What kind of person misrepresents how Anne Frank died in order to try to score a political point against Trump and Israel? The far-left ‘Jewish Voice for Peace’ student activist type.
Rebbecca (Becca Lewis), a George Washington University Senior and “Jewish Voice for Peace” activist, appeared in a Now This video. Now This produces viral left-wing social media content, generating hundreds of thousand of views.
Now This produced a video of college students slamming Trump’s administrative order that sought to protect Jewish students on campus, as well as Trump’s immigration policies.
Lewis was one of the students interviewed. In a move that is typical for Jewish Voice for Peace, Lewis used her Jewish identity to provide cover to the other students in the video who were slamming Trump and Israel. The ploy is “Jew Washing,” where leftist Jews serve the role of human shield against accusations of anti-Semitism.
In doing so, Lewis brought Anne Frank into the discussion. It was totally gratuitous — Anne Frank has nothing to do with the current controversy. But Lewis didn’t stop there, she distorted Anne Frank’s death in order to compare Frank to health problems among parents and children detained for illegal entry at the U.S. border. AOC and others refer to the detention centers as “concentration camps” in order to invoke Holocaust imagery.
Lewis said that Anne Frank “didn’t die in a concentration camp. She died of typhus.” [Note: the captioning in the video says Frank didn’t die “from” a concentration camp, but the audio shows Lewis said Frank didn’t die “in” a concentration camp.]
“Our collective trauma from the Holocaust and just thousands of years of being persecuted has been weaponized against us to the point where now we have to have Israel. We have to live there. You have to support Israel because what’s going to happen if there is another Holocaust. What’s gonna happen? Well, we’re seeing what’s happening. We’re seeing people die at the border from lack of medical care. That’s how Anne Frank died. She didn’t die in a concentration camp. She died of typhus.” [Full video transcript at bottom of post]
Lewis’ statements wildly mischaracterized Frank’s death. Anne Frank did die in a concentration camp and whether her death in the concentration camp was from disease or otherwise is secondary. She was killed because she was Jewish, and her death has nothing to do with and is not similar to health problems with those illegally crossing the U.S. border.
Holocaust denial regarding Anne Frank is common among neo-Nazis, who try to discredit the Diary of Anne Frank as ‘Jewish Propaganda.’
Now This issued a retraction and deleted the original video.
In its place, Now This issued a “corrected” version eliminating the clip above in which Lewis made the comments, claiming Lewis “misspoke.”
Lewis’ distortion of Jewish history is typical for Jewish Voice for Peace, a non-Jewish anti-Zionist group responsible for spreading the blood libel that Israel and American Jews are responsible for domestic police shootings of black, and which regularly hijacks Jewish holidays to use against Israel. Here is just a sample of Legal Insurrection’s prior coverage of Jewish Voice for Peace:
Lewis, whose twitter account appears to have been taken down, responded in a series of Tweets to the criticism of her statement about Anne Frank:
The point I was making is that she died of typhus BECAUSE she was in a concentration camp. I meant to say she didnt die in a gas chamber — the way many people think was the only way jews were killed.the mass extermination of jews was not only because of death camps. We often forget those who were told to dig their own graves before being shot and buried in them. systematic killing takes many forms outside of the way that many non jewish americans think.i was making the point that she died from a system which existed to kill jews. She died a preventable death that was not prevented because the system allowed it.I understand that it is a drastic comparison to compare anne franks death from a preventable disease (that was not prevented because the system allowed it) to a child who died of the flu in camp at the border (which was not prevented because the system allowed it).I think its important to not conceive the holocaust as something so atrocious that it can NEVER happen again. That is why we say never again — because it showed us how cruel man can be, & can be again, and thus we must ensure that it never happens again — to anyone.
Sorry, this doesn’t cut it. There was no reason to drag Anne Frank into this discussion. And having dragged her in, there was no reason to distort her death for your political purposes.
This is just another example of someone infused with anti-Israel and anti-Trump derangement who will say anything no matter how unhinged.
