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.