The Jewish Council of the Democratic Party of Georgia condemned the Gwinnett County Young Democrats, after the group called Jewish Democratic state representative Esther Panitch “hateful” and accused her of “circulating false information” about former Democratic National Committee vice chair David Hogg.
“The representative should mind her own business and focus her attention on flipping seats,” the group stated of Panitch, the only Jew in the Georgia state legislature. The Young Democrats also accused Panitch of “transphobia, racism and Islamophobia.”
Panitch contacted the Gwinnett County Democratic Party about possibly moving the date for its upcoming Bluetopia fundraiser, which is slated to take place on Rosh Hashanah, so that Jews can attend. The party’s chair emailed Panitch to say that though the date could not be moved, Hogg would be replaced as the keynote speaker—which Panitch had not requested.
The county party later announced that Hogg would remain part of the speaker lineup.
The Jewish Council, of which Panitch is first vice chair, stated that it was “disappointing that our attempt to advocate for Jewish inclusion and remedy this situation resulted in our first vice chair, Esther Panitch, being subjected to false and horrific personal attacks, including a particularly hateful and inaccurate statement from the Gwinnett Young Democrats.”
The Jewish Council called on the Gwinnett County Young Democrats to “apologize immediately.”
