California Dems suggest Israel tied to 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue attack

Ahead of the California Democratic Party State Convention, which opens in San Francisco on Friday, drafted proposals seek to link Israel to "virulent Islamophobia."

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump place stones on a memorial to the 11 shooting victims as they stand with Rabbi Jeffrey Myers outside the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, on October 30 (photo credit: KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS)
US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump place stones on a memorial to the 11 shooting victims as they stand with Rabbi Jeffrey Myers outside the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, on October 30
(photo credit: KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS)
As the California Democratic Party State Convention opens on Friday, Fox News reports that proposed resolutions include some that link Israel with "virulent Islamophobia," mandating Democratic officials to "nullify" US President Donald Trump’s Israeli policies, among them moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem.
Fox said the document the station obtained is secret.
 
One such resolution, "Commending the House for resolving to fight all racism and bigotry and for resisting the false conflation of support for Palestinian rights with antisemitism," was written by American-Israeli David Mandel. He is an elected State Assembly delegate who lived in Israel for a decade. 
 
The resolution claims that the Israeli government is welcoming support from Christian fundamentalist groups, and in so doing, is aligning with Islamophobia while ignoring how such groups display “deeply rooted antisemsitm.”
According to Fox, the resolution also claims the 2018 shooting at a Pittsburgh Synagogue was "the culmination of an alarming re-emergence of virulent antisemitism,” of the sort in which these groups allegedly rooted.
 
The news outlet cites an additional resolution that calls on Congress to demand Israel and Egypt end their blockade of the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the Hamas terror group, and “restore a semblance of normal life” for the two million Palestinians who reside in it. 
 
Executive director of Jewish Democratic Council of America Halie Soifer urged the California Democratic Party “not to fall into the trap of letting Republicans to divide us on Israel and the fight against antisemtism,” a Friday press release stated.  
“The Democratic Party remains staunchly pro-Israel,” she said, “the Democratic Platform adopted in 2016 affirms that ‘we will always support Israel’s right to defend itself.”  
Ending on Sunday, the California Democratic Party State Convention is largely seen as one of the places in which the 23 Democrats wishing to run for President in 2020 will be able to present themselves.   Attending Democrats will also elect a new Democratic Party chairperson for the state of California.