Virginia Democratic candidate labeled 'anti-Semite' for criticizing Israel

Democratic nominee for the Fifth Congressional District of Virginia, Leslie Cockburn, is facing mounting pressure for criticizing Israel in a book she wrote 27 years ago, with the state Republican Party labeling her a “virulent anti-Semite.”

Cockburn, a journalist-turned-politician, sat down Monday with about 40 Jewish leaders at the home of a retired rabbi in Charlottesville to try to defuse charges of anti-Semitism against her, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.

Cockburn’s candidacy and her views on Israel did not draw much attention until the incumbent congressman, Representative Tom Garrett, announced he was an alcoholic and would not seek re-election. The Democratic candidate is now running for an open seat.

Organizers of the Monday meeting argued that the views Cockburn expressed in her book, Dangerous Liaison: The Inside Story of the U.S.-Israeli Covert Relationship, did not pass as anti-Semitism.

“None of us think she’s anti-Semitic,” said Sherry Kraft, one of the organizers. “That’s not even an issue. It’s more where are you about Israel. There’s a lot of negativity toward Israel from the political left right now and people who call themselves progressive. And some of that anti-Israel sentiment crosses into anti-Semitism, but not in her case.”

For the Democratic Party, Cockburn’s candidacy for a district that was won by President Donald Trump in 2016 could come to represent more than a single House seat.

The race evolves as liberal activists on college campuses are galvanizing their opposition to Trump and his policies with a drive to sanction and boycott Israel over its aggression toward Palestinians.

PressTV-BDS calls for boycotting US projects in Palestine

The BDS movement says Palestinians are fed up with Washington’s complicity in Israel’s atrocities against them.

President Trump, meanwhile, has used his Middle East policies to try to drive a wedge between Jewish voters and Democrats, while conservative news media attempts to stir charges of anti-Semitism against candidates who criticize Israel.

In an interview with The Times, Cockburn accused Republicans of trying to draw attention to a “totally phony issue.”

“This is a book from 27 years ago,” she said. “It was a tough book looking at the US-Israeli covert operations, intelligence and military.”

“So, yeah, it’s a book of journalism from a long time ago. I’ve had a very long, wonderful, successful, award-winning career since then, and so to reach way back in the past, pull this out — and that’s why it was very important to me that the Jewish community read the book, looked at it and made up their minds.”

National Democrats must now decide whether supporting the candidate is worth the trouble.

On Tuesday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said it “has been targeting this district for more than a year, and we will continue to work with the Cockburn campaign and evaluate the race once the matchup is set.”

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