Joel Petlin
Newsweek, Aug. 12, 2022
“There are wrong ways and right ways to talk about George Soros and other Jews in the news.”
We should all be extremely sensitive to the dehumanizing language used by antisemites, and the discrimination and even violence that often comes from it. Antisemitism must always be denounced evenhandedly, whether it’s coming from Democrats on the Left or from Republicans on the Right. But before using the “A” word we must try to fully understand the context of a statement and not rush to judgment.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio has provided a perfect example. In a floor speech on the $749 billion Inflation Reduction Act, he criticized the wasteful spending and pointed out that crime prevention is a much greater issue for most Americans than getting a tax break on an electric car. Tweeting out a video excerpt of the speech, Senator Rubio wrote, “The democrats just blocked my effort to try & force Soros backed prosecutors to put dangerous criminals in jail.”
What the senator was referring to was the fact that George Soros, a Jewish Hungarian-American billionaire, funded the campaigns of many progressive candidates in local district attorney races. His numerous political action committees were very effective in these campaigns, spending millions of dollars on each, with a focus on police misconduct, cashless bail and criminal justice reform. Soros spent $1.5 million on ads to elect Larry Krasner as District Attorney in Philadelphia, $2.5 million on George Gascon in Los Angeles, $2 million on Kim Foxx in Chicago, and $1.1 million to elect Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg. In all, 24 far-left prosecutors were elected with the financial backing of George Soros. Each of them have established policies that many argue are “soft on crime,” because these DAs often choose not to prosecute various criminal offenses.
Though Senator Rubio was accurate in his statement that the prosecutors were backed by Soros, the Twitter response was nevertheless fierce. New York congressman Jerry Nadler called Rubio’s comment a “conspiracy of Jewish $” and an “antisemitic trope.” NBC contributor Joyce Alene said, “Sometimes the dog whistle is just outright anti-Semitism.” Actor George Takei announced that “Non-Jews need to call out this anti-Semitism too.” Reporter Helen Kennedy described it as “Rubio putting out the old canard that rich Jews are manipulating the Justice system.” Washington Post columnist Max Boot declared “Every time Republicans say ‘Soros’ you should hear ‘the Jews.'” Journalist Soledad O’Brien said, “When he says ‘Soros-backed’ he means ‘Jewish.’ But you already knew that.” Even teachers’ union head Randi Weingarten joined the attack, commenting, “This is an example of how anti-Semitism takes root and spreads.” Source
