I had no expectation that Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez would comment on a massacre of Jews on the first night of Hanukkah half-a-world away in Sydney, Australia. He has a city to lead, with a lot of complex, difficult problems. He is a busy man.
But if he did choose to say something, I assumed he would share his grief over the senseless loss of life — there were 15 victims, the youngest a 10-year-old child and the oldest an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor who died shielding his wife from the murderer’s bullets — and condemn those who did the killing.
It’s only human to express compassion for the dead and their grieving families and, perhaps, as an elected leader of one of America’s most diverse cities, make a statement about the absolute necessity for Jews, and any minority, to celebrate their traditions in safety.
Although Richmond is not Sydney, when any Jewish community is attacked, when Jews anywhere are marked for death, we all feel it. As the former rabbi here, I know Richmond’s Jewish community would have welcomed the mayor’s solidarity. He could have attended a service at the local synagogue to demonstrate we are not alone. Knowing our city leaders care is important.
But Mayor Martinez did none of these things. His reaction instead was to repost a claim that the attack was an Israeli “false-flag” operation. He also reposted an image with a Star of David and the words, “The root cause of antisemitism is the behavior of Israel & Israelis.”
Rather than offer compassion or understanding, the mayor chose to repost a conspiratorial crackpot and a cruel, inaccurate meme.
Then, when it was pointed out to him how deeply hurtful his actions were, he offered excuses rather than apologies. He claimed first that he had posted “in haste without full understanding of the posting” and that he had done so “without thinking,” adding that “Of course we know that antisemitism was here before the creation of the state of Israel. As I’ve said many times before, we should not conflate Zionism with Judaism. They are two separate beliefs.”
Later, on his Facebook account, he wrote, “I failed to fully read and understand the meaning behind what I was reposting, and inadvertently spread content that was factually inaccurate, conspiratorial, and portrayed Judaism in a negative light.”
It’s worth noting that neither post portrayed Judaism in a negative light, but they did portray Jews and Israel negatively. It’s a critical difference.
But what’s worse is that these are not apologies at all, but something a child would say when caught with their hand in the cookie jar. A genuine apology would have begun with an acknowledgment of the harm caused by using his platform to spread lies and would have included an acknowledgement that he had done something genuinely wrong.
Later, in an interview with the Jewish News Service, the mayor said, “I retracted my mistakes. I own them. I was hoping that people would listen to me with compassion and understanding, but apparently that doesn’t seem to be the way in the world.”
This is the classic move of a public figure caught doing something they shouldn’t: Shift the blame and make yourself the victim. But compassion and understanding is a two-way street; you have to offer it to others, not just ask it for yourself.
Which begs the question, what was he thinking? Why did he do it? Even if we believe his excuses, the question remains: Why act in such haste and why is he following such hateful accounts at all? He is not an impulsive child; he’s a 76-year-old man in a public position of great responsibility. His words carry weight.
Now there is a political storm brewing. The Jewish Community Relations Council and some elected officials, including a member of his own council, are calling for his resignation. More hateful posts are emerging from the past and a large group of elected leaders is calling for him to take actual responsibility for them.
But ultimately this is not a political issue, it is a moral one. Do we stand up against hate or not? Do we comfort members of our community when they are hurting or do we add to their pain?
Hanukkah is about bringing light into a dark world. Each of us face the choice Mayor Martinez made every day: Will we bring a little more light into the world or will we contribute to the darkness? You can never know what is in another person’s heart. You can only judge them by their actions.
How Mayor Martinez acts going forward will show us who he is.
Dean Kertesz is rabbi emeritus at Temple Beth Hillel in Richmond.