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In American Politics, Anti-Zionism Has Spilled Over into Antisemitism
(Washington Post) Matthew Schmitz - Amid rancorous debates over Israel, some Jewish leaders warn that anti-Zionism has spilled over into antisemitism, questioning not just Israeli policy but also the participation of Jews in American political life. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro described a "very dangerous" development whereby candidates were being denounced for receiving money from Jewish donors who had also donated to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a prominent pro-Israel group. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Michigan) was asked at a town hall last month why she had accepted $4.5 million from "pro-Israel lobbies." That figure comes from Track AIPAC, a group that tallies donations from pro-Israel groups as well as from individuals it deems "lobby donors." Slotkin stated that she takes no money from AIPAC, then objected to the math behind the question: "If that's counting Jewish donors and saying Jewish donors are somehow the same as 'pro-Israel lobby,' I got a problem with that, and not just as an elected official, as a Jew." She pointed out that Americans have every right to organize and donate to groups such as AIPAC. "There's plenty of groups like them that do the very same thing, a Pakistani American group, or whatever group." Casting AIPAC's activities as uniquely illegitimate suggests that Jewish Americans do not enjoy the same right to participate in political give-and-take as their fellow citizens do.