NEW YORK: Former President Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats “hate Israel” and hate “their religion,” igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
Trump, in an interview, had been asked about Democrats’ growing criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his handling of the war in Gaza as the civilian death toll continues to mount.
“I actually think they hate Israel,” Trump responded to his former aide, Sebastian Gorka. “I think they hate Israel. And the Democrat party hates Israel.”
Trump, who last week became the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee, went on to charge: “Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion. They hate everything about Israel and they should be ashamed of themselves because Israel will be destroyed.”
The comments sparked immediate backlash from the White House, President Joe Biden’s campaign and Jewish leaders. The vast majority of Jewish Americans identify as Democrats, but Trump has often accused them of disloyalty, perpetuating what critics say is an antisemitic trope.
At the White House, spokesperson Andrew Bates cast the comments as “vile and unhinged Antisemitic rhetoric” without mentioning Trump by name.
“As Antisemitic crimes and acts of hate have increased across the world — among them the deadliest attack committed against the Jewish people since the Holocaust — leaders have an obligation to call hate what it is and bring Americans together against it,” he said. “There is no justification for spreading toxic, false stereotypes that threaten fellow citizens. None.”
Biden’s campaign said, “The only person who should be ashamed here is Donald Trump.”
“Trump is going to lose again this November because Americans are sick of his hateful resentment, personal attacks, and extreme agenda,” said spokesman James Singer.
Jonathan Greenblatt, who heads the Anti-Defamation League, said, “Accusing Jews of hating their religion because they might vote for a particular party is defamatory & patently false.”
“Serious leaders who care about the historic US-Israel alliance should focus on strengthening, rather than unraveling, bipartisan support for the State of Israel,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Trump’s comments come as Biden has been facing mounting pressure from the progressive wing of his party over his administration’s support for Israel in its retaliatory offensive in Gaza. More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory.
While Biden continues to back Israel’s right to defend itself, he has increasingly criticized Netanyahu. After his State of the Union speech, he said he needed to have a “come to Jesus” conversation with the Israeli leader. He has also accused Netanyahu of “hurting Israel more than helping Israel,” saying, “he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken.”
Trump took particular issue with recent comments from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the country’s highest-ranking Jewish official. In a speech last week, Schumer sharply criticized Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza, warning that the civilian toll was damaging Israel’s standing around the world. He also called for Israel to hold new elections.
While the White House formally distanced itself from Schumer’s comments, the Democratic leader and key ally was voicing an opinion increasingly held across Biden’s administration.
Schumer — whom Trump accused of being “very anti-Israel now” — responded by accusing Trump of “making highly partisan and hateful rants.”
“To make Israel a partisan issue only hurts Israel and the US-Israeli relationship,” he wrote on X.
The Pew Research Center reported in 2021 that Jews are “among the most consistently liberal and Democratic groups in the US,” with 7 in 10 Jewish adults identifying with or leaning toward the Democratic Party. In 2020, it found that nearly three-quarters of American Jews disapproved of Trump’s performance as president, with just 27 percent rating him positively.
Americans have also increasingly soured on Israel’s military operation in Gaza, according to surveys from The Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. In January, 50 percent of US adults said the military response from Israel in the Gaza Strip had gone too far, up from 40 percent in November.
That number was higher among Democrats, 6 in 10 of whom said the same thing in both surveys.
Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats ‘hate Israel’ and their religion
https://arab.news/cg3j9
Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats ‘hate Israel’ and their religion
- Trump: “They should be ashamed of themselves because Israel will be destroyed”
Old Delhi iftars revive Mughal heritage, one course at a time
- Dastarkhwan-e-Jahaanuma iftars have been held in Old Delhi since 2017
- Muslim and non-Muslim participants arrive from across India and abroad
NEW DELHI: On a rooftop in Delhi’s historic walled city, guests from across India sit on cushions around a low table overlooking Jama Masjid, waiting for its sunset call to prayer — the signal to start a special iftar that will take them back four centuries, to the Mughal era, if only for a while.
Mughals ruled the Indian subcontinent between the 16th and 19th centuries. Originally from Central Asia, they carried traditions borrowed from Arabs, Persians and Ottomans, which they merged with the various local Indian styles — a fusion that marked the global revival of Islamic architecture and culture.
Jama Masjid is one of the most iconic examples of the Mughal style — a scenic background to the curated iftars that bring 40 to 50 people from across India to share a meal, knowledge and experience.
“People getting together from different walks of life, different parts of the country, different religions, different cultures coming together — it was absolutely and completely amazing,” said Arvind Sirohi, who took part in the event with his wife.
“Lovely storytelling, amazing food, and end of the day, right next to Jama Masjid in Old Delhi. The ambience, the environment, the atmosphere came together so beautifully.”
The community-led iftar experience is called Dastarkhwan-e-Jahaanuma — from Urdu words meaning a “spread of food” and “showing the world.”
For Veena Sirohi, it did exactly what the name promised by bringing together people from different communities, different parts of India, and abroad.
“I think that’s a great way of synthesizing different cultures, bringing people together, bringing the human aspect of what we all are ... we are actually all one,” she told Arab News.
“And we had some wonderful comperes who told us about … the history of Ramadan, what goes behind it, how the food is curated, and how each and every item has a specific place in the menu.”
Served in gilded bowls and plates from traditional Indian crockery, with rose petals dotting the dastarkhwan cloth, the dishes were some of the festive Ramadan delicacies, offering a taste of Mughal culinary heritage.
Among them was mutanjan, or fragrant rice cooked with ghee, sugar, saffron, cardamom, and studded with nuts, which for many Indian Muslims is traditionally the first dish to break the fast.
It was followed by shabde, a rich, slow-cooked aromatic meat stew or the Delhi biryani — a fragrant, mildly spiced saffron rice and meat dish, where marinated chicken or mutton is layered with basmati rice and cooked slowly.
The hearty feast closed with nihari, a hearty stew simmered overnight with spices and bone marrow, which emerged in the 18th century and was originally eaten by Mughal royals for breakfast.
“These are the traditional dishes which are not usually available in the market, but are specially prepared by the bawarchees (cooks) of Old Delhi. Some of the dishes are occasional dishes,” said Abu Sufiyan Khan, the founder of Tales of City, the cultural experience company that has been curating Dastarkhwan-e-Jahaanuma since 2017.
The special iftars are hosted once a week throughout the fasting month, usually on weekends. There are variations in dishes served as they come from different kitchens, as Tales of City collaborates with various local artisans and cooks.
“We are curating this with different experts and every time the menu changes,” Khan said.
“We bring all these dishes onto a single dastarkhwan, and we share this meal with the people coming from all over India to break bread together in the holy month of Ramadan, know each other, learn about each other’s culture, and create a dialogue space where we can have more meaningful conversations and an opportunity to get to know each other.”
Those who take part, like Ayandrali Dutta, a food critic, appreciate everything about the experience, especially as it takes place in Old Delhi, where the vibe is always “jovial, lively, in all positive ways” during Ramadan.
“You get to meet interesting people, you get to hear interesting stories ... It’s a great initiative to show what Ramadan is, what kind of food is eaten, talk about the cultures between Lucknow and Delhi and other parts of the country. And it just brings a lot of happiness,” she said.
“I loved it. My heart is happy, my belly is full. Nothing else I can ask for.”
