To the editor: In the May 18 GazetteLeader endorsement of Josh Katcher for Arlington commonwealth’s attorney, I was dismayed to see the three Northern Virginia commonwealth’s attorneys currently up for re-election described as “Soros-funded prosecutors,” especially in a newspaper that covers a community as progressive, diverse and inclusive as Arlington.
Why has the GazetteLeader chosen to use a common right-wing attack to denigrate progressive candidates?
Each of these candidates has received funding from a multitude of sources, yet only George Soros is explicitly mentioned by name in the article. Why?
Many in the Jewish community see this kind of reference as further perpetuation of a common, antisemitic trope about Jews. George Soros’ Open Society Foundations fund progressive candidates because he believes in progressive causes. Right-wing billionaires, like the Koch brothers, have funded right-wing candidates and causes for decades. But only Soros is routinely demonized by name.
If the GazetteLeader objects to the these three commonwealth attorney candidates because they are progressive, or for any other reason, the GazetteLeader should say so and explain its position. Using right-wing, inflammatory rhetoric to denigrate them – particularly at this time of rising antisemitism in our country – is not the answer.
Elizabeth Grossman, Arlington
