The Democrats' Antisemitic Problem
I wish I had written it down somewhere so I could prove I said it. Probably 25 years ago, I said there would come a time when discrimination against white people would not only be accepted but encouraged. Sadly, here we are today with things like the 1619 project and critical race theory. At the end of World War II, the whole world vowed that the antisemitism that had been on full display would never be so again. There was even a slogan, simply, “Never Again.” But “Never Again” has become “Today 2024.” Since the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by the terrorist group Hamas, antisemitism has reared its ugly head in a way the world has never seen since the dark days of Nazi Germany. Here in America, it has culminated in a very ugly way.
Almost immediately following the attack, demonstrations and protests broke out on American college campuses, decrying Israel for merely defending itself. Accusations of genocide and war crimes against Palestinians living in Gaza have infiltrated civil society in the grisliest of ways. Jewish students were afraid to leave their dorm rooms for fear they would be attacked. Jewish American citizens were being attacked as well. Tales of severing friendships and family members losing friends and relationships because they are Jewish and support Israel. Amazingly, in America, it is a dangerous time to be a Jew.
But now for American Jews, it is also a difficult time politically. American Jews have traditionally found a home in the Democrat Party. For the most part, it is a place where they have stayed and found a political home. But now, since the Oct. 7 attack, many Jews are not feeling as welcome in the Democrat party as they once did. The reason for that is simple. In 2024, when Democrats are facing the Trump juggernaut, it is all about the votes. Especially votes in swing states like Michigan, home to a very large Muslim/Arab population. The Democrats have found themselves in a quandary. Do they stand up and stand behind Jewish Americans whose votes they have enjoyed for decades without fear of losing them for any reason, or do they secure those Arab-American votes, many of whom are rabidly anti-Israel? As American Jews have found out this week, no pun intended, but for the Democrat Party, Arab votes now trump Jewish votes. That concept was hammered home in a subtle way but hammered home, nonetheless.
As Vice President Kamala Harris takes over as the Democrat Party presidential nominee, there was much speculation as to who her running mate might be. Several names were tossed around, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. Shapiro was the odds-on favorite. He is young, smart, and is the Governor of a crucial swing state. What’s not to love? In the end, Harris ended up picking Walz as her VP pick. What’s not to love? Well, two things, Josh Shapiro is Jewish, and he is pro-Israel. Did Kamala Harris cave to the pro-Hamas wing of the Democrat Party?
Matt Brooks is the CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition. In an interview with Breitbart last month at the Republican National Convention, he talked about how it has become “more acceptable” among Democrats to be anti-Israel. Is the anti-Israel code for antisemitic? Brooks said he saw it way back in 2012 at the Democrat National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina when there was what he described as a “loud voice” on the floor against pro-Israel planks being inserted into the party platform. Party leaders pretended not to hear them. Brooks described 2012 as the “canary in the coal mine.” He went on to say, “It’s only gotten worse. And more importantly, it’s gotten more acceptable. It used to be if you were anti-Israel, pro-Palestinians, pro-Hamas, whatever, it was more hushed tones. Now it’s out in the open. Now, it’s absolutely overt. ‘Israel is a genocide state.’ ‘Israel is an apartheid state.’ You know, ‘Israel is guilty of war crimes.’ All the rhetoric coming out of the Democrats now is seen as being perfectly acceptable and not condemned but rather condoned.”
Brooks is spot on. If all the protests, antisemitic rhetoric, vandalism, and everything else that has taken place since Oct. 7 should have told us anything, it was that once Josh Shapiro became a VP consideration for Kamala Harris, it would be promptly shot down by Barack Obama, or whoever it is calling the shots for the Democrat party. Pennsylvania and Michigan are traditionally reliably blue, but it’s those Muslim-American votes in Dearborn, Michigan, that are must-haves to secure Michigan.
Democrats are attempting to downplay Shapiro not getting the VP nod, saying that it was his support of private school voucher programs and natural gas infrastructure that made him undesirable as a VP pick. Abdullah Hammoud is the mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, and says that the Muslim American community has supported Jewish candidates in the past, including Sen. Bernie Sanders in his run for president and Michigan Democrat Rep. Andy Levin.
That may be, but in 2024, there is a different atmosphere. When people like Rashida Tlaib have no fear of standing up anywhere accusing Israel of genocide, when thousands of people have no fear of marching through the streets calling for death to Israel, when college students march through the streets yelling “We are Hamas,” something is very different. Democrats will never admit it, even when those mobs show up at the Democrat National Convention. But the Democrats’ antisemitism problem is getting too big for them to ignore.