Monday, December 04, 2023
Elder of ZiyonMore than a dozen Jewish members of Congress gathered on Friday for the first meeting of the U.S. House of Representatives Jewish Caucus.But following the meeting in the Cannon Office Building, convened by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, an influential Jewish Democrat from Florida, it remains unclear what the caucus will stand for as the chamber’s Jews are deeply divided over the Israel-Hamas war and other issues. Wasserman Schultz suggested the caucus was still finding its feet.There are currently official Black, Hispanic and Asian-Pacific caucuses in the House, and there are formal Jewish caucuses in state governments; one of the most active is in California. But one issue that may have prevented the formation of a House Jewish Caucus until now is the age-old question of what “Jewish” means.A concern reported by Axios — which has long been discussed among Jews in the U.S. Capitol — is that some Jewish lawmakers fear setting the precedent of establishing an explicitly religious caucus — especially because Jews tend to cherish the separation of church and state. That may be why Wasserman Schultz’s statement included the word “secular” right before “Jewish Caucus.”Another fear is that the wide differences among members of a Jewish Caucus would undermine its purported purpose: Jewish unity.In late October, [Jerry] Nadler wrangled all 24 Jewish Democrats into signing a statement backing the Biden administration’s robust support for Israel in its war against Hamas. Within weeks, that united front was crumbling, as a number of Jewish Democrats joined calls for a ceasefire.Beyond differences about the war, there are vast differences among Jews in Congress over, well, everything. Wasserman Schultz sought, and got, Miller’s membership in the caucus, making it the only one of the ethnic caucuses to have bipartisan membership. But [Ohio Republican Max] Miller is among the most enthusiastic endorsers of former President Donald Trump, while the caucus also includes Nadler and Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Dan Goldman of New York and Adam Schiff of California — all of whom played leading roles in one or both impeachments of Trump. Schiff and Trump routinely express the hope that the other is jailed.
Jews are the least homogenous group there is, rarely agreeing on anything outside - perhaps - being against antisemitism.
Which is the major reason why antisemitic conspiracy theories make so little sense. They seize on the "Jewishness" - real or imagined - of specific industries or political groups and assume that since so many members are Jewish, that points to a secret conspiracy to promote some evil Jewish agenda.
But what is that Jewish agenda? What do all these Jews actually agree upon? Practically nothing.
The difficulty of finding commonality among Jews in this caucus proves it. All these Jews in powerful political positions in the US disagree on nearly every issue, so they cannot get anything done as Jews.
But this doesn't stop antisemites from claiming that Jews are secretly plotting something bad. The "Jewish Caucus" is already feeding into these conspiracy theories.
Egypt's Shorouk News reports on the inability of the Jewish Caucus to agree to anything as proof that there is something deeply secret going on. Its headline says that the Jew gathered for "an undeclared reason" and says "Jewish Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman, who led the conference, said that effective talks took place at the session, but the congresswoman did not clarify what the attendees agreed upon."
The very existence of a group of Jews is enough to prove that they are conspiring to do something secret and underhanded. We will see plenty of these new conspiracy theories in coming weeks.
And meanwhile, we cannot even get Jews in Congress to wholeheartedly support Israel.
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