American Jews are under siege by the New Left and the Democratic Party’s craven leadership.
The Democrats could not bring themselves to condemn anti-Semitic remarks from an ignorant, petty, narrow-minded, rookie congressperson. The bigot, Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., fortunately drew criticism within her district from Muslims and non-Muslims alike. One hopes she will be successfully primaried against next year in her heavily Democratic district.
Omar said that Israel has “hypnotized the world,” suggested Jews and Israel have bought U.S. politicians and implied that American Jews have divided loyalties. These are classic anti-Semitic tropes. It’s not a debate.
The New Left declared she said nothing wrong. So did David Duke, Holocaust denier and former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan who defended Omar.
Minimal Jewish street cred for the New Left is to denounce Benjamin Netanyahu, although one would be in better graces by bashing Israel’s very existence and “Jewish money and influence.” Yes, Netanyahou is vile and should be voted out of office, but his oppressive policies give cover to the New Left bigots.
The Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel initiated by the New Left is a great example. The thus-far-impotent exercise geared to delegitimizing the Jewish state is based on mythology: that Israel is apartheid, that Israel is a war criminal, that Israel is committing genocide.
At the end of 2018, Amnesty International listed 13 nations where human rights violations were the most egregious: Syria, the Philippines, China, North Korea, El Salvador, the Central African Republic, Egypt, Turkey, Mynamar, Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. Not on the list: Israel, the New Left’s unrelenting obsessive target.
But one never hears anything from the New Left about countries on Amnesty International’s “Urgent Action Network.” It doesn’t fit the anti-Semitic narrative.
A venal head of state currently leads Israel. That may or may not be remedied in the April 9 elections there. To amend Omar’s vile characterization: it’s not “the Benjamins,” it’s Benjamin.
Between now and the 2020 election is the time for Jews to fight back against the New Left’s ugly, unabashed anti-Semitism, one that surely will not abate even with the election of a new Israeli government. “Jexodus” from under the yoke of the Democratic party is more real than ever.
(It’s no surprise that the second worst president in my lifetime is revered by today’s leftists. They believe that donning a hardhat and hammering a few nails wipes away his virulent anti-Semitism,)
Gentiles in the progressive wing of the Democratic party are now experts on what constitutes “anti-Semitism.” The lifelong targets of this insidious disease could not possibly know the symptoms, could they?
When I postulated that to an unsuccessful Democratic legislative candidate from Central Florida, a member of another minority, he messaged me, “Your opinion doesn’t count.”
That accurately sums up the problem nationally: the marginalization of Jews by the New Left under the guise that they exert too much influence or favor Israel’s existence. Germany in the Thirties, anyone?
The Democratic congressional leadership, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, succumbed to the bigotry of the New Left. They may come to regret their cowardice in treating anti-Semitism as just another “ism”. Their House resolution, originally intended to justly castigate Omar, ultimately squeezed Jews into a lengthy inventory of groups that find themselves maligned by prejudice.
As far as the New Left is concerned, those who condemn anti-Semitism are the enemy.
Jews comprise just under 2 percent of the United States population, but they proportionately register and go to the polls in greater numbers. It is estimated that 76 percent of Jewish voters favored Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in 2016.
Additionally, Jews contribute to candidates and political committees that far outsize their numbers.
2020 could be a far different story. Jews are not obligated to vote for either Donald Trump or his opponent next year. If enough pass over the top of the ballot, it would be devastating to the Democratic ticket in several states.
Electoral votes from Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania would remain in the Republican column. Four states won by Hillary Clinton would be in play: Minnesota, Virginia, New Hampshire, and Nevada.
Yes, even New Hampshire where the Jewish population is relatively minuscule. If one out of four Jewish Democrats there skips the 2020 presidential race and one of 50 votes for Trump, the state would flip Republican. That’s how razor-thin Clinton’s margin was in 2016.
The anti-Semitism card might deliver only one 2016 Trump state: Michigan. The Wolverine State has a significant Muslim population, more than twice the number of Jews. And that’s no slam dunk due to the Omar backlash.
California, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C. with a high Jewish presence are so Democratic that Jewish non-participation in the presidential race wouldn’t matter.
No one has to fret about me having dual loyalty. I am a Floridian registered NPA who in the past reliably voted Democratic. I will not vote for the presidential candidate from either major party in 2020.
And I know I am not alone.
Jim Bleyer, a former reporter at the Orlando Sentinel and Tampa Tribune, writes the Tampa Bay Beat blog.
