I’ve never really understood the connection between the socialist orthodoxy of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) – Medicare for all, free childcare, free mass transit, wealth taxes on the megarich, defund the police, eliminate student debt, free higher education for all, eliminate Thanksgiving, eliminate ICE, etc. – and its virulent anti-Israel platform.

It’s easy, perhaps, to see the linkage between the anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian positions of DSA stars like Zohran Mamdani and Abdul El-Sayed. Less obvious is the alignment of so-called anti-Zionist Jews like the self-hating Jew Bernie Sanders, not to mention the willingness of so-called “establishment Democrats” like Ed Markey and Seth Moulton – the two vying for the Dems’ Senate nomination in Massachusetts – and any number of others to embrace strident anti-
Israel positions. To the DSA and so many “establishment” Democrats, AIPAC is the bogeyman, yet I am not aware of any instance where AIPAC has directly opposed or even commented upon any aspect of the DSA’s core socialist agenda.

Many younger Jews, whose politics fall well into the progressive camp, proudly embrace the same type of anti-Zionist stance. After all, they say, being anti-Zionist or anti-Israel is not the same as being antisemitic. Really?

Part of the willingness of Gen Z Jews to reject Israel and its importance to the Jewish people – or worse, to deny that there even is such a thing as “the Jewish people” – can probably be explained by the span of time that has passed since the rise of Nazi Germany and the failure of American Jews to educate their Gen Z kids as to what Jews, both in Europe and elsewhere, had to deal with during that time. FDR, long viewed by many as a real friend to the Jews, rejected calls by many Jewish leaders during World War II (including the Jewish Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morganthau) for the U.S. to bomb German rail lines that carried Jewish victims into Nazi death camps. And while the U.S. fought and ultimately defeated the Nazis, the U.S. refused entry to Jews prior to the Holocaust and maintained that refusal even after the end of the war, when ships carrying thousands of Holocaust survivors, upon arrival in New York harbor, were turned away without being allowed to disembark. And Jewish immigration into what was then British mandate Palestine didn’t fare any better. It wasn’t until the establishment of Israel in 1948 and its adoption of the “Law of the Return,” that European Jews finally had a place ready to welcome them. And to me, that alone is a more than sufficient basis for Israel’s existence – to provide a safe haven for Jews who, precisely because they are Jewish, may have nowhere else to go.

There seems to be a sense among younger American Jews (many of whom reject their Jewish heritage altogether) that the current escalation in antisemitism is somehow not their problem because, after all, they don’t really consider themselves to be Jewish. As they see it, American Jews have become too wealthy, too politically connected and, mainly, too integrated to become victims of a neo-Nazi resurgence. But that was precisely the mindset of many Jews and Jewish communities throughout Europe for much of the 1930s. By the time they realized what was happening to them, it was too late. If you’ve traveled in Eastern Europe to places like Czechoslovakia, Poland, Lithuania and, of course, Germany, you discover just how entrenched the Jewish community had become in these countries prior to WWII. Jews had acquired wealth, property, and political power. Jews held high positions in government. Yet all of this evaporated in a few short years. And the Nazis didn’t care how “Jewish” you were (all it took was having one Jewish grandparent) when they marched you into their gas chambers. Whatever the merits – if any – of the far left’s socialist agenda, these have nothing to do with the Israel/Palestine conflict, the war in Gaza, or Israel’s right to exist or its legitimate self-defense against Hamas and Hezbollah. So why have so many Democrats – including many who do not consider themselves members of the DSA – jumped onto this anti-Israel and antisemitic bandwagon?

