The recent debate in the US on what constitutes antisemitism has exposed the Democratic party to a dark side it has been trying to disguise in its effort to keep the progressive image it has been identified with for a long time. The word “progressive” is rooted in the word “progress”. It implies broad and open-mindedness, forward-thinking, and most importantly, non-judgmental and unprejudiced bearing. Anti-Semitism is the exact opposite of that definition.
The Democratic party is no longer embraced by a true progressive prospectus. The newly elected younger troupe, an inexperienced, big-headed but ignorant bunch, who believe in their own boundless wisdom and moral superiority, have now taken control of the far-left agenda and have had it wrapped around the entire party. These days, these ignorant, boorish party members are calling the shots.
The entire group of declared Democratic presidential candidates, in their attempt to win their party’s acceptance, try to outdo each other’s designs of how to spend other people’s money, how to punish the successful, how to kill entrepreneurial spirits, while letting the government take care of things. They have distorted the definition of “virtuous” versus “evil”, characterizing the rich and the successful as the bad guys by definition; the poor, the underdogs, and the losers as the good guys.
They project this state of mind into the Arab-Israeli conflict, where naturally, the Palestinian Arabs (ignoring, of course, the super wealthy Arab states that fund Arab terror) play the part of the poor underdog while Israel is painted in the colors of the false propaganda the far-left is so keen on guzzling. Accordingly, they demonize Israel and they disseminate brotherly love to Israel’s enemies.
And although the radical horde is a minority within the Democratic party, their loud voice and their extreme political positions have not been suppressed by the adult, more practiced and skilled veterans. On the contrary, the Democratic leadership in Congress made it a habit to appease these loudmouths and let them paint the entire party in their far-left colors.
In my debates with some far-left enthusiasts whose Jew-hatred frame of mind is legitimized by focusing on the Jewish State’s perceived wrong-doing and its effect on the American Jews, I discovered the arguments they employ in condemning Israel and its supporters in the US, and where the chasm in their understanding of the truth is.
The first and foremost argument—alleged by the far-left anti-Semites in the Democratic party and their supporters—accuses Jewish American folks of disloyalty to the US. Support of Israel is characterized as a pledge of allegiance to a foreign country. This distortion of facts and intentions must be refuted.
The innuendo implied by the “foreign country” designation carries the connotation of an allegiance to an adversarial or even an enemy entity like ISIS, al-Qaeda, Iran, North Korea, Russia, China, etc. Israel is none of those. It’s light years incongruent. The US government under previous Democrat and Republican presidents has supported Israel to an extraordinary degree. This support is a result of US clear security interests (in addition to intelligence sharing and security cooperation), and feelings of closeness due to similar culture and democratic value-system.
The US government supports South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, with their defense needs. That includes risking the lives of American soldiers. The US is a member of NATO. That includes an American military intervention in case one of the NATO countries is attacked.
President Roosevelt, during WWII, sent his military to fight for the UK, France, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Greece against the Nazis. He sent weapons to the Soviet Union. He may have or may not have signed a pledge, but he spilled American blood. Did he exhibit dual loyalty?
President Eisenhower sent troops to South Korea to save them from the North. A lot of American blood was spilled. Did he exercise dual loyalty?
Does anybody believe that American support of these foreign countries is reflective of disloyalty to the US? Why then, is support of Israel considered unfaithfulness to the US by the new progressives?
Is it antisemitism in disguise? This is what the Democrat Party has turned into.
Another depraved accusation pointed at Israel is the “Illegal Occupation” of Palestinian and Syrian territories and Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinian residents in these territories. This one is a typical far-left deceptiveness-based argument in favor of the perceived underdog—the Palestinian Arabs.
The territories in question were conquered by Israel in 1967 in a defensive war where Syria (in control of the Golan Heights), Jordan (in control of the 'West Bank') and Egypt (in control of the Sinai Peninsula) declared war on Israel with the objective of wiping the Jewish State off the map. (And by the way, Is that legal?) Had they won, they would have instigated another Holocaust, but fortunately, they lost. And now, they want to ignore the reason Israel had no choice but to remain in these territories to defend the Jewish land from further attacks.
Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in 1979 as part of a peace accord. Israel withdrew from most of the 'West Bank' after the Oslo Peace agreement in 1993 between Rabin and Arafat but had to return after The Palestinian Arabs drew on their unregimented land as a staging ground for attacking and murdering innocent Israeli civilians.
Accusing Israel for “occupying" the 'West Bank' is like blaming the babysitter for keeping an eye on the unruly kids who are fascinated by matches and fire.
Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza and uprooted all the Israeli communities there and their Jewish residents in hope of securing a peaceful neighbor who would utilize the unfettered territory to boost their economy with Israeli assistance. But once again, the Hamas terrorist organization decided to exploit the newly acquired territory as a staging ground for rocket launches aimed at the civilian population inside the Jewish State.
A blockade of Gaza boils down to restrictions on imported goods. Gaza has no seaport or airport. Israel does not allow that for good reasons. These facilities will be used for smuggling military ware designed to harm Israel.
Accusing Israel for blockading Gaza is like blaming zoo keepers for keeping hyaenas confined to a fenced habitat. Accusing Israel for “occupying" the 'West Bank' is like blaming the babysitter for keeping an eye on the unruly kids who are fascinated by matches and fire.
The Democratic party has failed to censure its young, ignorant, Israel-bashing, anti-Semitic members. The party leaders have appeased them, accepted their disruptive conduct and have let this antisemitic movement inside the party grow legitimized and keep metastasizing with no serious attempt to throw a bit of chemotherapy in their direction, barring their poisonous venom from becoming a new norm.
This is not what the US is meant to be. This party should never be allowed to rule over the American people. I am done with them. I only wish that many other potential voters and especially the Jewish voters amongst them will see the light, will see the truth, will see the danger.