by Paul Goldman

Move over, Lizzie Borden. Former House Speaker Filler-Corn charges Delegate Sam Rasoul with “(f)ueling one of the oldest forms of hatred in the world, repackaged in the language of activism.” 

She is referencing antisemitism. This is one of the harshest criticisms anybody of the Jewish faith can direct at anybody. Particularly someone with Rasoul’s bio. She is in effect calling him a Jew hater. By doing so, she likewise implicates the Roanoke Democratic Committee and others for their support of him.

(For background of the spat, read “Rasoul’s Anti-Zionism Roils Roanoke.”) — JAB

Ms. Filler-Corn is entitled to her opinion. But she has neither the stature nor the record to make herself out as some moral authority on such matters. Being Jewish doesn’t automatically make you an authority on antisemitism, the Middle East, or a true advocate of equality for all. Credibility comes from the heart of your record, not your circumstance of birth.

In 2023, I was subjected to antisemitic attacks making headlines as far away as California. The fact I led the opposition to their casino infuriated Richmond Mayor Stoney, labor unions, RVA’s Black leadership, and Democratic Party officials. The only successful opposition in the Commonwealth. A lot of people were going to make a lot of money from that project. I was called the usual anti-Jewish names, the Judas Jew, whatever, over the public airwaves by a person working for the pro-casino forces. My anti-casino campaign won citywide 62% to 38%. 

Yet not a single Jewish organization came to my defense. I know why. Years ago, certain Jewish leaders told me I’m not the right kind of Jew. 

Fact: Casinos rip off poor people. In a city like Richmond, the poor are disproportionately Black. In the past, Jewish groups, labor unions, and civil rights groups consistently united to combat these forms of exploitation as a matter of principle. Folks took pride in being able to help a person get their rights. That’s not true today. Everything is monetized today. Cash and carry. 

It’s a tragic retreat from the high ground. It’s part of the reason we have Donald Trump in the White House.

Which brings me to Delegate Rasoul. I found these following remarks reprinted in an emailed document from a very reliable source who I know personally:

Rasoul also pushed back on the conflation of his criticism of Israel with antisemitism. “These genocide deniers and apologists for the State of Israel, have nothing else but to claim everything is antisemitic,” Rasoul said. “The reality is that my Jewish friends are less safe because they’ve bastardized antisemitism. And prevented us from really being able to take on truly antisemitic behavior, because criticizing a genocide is not antisemitic,” he added. (Emphasis added). 

Wow! He’s saying people like Filler-Corn are complicit if not largely responsible for fueling antisemitism whereas he is the one who’s trying to stop it. He says unless Eileen and others call out Israel for alleged genocide and other things, they are complicit if not largely responsible for antisemitism growing. 

I gotta say: an astoundingly brazen Trumpian friggin’ statement. It’s one of the most arrogant and ignorant things I’ve heard from an elected politician. I consider myself a strong supporter of the state of Israel. Proudly so. Israel has been a good and necessary ally of the USA and has helped my country immensely when others would not. We have a better, safer world because we have the state of Israel in it. 

War is hell, for sure. Hamas started it. They rule by fear and intimidation. Every country has the right of self-defense against such enemies. American military defense and offense operate within the doctrine of proportionality. However, I’m no military expert on the rules of warfare. 

Years ago, Bob Dylan asked, “(H)ow many deaths will it take till (you know) that too many people have died?” Sadly, centuries of history find the answer very elusive. 

I’m not claiming to be a better person. But with all due respect to Delegate Rasoul: it’s arrogant beyond expression for you to lecture me or anybody like me the way you have. The fact his supporters think he is justified is even more troubling. This shows the destructive nature of the identity politics rampant in our political culture.

In 2021 then state Senator Jennifer McClellan showed Rasoul what it would take to get children the equal educational opportunities he and others have long said were essential to anyone being all they could be. I’m quite sure if the majority of kids in the public schools had his bio, Rasoul, would have already gotten done what Jen wanted. 

The great irony, of course, is the person that blocked Jen is the former Speaker herself! Jen got the amendment needed to put the right to equal educational opportunities into the Constitution of Virginia passed 34-1 by the GOP-controlled State Senate. But Eileen had her allies kill it by one vote in the Democrat-controlled House of Delegates.

Regrettably, Rasoul declines to utilize his role as chair of the House Education Committee to implement the necessary changes. It doesn’t depend on the Middle East. 

Regarding Eileen, I’m sure that if the majority of students in public schools were Jewish, the vote in the House would have been significantly different.

It doesn’t take courage to lecture people about what they should do 6,000 miles from where you live. 

 If you won’t do the right thing for the children of your own state, what exactly is your moral authority to lecture anyone about anything anywhere?

Paul Goldman is former Chair of the VA Democratic Party, a former candidate for mayor of the City of Richmond, and author of “Remaking Virginia Politics.”