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ADL Midwest Senior Regional Director Rebecca Weininger told The
Center Square the DSA questionnaire’s first two long-form
questions are devoted to Israel instead of how candidates would
help Chicago.
“That real estate, those questions are used to ensure that that
person meets the litmus test of being against the right of Jews
to self-determination in the land of Israel. That doesn't help
anybody's lives in the Chicago area get better and in fact
contributes to rising antisemitism,” Weininger said.
The questions asked candidates whether they are anti-Zionist and
whether they support municipal-level boycott, divestment and
sanctions.
Jay Tcath, executive vice president of the Jewish United Fund in
Chicago, said the questionnaire is troubling.
“Why is Zionism the number-one topic on DSA minds? Why is only
the Jewish desire for national sovereignty and independence
being demonized by DSA?” Tcath told The Center Square.
Tcath said the mayor and city council members have plenty of
local issues to focus on.
“DSA's decision to continue to prop up the centrality of Jewish
independence in a negative way has nothing to do with the
challenges and opportunities confronting our city,” Tcath said.
Weininger said it is troubling that DSA-endorsed candidates are
required to be anti-Zionist.
“So we know that within the ranks of the DSA nationally and what
has been adopted by the Chicago DSA is that you are excluded if
you are a Jew, right? That there is no place either in the DSA
or as a candidate endorsed by the DSA if you are Jewish and you
believe in Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state,” Weininger
said.
Weininger said everybody who chooses to be identifiably Jewish
in this moment in American history is putting themselves at some
risk.
The Chicago Democratic Socialists of America did not immediately
respond to The Center Square’s request for an interview.
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