As I write this letter, more than one week has passed since an avowed white supremacist murdered a counter protester and injured 19 others at “Unite the Right,” a rally in Charlottesville, Va. organized and attended by neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members and other white supremacists.
Donald Trump initially claimed that the counter protesters were just as much to blame for the deadly violence that occurred in Charlottesville as the monsters who shouted, “Jews will not replace us,” and “Blood and soil,” as they marched down a public street with torches and weapons.
After overwhelming public pressure to condemn these unrepentant bigots, Trump relented and read a prepared statement calling out white supremacists by name.
However, furious at being forced by staffers to read a statement that condemned many of his core supporters and (gasp!) admitted that he was wrong, Trump defiantly returned to his original “everyone is to blame and neo-Nazis aren’t actually so bad” stance at what was supposed to be a press conference on infrastructure.
While the vast majority of local Democratic politicians (including U.S. Congresswoman Kathleen Rice and Nassau County Legislator Laura Curran) immediately and definitively condemned, by name, the hatemongers in Charlottesville, the vast majority of local Republican politicians did their best to either ignore or tiptoe around Charlottesville, afraid of appearing “anti-Trump” and losing support among their base.
As I pointed out last week, Republican candidate for Nassau County executive Jack Martins refused to call out the white supremacists in Charlottesville by name and made a purposely ambiguous statement on Facebook (“Violence is not the answer”) that either endorsed the white supremacists or blamed the counter protesters.
Martins’ complicity with the white supremacists was revolting enough, but even more revolting was the reaction (or lack thereof) of his protégé, state Sen. Elaine Phillips.
As of Aug. 22, Phillips has made no public statement, either via official press release or social media, regarding Charlottesville.
The closest she came was a statement released via Facebook on Aug. 15 (3 days after the murder in Charlottesville), in which she touted a bill signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo that made community-center bomb threats just as serious a crime as those made against public properties.
I agree that the law Gov. Cuomo signed was important in the wake of a large number of bomb threats made against Jewish community centers across the country in recent months (including those here on Long Island).
However, Phillips’ timing and language made it clear that she was bending over backward not to alienate her base, while still desperately trying to appear supportive to the local Jewish community.
I’m sure some of your readers might point out that, in addition to bomb threats against Jewish community centers, Phillips also condemned the desecration of Jewish cemeteries and anti-Semitic graffiti in her Facebook statement.
To them, I would ask why Phillips would be so vocal on those matters now, when she said little or nothing about them in the past.
Since an anonymous Phillips supporter released a rabidly anti-Semitic meme targeting her Democratic opponent in last year’s election, the senator has been desperate to prove that she is not bigoted against the Jewish community. However, whenever the opportunity to forcefully speak out against anti-Semitism in our community presents itself, Phillips takes a pass, preferring meaningless platitudes at convenient times to real advocacy and action on behalf of her constituents.
Make a clear, unambiguous statement condemning the white-supremacist marchers in Charlottesville, Sen. Phillips, or admit that your professed support for Long Island’s Jewish community is nothing more than political theater.
Matthew Zeidman
New Hyde Park