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Full transcript of the original NowThis video:
Becca Lewis, Senior George Washington University That man has no right to define what being Jewish is. He is the least qualified person on the planet what is and what isn’t being Jewish. Narrorator: Jewish & Palestinian students spoke out about Trump’s executive order that expands race & nationality protections to Judaism. Mohamed Elsherbiny: Freshman, American UniversityThis executive order has nothing to do with safety of Jewish allies. It is solely meant to repress people who champion Palestinian human rights. Narrorator: The order also expands the definition of anti-Semitism to include certain criticism of the Israeli gov’t, which has occupied Palestine for decades, in violation of international law. Lewis: I am Jewish, it is because I am Jewish that I fight for the rights and liberty of all people, and I do not associate my Judaism with a nation-state. It’s a dangerous, dangerous precedent. My only question is: What comes next? If we allow this to happen what more will we allow to happen? How far can this go? Narrator: The Trump admin has begun investigating selecti universities for pro-Palestine advocacy. Student activists say the order ‘falsely equates anti-Zionsim with anti-Semitism’It is solely based in the system of white nationalism and white supremacy that we have in America especially for political gain to weaponize the Jewish identity against Palestinians. Elshebiny: The Palestinian and Jewish people have a large amount of political diversity and political thought and to generalize all Jewish people into this ‘nationality’ or this political opinion is absolutely ridiculous and totally unfair. Gabriela Rosner, a Senior at George Washington University When I went to high school and I saw –– what I saw as my Jewish identity was this deep social justice tradition rooted in solidarity and collective liberation –– suddenly be applies to this state that I felt had no representation of me whatsoever. Lewis: The most troubling thing about this executive order to me is that it is a veiled way to silence valid criticisms of a nation-state. It is a veiled way to silence Palestinian voices, to silence and pretty much dissolve the BDS movement Narrator: BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) is a nonviolent campaign to put economic pressure on Israel. It is modeled after the boycott campaign targeting South Africa’s apartheid regime in the 1980s. Donald Trump: My administration will never tolerate the suppression, persecution, or silencing of the Jewish people. We have also taken a firm stand against the so-called divestment and sanctions movement, or BDS, you know that very well. We forcefully condemn this anti-Semitic campaign against the State of Israel and its citizens. Narrator: Trump’s order might jeopardize funding at schools where students engage in the BDS movement and could pressure schools to ban the movement Soundbite of protest: We protest. Boycott, sanctions and divest. Elsheby: [BDS] comes from the history of South African apartheid. And a big thing, too, is that it kind of goes, like, one step at a time and gets bigger. So boycott is individual, where, like you boycott settler companies and companies that actually give money to human rights violations. And from there you go into divestment –– and that idea is that universities, and churches and things of that nature should divest from Israel to put pressure to have human rights arbiters and people of that nature. And lastly, sanctions is based around South Africa. Where the whole idea is to get governments to pull out. Narrorator: BDS demands that Israel and its occupation, remove the separation wall, allow Arab citizens full equality, and recognize the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes. Lewis: It is a way to try to institutionalize and then dissolve voices in groups like Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine. It’s a way to try and financially punish universities who receive Pell Grants and try to institutionalize this definition of antisemitism and this definition of what it means to be Jewish. That does not protect Jewish students, if you want to protect Jewish students give us more kosher options on campus, give us a shut on campus, give us days off for our religious holidays, do things that improve our day-to-day lives. Narrator: Trump has made sweeping policy changes toward Israel since taking office. Allen: he recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. He recognized the Golan Heights as part of Israel. He reversed the decision that these settlements are illegal. And right now, as we’re seeing, he wants to silence Palestinian Americans on campus. Lewis: Our collective trauma from the Holocaust and just thousands of years of being persecuted has been weaponized against us to the point where now we have to have Israel. We have to live there. You have to support Israel because what’s going to happen if there is another Holocaust. What’s gonna happen? Well, we’re seeing what’s happening. We’re seeing people die at the border from lack of medical care. That’s how Anne Frank died. She didn’t die in a concentration camp. She died of typhus. Narrorator: Trump’s order came days after he used anti-Semitic tropes at an Israeli American summit. Sound bite from Trump at IAC: You have people that are Jewish people, that are great people –– that don’t love Israel enough and you know that. You’re brutal killers –– not nice people at all –– but you have to vote for me. You have no choice. Allen: The only space where I have felt that I can explore my faith and my –– you know, in a way that I can explore my faith and my activism and grow as, like a human being is being threatened to be taken away. And just the fact that there are literal white nationalists in the White House. There was a pogrom in New Jersey last week –– Donald Trump gave his most anti-Semitic speech in his entire presidency, and yet, he is being called a champion of Jewish rights. He has no right to define what being Jewish is. He is the least qualified person in the planet to be defining what is and what isn’t being Jewish. Narrator: Trump has previously questioned the loyalty of Jews who vote Democrat.Sound bite from trump August 20, 2019I think any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat, I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty. Rosner: If this executive order is about making Jewish college students feel safer it has done the exact opposite to me. And it actually has the real intended purposes of stifling any and all solidarity with the Palestinian people. Producers: Zahra HaiderNico Pitney Allan Piper
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