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January 26, 2010

Jewish Dems Tell Mark Kirk: Back Up Words with Action

Listed in: Other Domestic Policy, GOP Hypocrisies, NJDC News, Press Releases

Ira N. Forman, CEO of the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC), released the following statement:

Since last Wednesday, the National Jewish Democratic Council has been urging Illinois U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk to sign a pledge condemning ‘abusive Holocaust rhetoric and anti-Semitic language’ in the 2010 campaign cycle. So far, we have received no response, although the leading Democratic candidates have signed the pledge. Yet on Monday, as we mark the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Congressman Kirk rightly took to his House website to speak about the need to ‘reaffirm our commitment to fight anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial in our day - at home and around the world.’ This leaves us with one question: if he feels as he does, why won’t he take a stand against inappropriate Holocaust comparisons and anti-Semitic rhetoric during this campaign season? Why not follow up words with action, and help strike this awful rhetoric from our politics?

Caustic Holocaust rhetoric and anti-Semitic language in politics has served as a profoundly divisive and corrosive force in our public discourse, and it simply has to stop. If Mark Kirk’s words have meaning, he will take a stand against abusive Holocaust rhetoric and anti-Semitic language - by anyone claiming to support his candidacy or attending his campaign events.