Anyone can run for public office.
And the Republicans have taken heat over a few fringe Neo-Nazis running on the GOP line. And Republicans responded by clearly disavowing them. Meanwhile the Democrats continue to support radical bigots like these.
A Democratic candidate for the California State Assembly said Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians and offered her support for anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
Maria Estrada, who is running in a district representing suburban Los Angeles, finished second in the June 5 primary with 28 percent to qualify for the November election. She will be vying for the seat against the incumbent, fellow Democrat Anthony Rendon, who also serves as the Assembly speaker.
Maria is in a top two primary so this is no longer hypothetical.
In an op-ed published in the Los Angeles Jewish Journal, Rabbi Abraham Cooper and Harold Brackman of the Simon Wiesenthal Center noted that Estrada posted last year on Facebook: “Democrats turn a blind eye to the genocide against Palestinians and justify it by bringing up the Holocaust. As if what happened 70 years ago justifies it. Anyone who believes they are one of ‘God’s chosen people’ automatically feels superior and justified in all they do.”
Despite her claims otherwise, this is not just anti-Zionist, it’s anti-Semitic language. And Estrada, like the Women’s March leaders, is a fan of Farrakhan though she claims to disagree with him on Judaism.
However, on October 6, 2017 she claimed non-Jews could not be Zionists without being influenced by Jewish friends or loved ones. In this same exchange, she commented that she “enjoys listening to Farrakhan’s sermons”, as well as claiming Democrats turn a blind eye to Palestinians, and “justify it by bringing up the Holocaust. As if what happened 70 years ago justifies what is happening now.”
Is this what the DSA and Bernie Sanders support?
The op-ed also said that Estrada tweeted that “I, for one, enjoy listening to Farrakhan’s sermons.”
In a July 6 statement, the Progressive Zionists of the California Democratic Party said in a statement that it was “concerned” about Estrada’s “public support of notorious homophobe and antisemite Louis Farrakhan and her repeated and extreme antisemitism in the guise of ‘criticism of Israel.’”
The statement pointed to other anti-Semitic Facebook posts, including one from May 10, 2017, in which Estrada posted a cartoon replacing the Star of David on the Israeli flag with a swastika — a post for which she apologized the following day — and a more recent post, on May 14, in which she criticized California Democratic Chair Eric Bauman for not keeping “your party, your religion and your people in check.”
“While we are not endorsing any candidate in this race, we must conclude that Maria Estrada’s repeated expressions of antisemitism disqualifies her from seeking public office,” the group said. “We call on Maria Estrada to resign from this race, apologize for her blatant antisemitism, and take the necessary time to consider her harmful and hateful words.”
Estrada clearly isn’t resigning. But pressure should be applied on the organizations that have endorsed her to withdraw their endorsements.
Specifically Democratic Socialists of America – Los Angeles appears to have endorsed her in its voting guide. Will DSA-LA pull its endorsement or will it continue to worsen its anti-Semitism problem by backing a bigoted candidate?
And will Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, currently the darling of the left, who had her own Jewish problem, condemn Estrada?
Estrada has been endorsed by Gayle McLaughlin, a candidate for Lieutenant Governor in California, and the former Mayor of Richmond. And her name appears on the endorsements page for Ruben Major who is running for Secretary of State of California.
Most disturbingly, she has endorsements from local chapters of Bernie Sanders’ Our Revolution.
She has been endorsed by the Long Beach, Costa Mesa, and Santa Clarita Valley chapters of Our Revolution, the political group spun out of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign.
It’s now up to Bernie to disavow her. If he doesn’t, he will continue his troubling track record, which began with Jesse Jackson, of acting as a political shield for anti-Semites.
Other endorsements appear to have come from Vox Publica, self-defined as “super-progressive”. Is this what super-progressive means?
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