A pro-Palestinian rally in Washington, D.C. today is bringing protesters from around the country. They call for a ceasefire and a stop to aid for Israel. The usual. The groups involved include the Palestinian Youth Movement, Answer Coalition, American Muslim Alliance, The People’s Forum, and National Students or Justice in Palestine.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is meeting with the Egyptian and Jordanian foreign ministers today. The Egyptian foreign minister calls for an immediate ceasefire without conditions. Jordan supports that, too, as does Saudi Arabia. Blinken says a ceasefire would leave Hamas at a place to regroup and come back stronger.

The hatred of Israel and Jews is on full display in the United States and around the world. Unfortunately, the stepdaughter of the vice president seems to have gotten herself involved in the fray. Ella Emhoff, daughter of Kamala’s husband, Doug Emhoff, shared a link on her Instagram account that raises money for the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, a nonprofit based in Kent, Ohio.

Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter Ella Emhoff has raised nearly $8M for Gaza on her Instagram: ‘Abhorrent’ https://t.co/d0ATwC6e3i pic.twitter.com/0gWnqVvzij

— New York Post (@nypost) November 4, 2023

The fundraiser has netted more than $7.8M so far. The Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund raised more than $21M in 2021, according to ProPublica. Ella did not say if she has made a personal donation to the fundraiser on that Instagram post.

Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey finds her support for the fundraiser as “abhorrent.”

“It’s of tremendous concern and I find it abhorrent,” said Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ). “To be honest with you, I am kind of stunned by it. It’s disturbing to the maximum degree.”

Van Drew, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said it was almost certain that Hamas would be able to siphon any humanitarian cash that entered Gaza.

His reaction is understandable. I had the same reaction. Hamas will not allow charitable contributions to make their way to those in need in Gaza, even the children. The members of Hamas are animals. Human suffering, even among those with whom they live, is of no concern to them. They will take the money, if it gets to Gaza, for themselves and their war efforts against Israel. They will use money meant for children in Gaza to kill children in Israel.

Ella is close with her father and Kamala. There has been no comment from either yet. Back in 2021, a spokesperson for Ella stressed that Ella does not consider herself a Jew and was not raised as a Jew. Her father is Jewish. He is working with the Biden administration as the point person on working against anti-Semitism. You can see where this is an awkward development, though I don’t see Doug Emhoff publicly criticizing his daughter’s activism on behalf of Gaza.

Perhaps the support toward people who voted overwhelmingly to be governed by Hamas in 2006 and have not risen up against Hamas since then is softened by the word “children” in the fundraiser. Palestinian children. Maybe that makes it OK – it’s for the children. That is incredibly naive.

Emhoff has his work cut out for him, especially since the Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7. He is shocked, he said, by the sharp rise in anti-Semitism seen on college campuses and even in lower grades.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff said this week that a “crisis of anti-Semitism” had broken out in schools and on college campuses in the wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel and ensuing military response against Gaza.

“It’s an antisemitism crisis to be clear on our campuses and even in our K-through-12 schools, on our streets and our markets, wherever you go. It’s unprecedented,” Emhoff told POLITICO in an interview this week during a trip to London.

For months, Emhoff, one of the most prominent Jews in the Biden administration, has served as a de facto emissary for the Biden administration to the Jewish community, where he has worked, in particular, on combating a rise of antisemitism. In the past two weeks, he said, his work has taken on a far more urgent nature.

Maybe the second gentleman will be more effective in his work than his wife is. Emhoff was handed the issue of anti-Semitism and seems to be rising to the occasion. That can’t be said of Kamala on any of the issues that Biden has tossed to her.