Think about it. For centuries, Jews have been scapegoated for political gain not only by authoritarian regimes (and by those seeking to establish one) but even in so-called democratic countries like France and Great Britain. The DSA and even so-called “establishment” or “moderate” Democrats have – perhaps with the urging of (and financial support from) Qatar, Iran and their proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah – come to realize the potential political gains that can be attained by once again scapegoating Jews (and Israel). And Israel provides the perfect excuse (“we’re not antisemitic, we’re just anti-Israel, it’s not the same thing”). And these so-called “progressives” have captured large segments of the left-wing media to advance their anti-Israel efforts. Ever notice how often NPR runs sympathetic stories about the suffering of Palestinians in south Lebanon and Gaza, or reports on how many Palestinians have been killed in Gaza without bothering to mention that half or more of these were Hamas or Hamas-affiliated combatants? Have you ever heard a piece on NPR about how Hamas tortured Israeli hostages it captured on Oct. 7, or how Hamas has used U.N. schools, hospitals and mosques to store munitions, to operate command centers, or as barracks for their combatants, putting thousands of Palestinian civilians at risk? Or anything about how Hamas regularly hijacked aid trucks and diverted their contents to their own tunnels and personnel? And what about the disgusting piece The New York Times ran a few months ago claiming that the IDF had been training dogs to rape Palestinian prisoners – a claim, by the way, that veterinary experts insisted was a physical and biological impossibility. Or did you notice that the Democratic party and left-leaning media generally dismissed concerns about Graham Platner’s Nazi tattoo and Nazi leanings, but forced him to step down only after he was accused of rape?

Which is why last July’s vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on the so-called Massie amendment to eliminate $3.3 billion in funding to Israel is particularly concerning. Nearly every Republican resisted that effort, which failed by a vote of 314-104. More than 100 of those 104 votes were from Democrats – including the entire Massachusetts delegation. Even the only Jewish member from Massachusetts, Congressman Jake Auchincloss, has tried to rationalize his vote as sending a message to Trump and Netanyahu reflecting congressional opposition to the Iran war: “This measure would have prevented the U.S. government from financing and selling attack aircraft, bombs and missiles, and targeting systems to the Israel Defense Forces.” He told Bloomberg News that he “won’t support any congressional authorization or appropriations for [the Iran] war, and the dangers of groupthink and sunk cost bias.” Unfortunately, this “inside the Beltway” message (which included jargon like “sunk cost bias”) has been received entirely differently outside the Beltway, as demonstrated at an Aug. 25 town hall-type event at Beth Menachem Chabad in Newton attended by the congressman. There, numerous and articulate speakers tried to explain to him why his “message” – and particularly as it has come from a Jewish member of congress who is openly pro-Israel – has served only to fuel the growing level of antisemitism in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Unfortunately, so-called “progressive” Jews – and even many who do not subscribe to the more extreme DSA positions – are in denial about what is going on. They continue to support and vote for anti-Israel candidates so long as those candidates are Democrats. They continue to contribute to NPR despite NPR’s persistent anti-Israel misinformation campaign. Which probably goes a long way toward explaining why “moderate” Democrats are so willing to join their DSA brethren in their anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric, and why even some Democrats who certainly should know better are getting caught up in this wave. It would seem that many Democratic candidates of all stripes – even some Jewish ones – have concluded that Jew-hatred is out there and it might as well be exploited for political advantage (sound familiar?) and as long as so many Jews remain in denial and continue to vote for and contribute to Democrats that overtly oppose Israel and Israel’s right to exist, those “establishment Democrats” can continue to get away with it. They seem to rationalize this by associating Jew-hatred with some sort of classic socialist oppressor vs. oppressed, rich vs. poor, powerful vs. powerless mindset.

Clearly, many Democratic candidates are hell-bent on exploiting Jew-hatred and are willing to throw their longtime and uber-loyal Jewish supporters under the bus. And as long as those long-time and uber-loyal Jewish supporters continue to let them get away with it, things will only get worse. Congressman Auchincloss has come to realize this as well. In a statement released on Aug. 27 a few days after the Chabad event, he said, “This bigotry has no place in the Democratic Party. I reject it, as I rejected Graham Platner’s. The Democratic Party needs to be able to reach young voters who are angry at the status quo. Viciously scapegoating Jews or Israel for American challenges is a toxic and self-defeating attempt to do that, which every Democrat should condemn.” One can only hope that the majority of his Democratic colleagues will come to this same realization. There are important lessons to be learned from pre-war Europe, and hopefully American Jews are smart enough not to just sit back and let history repeat itself. And if Democratic candidates are stupid enough to believe that Jews will just let this happen again, those anti-Israel Democrats certainly should – and hopefully will – have to deal with the results they deserve come November. Θ

Lee L. Selwyn writes from Chestnut Hill.