(Photo credit: Reuters)
During several interviews, Trump has mentioned his intents for running for president, saying he is the only politician that will actually stand up for Israel and the people of Israel as opposed to the rest who are just talk. “I know so many people from Israel. I have so many friends in Israel. First of all, the Israelis are great business people. They have a natural instinct for business and their start-ups are fantastic. I deal with the Israelis all the time, and I deal with people who are Jewish all the time, whether they are Israeli or not,” Trump said to JNS.org during an interview. Further proof of the Trump’s family support of Israel is that Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, converted back to Judaism in 2009 and observes Shabbat along with her husband, Jared Kushner.However, Trump made headlines due to his derogatory and racist comments, where he accused thousands of Mexicans living in the US of being criminals and rapists. He not only accused Mexicans, but all those from Latin America. “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people. It’s coming from more than Mexico. It’s coming from all over South America and Latin America…”Donald Trump forgot that Trump’s remarks were so offensive to Latinos that one of the most important Spanish-speaking news stations, Univision, decided to censor Miss USA, one of Trump’s biggest businesses. Many Latino celebrities such as Shakira, J. Balvin, Rosselyn Sanchez (Miss USA host), Ricky Martin, and Lupita Jones have called Trump out. Hollywood award-winning actress America Ferrera even wrote him a letter regarding his insulting comments. Last but not least, the famous Huffington Post put any articles about Donald Trump under the entertainment section.What Trump forgot was that there are also Mexican-Jews, Venezuelan-Jews, Peruvian-Jews, Jews from Nicaragua, and the list goes on. Those Latino-Jews are what we know today as Sephardic-Jews. Not all Latinos are lazy, criminals, or rapists, as Trump seems to believe. Perhaps he has forgotten that Latinos are not the only immigrants. Trump simply accused Latinos and put them all in one category. He mentioned that those who immigrate to America, a nation built by immigrants, are not the best ones, but are the ones who are not productive.Perhaps Trump has forgotten that we have immigrants from Eastern Europe, like his wife, as well as immigrants from Asia, the Middle East, and many other parts of the world.On my first visit to Israel, I met many Latino-Jews — the Argentinians, the Colombians, the Chileans, etc. — and in Israel, it didn’t really matter what country you immigrated from, your skin color, or you bank account. It mattered how much you loved the heritage, the culture, and, of course, the faith. Maybe Trump forgot to ask a rabbi if there were Latino-Jews, and if any of them live in Israel.There are many people who heard this speech and the majority of Latinos felt offended because Trump made no separation between immigrants who crossed the border from those who overstayed in the U.S. and became undocumented. Many of my Latino-Jewish friends believed that Trump went far with his comments, and forgot that when WWII was over, thousands of Jews immigrated across the globe to start over. One of the countries that welcomed the Jews and provided shelter and support was the United States. Not only that, there are still people who escape persecution and immigrate across the world to provide a better future for their families. Hard work, persistence, and never giving up are how many immigrants, regardless of their ethnicity, faith, or skin color, live and think on a daily basis in America. They need to survive. Many come to keep building this country up and bring with them their traditions, faith, and optimism.Mr. Trump said it clearly, “this problem not only comes from Mexico, but from all over Latin-America and South America.”I disagree.