Ellison's vote against US funding for the life-saving Iron Dome during the war in Gaza that remains indefensible. The Iron Dome saved Jewish, Muslim, andChristian civilian lives in Israel. Further, without the Iron Dome, there would have been a full scale Israeli assault on missile launching sites throughout Gaza. It's successful deploymentspared the civilian population of Gaza from the trauma of all-out war. 395 of Ellison's colleagues in the House of Representatives understood the Iron Dome's critical importance. Only 7congressmen agreed with Congressman Ellison." "People can have different views about the Middle East, but anyone who opposed the Iron Dome while rockets were raining down on innocent Israelis shows someone who is more likely to supporta one-State solution than a two-State solution," Hier and Cooper added. "Selecting Congressman Ellison to DNC Chair at this critical and unsettled time in the Middle East would send the wrong signal at the wrong time," Wiesenthal Center officials concluded. For more information, please contact the Center's Public Relations Department, 310-553-9036, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter feed. The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at internationalagencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino). |
