'Death to America' movement grows across US
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A left-wing New York rabbi from the reform movement, a major Jewish denomination that breaks from traditional orthodoxy, is speaking out against what he views as the Democratic Party's perceived increasing tolerance of antisemitism.
Sending a warning to Democrats, Rabbi Ammi Hirsch spoke about the 2024 elections and how liberal Jewish voters are planning to cast their ballots at the pulpit of The Free Synagogue on the west side of New York City on Friday.
"Neither I nor our synagogue engage in partisan politics. So allow me to express a nonpartisan word to all of our friends in elected office from the Democratic Party, from someone who is finely attuned to American Jewish sentiment," he said.
"Do not take American Jews for granted," Hirsch warned. "I have spoken with so many American Jews in the past few months who have surprised me with their anxiety about developments in the Democratic Party and their perception that it is becoming increasingly hostile to Israel and increasingly tolerant of anti-Zionism and antisemitism in its own ranks. Be careful. The results of the upcoming election do not only depend on Michigan."
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The rabbi's warning from the pulpit was directed at Democrats who think they can allow antisemitism to fester in the party while counting on Jewish voters. (YouTube/screenshot - Stephen Wise Free Synagogue | Getty)
Michigan has been a flashpoint for anti-Israel activism.
A group of Democrats called "Listen to Michigan" started a movement in opposition to President Biden amid his support for Israel's response to the Oct. 7 attacks in dismantling Hamas in Gaza. The movement poses a potential headache for the Biden campaign in a battleground state that has seen close margins in the last two presidential elections.
Former President Trump leads President Biden in Michigan in the Real Clear Politics average of polls by 2 points. Pollsters found among registered voters, Trump maintains 50% support compared to Biden's 42% in Michigan.
The Biden campaign has worked to ease the tension with voters in Dearborn, a city with the highest per capita Muslim population in the country. Campaign officials met with Arab American and Muslim leaders in the area in January, though that outreach was derided as "dehumanizing" by Democratic Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud.
President Joe Biden's campaign said it does not want the vote of anti-Israel agitators who chanted "Death to America."
However, following "Death to America" chants in Dearborn, the administration and campaign drew a proverbial line in the sand.
"The White House condemns these abhorrent and antisemitic remarks in the strongest terms," deputy press secretary Andrew Bates told Fox News Digital.
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"If we do not prevail, the assault on liberty and decency will not end in the Middle East. It will come to the Midwest. It will not stop at Kibbutz Beiri. It will invade Brussels, Barcelona, Berlin, Baltimore. And even if I am the last liberal in America, I will stand alone and warn of the pending disaster," the rabbi said at the pulpit. "We must all share the responsibility for restoring our country's moral sanity."
A young girl holds a Palestinian flag during an interfaith prayer vigil for Aaron Bushnell outside the Henry Ford Centennial Library in Dearborn, Michigan on March 3, 2024. (JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images))
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"Dear friends, we have some difficult days ahead. Days of anxiety, concern, uncertainty and loss. But do not despair. Jews are not a despairing people. Better days are ahead. I promise you," the rabbi said.
Fox News' Michael Lee and Timothy Nerozzi contributed to this report.