By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO — Here is the April 19 edition chronicling some of the public activities at the local, national, and international levels engaging members of the Jewish community.
SAN DIEGO COUNTY
San Diego City Councilmembers Jennifer Campbell and Sean Elo-Rivera and County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer are part of a 170-member delegation from the San Diego-Tijuana binational region who plan to lobby Congress and various federal officials this week for a range of infrastructure projects needed in the rea. The 3-day trip organized by the San Diego Chamber of Commerce will also include San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and Board of Supervisors chair among other officials.
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The famed nineteenth-century lawman Wyatt Earp wasn’t Jewish, but his wife Sarah Marcus was, which explains how Earp came to be buried in the Jewish cemetery in Colma, California. After his famous shootout at the Okay Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, the Earps moved to what today is known as the Gaslamp Quarter in downtown San Diego, where Sarah was better known as Josephine Earp. The Gaslamp Historical Museum, located in the Davis-Horton House, 410 Island Avenue, will offer a 75-minite walking tour of the historic buildings associated with the Earps in San Diego beginning at 11:30 a.m, Friday, April 21. The cost is $25 per person with discounts available for seniors, military and students.
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San Diego City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera, with Mayor Todd Gloria’s backing, has introduced an ordinance to protect renters from predatory evictions. “San Diegans who are paying their rent and abiding by their lease should not live in fear of eviction,” Elo-Rivers said. “Sadly, too often, San Diego renters are being evicted despite following the rules. These evictions cause massive financial and emotional distress to families and can lead to displacement and put people at risk of homelessness. This ordinance provided the protections that San Diego renters need and deserve.” The measure is to be heard on Tuesday, April 25.
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Atlanta Braves pitcher Max Fried, back from an injury, pitched five scoreless innings on Sunday as the San Diego Padres were shut out 2-0 at Petco Park. Fried was a first-round draft pick by the Padres in 2012 and came up through the Padres farm system before being traded in 2014 to the Braves organization in a multi-player deal. He made his major league debut in 2017, and won the 2020, 2021, and 2022 National League Gold Glove Awards for a pitcher.
NATIONAL
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California), 89, had sought to break the logjam of judicial appointments caused by her absence while recuperating from shingles. She had suggested to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) that he temporarily replace her on the Senate Judiciary Committee pending her return to the Senate, from which she has been missing since mid-February. However, Republicans have indicated they will oppose the substitution. “I deeply respect Senator Feinstein, but this is an unprecedented request solely intended to appease those pushing for radical, activist judges,” commented Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina). Sixty votes are needed to approve the request. Democrats have only 51 members in the Senate, including Feinstein. Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) said he will oppose the substitution which he described as an effort to “ram through a small sliver of their nominees who are especially extreme or especially unqualified.”
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Former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Arizona) commented Monday, “As someone who is still recovering from a gunshot to the head, I am heartbroken and infuriated that Ralph Yarl now faces lifetime of recovery. At 16 years old. For imply ringing a doorbell. We cannot continue to be a nation defined by gun violence and injustice.” Yarl was wounded in Kansas City last Thursday after going to the wrong address to pick up his younger siblings. His alleged assailant Andrew Lester, 85, was charged with first degree assault and armed criminal action. Giffords, for whom a San Diego-based littoral combat ship since has been named, was having an open-air meeting at an Arizona shopping center in January 2011 when an assassin opened fire, killing six people and wounding Giffords and 12 other people.
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Former New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind, founder of Americans Against Antisemitism, commented about the increasing incidents of antisemitism, particularly in New York: “There is something different right now. Unfortunately, we’re going in circles. We need to be strong, proud, tough and unafraid, but as of right now, even with all the organizations out there, we lack leadership. And the antisemites know it and see us as weak.”
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U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan declined to delay for a month the April 22 civil trial in which columnist E. Jean Carroll is accusing former President Donald Trump of raping her several decades before he took office. The suit was made possible by a New York State law that permitted adults a one-year window to sue their alleged assaulters, even after the normal statute of limitations had expired. Because Trump and Carroll live in different states, the case is being heard in federal court. Trump’s lawyers said that the publicity around Trump’s recent indictment by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr. on charges of criminal fraud made a fair trial unlikely, but Kaplan ruled much of that publicity was ginned up by Trump himself when he announced the indictment in advance.
