An Open Letter to DNC Chairman Ken Martin
Calls for Antisemitic Violence have NO HOME in the Democratic Party
In general, DNC Chairman Ken Martin saying that the Democratic Party is a big tent wouldn’t be a problem. What is a problem is that Martin appears to be welcoming of those who wish to “globalize the intifada.” As a Jewish-American and registered Democrat, that’s where I have a problem.
On the July 9 telecast, Martin was questioned by PBS NewsHour co-anchor Amna Nawaz following the recent New York City mayoral primary.
Amna Nawaz:
What about concerns from some of your Jewish colleagues in particular about him not outright condemning the phrase globalize the intifada in a recent interview? Some of your Jewish colleagues have said that could be very disturbing, potentially dangerous. Do you agree with that?
Ken Martin:
There's no candidate in this party that I agree 100 percent of the time with, to be honest with you. There's things that I don't agree with Mamdani that he said.
But, at the end of the day, I always believe, as a Democratic Party chair in Minnesota for the last 14 years, and now the chair of the DNC, that you win through addition. You win by bringing people into your coalition. We have conservative Democrats. We have centrist Democrats. We have labor progressives like me, and we have this new brand of Democrat, which is the leftist.
And we win by bringing people into that coalition. And at the end of the day, for me, that's the type of party we're going to lead. We are a big tent party. Yes, it leads to dissent and debate, and there's differences of opinions on a whole host of issues. But we should celebrate that as a party and recognize, at the end of the day, we're better because of it.
I’m sorry but Ken Martin had an opportunity here to outright condemn an antisemitic slogan and say it’s wrong. He didn’t. And as a longtime registered Jewish Democrat, it’s upsetting. The Democratic Party can be a big tent party but at no point should the party celebrate that there’s dissent and debate when it comes to antisemitism. Frankly, that’s just unacceptable.
Martin’s response to the question saw him get slammed by Zioness.
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin committed moral and political malpractice by responding to concerns about the “globalize the intifada” slogan—a call for violence against Jews—by claiming the Democratic Party should “celebrate” its “big tent” and “differences of opinion” to “win through addition.”
Zioness isn’t wrong here. Martin and other party leadership should listen to the Jewish community when we express very serious concerns.
In fact, just a few weeks ago, there was a recent instance where a member of the Kentucky Democratic Party state executive committee made antisemitic comments. I spoke out. The Chasidic rabbi that he targeted spoke out. But did anybody in party leadership say anything? Nothing in public. No comments directed to me in private, aside from a friend on the committee that I reached out to in private. It’s sad that we’re now living in a period where state party leaders cannot publicly condemn the antisemitism within its own ranks.
I would say the failure of the party chairman in this instance will do what the Republican Party wants: drive more Jewish Democrats away from the Democratic Party. That doesn’t mean that we’ll just happily switch to the Republican Party. The GOP doesn’t stand for the same values I do and I have no intention of voting for a Republican any time soon. Because of closed primaries, I imagine there are a large number of Jews choosing to remain as Democrats, if only to have a say in the primary.
If Ken Martin cannot outright condemn antisemitism and antisemitic slogans that are calls for incitement to violence, maybe he’s not the right person to be leading the Democratic Party. The party deserves a leader who will actually reject hateful violence and say it doesn’t have a place within the Democratic Party. That’s the problem with Martin’s comments where he’s welcoming of leftists—too many of them, in my experience, participate in antisemitic harassment of Jews on social media. The very leftists who have played a prominent role in pushing Jews out of left-wing spaces, including formerly safe LGBTQ spaces. Antisemitism isn’t a Democratic value nor is it a “difference of opinion” that I would ever want to celebrate.