Regrettable Presidential Name Calling
The Jewish grandson of holocaust victims don’t appreciate President Biden calling him a “semi-fascist”
Gerard Leval, courtesy of the Washington Times on Thursday:
I am the grandson of people murdered at the extermination camp of Treblinka because they were Jews. My parents lived for years under Nazi occupation. They barely survived the murderous policies of European fascism a mere two generations ago.
When World War II ended, my parents elected to leave Europe and settle in the United States.
They perceived the United States as a place of opportunity, free of the vicious politics and prejudices that had destroyed large swaths of their families and had caused them endless misery.
They would have been shocked at the notion that their son would come to be labeled a “semi-fascist” by a president of the United States. And yet, this is what has just happened.
I consider myself an observant Jew. My wife and I keep a kosher home, we observe the Sabbath and we try as best we can to follow the tenets of our Jewish tradition. As such, we have come to favor quite conservative policies.
Over the course of many years, following the guidance of my parents, I have tried to promote decency and fairness in our society. As a teenager, I marched with Martin Luther King Jr. during his campaign for fair housing in Chicago. I worked with the Anti-Defamation League when the American Nazi Party sought to harass survivors of the Holocaust in my hometown of Skokie, Illinois. For decades, I have promoted Holocaust memorialization and education. Regularly, I lecture to law students about the importance of ethical behavior. Recently, I authored a book about the struggle of the French Jewish community to achieve legal equality during the French Revolution.
Politically, I have always characterized myself as an independent. In different presidential elections during my lifetime, I have voted for Democrats and Republicans depending upon the principal issues of the day and the character of the candidates. Even today, in this polarized age, I am a registered independent.
But in the last few years, I have observed with increasing dismay as the politics of our nation have become ever more divisive and venomous. It has been a particular source of pain to watch as the most fundamental Western values have been steadily denigrated and cast aside. The vulgarity of our culture — of our movies, of our music, of our literature, of our manners — has been profoundly disturbing. Perhaps most distressing has been the growing intolerance throughout our society and especially in our educational institutions.
As an observant Jew, as the grandson of Holocaust victims and as an educated citizen of the Western world, I have watched in amazement as our institutions and our principles have been degraded.
I have found myself yearning for a return to the qualities that drew my parents to the United States as they sought to leave behind the world they had encountered in fascist-controlled Europe and which made it possible for me to have a most blessed life in this nation. It is in that context that I have felt compelled to vote for the Republican candidate in the last two presidential elections. To borrow a phrase, I wanted to see America made great again.
Today, by reason of this perspective, I am now labeled, together with millions of others who share my views, as a “semi-fascist.” My martyred grandparents would have been appalled, especially, because that label has been applied to me, not by some lunatic fringe group, but by the president of the United States.
As is my right as an American citizen, I do not agree with many policies of the political left. I do not wish to see indoctrination in our schools. I consider legalizing harmful drugs a dangerous policy. Undermining the family, the single most important cornerstone of Western civilization and of my Jewish tradition, is, in my view, destructive. Endlessly emphasizing the differences among our citizens can only tear at the fabric of our nation. Racial equity appears to me to be merely the imposition of quotas using another term. Many on the left are so sure that they hold the moral high ground that, instead of explaining their positions, they simply malign those who hold views different from theirs. Now, they have received a blessing from President Biden, who, by means of labeling his opponents with the most virulent of epithets, has vilifi ed those who disagree with him and arguably justified violent reactions against them. There are many who oppose the policies of the so-called MAGA Republicans and will, therefore, profoundly disagree with my position. That is, of course, their right as free Americans. That does not eliminate, however, their obligation to engage in dialogue and to do so respectfully. Denigrating supporters of opposing viewpoints does not solve anything. As the Talmud reminds us, a dialectic process — the exchange of ideas — is the best means of achieving understanding. It is also an excellent way to promote the Jewish concept of “shalom bayit” — peace in the house. We should all pray that, from the president on down, we can engage in constructive conversations without resorting to name-calling and vilification and thereby restore a semblance of peace to our national home.
Gerard Leval is a partner in the Washington office of a national law firm. He is the author of “Lobbying for Equality: Jacques Godard and the Struggle for Jewish Civil Rights During the French Revolution,” published earlier this year by HUC Press.