Because I Refuse to Be Silent

By Eshkol Levi 

For the past two weeks, I have been highlighting and discussing the importance of registering to vote and voting in general. Especially now that our dear friend Jesse Hamilton is running to represent us as the Assemblyman for the 43rd Assembly District, and Councilman Chaim Deutsch is running to represent us in Congress.

Many folks have said they will not register as a democrat given how nasty and bad the democratic party has been to President Trump and to Israel overall. Those are correct statements and feelings. However, at the same time one must remember that it was a Democratic President who was the first world leader to recognize Israel after it was founded. That President was Democrat Harry Truman. Over the years the democratic party has been very supportive of Israel and were key voters who helped pass vital funding for Israel. It was only recently where the democratic party has shifted to the extreme left that we are seeing a shift in the way congressional members and even local elected leaders who are democrats are openly anti-Israel and anti-sematic.

So, yes we should refrain from registering as a democrat, but as anyone who understands and follows NYC and NYS politics will tell you that the key election in NYC and NYS is the primary, which is the election that Jesse and Chaim will need your vote in the most. If they lose the primary, they will not be able to run in November, and thus our chances to get real change for our community will be lost yet again. To vote in the primary one needs to be a registered democrat.

The democratic party has become extremely left because folks like us and our community do not care to vote or see voting as something that is not important and vital to the success of the community. Folks ask and wonder why is it that communities like Borough Park and Williamsburg get resources that we do not? The answer is simple-they vote. Recently someone highlighted how our local Assemblywoman and our State Senator do not care or feel the need to speak up and defend us when we’re experiencing acts of violence or to have more meetings or engagements with our community, and that is because we do not have enough votes for them to chase after.

Satmar and other Jewish communities both in NYC and in NYS work together to try and vote as block, and in turn politicians chase and try to sway them over to elect them to office, and in return the community gets the resources it needs to grow and proposer. Do we not want the same for our community? Do we want all the affordable housing being built in our very own community, projects like the development at Kingsboro Psychiatric Center and the developments proposed for SUNY Downstate to not include members of our community? Do we not want some funding for our local institutions like Hatzolah and many others? If we do want access to these resources, then we need to elect the right people, and to elect someone we need to vote, and to vote we need to register.

We can sit back and say I will not register as democrat no matter what, because I do not support or seem to be agreeing with their platform and policy, and I hear that, but then that means we should not complain when our community is left out from the developments and resources being invested right now as we speak through the Vital One Brooklyn program.

We have a very unique and interesting chance to infuse change in two key races-Congress and the 43rd Assembly District. Will we seize this opportunity, or will we squander it, and keep things the statuesque?

Change is possible, but it starts with us all coming together as one. Registering ourselves, registering our spouses, kids, friends, neighbors, and colleagues and encouraging them all to vote, and vote for this change. This change can and will be impactful. It will send a message that enough is enough. We want real leadership and representation. If not us, them whom? And if not now, then when?