We are writing as members of the Jewish community in Maryland’s 8th Congressional District. As constituents of Rep. Jamie Raskin, we are immensely grateful to him for voting “no” on $14 million of additional military aid to Israel.
While this measure unsurprisingly passed Congress, Rep. Raskin’s vote sends a strong and indispensable message that recipients of U.S. military aid must use it in accordance with international law, and indeed in accordance with respect for all humanity. This message is particularly strong coming from one of our most prominent Jewish members of Congress. It reflects the perspective of the growing numbers of American Jews who understand that killing more Gazan families won’t make us any safer here and further endangers the remaining hostages.
On April 22, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington’s executive director, Ron Halber, issued a statement expressing “profound disappointment” with Rep. Raskin’s vote and decrying it as a “misguided exception” to Raskin’s “general rule of being … a strong supporter of the American Jewish community.”
We are among the many metro-area Jews who feel no disappointment. On the contrary, we, along with many thousands of Jews across the country, have stood up in defense of the humanity of Palestinians, have called for a ceasefire, and are deeply distressed by continuing U.S. military support for a country committing widely recognized violations of international law. It simply cannot be said that Rep. Raskin’s vote is unsupportive of “the American Jewish community” as a whole.
Since the horrific events of Oct. 7, many of us have met repeatedly with Rep. Raskin and his staffers. We are thankful to him for engaging in conversation with us, taking our perspectives seriously, and ultimately casting a vote that he could be certain would produce pushback from entities like JCRC.
In his statement on this vote, Rep. Raskin writes that he “grew up being taught that whoever saves a single life is considered to have saved the entire world, an article of Jewish faith.” We feel compelled to speak out because we share the congressman’s reverence for the sanctity of every human life.
To Rep. Raskin we offer profound thanks and a zisn–sweet–rest of the Passover holiday. It is our sincere hope that his vote will help to clear the way for other members of Congress to join him in moving toward a day when the Israeli military is no longer able to drop U.S. weapons on civilians in Gaza.
Karen Caplan and Joelle Novey are residents of Silver Spring.