Last month, the New Jersey Assembly was scheduled to vote on a bill, A-3558, endorsing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of Antisemitism. The IHRA standard is used by 37 other states, at least 46 countries, and more than 1,200 organizations, municipalities and universities around the world. A-3558 has the support of its three bipartisan sponsors plus 54 co-sponsors, including all six who represent Union County, out of the 80 members of the state Assembly. It is a political and moral no-brainer, so why was the bill suddenly and without explanation pulled from an Assembly vote this past June 23?
According to a report in the July 4 New Jersey Jewish News, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (Democrat-District 19) determined that A-3558 did not have the support of at least 41 Democrats in the Assembly, and therefore the bill would need Republican support in order to pass. Speaker Coughlin was reported to not want to be reliant in any way on Republican support, so he simply cancelled the vote. That action effectively stopped the democratic process from taking place and cancelled the desires of Union County Assembly members Linda Carter (D-22), Jim Kennedy (D-22), Michele Matsikoudis (R-21), Nancy Muñoz (R-21), Annette Quijano (D-20) and Reginald Atkins (D-20). Democratic Party leaders have been warning Americans that President Trump represents a threat to democracy, but in our state, when the Assembly Speaker had to choose between the interests of his party and the interests of democracy in New Jersey, he chose his party. To hell with the bipartisan majority.
Jewish college students around the country are being physically attacked on campus simply for being Jewish. In Washington, D.C. in May, a young couple was shot to death while emerging from an event at the Capital Jewish Museum. Last month in Colorado, a man using a makeshift flamethrower severely burned 12 people at a Jewish community event, killing an elderly Holocaust survivor. Just this week, the Jewish Community Center in Scotch Plains received a bomb threat, disrupting programs taking place right here in our area. Peaceful protests against the Israeli government are lawful and Constitutionally protected, but the violence and discrimination being directed toward Jews needs to stop. Most elected officials in both political parties recognize the need to define and fight Antisemitism, but others appear to tolerate or even endorse anti-Semitic conduct. Speaker Coughlin needs to choose whose side he is on, and he needs to decide that right now.
