The author, David Fuks, is a playwright, who grew up in Metro Detroit and earned an undergraduate and a graduate degree from the University of Michigan. He lives in Portland, Or., and is a member of the Holocaust speakers' bureau for the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education.
An open letter to President Donald Trump from David Fuks
Mr. President:
President Donald Trump
As a descendant of Holocaust survivors…
As a Jew who has experienced antisemitism from time to time…
As a person who has spent most of his life trying to serve those who are struggling and suffering…
As a loyal citizen of the country who helped the world to stay at peace for 80 years…
I must protest.
You claim to be an advocate against antisemitism.
But, when Neo-Nazis marched in North Carolina
Chanting, “Jews will not replace us,”
You are the President who said there were “good people on both sides.”
This alone disqualifies you as an advocate on our behalf.
But this is not all:
When you claim that protection against antisemitism
Allows you to intimidate our Universities;
Allows you to neglect the rule of law;
Allows you to send people to foreign concentration camps;
Allows you to attempt to rewrite history;
Allows you to suck up to fascists and abandon allies;
Then, you are pretending to be our protector and friend.
Your behavior and dishonesty in the name of protecting Jews
Will only result in fomenting hatred in our names.
When I was a youth and someone called me a “kike”,
I didn’t look to you.
When my barber told me that he was “Jewing someone down”,
I didn’t look to you.
When someone called me a “sheeney” because he didn’t like my driving,
I didn’t look to you.
It’s nothing new.
I know how to stand up for myself.
Sadly, we Jews have lots of practice standing up for ourselves.
We use humor.
We use anger.
We can argue.
We can manage our own politics.
You are not serving our interest.
And, yes,
We argue about policy in Israel.
And, yes,
We long for safety,
But, we also long for governance that provides no impunity when we are wrong.
And, yes,
We understand the politics of fear.
But, we also long for the policy of hope.
And, yes,
We know that a sovereign state must balance
Ethics and Power.
And, yes,
We know that Palestinians are human beings who seek
The same things we want.
We want justice and safety and peace and opportunity.
And, yes,
Despite the fact that some of our students were treated disrespectfully,
Despite the wrongs that were done,
We don’t need you to pretend to fight for us.
We are able to stand up for ourselves.
We know our history.
We know about our enslavement in ancient Egypt.
We know about the religious antisemitism of Europe during the Crusades.
We know about the racial antisemitism of the Nazi era.
We know about the political antisemitism that you hide behind.
We know about the discrimination and glass ceilings we have had to face.
But we also know that our capacity for humor…
Our inventive creativity…our remarkable scientific skills…
Our artwork…our music…our humanity and our willingness to be
Resilient and strong have shaped our civilization and have been shared as gifts.
Wherever we have lived.
We don’t need your help.
Thanks, but no thanks.
I know it might be asking for a lot.
But stop messing around with our universities.
Stop disregarding the rule of law.
Stop destroying the healthcare and education.
That those who are less privileged need.
And stop hiding your abuse of power
Behind us Jews.
We’re better off without you.
With hope,
David Fuks
