The United States Senate on Thursday unanimously passed US Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Tim Kaine’s (D-VA) bipartisan resolution condemning all forms of anti-Semitism.
“In the United States, Jews have suffered from systematic discrimination in the form of exclusion from home ownership in certain neighborhoods, prohibition from staying in certain hotels, restrictions upon membership in private clubs and other associations, limitations upon admission to certain educational institutions, and other barriers to equal justice under the law,” Sen. Cruz said.
“This is a shameful legacy and it makes it all the more incumbent that we as a Senate, speak in one voice and stand resolved that the United States condemns and commits to combating all forms of anti-Semitism,” he added.
“Right now, we are seeing an uptick in hate crimes against Jewish communities. We have to acknowledge that anti-Semitism is real, it’s dangerous, and it’s growing. Those of us in leadership positions need to stand up against it, and I’m grateful that Senator Cruz reached out to work together on this bipartisan effort. I’m proud the Senate came together to unanimously pass our resolution that shows we will do everything in our power to combat this rise in anti-Semitism,” Kaine said.
In his remarks before the Senate, Cruz said, “We are in the midst of a wave of anti-Semitism seen both here in the United States and all over the world. In just the last few years, we have seen repeated antisemitic comments made publicly, including insinuations questioning the loyalty and the patriotism of American Jews. We've seen physical violence against Jews, including shootings in Jewish places of worship such as the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and the Chabad in Poway. We've seen a wave of physical attacks against Jews in the streets of New York. And we have seen the growth on our college campuses of movements to aggressively boycott products made by Jews in Israel. And as we've learned this week, things have gotten so bad that the New York Timeshas announced it will simply stop running political cartoons in their International edition after being criticized and forced to apologize for recently running a blatantly anti-Semitic cartoon.”
“This resolution was also prompted unfortunately by the inability of the House of Representatives to come together and vote on a resolution straightforwardly and directly condemning anti-Semitism. Too many in political life have given into the extremes, including the embrace of boycotts and at times outright hatred for Israel, the world's only Jewish state. So when the House tried to condemn anti-Semitism, sadly they were instead forced to water it down into a general resolution decrying bigotry of all sorts, listing every group they could think of,” continued Cruz.
“There’s of course nothing wrong with condemning bigotry and hatred in general. But anti-Semitism is a unique prejudice, with a unique history, that has led to unique horrors throughout history. Jews today are the most targeted religious group in the United States for hate crimes, according to the data compiled by the FBI. We need to be able to acknowledge that clearly and directly and that's what this resolution does,” he added.