Leer en espa\u00f1ol<\/a> <\/p>\nThe event, organized by the Florida Youth Justice Coalition and Gen-Z For Change, had been scheduled for Friday night at The Venue Fort Lauderdale, which is located in Wilton Manors.<\/p>\n
It featured U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Michigan, a Palestinian American, who on her campaign website describes herself as a \u201cproud member of the Democratic Socialists of America.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard whispers that Rashida Tlaib was coming,\u201d said Democratic State Rep. Michael Gottlieb, a lawyer who represents District 102, \u201cthen I saw that flyer.\u201d <\/p>\n
A reference to the group\u2019s \u201cChomp the Oligarchy: Get out the Vote Rally\u201d promotional flyer, he said.<\/p>\n
Taking to social media, Gottlieb expressed his dismay that The Venue would be hosting a gathering of what he describes as a \u201ccoalition of candidates and organizations who are on the strongly pro-Palestinian\/anti-Israel left, several of whom have been involved in disputes over where anti-Zionism crosses into antisemitism.\u201d <\/p>\n
Gottlieb told Local 10 News he believes his post \u201cstruck a nerve because this community, which has a high population of Jews and many of which have been to The Venue were also offended, as well as the non-Jews who are sympathetic to and understand what the DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) movement is about.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the public outcry, The Venue canceled. In a public statement on social media, it said that the event \u201cwould not proceed\u201d due in part to \u201cincreased security concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Venue Fort Lauderdale is a Jewish-owned and operated and our values and commitment to the Jewish community are deeply important to us,\u201d it states.<\/p>\n
The post goes on to say that they are reviewing their vetting procedures while adding they want to be \u201cunequivocally clear that the acceptance of a venue booking should never be interpreted as an endorsement of the political views, organizations, speakers, messaging, or causes associated with an event.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI think what\u2019s important to understand what happened here is my client accepted this booking and it was not disclosed to my client the full extent of who\u2019s gonna be appearing at the booking,\u201d Russell Cormican, the attorney representing The Venue, said. \u201cParticularly Congresswoman Tlaib. It was never disclosed that she was going to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cormican said that The Venue became aware of Tlaib\u2019s presence thanks to social media posts less than 24 hours before the scheduled event. He said police showed up at the venue and addressed security concerns.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd because it was so close to the time that this event was going to happen, they did not have time to put in place adequate security measures in response to the presence of a very controversial person at this event,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Cormican said his client\u2019s statement was \u201cnot a political statement in any way\u201d and said it had nothing to do with the business being Jewish-owned. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the result of a organizer who booked the venue and didn\u2019t disclose all of the people who were gonna be there,\u201d Cormican said. \u201cAnd one of those people then became a security concern for my client.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said his client is \u201cin the business of allowing people to have events\u201d and \u201cnot checking people\u2019s political affiliation when they walk in the door.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re not asking if you\u2019re a Republican or a Democrat or whether you back Israel or Palestine. They\u2019re open to everyone,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if you\u2019re gonna have an event there and you\u2019re gonna invite somebody to that event that is a controversial person that\u2019s going to cause a need for added security, then you have to tell them that in advance. You\u2019ve got give them enough time to get ready for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gottlieb said, \u201cI don\u2019t see race or religion in my job in any way, shape or form, nor do I in my personal life. I want to make that clear. I don\u2019t care that Rashida Tlaib is Palestinian. I care that she\u2019s antisemitic and I understand that some people are going to say she\u2019s not antisemitic.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the candidates Congresswoman Tlaib is in town to support is the DSA-endorsed Oliver Larkin, a digital marketing consultant looking to beat establishment Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Florida, who is now running in Florida\u2019s newly redrawn Congressional District 25.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a hate rally. This is a rally to motivate young voters against the billionaire class and the corporate interests that are increasingly in control of both political parties,\u201d said Larkin, who described the public outcry and original venue cancellation as \u201cvery unfortunate,\u201d adding that they are \u201cmoving forward regardless.\u201d <\/p>\n
He said they are planning to stage the event at a new \u201cprivate\u201d location that will only be sent to RSVPs in light of what he feels is \u201ca very hate-fueled public pressure campaign to try to intimidate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo if they wanted to get the youth vote out, number one, then you do a \u2018Democrat Youth to the Polls\u2019 event, OK?,\u201d said Gottlieb. \u201cYou don\u2019t invite Rashida Tlaib who is the head of the DSA movement essentially in terms of figureheads, right? It was a fundraiser for DSA candidates. They handpicked who they wanted because as I said, they\u2019re pivoting to the left.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fighting for \u2018the soul of the Democratic Party\u2019?<\/p>\n
The incident playing out in Broward may be a microcosm of the partisan in-fighting happening in primary races nationwide as some of the Democratic Party\u2019s more progressive members seek to unseat establishment candidates. <\/p>\n
\u201cRepresentative Rashida Tlaib has represented our country in the United States Congress and we\u2019re very proud to have her coming to to visit our state,\u201d said Larkin. \u201cI think this is case in point of why the Florida Democratic Party has failed to really stand up to Donald Trump and the Republican Party because they seem to be more concerned with quashing any kind of youth participation or progressive momentum to organize in our state.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s hurting the Democratic Party,\u201d said Gottlieb. \u201cI think you\u2019re going to see that if the DSA candidates get elected, you are not going to see a cohesive party platform anymore. I think if you look at some of the commentators in my post, many of them come from socialist or communist countries, or their families do, whether it was in Europe or in South and Latin America, and they said, \u2018No, no, no, we don\u2019t want this.\u2019 That\u2019s not what Broward stands for. Broward is blue-collar, Blue Dog Democrats.\u201d <\/p>\n
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