What Will A Trump Administration Mean For American Jews?
Trump has appealed to supporters of Israel and anti-Semitic groups alike.
Like many minority groups in the United States, American Jews are processing what the incoming Trump administration will mean for their community.
Trump has made very specific appeals to supporters of Israel. He says he’ll move America’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, which he calls the “eternal capital of the Jewish people.”
At the same time, he has also appealed to openly anti-Semitic white nationalist groups. They considered him their candidate during the campaign. After a white nationalist conference in Washington D.C. last weekend… the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum released a statement that included the following passage:
“The Holocaust did not begin with killing; it began with words. The Museum calls on all American citizens, our religious and civic leaders, and the leadership of all branches of the government to confront racist thinking and divisive hateful speech.”
Trump has since disavowed those anti-semitic groups.
Detroit Today host Stephen Henderson speaks with David Kurzmann, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council and American Jewish Committee here in Metro Detroit.
“A vote for President-elect Trump was not by many seen as a vote for racism,” says Kurzmann. “That it was a vote for other things.”
“But the reality is, since the election, we have seen an uptick in incidents… that are targeting minority communities,” he says. “And the Jewish community has been victim of this as well. And in our view, attack on one minority community is an attack on all of us. And we are in a position where we have to stand up and speak up about that.”
Click on the audio player above to hear the full conversation.
