Report: Chief Dem Staffer Says Office Doesn’t Care About Anti-Semitism

[additional-authors]

Aaron Bandler

January 19, 2018

Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

A top staffer to a Democratic senator reportedly said that his office isn’t concerned about anti-Semitism.

The alleged comment came about in regards to Kenneth Marcus, who founded the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law (LDB) and has been nominated to the Department of Education’s assistant secretary of education of civil rights. Marcus is being falsely accused by anti-Israel organizations of advocating for suppressing free speech of those who are critical of Israel.

Sarah Stern, founder of the Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET) and a former colleague of Marcus, wrote in Jewish News Service (JNS) that she attempted to talk to a Democratic staffer on the Senate Heath, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee, which is handling Marcus’ confirmation proceedings, about the smears against Marcus but the staffer dismissed her by allegedly stating, “We do not care about anti-Semitism in this office.”

Stern provided more details to the Washington Free Beacon, which reported that the unidentified staffer was a senior policy adviser to Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the ranking Democrat on the HELP Committee. The full quote from the staffer to Stern allegedly was, “We don’t care about anti-Semitism in this office. We care about transgenders, we care about blacks, we care about Hispanics, we care about gays, we care about lesbians, we care about the disabled. We don’t care about anti-Semitism in this office.”

“If I were an African-American speaking about a black civil rights organization, would the adviser have ever thought to utter similar words?” Stern wrote in JNS.

Murray’s office has disputed Stern’s accusation.

“This is not an accurate quote and certainly doesn’t reflect the position of the office,” Murray spokesperson Eli Zupnick told the Free Beacon.

Marcus’ record includes working on the U.S. Civil Commission for Civil Rights from 2004-2008. He founded LDB in 2012 to ensure that Jewish students on college campuses receive equal protection under law.