The Democratic Party now faces a choice.
The Hamas atrocities of October 7th have forever fractured any political alliance between centrist and liberal Jews and woke, anti-Israel progressives.
It's either them or us.
The coalition is at civil war.
Following the terrorist massacre of Israeli civilians and even before the military response, young woke progressives turned stridently against the Jewish State.
It was a knee-jerk reaction stimulated not by what Israel did – because it had done nothing to justify Hamas' brutality – but what Israel is: the nation state of the Jewish people.
In New York City, speakers at a rally endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America (a group to which several members of Congress belong) celebrated the attacks.
Progressive students at many American universities issued statements, held banners, and participated in marches not in favor of a two-state solution which would establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel, but against the existence of Israel itself.
The dominant slogan at these events was 'Palestine will be free from the river to the sea.'
This wish is not ambiguous. It calls for the ethnic cleansing of all Jewish Israelis from the land, including areas that have been part of the nation state since its founding.
It means a Judenrein (free of Jews) Palestine – not a two-state solution, but a final solution for the Jews of Israel.
Perhaps it would have been bad enough to see so many left-leaning young people, who so often inject their vitality and enthusiasm into progressive causes, suddenly embrace bloodlust, but the response of college professors and administrators has been even worse.
Earlier this week, more than 100 staff members at Columbia University signed an open letter supporting students who praised the Hamas attacks as an 'unprecedented historic moment for the Palestinians of Gaza.'
Or witness the response of Harvard, the revered institution at which I taught, to new video purported to show pro-Palestinian students – and among them the editor of the Harvard Law Review – physically harassing a Jewish student on campus.
As of this writing, no disciplinary action has been announced.
This moral cowardice is not only evident among so-called educators – it is conspicuous among members of Congress and even some in the White House.
Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib continues to blame Israel for a deadly explosion at a Gaza Hospital that U.S. and U.K. intelligence agencies believe was caused by a rocket fired by Palestinian terrorists.
Nine hard-Left Democratic members of Congress voted against a House resolution that condemned Hamas and expressed support of Israel. Another six voted 'present' for the bill that passed overwhelmingly.
Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz suggested these members who couldn't bring themselves to denounce the slaughter of civilians 'don't have a soul.'
Thank you, Congresswoman. But where, I ask, is the presidential address demanding introspection of the 'soul' of the party?
On Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris announced a new 'National Strategy to Combat Islamophobia,' which any sensible American would support.
But the streets of American cities and college campuses are not being filled with crowds celebrating the murder of Muslims.
These hordes are calling for the death of Jews – yet the President cannot muster a full-throated response that focuses on the current problem, namely rampant antisemitism.
And just last week, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre pointedly declined to say if the President had any plans to speak to the explosion of antisemitism among university students.
Shame!
If something is not done immediately – if it is not too late already – the breach between Jewish voters who support Israel (and even those critical of some of its policies) and the Democratic Party will become unhealable.
Maybe - permanent.
There can be no compromise on this issue.
I have supported the Democratic Party since I first voted for John F. Kennedy in 1960, for much like my parents and grandparents, and since the days of Frankin Delano Roosevelt, a vast majority of Jewish-American voters could be reliably counted upon to cast their ballots for Democrats and contribute disproportionately to their campaigns.
This is unlikely to continue.
The silence of some Democrats, President Biden's administration and America's foremost liberal institutions in response to an eruption of left-wing anti-Zionism and Jew hatred is gut-wrenching.
It is nothing short of betrayal and Americans Jews must not move forward without a reckoning.
As columnist Tom Freidman of the New York Times recently observed: Biden may be the last pro-Israel Democratic Party nominee if future candidates follow the lead of the Squad and the activist left-wing base.
Of course, some Jews will continue to vote blue, but their allegiance will be weakened to the point of disappearing.
Yes, centrist Jews have an alternative: they can become centrist Republicans. But that, too, will not be easy, since the Republican party is moving to the right on issues deeply concerning to many Jews – issues such as abortion rights, gay rights, climate control, gun control and the Supreme Court.
More likely, Jews will be cast into a political diaspora. But one thing is certain - the Democratic party will never be the same.
The antisemitic and anti-Israeli attitudes uncovered by these game changing events will not be forgotten.
And I fear that if the woke, hard-left succeeds in taking over - then the Democrats, my grandparents' party, risks becoming Judenrein.
2 comments:
I think that Democrat sentiments toward Israel will not only reverse decades of support by liberal Jews nationally but also on the state and local level. Prof. Dershowitz’s excoriation of Democrats refusal to denounce universities’ support of Hamas will result in NY Jews ( except maybe Satmar) voting out of office local and state NY representatives as well as Democrat senators and congressmen. But this is all conditional on Trump being cast out as Republican nominee of the party.
If he becomes the nominee of the Repubs it will spell disaster for Israel.
Liberal Jew won't switch. Being Liberal is a bigger part of their identity than being Jewish because it's the Liberal that gives them their values and goals.
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