San Diego Democrats fight over Israel

Could the new center of Jewish hate speech in San Diego be the Democratic Party?

“In 2018 we tried to charter a new club called Democrats for Israel,” says Andrea Beth Damsky of La Mesa. “But they shot it down. People protested. They broke into the room with bullhorns.”

She says that club was never allowed to form under the San Diego County Democratic Party umbrella. “They said we can’t have a name of another country in our club name. Meanwhile, they have since approved the creation of the Iranian Democratic Club.”

Damsky, a member of the San Diego County Democratic Central Committee, sent out a press release this week decrying how the latest meeting held via teleconference was overrun with Jew-hating rants. “At this last central committee meeting [August 25] we heard 14 speakers attempt to Jew-wash thousands of years of hateful history...Eight speakers talked about ethnic cleansing and three said Zionists are racists.”

Wait, what? The official local Democratic Party?

Will Rodriguez-Kennedy, the chairman of the San Diego County Central Committee, admits that anti-Semitic behavior is on the rise. Some of those random haters have discovered that teleconferenced San Diego County Democratic Central Committee meetings are open to the public and have used their Zoomed meetings as a sort of extremist open mic.

Plus, some longtime Dems are getting in the act.

Former Democratic Central Committee member Matt Corrales of San Marcos is running for a seat on the Vallecitos Water Board. On his social media, he said, “The state of Israel is a terrorist organization,” and “Israel has no right to exist.”

Rodriguez-Kennedy explained that Corrales was officially censured by the central committee last week for the rants he launched against Israel in general and local Jewish people specifically including Damsky.

A censure from the central committee means that Corrales can not be considered for a Democratic Party endorsement.

Calls to Corrales seeking comments for this story were not returned.

The central committee hate speech started in earnest at a Zoomed Democratic Central Committee meeting in May.

“There were, I think 150 members there,” says Larry Kornit of Oceanside, a longtime central committee member about that May meeting. “That’s when it became a war about who could put up the most things against Israel.”

One of those non-members who spoke was Karam Elhams, an engineer. According to Rodriguez-Kennedy, while he spoke to the committee via Zoom, Elhams had a sign in his background that said “Israel Kills Children,” which referred to the alleged murder of children at the hands of the U.S.-funded Israeli military.

At that point, committee member Jason Bercovitch made a point of order based what he said was a violation of the code of conduct. Chairman Rodriguez-Kennedy said he could not force someone to take down offensive messages on their Zoom background. Bercovitch then moved that such sentiments should be forbidden going forward. After other central committee members claimed that such a move would violate free speech, the motion failed.

“I think [Elhams] wants us off the face of the earth,” says one Jewish central committee member who did not want to be named. “And just last week, a dozen people spoke against the existence of Israel. And just like how the president has given space to right wing extremists to do whatever they want, space has been created for left wing extremists to say whatever they want about the Jewish community. It’s now more socially acceptable to be anti-Semitic.”

In an attempt to smooth the waters, Rodriguez-Kennedy, met with Elhams. He says it is his understanding Elhams will not post the sign again. “It is complicated. He had a niece who was shot numerous times by an Israeli defense force. However, many of our members rightfully take offense with such a broad statement that the state of Israel kills children. It is important to note that many countries have a problem of having their children killed.”

While the San Diego County Democratic Central Committee does not endorse candidates based on their position on an independent Israel, Kornit says some members have their used their own Palestine/Israel litmus test. Central committee members decide who gets the official Democratic endorsement.

“Things are done in silent,” says Kornit. “They ask you if you support the HR resolution 2407. They say 'I can’t vote to give you an endorsement in the central committee if you don’t support it.'”

HR 2407 is a congressional bill officially called “Promoting human rights for Palestinian children living under Israeli military occupation act.” It is widely thought to be an anti-Israel motion.

Rodriguez-Kennedy says he is not aware of any such vetting that has been done by individual members of the central committee. “We have no such litmus test on that.”

Rodriguez-Kennedy says he wants the central committee to hold a meeting similar to the Black Lives Matter confab he organized that would support a meeting of the minds between the Arab and Jewish cultures.

“I support a position that we could adopt that would be both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel, before we head down this hateful and divisive path,” says Damsky.

But Damsky says she won’t get bullied. “Saying Israel does not have a right to exist is not acceptable. If someone throws a rock at you, you have to address it. You can’t just let them keep throwing rocks at you. As a member of the Jewish community if affects me personally.”