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U.S. District Judge Roslynn R. Mauskopf, director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, responded to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) and Rep. Henry C. Johnson (D-Georgia) concerning their ethics complaints against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas: “I have forwarded your letter to the Judicial Conference Committee on Financial Disclosure, which is responsible for implementing the disclosure provisions of the Ethics in Government Act and addressing allegations of errors or omissions in the filing of financial disclosure reports.”
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Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was sharply questioned by U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) over reports in The New York Times about mistreatment of migrant children who in some cases have been allowed to work in violation of child labor laws in dangerous jobs including replacing roofs, operating machinery, and taking overnight shifts in slaughterhouses. “You have in every stage facilitated this modern-day indentured servitude of minor children,” Hawley declared. “Why should you not be impeached for this?” Mayorkas responded that his agency is investigating “unscrupulous employers that exploit individuals because of their vulnerabilities and that includes underage workers.”
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With accusations made that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr. is controlled by Democratic political donor and philanthropist George Soros both inside and outside a House Judiciary Committee hearing in Manhattan, the committee’s ranking Democratic member, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-New York) commented on Monday: “With antisemitic tropes emanating from House Republicans, it’s unsurprising, but no less vile, to see the Republicans bringing this antisemitism to New York outside today’s stunt hearing in Manhattan.” One picket outside held a sign conflating dollar signs, Soros, and the Star of David. The hearing was held in a federal building named for a late Jewish Republican senator, Jacob Javits, who represented New York State in the Senate from 1957 through 1981.
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CNN Anchor Jake Tapper could not keep a straight face as he read a statement from Fox News in the wake of that company’s $787 million settlement in the suit brought against it by Dominion Voting Systems. “This settlement reflects Fox’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards,” the statement read. Tapper burst into laughter. Dominion had sued Fox for knowingly perpetuating a story that it knew to be untrue: that Dominion’s voting machines had been tampered with to assure Joe Biden’s presidential victory over Donald Trump in 2020.
INTERNATIONAL
CNN anchors Dana Bash and Wolf Blitzer accompanied the March of the Living to Auschwitz and Birkenau. An emotional moment for Blitzer was standing in the remnants of the actual gas chamber where his paternal grandparents were murdered. Bash said her great-grandparents probably perished in gas chambers at the concentration camp as well.
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is the stepson of a Holocaust survivor. He commented: “Among the powerful lessons we reflect on this Yom HaShaoh is that the mass murder of six million Jews was not a sudden or singular act, but rather the culmination of countless incremental steps designed to vilify and dehumanize people. We must remember, now and always.” Meanwhile, his boss, U.S. President Joe Biden, commented. “Hate must have no safe harbor in America or anywhere else. Today and always, we make our message clear: Evil will not win. Hate will not prevail. And the violence of antisemitism will not be the story of our time. Together, we can ensure that ‘never again’ is a promise we keep.”
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Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gerskovich was denied bail as well as the possibility of house arrest during a hearing Tuesday in Moscow City Court in which he was required to stand in a glass-enclosed cage. The hearing was attended by U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy, who commented later, “I can only say how troubling it was to see Evan, an innocent journalist, held in these circumstances.” Gershkovich will have to await his next hearing, scheduled for May 29, in prison.
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U.S. Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-San Diego) is the ranking Democrat on the Africa Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. In a statement, she said the United States should increase its involvement in sub-Saharan Africa by “addressing conflict, upholding human rights, strengthening good governance, and tackling global challenges together.” She encouraged increased U.S. investment and trade with Africa and urged that diplomatic missions in Africa be more fully staffed. She also took cognizance of the People’s Republic of China’s expanding role in Africa, and said rather than being tempted to compete, Cold War style, with China, efforts should be made to cooperate.
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Julie Platt and Eric Fingerhut, respectively the chair and CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, have issued a joint statement concerning invitations to Israeli leaders at Sunday’s upcoming General Assembly in Tel Aviv: “Some have called for the Jewish Federations of North America to withdraw their invitation. We respectfully disagree. First and foremost, the opportunity to hear from Israel’s duly elected president and prime minister is a symbol of Israel’s achievement as a modern democratic state. We look forward to welcoming these officials on this historic occasion.” No objections were made to the invitation to Israel’s President Isaac Herzog, nor to Opposition Leader Yair Lapid. However, in light of the controversy over proposed legislation to overhaul Israel’s judiciary, a group called UnXeptable has protested inviting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and MK Simcha Rothman, who is one of the chief advocates for the legislation.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor emeritus of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com