Florida Democrat: Calling Israel an apartheid state isn't antisemitism

William Byatt, a supporter of Senator Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign, refused to back down from the comments, expressing surprise over criticism.

By DONNA RACHEL EDMUNDS
(From right to left) Congressman Gregory Meeks; Governor Andrew Cuomo, UJA CEO Eric Goldstein; Senator Chuck Schumer; Mayor Bill DeBlasio; US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand; JCRC CEO Michael Miller; and New York State Attorney General Letitia James march against antisemitism across the Brooklyn Bridge. (photo credit: COURTESY JAKE ASNER - UJA-FEDERATION OF NEW YORK)
(From right to left) Congressman Gregory Meeks; Governor Andrew Cuomo, UJA CEO Eric Goldstein; Senator Chuck Schumer; Mayor Bill DeBlasio; US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand; JCRC CEO Michael Miller; and New York State Attorney General Letitia James march against antisemitism across the Brooklyn Bridge.
(photo credit: COURTESY JAKE ASNER - UJA-FEDERATION OF NEW YORK)
The treasurer of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party has publicly insisted that criticizing Israel for holding "apartheid policies' is not antisemitic.
In a fiery exchange on Twitter which began on the subject of white nationalism but quickly pivoted to Israel, William Byatt tweeted: “What I will NEVER do is pretend that honest criticism of Israeli apartheid policies is anti-semitism. So you won’t see me calling out criticisms of Israeli ethnostatist polices as anti-semitism, because that’s not anti-semitism.”
The invective came in a twitter thread started by a local reporter who comment on the platform regarding a Florida Senate committee hearing a bill denouncing "white nationalism". According to the reporter, "The first two public speakers have come out *against* it," one of whom saying it was "racist against whites."
Another Twitter-user, Evan Ross, replied "But antisemitism from Bernie Sanders campaign surrogates isn’t worth denouncing?"
Byatt jumped on that tweet to post an expletive-ridden defense of Sanders, to which Ross replied: "Please show me where you’ve called out any of Bernie Sanders’ campaign surrogates for their antisemitism. Please show me where you’ve called out the Sanders campaign for promoting or giving a platform to antisemites. Or do Jews just not matter when it comes to hate?"
Byatt countered "I'm not about to dig through months of posts to prove my bona fides to you," before claiming to have "called out" Democratic representative Ilhan Omar, who regularly shares a platform with Sanders, and others, and to have called for interfaith solidarity, before making his claim that Israel is an apartheid state.
When Ross calmly responded "Israel doesn't have apartheid policies," Byatt said: "It is impossible to have a good faith discussion with someone who pretends any criticism [of Israel] is racist."
He later followed up with "Absolutely amazing. You condemn white supremacy, and suddenly you're being called antisemitic. Just insane."
Byatt describes himself in his Twitter bio as pro-worker, feminist, anti-racist, Buddhist, and the Treasurer for the Miami Dade Democrats, as well as a supporter of Senator Bernie Sander's presidential campaign.
“As indicated on his [T]witter page, Mr. Byatt’s opinions are his own and do not reflect the views of the Party,” the Miami-Dade Democratic Party told JNS.
They added: “The Miami-Dade Democratic Party will continue to support a two-state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiated directly by the parties that guarantees Israel’s future as a secure and democratic Jewish state with recognized borders and provides the Palestinians with independence, sovereignty, and dignity.”
Bernie Sanders has been described by both Commentary Magazine and The National Review as having a 'Jeremy Corbyn problem' after the Senator endorsed the British Labour Party leader ahead of the British general election in December. Labour suffered a resounding defeat in that election, in part due to the party being widely perceived as being institutionally antisemitic.