Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on August 16, 2017

(JTA) The Anti-Defamation League joined critics of President Donald Trump in condemning his assertion that there was blameon both sidesin Charlottesville, where neo-Nazis faced off protesters.

Trump said this during a speech Wednesday, four days after the slaying of a 32-year-old woman in the Virginian city by a White supremacist.

The victim was attending a protest rally by activists against racism against a gathering of far-right supporters there, which organizers said was the largest event of its kind in over two decades. Hundreds chanted slogans against Jews, Blacks and other minorities during marches and rallies.

ADL National Director Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement he is profoundly disturbed by Trump, whom Greenblatt said went beyond the pale today in equating racist white supremacists in Charlottesville with counter protesters who were there to stand up against hate. For the second timein four days, Trump did the opposite of previous presidents who are remembered for standing up to bigotry and hate, Greenblatt added.

Trump on Sunday condemned the display of hatred and bigotry and violence on many sides, promoting claims that by not singling out the racists, he was drawing a moral equivalence between supporters of Fascism and their opponents.

On Monday, Trump did single out the far-right when he said during a statement: Racism is evil, and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.

But on Wednesday, during a press conference in New York about infrastructure, Trump appeared to revert to the view of shared blame.

Let me ask you this, Trump told a reporter who asked about the White Houses position of the far right. What about the fact that they came charging, that they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs. Do they have any problem? I think they do.

He also said: I think theres blame on both sides.

Addressing the alleged actions of James Alex Fields Jr. a 20-year-old White supremacist accused of murdering Heather Heyer and wounding 20 others by driving a car into the crowd of protesters Trump called him a murderer. Fields did a horrible, horrible inexcusable thing, Trump added.

Trumps references to violence on both sides drew criticism also in Israel.

Former justice minister Tzipi Livni wrote on Twitter that In racism, anti-Semitism and Nazism, there are no two equal sides. Theres good and theres bad, period. Yair Lapid, the leader of the Yesh Atid centrist party, also wrote: There are no two sides and that every leader must confront racism head on.

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ADL condemns Trump's talk of 'shared blame' for Charlottesville violence - Cleveland Jewish News

Category: Anti-Defamation League
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