On Wednesday, I wondered whether Rep. Bill Pascrell would condemn a dual-loyalty charge one of his prominent supporters used against backers of Pascrell’s primary opponent, Rep. Steve Rothman. Yesterday, one of Pascrell’s surrogates, former Rep. Herb Klein, issued a statement dismissing the controversy as a “distraction.” But as the Washington Jewish Week reports, Pascrell’s campaign has declined to condemn the dual-loyalty slur directly.
Here’s a portion of Klein’s statement, via the Washington Free Beacon’s Adam Kredo:
“The ongoing ‘controversy’ being laid at Bill Pascrell’s door as a result of an op-ed authored by someone not affiliated with the Pascrell campaign has proven to be a distraction from the issues confronting the 9th Congressional District’s Democratic voters,” Klein said.
The campaign’s response hasn’t satisfied Rep. Rothman. His spokesman Aaron Keyak issued the following statement:
Mr. Assaf is a supporter of and donor to Congressman Pascrell. We stand by our request that Congressman Pascrell disavow these attacks and ask his supporters to stop this harmful, dishonest, and bigoted rhetoric. Questioning Congressman Rothman’s loyalty to America is a serious charge. We are disappointed that Congressman Pascrell refuses to disavow his donor’s ridiculous and unfounded attack.
Pascrell has clashed with the pro-Israel community in the past, most recently when he signed onto the controversial “Gaza 54” letter, which was disproportionately critical of Israel.
Pascrell has also come under fire for facilitating Capitol Hill meetings for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a group that has refused to condemn terrorist groups like Hamas. In 2006, Pascrell praised the organization, saying, “I want to personally commend CAIR for its work on issues including civil liberties and opening dialogue with various communities in America.”
When I reached out to Pascrell’s spokesperson Sean Darcy today, he again refused to condemn the dual-loyalty charge, telling me the same thing the campaign reportedly told the Washington Jewish Week: “[Klein’s] statement speaks for itself.”
So Pascrell is an antisemite.Apparently that is not something new. But where is the DNC? If a republican donor and supporter had said something like that on behalf of a candidate DWS would be foaming at the mouth. Is the problem here that the last secure voting bloc the democrats have is the anti-Semitic vote so they want to be able to at least make sure they don't lose that group.
Sometimes one must state what seems to me to be obvious … These charges of "dual loyalty" directed towards Jewish Americans could obviously be made against anyone. An affinity towards Israel by anyone, including a Jew, does not indicate dual loyalty. There are many reasons to care about the fate of Israel by a Jewish person or otherwise, other than the fact that it consists of 70% plus Jewish denomination. A dual loyalty charge could just as easily be better directed to Mr. Assaf and his representative Congressman Pascrell since, based on some of the things I have read, they arguably have an agenda that is against American interests. Of course Mr. Assaf's comment should be disavowed by someone running for the United States Congress!
Rothman IS an Israel-Firster. Is the truth now considered to be anti-Semitic? By law, Rothman shouldn't be permitted to run for an American office. It's a shandah.
This liar with the phony name "Israeli100' is clearly an anti-Semite. He is posting throughout Commentary so watch out for his malignant and neo-N-zi tripe.
Muslims and CAIR believe that Islam/Sharia law takes precedence over man-made law. That is treason outright. So even if someone had so-called " dual-loyalty", that is still not as bad as treason.
Truth is a slur? Care to look at this rascal rothmans voting record re AIPAC issues and israel? just coincidence? you can't fool all the people all the time. The public saw the truth and voted the rascal out.