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ZOA CAPITOL HILL ADV
Thanks to the hard work of ZOA’s
Director of Government Relations
Dan Pollak and Deputy Director Joel
Kassiday, hundreds of activists from more
than 20 states gathered in Washington, D.C.
for ZOA’s annual Capitol Hill Advocacy
Mission. The event featured a luncheon
where more than 30 Democrats and Republicans
from both the Senate and the House
addressed ZOA supporters, followed by individual
advocacy opportunities for attendees
to meet with members of Congress or their
top aides. At the 2019 Mission, activists
encouraged politicians to increase their efforts
against anti-Semitism and Israelophobia,
and also promoted the need to codify and
increase sanctions against Iran, to curb Iran’s
aggression and malign ballistic missile, terror
and nuclear development activities.
Inaugural Kickoff
Dinner
This year, ZOA extended its Capitol Hill
Advocacy Mission to two days, beginning
with an exclusive dinner featuring Congresswoman
Liz Cheney (R-WY) as the keynote
speaker, to officially launch the event.
Attendees were thrilled to hear the stirring
speech of a rising star in Congress, and especially
Congresswoman Cheney’s powerful
condemnation of anti-Semitism.
Egyptian historian and Middle East specialist
Raymond Ibrahim described how
CAIR (the Council on American-Islamic
Relations), together with Linda Sarsour, successfully
ran a campaign to stop his speech at
the prestigious U.S. Army War College by tarnishing
his reputation with false accusations
of being a racist and Islamophobe. Ibrahim
reminded guests of CAIR’s long history of
anti-Israel rhetoric; its funneling of money to
Hamas; its desire to have Israel “terminated”;
its calling of Israelis “Zio-Nazis”; and its
Senator Cruz noted: “All of
us are alarmed by the rise
of anti-Semitism. A trio of
freshman Congresswomen are
engaged in deliberate, anti-
Semitic attacks…The House
needs to stand up and answer
the same call.”
designation as a terrorist organization by the
U.S. and its allies, including the United Arab
Emirates.
Dr. Jason D. Hill, professor of philosophy
at DePaul University, Jamaican immigrant and
strong Zionist, greeted the crowd by saying,
“I want to celebrate you and your Zionism
today.” He praised Israel as an “ethical state,”
with religious freedom for all and where
LGBT persons are safe from persecution. He
added, “Israel belongs to Jews and no one
else. It is the Jewish State.” It is comments
like these, and his similar public defense of
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s right to annex
Judea and Samaria, and the Golan Heights,
that ultimately led to his unwarranted censure
by DePaul University. Despite being forced to
travel on campus with a police escort, Dr. Hill
bravely continues to praise Israel as a beacon
of light, while exposing the security threats
from Hamas and the Palestinian Authority,
and the recent uptick in anti-Semitism.
The dinner closed with the energetic and
self-professed “huge fan of ZOA” Dr. Paul
Teller, who serves in the White House as the
Special Assistant to the President in the Office
of Legislative Affairs. “It’s amazing how many
groups say they are pro-Israel. ZOA means
it,” he said, as he explained why he was so