Counterpoint | Jewish community leaders should take care with their framing

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When I first read Steve Hunegs’ opinion piece “A ‘city that works for everyone’ cannot boycott its Jewish community” (Aug. 22), I was surprised by its sensationalized tone toward Minneapolis mayoral candidate Omar Fateh. I’ve come to expect baseless Islamophobia via disingenuous quote framing, but what sticks out even more is the scolding and admonishing tone that Hunegs uses when referring to his fellow Jews, specifically ones who may not share his political beliefs.

He called us a “small minority” for daring to have the stance that we do not believe the nation of Israel should be committing genocide with the aid of our tax dollars. In February of this year, the Times of Israel reported that two-thirds of American Jews oppose President Donald Trump’s Gaza displacement plan. Hunegs’ flattening of the Jewish opinion is factually incorrect, and even reinforces some of the worst stereotypes about our community.

Jewish people are not a monolith. We don’t all share the same beliefs. We do not all tacitly agree with the actions of the state of Israel. I hope that, as the executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas, Hunegs would be familiar with the “dual loyalty trope” and how dangerous it is to the Jewish community.

One would hope that the irony is not lost on Hunegs while he referenced the 1939 leaflets handed out to Minneapolis churchgoers. In his own words, “The message was unmistakable: Because most Jews voted left, their votes and voices were illegitimate and dangerous.”

And on this, the author and I find common ground. I agree that we should not be vilifying Jewish people for voting for leftist ideas and policy, but this seems to be the main tone of his piece. He chastises his fellow Jewish people for political views to his left, going so far as to call us “token Jewish supporters.”

There could be an entirely separate piece here on how this assertion decontextualizes the history around the formation of the state of Israel, but what I really want to focus on is the alignment of antizionism and antisemitism. Conflating them, in my opinion, is the most dangerous trend for the Jewish community across the globe. We touched on the dual loyalty trope earlier. Statements like this from prominent officials in the Jewish community only further this insidious dogma, reinforcing for bad actors that all Jews (using the logic of the author) always support the state of Israel. No matter what. This adds an extra layer when the qualms of other Jews are dismissed as “lesser” because they do not blindly support the actions of the state of Israel under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Hunegs seems to assert that Jews who don’t fall in line with the actions of Israel are either not Jewish enough or are damaging the reputation of our people. And to that I would say: Netanyahu has done that all by himself. Not those of us pushing for peace and aid.

Our religion is one built on debate and disagreement. It’s what makes Judaism beautiful. I’d like to close by addressing Hunegs directly: Sir, I would love to see you at our “Jews for Fateh” fundraiser on Sept. 7. I would be excited to have an honest, good-faith discussion about our beliefs, starting with your assertion that the Jewish Community Relations Council is “the consensus public affairs voice for our region’s Jewish community.” Because you certainly don’t speak for me.