Jewish liberals said they feel betrayed by many of their friends on the left who have come out in support of antisemitic ideas since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas, The New York Times reported.
Rabbis, Jewish political leaders and Jewish voters said they felt abandoned by the political party they once aligned with, and called the sudden turn a “betrayal” and “beyond shocking,” according to the NYT. While some Jewish members of groups like Jewish Voices For Peace and IfNotNow said that they wanted Israel to announce a ceasefire, they were horrified by the number of political “allies” who called for Israel’s complete destruction or who claimed that the nation deserved the Hamas terrorist attacks. (RELATED: Pro-Palestinian Org Kicks Jewish Reporter Out Of ‘Interfaith’ Event, Threatens To Call Police)
“It has been painful to see some people I consider friends or comrades seeming to have a hard time empathizing with Israelis and, by extension, Jews in the United States,” Joanna Ware, the executive director of the Jewish Liberal Fund, told the NYT.
Netanyahu & Voldemort do seem to have similar policies https://t.co/mhfF13Mw8J
— BLMChicago (@BLMChi) October 17, 2023
Antisemitic sentiment has become more obvious in the U.S. in the two weeks following the Hamas terrorist attack, and the number of antisemitic attacks and threats have increased across the nation. Professors at multiple universities have made antisemitic statements and praised Hamas for the terrorist attacks, and participants at one protest at the White House refused to condemn the horrific murders of women and children committed by Hamas.
“I am in such a state of despair — in my generation, we have been warned how quickly people would turn on us and we just thought no way,” Nick Melvoin, a member of the Los Angeles Unified School Board who is running for Congress, told the NYT. “Now we see, this is how that happens: When you dehumanize the group. This indoctrination that many of us have been warned about hit us like a ton of bricks.”
The Democratic party has been divided since the start of the Israel-Hamas war as some politicians like Rep. Rashida Talib of Michigan and Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota publicly spoke out against Israel. Other Democrats, including New York Reps. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman, quickly denounced their affiliation with the Democratic Socialists of America after the group made antisemitic statements.
Some Democrats have expressed concern that their party will soon start supporting antisemitic ideas as more images of the war may begin to circulate on the internet. A recent poll found that 70% of Democrats support giving more aid to Palestinians in Gaza, while 53% believe the U.S. should not help Israel any more, according to results from a CBS News survey published on Thursday.
“The clear message from many in the world, especially from our world — those who claim to care the most about justice and human dignity — is that these Israeli victims somehow deserved this terrible fate,” Rabbi Sharon Brous, a liberal activist, said, according to the NYT.
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