Climate Change Group Boycotts D.C. Voting Rights Event over ‘Zionist’ Participation

The District of Columbia chapter of the Sunrise Movement, a radical group of climate change activists, announced Wednesday that it would not participate in a local voting rights rally because of the involvement of “Zionist” groups.

In a statement, which is now “protected” from view on Twitter, but remains archived, Sunrise DC announced that it was refusing to speak at the rally due to the participation of a number of Zionist organizations.”

It specified: “This [sic] includes the Jewish Council on Public Affairs, the National Council of Jewish Women and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, which are all in alignment with and in support of Zionism and the State of Israel.”

The statement went on to state a number of false claims about Israel, including the claim that it occupies Gaza, which is run by the Hamas terrorist group. It also urged the voting rights group, the Declaration for American Democracy, to expel the Jewish pro-Israel groups.

Zionism is the belief in the right of Jewish people to self-determination in the historic land of Israel. It is the founding idea of the State of Israel; to be anti-Zionist is to deny Israel’s right to exist. Given the fact that the State of Israel has been a refuge for millions of Jews in the aftermath of the Holocaust, including those fleeing new waves of persecution, anti-Zionism is virtually synonymous with antisemitism, in effect if not also in intent — especially when Israel is signed out for criticism.

There are Jewish groups on the left and on the right who support Israel, though left-wing groups are more critical lately.

The Times of Israel reported that the Anti-Defamation League said that Sunrise DC’s stance was simple antisemitism.

The Sunrise Movement has been prominent in supporting the Green New Deal favored by many Democrats in Congress.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.