Contact Information:
Perry Dror, Communications Chair
North Carolina Democratic Party Jewish Caucus
Phone: 828-280-2084
Email: communications@ncdpjc.org
Website: ncdpjc.org
Release Date: July 29, 2025
Leadership Turns Blind Eye to Increasing Antisemitism in North Carolina
RALEIGH, NC — The North Carolina Democratic Party Jewish Caucus (NCDPJC) leaders met July 11th with Party Chair Anderson Clayton to discuss the significance of resolutions on the Israel-Palestinian conflict recently passed in a June 28 State Executive Committee Meeting (SEC) whose common theme was the demonization and delegitimization of the State of Israel.
According to the Jewish Caucus President, Lisa Jewel, “This constant demonization of Israel has aggravated the already dramatic increase in antisemitic incidents (140% nationwide, and 287% in North Carolina). Recent incidents in Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Boulder, and now Melbourne show how hate speech can quickly lead to hate crimes. Unfortunately, Chair Clayton was unable to concede that these resolutions do nothing to affect the outcome of the Israel-Hamas conflict, but do distract Party members from what should be their focus on electing Democrats up and down the ballot, to solve local issues, and improve the lives of hard-working North Carolinians.”
Democratic Party members on the Resolutions and Platform Committee prioritized these resolutions and the Progressive, Interfaith, LGBTQ, and Young Dems Caucuses carried these resolutions across the finish line, while ignoring issues that affect North Carolinians like Medicaid, Medicare, the cost of housing, and healthcare. “Democrats should be uniting to oppose the extreme MAGA agenda,” Jewel continued. “We are dismayed that Chair Clayton has allowed a vocal minority within our party to continue to sow division and focus on issues that, ultimately, would result in harm to our friends and family.” It should be noted that our elected Democrats; Deborah Ross, Val Foushee, Don Davis, and Alma Adams stand steadfast in their opposition to an arms embargo and to the BDS movement, and they support the Jewish community, for which we are very grateful.
Amy DeLoach, the 1st Vice President of the NCDPJC (and member of the Resolutions and Platform Committee) added, “This is not to say that our Caucus is unaware, or ignoring, the hardships of the civilian population in Gaza. We are acutely disturbed by the current food distribution crisis in Gaza, for which we hold Hamas, the UN, and Israel responsible. We urge the UN, Israel, and the international community to put its energy into solving this dire problem, rather than pointing fingers as the scale of this crisis increases. However, the anti-Israel resolutions passed at the recent NCDP SEC Meeting will do nothing to feed, or make safe, Palestinian civilians in Gaza. We have already seen how antisemitic comments are increasing across social media as the food crisis deepens. This is why we had hoped Chair Clayton, and her leadership team, would recognize the problems posed by the resolutions, and clarify the party’s stance.”
As an approved Affiliated Organization of the NCDP, the Caucus will continue to support the North Carolina Democratic Party, but it will use its political activism and voices in service of its values, and to ensure the safety it deserves. Currently the Caucus is working to continue growing its membership (which is up 25% in just the last five months), while also identifying and supporting Democratic candidates that listen to their concerns and can advocate on their behalf. They believe that their membership has an excellent track record of providing the people power and effective communications to get voters to the polls.
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