New York Daily News – Ann Toback’s Letter to the Editor on the Defense of Democracy
To Protect Democracy Elsewhere, Protect it Here
March 4, 2022
Manhattan: We are witnessing, in real-time, terror descend over Ukraine as an authoritarian ruler marches on its young democracy. Seeing this destabilization of Eastern Europe, with its historic Jewish cities once again under fire, is particularly frightening for the American Jewish community. This violence, with its echoes of the terrifying past, coupled with our own U.S. democracy under attack from within, is overwhelming.
In the early 1900s, hundreds of thousands of Jews from Eastern Europe came to the United States seeking a democracy where their voices mattered. My great-grandparents were among them. Our Jewish community stands on the shoulders of great resisters: women and men who fought through the darkest of times; people who defended our Ukrainian communities against pogroms; people who organized resistance in the ghettos of Eastern Europe; and people who organized unions on the Lower East Side. Never forget that we have the power to change our world, all of us, by working together!
This is a moment where we are all called on to take action for critical change here in the U.S. and abroad. Today, we must act to save our democracy here and to ensure that the U.S. remains a beacon of freedom in the world. Make sure our elections are free and protected for all so that everyone has a voice in our governance. When we strengthen democracy here, we strengthen it everywhere.