Amid the horrific rise in Jew-hatred, the US Holocaust Museum must reexamine its role
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum can help teach those lessons — if it concentrates on antisemitism as opposed to other hatreds, as it should, and goes beyond the Nazi horror.
Advertisement
Recall that the Holocaust occurred in European countries where ordinary citizens cooperated or stood indifferent to the mass murders of their neighbors.
Today, after decades of proclaiming 'never again,' antisemitism in the US has hit a frightening new peak.
The Holocaust Museum is supposed to educate about the dangers of antisemitism.
Advertisement
But as a proud member of its council, I know first-hand that it needs to do much more to fulfill that important role.
The museum's weak connection to the Jewish people stems from its design, created when antisemitism seemed a thing of the past.
Since then, it has shifted focus to combatting other forms of hate.
The museum also provides no context of Jewish history before 1930 or after 1945.
Advertisement
And a planned multimillion-dollar renovation of the main exhibit hall could make the museum even more woke and disconnected.
Frankly, the operation is in danger of becoming a liberal monument to the dangers of immigration enforcement and conservative politics.
What the museum should be doing instead is teaching Americans that antisemitism is the world's oldest hatred, dating back 4,000 years when Nimrod is said to have thrown Abraham into a fiery furnace, and gaining steam with the rise of Christianity.
More important, the museum needs to teach the story of Jewish survival; the founding of Israel in 1948, the wars of 1967 and 1973, and the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.
Advertisement
It should cover pogroms that spurred the Zionist movement, helping make the case for the existence of a Jewish state.
And it should emphasize America's cherished opportunities for Holocaust survivors and their families.
Nineteen months after the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, the museum lacks focus on the ongoing crisis.
It reaches thousands of teachers and visitors but teaches broadly about hate, and not enough about antisemitism in particular.
It fails, for example, to address antisemitism's recent surge, particularly at US universities.
A Harvard-Harris poll in April found 51% of American 18- to 24-year-olds favored Hamas over Israel.
Clearly, the museum needs to do a better job of reaching and teaching young people about Israel, Jewish history and current events.
Indeed, no metric shows the museum contributing to any reduction in antisemitism. Sadly, all signs suggest it is failing in this regard.
Advertisement
The good news: President Donald Trump has made combatting antisemitism a priority and has begun cleaning house at the museum.
Last month, he removed several Biden appointees, including Ron Klain, Doug Emhoff, Tom Perez, Susan Rice, Jon Finer and Anthony Bernal, none of whom were suited for the council.
Rice had politicized Biden's National Strategy to Combat Antisemitism by excluding anti-Zionism and including Islamophobia.
Advertisement
Finer called members of the Israeli government 'abhorrent,' slamming it at a meeting with Arab American leaders in Dearborn, Mich., last year.
Emhoff, appointed just three days before Trump took office, resisted his removal, claiming it 'dishonors the memory of 6 million Jews murdered by Nazis that this museum was created to preserve.'
That's nonsense: Replacing these partisan figures has nothing to do with the 6 million murdered Jews, the Holocaust survivors or their descendants.
On the other hand, the new council members appointed by President Trump will bring expertise from their careers as well as their skills and their important values.
Advertisement
Again, the US Holocaust Museum was created to preserve the memory of the Shoah and protect future generations from violent antisemitism.
To accomplish this at a time when Jews face their biggest threats in decades requires greater oversight by the council and a broader, bolder outlook that addresses today's emerging problems.
It's time to rethink the facility's role and what it is supposed to do to combat antisemitism.
Advertisement
It's time make the US Holocaust Museum great again.
