Ambassador Ron Dermer: 'Jews are both a people and a faith'
The Israeli envoy to Washington made the remarks during a Hanukkah event at the embassy, where a menorah made of fragments of rockets fired from Gaza against Israel was lit.
By OMRI NAHMIASRon Dermer at a Hanukkah event at the Israeli embassy in Washington, where a menorah made of fragments of rockets fired against Israel was lit (December 17, 2019).(photo credit: OMRI NAHMIAS)
WASHINGTON – Israeli Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer has thanked US President Donald Trump for signing an executive order to fight antisemitism on college campuses."Last week, President Trump used his executive authority to confront Jew-hatred on college campuses, which have become ground zero in the shameful attempt to defame and demonize the Jewish state and where many Jews feel unsafe to express their identity," Dermer said on Tuesday during a candle lighting event ahead of Hanukkah at the embassy of Israel in Washington."I found it interesting that when President Trump made that decision, a debate broke out on social media about whether Jews are a people or merely a faith," he added."For over a century, anti-Zionists, both Jewish and non-Jewish, have sought to deny that Jews are a people. Anti-Zionist Jews have denied that Jews are people out of a genuine fear that non-Jews would persecute them for being part of a separate nation," he continued.“Anti-Zionist non-Jews have denied that Jews are a people in order to deny the Jewish people the right of self-determination that all peoples enjoy. Either way, regardless of what one's motives are and what nonsense goes on in the Twitter-sphere, the fact is that the Jews are both people and a faith,” he remarked.Community leaders, members of Congress and administration officials both from the US and Israel attended the event, in which Dermer invited nine guests to light the menorah.The ambassador explained to the audience that the menorah was made of Qasam rockets that were fired from Gaza to Israel."Tonight, we will light a menorah made of material from Qasam rockets, showing once again how Israel transforms death into life and darkness into light," he concluded.
