The Unenviable Position of the Democratic Zionist

The Unenviable Position of the Democratic Zionist

Last week a self-identified socialist called me a white supremacist. Today the synagogue I was a member of for years in Chicago received a bomb threat. This bomb threat caused the young children in the day school to be evacuated. Chicago was not the only city targeted with bomb threats today and this is the latest in a growing wave of bomb threats being called in to Jewish Community Centers (JCC), ADL offices and other types of Jewish buildings. There have been over one hundred such incidents since January. Also in recent weeks this trend has escalated to include at least two separate incidences of desecration of Jewish cemeteries.
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To be sure, correlation is not causation, but there can be no denying that these bomb threats have increased in frequency and scope since after Donald Trump’s installation and inauguration. Though his press secretary, the unintentionally amusing Sean Spicer, has communicated that Mr. Trump condemns these acts of terrorism, there is scant information regarding what he is actually having done about it. Considering the ongoing scandal regarding Russian involvement in his campaign and potentially in his administration, one can hardly have confidence in Mr. Sessions having a strong handle on any such investigation on behalf of the national Jewish community. General Flynn, the original National Security Adviser appointed by Mr. Trump was forced to resign. To date, he has not been replaced. James Comey remains in charge of the FBI, but he is also embroiled in investigations into Mr. Trump. What manner of resources can we be assured of being delegated to investigate these continued attacks on the national Jewish community? We have received no assurances, and no details. Given the obvious and public disarray of our intelligence apparatuses, I am not hopeful for a speedy resolution to any type of investigation.
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There has been one suspect found allegedly calling in at least 8 of the known bomb threats; a former Intercept reporter. One may recall the Intercept as the intellectually anemic “journalism” effort launched by former white supremacist defender, Glenn Greenwald. Greenwald, a fierce critic of Israel and the United States is not actually a member of the left, though he pretends to be. Several of those on the American left continue to fall under his spell despite his affinity for abhorrent regimes like Hamas. The Intercept also recently ran an article concerning anti-Semitism in the United States and the maladroit writer concluded that it is not much of a force. I humbly suggest the children hauled out of their classes in Chicago this morning likely felt differently.  
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It is hardly surprising that these elements exist in the fringe left and right. Both ends of this political spectrum horseshoe enter the nexus of anti-Semitism, and always have. The Communist movements always reject any religious expression as a matter of course. Nationalist right wing movements have typically found Jews to be a perfect scapegoat as the “other” outside of the core of their movement. We are experiencing this presently from the alt right and the anti-Zionist, and occasionally anti-religious, left.
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Donald Trump presents a unique challenge to Jewish and liberal Zionists, of which I am both. I am disgusted to see Donald Trump and Steve Bannon in the White House (where Truman first recognized Israel and Obama was the first president to hold seders). Trump and Bannon are both men that the alt-right (ie neo-nazi) have championed as their own figureheads. The right wing extremists of today see Trump as their own victory over liberalism; and by extension over “globalization” and “liberalism.” These are not new dog whistles or code words for Jews. Indeed, Mr. Bannon is alleged to have even removed his daughters from a school because there were too many Jews there. The Trump administration pays lip service to supporting Israel, but I am not convinced they know what that means. Mr. Trump has demonstrated no fluency in his descriptions of Israel. He has also not treated Jews he comes into contact with particularly well. Trump contemptuously told a Jewish reporter to sit down after asking a question about anti-Semitism before launching into a baffling and weak declaration that he is “the least anti-Semitic person.” There are also reports that Mr. Trump intimated that the recent waves of anti-Semitic activity were actually due to the machinations of Jews themselves. Sorry Donald, your words, actions, and the company you keep demonstrate otherwise.
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I have typically felt at home on the left as a Zionist and liberal despite being aware of the tendencies of the far left to conflate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. To be clear, not all criticism of Israel and her policies are anti-Semitic; but some are and should be identified as such. I have been long mystified of the disdain the fringe left has for Israel. Israel, with its socialized healthcare, liberal social policies (even recently decriminalizing marijuana!) and long history as a steadfast ally in a region generally unfriendly to the US, is vilified by the fringe left despite practicing many of the aims the left has for the US domestically.  It was with much consternation that I observed the rise of Linda Sarsour during Bernie Sanders’ ill-fated primary campaign. Ms. Sarsour’s apologetics for Sharia law and vilification of Israel have been widely covered and it would be redundant to readdress them here. Equally disconcerting are her vile, sexist comments regarding female genital mulitation survivor, Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Sadly Ms. Sarsour has come to greater prominence on the left due to her involvement in the Women’s March and general organizing in the Trump resistance movement. Ms. Sarsour has also absorbed convicted terrorist murderer, and immigration form perjurer, Rasmea Odeh into the upcoming women’s general strike. These are not simply symbolic positions in a loosely affiliated resistance movement, these are prominent faces at the forefront of organizing it and I could scarcely be more disgusted.
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The very name of our people, Israel, has the notion of struggling embedded in it. We have found ourselves in unwarrantable positions at countless points in our long history. Today we find ourselves in a new one. On one side, an administration staffed with reprehensible characters, and on the other a crystallizing resistance movement that definitively rejects our people’s natural right to national self-determination. I am reminded of Tevye and the central simile of Fiddler on the Roof. Now it is true that we are not facing the pogroms of Czarist Russia, but I find our present position to be in an unenviable and tenuous balance. I reject the platforms of Mr. Trump but I will not cast my lot with Ms. Odeh (real justice for Rasmea is a jail cell). Let us instead find common cause with each other and those who are willing to listen to our reasonable criticisms of the administration and the resistance to it. I do not suppose this is an impossible undertaking. Bear in mind, Ms. Clinton dominated the 2016 primary by 13% and the general election by 2%. The fringe left in particular is overplaying its hand as it tends to do, and we are not beholden to be led by the castoffs from Mr. Sanders’ failed campaign; who foolishly conflate Zionism with racism. The path to an effective resistance movement does not lie with deplorables on either end of the spectrum. Our voices will not be marginalized by extremists of any manner.
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Final note: There is something of a silver lining to diversifying our resistance. The Trump administration will be forced to acknowledge a vast swath of peoples and interests are opposing him. I can think of nothing this insecure, small-minded man would be more insulted by than accepting that such an array of groups are opposing him in a multitude of ways.    

