Republican frontrunner Donald Trump single-handedly tanked a scheduled Fox News presidential debate by saying he’d skip it in order to speak Monday at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual conference. But as the big day approaches, more and more prominent Jews are calling for a boycott of the contentious candidate’s speech.
Jane Eisner, editor of the Jewish-American newspaper Forward, called for a boycott of the speech in column published Wednesday, according to The Hill.
Her column, headlined “13 Ways To React When Trump Takes the Stage at AIPAC,” suggested rescinding the Republican frontrunner’s invitation or otherwise scheduling his speech for the highly inconvenient time slot of 3-3:45 a.m.
If neither of those things are possible, Eisner suggested scheduling his speech right before Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s.
“If that’s not possible, schedule his appearance before Hillary Clinton speaks. Let her eviscerate him. That’ll give him a taste of what’s to come,” she wrote.
Eisner’s other suggestions included no entrance or exit music, no introduction, no livestreaming, “Trump swag” or tweeting. Eisner urged attendees to “display Ghandian self-discipline” and not promote Trump’s appearance.
A group of rabbis also said they planned to boycott the speech at the annual conference, according to the Associated Press. They planned to hand out fliers asking attendees to skip the speech or do a silent walk-out.
“He embodies ‘Sinat chinam’ — senseless hatred,” protest organizer and Florida Rabbi David Paskin told the AP. “We are against the ugliness that has engulfed this election season. And he has driven much of it, from his comments about Mexicans and Muslims to the violence at his rallies.”
Another rabbi wrote in Israel’s oldest daily newspaper, Haaretz, that AIPAC is the place to begin American Jews’ protest of Trump.
“American Jews are beginning to wake up. And they are getting ready to take on Donald Trump,” Eric Yoffie, former president of the Union for Reform Judaism, wrote Wednesday.
“Like so many others, American Jews misread the depth of the anger that propelled Trump’s rise,” he added. “And not only were the American people slower to react than we expected, and seemingly indifferent to the hurt and hostility that he inflicted, but Trump was shrewder, cleverer, and better at the political game than we ever imagined.”
AIPAC declined to comment to the AP about the plans for a boycott of Trump’s speech.
