You are reading

Queens Officials Condemn DSA Questionnaire Asking Candidates to Forgo Travel to Israel

Speaker Corey Johnson and the NYC Council March in the 2018 Celebrate Israel Parade – John McCarten (Flickr NYC Council)

Aug. 14, 2020 By Allie Griffin

Several Queens elected officials have condemned a Democratic Socialist of America (DSA) questionnaire that calls on New York City council candidates to forgo official travel to Israel.

The New York City chapter of DSA (NYC-DSA) questionnaire asks council candidates if they “pledge not to travel to Israel if elected to City Council in solidarity with Palestinians living in occupation.”

A screenshot of the question was tweeted by a NY1 reporter Thursday night, which created an uproar on the social media platform.

Several Queens politicians condemned the NYC-DSA request and called it anti-Semitic.

Members of the City Council have made trips to Israel in the past, including delegations under current Speaker Corey Johnson as well as former speakers Melissa Mark-Viverito and Christine Quinn, according to reports.

The trips were funded by the Jewish Community Relations Council, a nonprofit that connects New York City Jewish organizations.

Council Member Robert Holden, a long-time critic of the DSA, condemned the political group and said he’d happily take a trip to Israel with the City Council.

“Not surprising to see despicable content coming from @nycDSA, but the outright anti-Semitism on display here is sickening,” Holden wrote on Twitter.

Assembly Member David Weprin, who represents northeast Queens, called the NYC-DSA request “a brazen act of hate.”

“With anti-Semitism surging across the country, I am disgusted by this brazen act of hate by @nycDSA,” he tweeted.

State Senator Joseph Addabbo also called the NYC-DSA request anti-Semitic.

“No matter your political leanings, for many, a visit to Israel is a visit to their family’s homeland, a holy site of their religion or to improve important relations,” he said in a statement. “We do not ask people not to travel to China or other countries that suppress human rights.”

Several members of the Jewish Caucus of the New York City Council — including Queens Council Members Karen Koslowitz, Barry Grodenchik and Rory Lancman — also noted that Israel was “the only such country awarded this dishonor” and called the pledge “rank anti-Semitism.”

“No political organization should etch into its platform such blatant anti-Semitism as a pledge not to visit the Jewish state, and no candidate for public office should seek the support of an organization that does,” the caucus members wrote in a statement.

However, a spokesperson for the NYC-DSA said Israel is the only country that council members are regularly taken to visit.

“Members of the City Council are regularly taken on an expenses-paid trip to Israel that functions primarily as a political junket to foster ties between local officials and the Israeli state,” the spokesperson said. “It is the only country that Council Members are regularly taken on delegations to visit for this purpose.”

The spokesperson also said the DSA request of candidates to avoid travel to Israel doesn’t apply to personal trips.

“We are in no way opposed to trips in a personal capacity to visit family or for other personal reasons,” the spokesperson said.

NYC-DSA said that elected officials should represent New York’s large Palestinian community just as much as they represent other communities.

“Palestinians have lived under military occupation and siege, been displaced from their homes and denied freedom of movement for decades,” NYC-DSA said in a statement.

“Given that there has been an explicit call from Palestinians to not go on such government junkets and to put pressure on Israel to end the occupation and discrimination through boycott, divestment, and sanctions, we asked prospective candidates whether they would respect that call.”

email the author: [email protected]

2 Comments

Click for Comments 
I Hate Genocide

There is no reason the taxpayers of NYC should pay for these pandering clowns to go eat hummus and falafel. The only reason they go is get silly people to vote for them.

Reply

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

CM Moya announces support for massive Metropolitan Park proposal near Citi Field

Council Member Francisco Moya announced his support for Metropolitan Park, a proposal put forward by New York Mets owner Steve Cohen and Hard Rock International that calls for the construction of a casino and entertainment complex on the parking lot just west of Citi Field.

In a lengthy statement released on Thursday afternoon, Moya said that when he was first approached about the project, his main consideration was ensuring that it would meet the needs of his constituents and provide a major boost to the local economy.

Long Island man charged in fatal Flushing hit-and-run that left 81-year-old man dead: NYPD

A Long Island truck driver was arrested on Tuesday and booked at the 109th Precinct in Flushing for a fatal hit-and-run collision that killed a Murray Hill senior who was riding an electric bike on Northern Boulevard three months ago.

Kyle Schreiber, 27, of Lincoln Boulevard in Hauppauge, was charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in the death of 81-year-old Peter Seo on the morning of Thursday, Dec. 28.