Martin Oliner, a lawyer and the son of Holocaust survivors, was mayor of Lawrence village from 2010 to 2016.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
20 minutes ago
- New York Post
Michael Goodwin: Trump's unique talents make him a true leader – and have redefined what it means to be commander in chief
If you need a laugh, try to imagine Joe Biden or any recent president holding court in the way Donald Trump is doing it. To double the laugh, try to imagine any of the current presidential wannabes sitting in the big chair in the Oval Office. It's an impossible exercise because of how dramatically Trump is redefining what it means to be president of the United States. His talents are vast and uniquely suited to the role he has created. For the most recent and dramatic example, take Monday's historic meeting of European leaders about Russia's unrelenting invasion of Ukraine. It was the kind of key event that, had it been held under past presidents or vice presidents, would have been smothered in formalities and endless bland statements. Yet there was Trump, sitting behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, facing the heads of major allies, including Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and the leaders of NATO and the EU. They were sitting in chairs, like so many students arrayed around their teacher. Skeptics miss the point The skeptics who scoff at Trump's gilding and redecorating of the Oval Office are missing the bigger and far more important aspect of what is happening there. No. 47 is the greatest impresario ever to hold the office, and he is bringing the presidency, its majesty and his quirks, into homes in America and around the world in ways that are as refreshing as they are unprecedented. Just as he remade the Republican Party into a diverse workers and middle-class party, Trump is creating new models and expectations for how presidents should conduct the public's business and carry out their duties. Start with the media. Including his first term but especially from the start of his second term, Trump has been the most accessible president ever. If there's a question he hasn't answered, it's because the question hasn't been asked. Because of how he lives out loud in front of the camera, never again will it be acceptable for a commander in chief to emerge from the Oval Office, read a canned speech from a teleprompter, take a few questions from pre-selected reporters, mumble incoherent answers, then shuffle off stage for a long nap. Enough about Biden, but Trump has expanded the presidential footprint and captured public attention in ways that will play a role in shaping the conduct of his successors. There is no way to turn back the clock, especially with the collapse of the media's credibility. Trump's way of speaking directly to the public curbs the power of partisan gatekeepers to distort the news and his views, which is why he does it. His broadcast of near-daily media availabilities, and a willingness to entertain loaded questions from people whose outlets have never had a good word to say about him, reflect an astonishing level of openness. It can be raw, as he moves from being angry to being gracious and cracking a joke within minutes. The effect is that, with his unparalleled bravado, a tireless work ethic and an instinct for hot takes, Trump is turning the White House into a giant television studio. And the programming isn't limited to media questions. Trump is also taking hugely important actions and explaining them in real time, allowing Americans everywhere to watch their president deliver on campaign promises, and explain why he is doing what's he doing. Taking back DC Last week, he used the cramped briefing room to reveal what he called 'a historic action to rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse. This is Liberation Day in DC and we're going to take our capital back. We're taking it back.' The federalizing of policing and the influx of National Guard troops were hailed by frightened residents and the beleaguered police union, and of course denounced by Democrats and their media mouthpieces. A week later, the capital cleanup goes on, with some 500 arrests announced and nary an incident that would even remotely justify the scare-mongering predictions of a police-state roundup of the innocent. The upshot is that Dems and media outlets again made fools of themselves by defending an indefensible level of violent crime, and the people who commit it. It's a replay of how they denounced Trump for deporting violent illegal immigrants. For sheer drama, it will be practically impossible to top the two events related to Ukraine. Combined they form a two-part series about an issue of life and death and global importance. It was last February when the president and Vice President JD Vance teamed up for a heated argument in the Oval Office against Zelensky over American aid to help thwart the Russian invasion. Trump abruptly canceled a planned private meeting with Zelensky and booted him from the White House. Fast forward to the upbeat harmony of Monday, when he and seven European leaders came to craft a united front in the search for peace. It followed Trump's meeting last Friday with Russia's despot Vladimir Putin in Alaska. The president hoped for a cease-fire, and the attention he invited backfired when he came away empty-handed. Rosy view of Putin Putin's 'nyet' proves again that Trump, like former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, has too rosy a view of Putin. Face it: Putin's a monster who kills domestic dissenters and indiscriminately bombs foreign civilians, including women and children. Still, Trump should be commended for trying to salvage peace by advocating directly for a permanent end to the conflict. That idea underscored the Monday meeting, where the Europeans provided a showcase for Trump's skills and an upbeat coda to the February rupture with Zelensky. It also displayed how Putin's refusal to budge was catnip for Trump haters. Apparently many in the American media would rather see the war continue than see Trump get any credit for ending it. Fortunately, the leaders of Italy, France, Germany, Finland and the UK have a different view. They praised Trump's meeting with Putin as setting the stage for the next step and pushed for a detailed plan to help Ukraine's military, an effort being led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. They are also hopeful that Zelensky and Putin can have their first direct meeting, and then one together with Trump. The key change is that Zelensky will get the NATO-like security guarantees he has demanded, including European troops to enforce any agreement with Putin. Trump, who smartly refuses to pledge American troops to foreign wars, said Tuesday on Fox that he's open to providing US air support for European forces. That's the proper answer for an America First president. It also happens to be the same role the US played in the successful takeout of Iran's nuclear facilities. In that historic mission, Israeli troops did the ground work as America delivered its unique bunker-buster bombs from high above. Hopefully, Putin will be smarter than the mullahs and end the war. But don't count on it.
Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Explainer-Does Trump have the power to ban mail-in ballots in U.S. elections?
By Jack Queen (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump wants to ban mail-in ballots in federal elections, a form of voting popular with many Americans. About three in 10 ballots were cast through the mail in the 2024 general election, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Trump, a Republican, does not have clear legal authority to do this, though his allies in Congress and state governments could enact policies barring the practice. Here is a look at Trump's authority and how the law could be changed. CAN TRUMP UNILATERALLY BAN MAIL-IN BALLOTS? Only states and the U.S. Congress can pass laws regulating elections. A unilateral ban by the president on mail-in ballots would likely exceed Trump's limited authority to enforce existing law. In a Monday social media post, Trump said mail-in ballots are susceptible to fraud and that he would lead a movement to ban them, beginning with an executive order bringing "honesty" to the November 2026 midterm elections. Republicans have filed scores of lawsuits seeking to end mail-in voting in recent years, citing possible fraud. Democrats generally support mail-in ballots as a way to expand access to voting. Voter fraud in the U.S. is extremely rare, multiple studies have shown. White House representatives provided a general statement about Trump's election policies but did not answer questions about his legal authority to ban mail-in ballots or what an executive order would say. COULD TRUMP'S ALLIES BAN MAIL-IN BALLOTS? States are responsible for administering their votes under the U.S. Constitution, and Republican-controlled legislatures could pass laws banning mail-in ballots so long as they do not conflict with federal law. Congress could ban the use of mail-in ballots in federal elections and override state laws protecting their use, but Trump's Republican Party has slim majorities in Congress and would face difficulty getting past opposition by Democrats. Republicans hold 53 Senate seats. To pass a mail-in ballot ban they would need to end the filibuster, a longstanding tradition requiring 60 of the chamber's 100 members to approve most legislation. State and federal laws banning mail-in voting could be challenged in court as unconstitutional impediments to voting. WHAT OTHER POWERS DO PRESIDENTS HAVE OVER ELECTIONS? Presidents in the U.S. have some discretion in enforcing election laws, and Trump could try to use those powers to end or restrict mail-in voting, though it is unclear how. In June, a federal judge blocked parts of an executive order by Trump requiring voters to prove they are U.S. citizens and attempting to prevent states from counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day. The Trump administration is appealing. "The Constitution does not grant the president any specific powers over elections," said U.S. District Judge Denise Casper, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama.
Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
The two presidents clash on social media about how to end the war in Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelensky only waited a matter of minutes to publicly reject an overnight demand from Donald Trump before their White House meeting alongside European leaders on Monday. Trump used his Truth Social account to show his apparent stance going into the meeting, writing, 'President Zelensky of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight.' Trump's post repeated the demands Russian President Vladimir Putin had put on ending the war, and which have been rejected previously.
