Dear Letter to the Editor:

Over the last few years antisemites have wielded havoc across the American Jewish landscape: fatal shootings such as in Pittsburgh, massive vandalism such as the Fairfax pogrom in Los Angeles, endless acts of antisemitic graffiti and hate speech often uttered in the form of antisemitic tropes by members of Congress. All of the above must be condemned. Yet the most ominous recent act of antisemitism, albeit non fatal, may be none of the above. Rather a formal decision by a group at New York’s New Paltz University may in fact be the most ominous harbinger for the future of the American Jewish diaspora.

“New Paltz Accountability” is a student group established to focus on local sexual assault policies. A worthy goal dealing with an issue of obviously great concern to victims of sexual assault. “New Paltz Accountability” was founded by a Jewish woman, Cassie Blotner, who believes in the foundational Zionist narrative of the Jewish Bible aka the Old Testament: a Return to Zion — what today is Israel.. Now she and another Jew, Ofek Pries, who also believes in Zionist foundation of Judaism, have been forced out of this sexual assault awareness group in a Progressive  coup. The reason: No Zionists allowed. Only those who are concerned about  sexual assault policies AND who denounce Zionism are  accepted into NPA today.  .  You do not have to clean out your ears. We are talking about upstate New York 2022, not Nazi Germany 1935 or Stalinist Russia 1952. or Spain 1492.Those who are concerned about policies concerning  victims of sexual assault are only accepted now into NPA if they first denounce Zionism. Obviously  the new “leadership” of New Paltz Accountability now discriminates against Jews according to “guidelines”  described in “Der Sturmer,” and “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion”.

Clearly the present “leadership” of “New Paltz Accountability” representing the vanguard of the Progressive movement has embraced the mantle of Tomas Torquemada when it comes to the Jews: denounce your religion or be gone.

Appallingly the President of New Paltz,  Donald P. Christian, is clueless calling this issue “complex”. In fact it is no more complex than Auschwitz, Stalin’s purges of the Jews or Torquemada’s rack. Denounce your religion Jews or be gone. That is the progressive cry at New Paltz . Will it soon be the progressive cry across America? Ominous is an understatement.

Richard Sherman
Margate, Florida