Conservativism is not trumpism

There is a storied, if not mythological history that is often repeated concerning Ronald Regan and former speaker of the House Tip O’Neil; that they could spend their day fighting bitterly in the public sphere but then enjoy each other’s company in social life. In this current political climate of animus, I can scarcely imagine such exchanges today. To be sure, I have had to police my words with others in my new hometown in the Deep South. As you may imagine, that is very difficult for me to do. The coded language our politicians use has been secreted into daily speech to the point where one can ascertain the political leanings of a person within a few sentences. I can personally account for someone saying to me, “We’re so lucky that bitch didn’t get into office” being the most egregious. Add that to the general timbre of catch phrases like “lock her up” and “trump that bitch” those halcyon days of a more gallant relationship between the two poles of American politics seem to be slipping farther and farther way. I admit that I am no saint in this regard, the angels of my better nature have yet to show themselves.
I watched Trump’s speech to the joint session of Congress. What I saw and heard was not conservativism. It can only be described as trumpism. Trumpism will be difficult to define as it is as slippery as the man himself. It is easier to conclude what trumpism is not, and trumpism is not conservativism. When we hear him prattle on about promising walls, excessive military spending, while simultaneously pledging to not tinker with Medicare or Social Security, we are not witnessing a conservative from the Goldwater/Buckley/Reagan tradition. Nor could this sort of pseudo populist grandstanding be described as even neo conservative. However, Trump maintains that (R) next to his name. He is a Republican. He is the de facto leader of the Republican party. And I would submit that the Republicans who have lined up behind him while barely even offering a whimper of protest to his questionable election and horrifyingly incompetent Cabinet picks are no longer conservatives. No. They have sold their political and ideological integrity to trumpism in what can only be described as craven opportunism.
There is no shortage of ink (data?) being spilled on the disarray and discord within the Democratic party. While there was certainly a bitterly fought (but decisively won) primary, the Democratic party has not lost its integrity as the party of those on the left. It is true, there are those who regard the election of Mr. Perez to DNC chair as evidence of some sort of vestige of the Democratic “establishment” continuing to assert party dominance. Though one would be hard pressed to describe Mr. Ellison who has served several terms in the House as somehow not part of the Democratic “establishment.” In a fitting and proper gesture, Mr. Ellison was made Deputy Chair of the DNC. I would urge the so-called Sanders party to coalesce around this union. After all, Sanders has still not joined the party and continues to not share information with the party that could assist the Democrats in organizing against Trump. This is in addition to his 13% primary loss. I mention these things not to further enrage these members, but to include them at the proportion they have thus far included themselves. As an aside to those who voted for Sanders in the primary but not Ms. Clinton in the general; you left the party in November. It’s a remarkably arrogant position to take; betraying the party in a general election, but then thinking that betrayal has afforded you a louder voice.
Despite being an avowed liberal and Democrat, I think it will be conservatives, not Republicans, that will be the variable in effectively resisting Trump. The Democrats will continue to organize and unify. Yes, even despite the lingering (but healing) wounds of the primary. I don’t envision the same happening for the Republicans. The leaders of the party prior to 2016 clearly preferred Jeb Bush, and if their party had a mechanism like superdelegates, Trump would never have been the nominee. We can see glimpses of failing Republican unity behind Trump in the occasional actions and words of Senators Graham and McCain (though they voted for Mr. Trump’s appalling cabinet nominations). As a resident of SC, I was able to watch a town hall with Senator Graham and can attest to his strong language against Russian interference. I watched the same with our junior Senator Mr. Scott but he did not address the issue as forcefully. I hope with the continued opposition presence at town halls, Republicans will be forced to acknowledge the voices of their constituents.
Aside from calling your elected leaders, I would recommend something else in order to effectively resist Trump. If all politics are local, then let us challenge the conservatives we personally know on an intellectual level. If they are conservatives, then they must agree that building a wall is a massively irresponsible government spending project. If they believe in ethical personal conduct, one cannot support the man who bragged about sexual assault. If they are a strict Constitutionalist, they cannot support any sort of religious based legislation regarding immigration. I know these are not new arguments or points. When our conservative friends trot out their tired apologetics for trumpism, I will respond that obviously Trump is no conservative, but he is a Republican.