Trump’s Attack on the Loyalty of American Jews
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/22/opinion/letters/trump-american-jews-democrats.html Version 0 of 1. To the Editor: Re “Trump Accuses Jewish Democrats of ‘Disloyalty’” (front page, Aug. 21): As an American Jew, I find President Trump’s claim that I am disloyal for not supporting the Netanyahu government both absurd and offensive. It is laughable that the president, whose own behavior demonstrates disloyalty to the Constitution, his country, his wives and his oath of office, thinks he can lecture me about loyalty. But more important, it is precisely my loyalty to the United States and our values that all people are created equal with liberty and justice for all that call me to question the erosion of these democratic values in Israel. American and Israeli politicians who promote this hateful and divisive rhetoric do not understand loyalty or what it means to be an American Jew. Andrew GuntherOakland, Calif. To the Editor: Where does Donald Trump get the chutzpah to tell American Jews such as myself that voting for a Democrat is disloyal? First of all, my national loyalty is to America, not to Israel, though I am a supporter of that county’s right to survive and thrive in this increasingly belligerent world. Second, just because I am Jewish does not mean I have to favor everything Israel does any more than I have to agree with everything America does. This sort of thinking is emblematic of Mr. Trump’s belief that members of all religions, ethnicities and races necessarily think alike, just one of the many misconceptions that characterize his ignorance of the world. Fredric MannRedmond, Wash. To the Editor: As usual, President Trump has it backward. By voting for Mr. Trump and the current G.O.P. candidates, Jews would be forsaking their Jewish values of compassion, justice and repairing — not destroying — the world. Ellen Shaffer MeyerWilmington, Del. |