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By Adam Turner
Since the October 7th Hamas massacre (and starting even before the Israelis’ counterattacked) U.S. cities have been engulfed with rioting by miseducated “useful idiots” who have expressed their support for Hamas’ barbarity, often chanted anti-Semitic slogans, and condemned the Israelis simply for acting to defend themselves. They have attacked Israeli or Jewish owned restaurants. They have charged into U.S. synagogues. They have harassed Jews on American college campuses, most notably our elite universities. They have rampaged through the halls of a New York high school – for nearly two hours – simply because they discovered a teacher had attended a pro-Israel rally. This teen mob forced the terrified educator to hide in a locked office as they tried to push its way into her classroom. They have trespassed into the U.S. Congress, and obstructed U.S. federal government activities. They have killed and injured innocent American Jews. Their leaders have spouted the most obvious and ridiculous nonsense and lies about the situation, babbling about supposed Israeli “genocide”, “apartheid”, “targeting children”, and “occupation”, which their miseducated followers parrot. All in all, there has been an explosion of anti-Semitic incidents throughout the nation, as documented by the Anti-Defamation League.
All of this has been accompanied by a huge surge in anti-Semitic incidents in Europe and in Canada. This surge may force the few remaining significant Jewish populations, most especially in France, the United Kingdom, and Canada, to flee to a safer country – at this point, there is only the U.S. or Israel.
And how has President Joe Biden behaved during this crisis situation for American and world Jews? How has he acted to protect the lives and rights of American Jews, who voted overwhelmingly for him in 2020? How has he acted to support Israeli Jews, who are our nation’s allies, and many of whom have family ties to American Jews?
Abysmally.
Focused solely on his re-election, Joe Biden and his administration has increasingly appealed to the pro-Hamas wing of the Democratic party. He has intentionally misled the American people again and again (see here, here, here, here, and here) to gain the affection of the section of his party that is made up of anti-Semitic, pro-Hamas, thugs. He has duplicitously focused on fighting a fake “Islamophobia”, rather than a very real anti-Semitism. He has pushed the “two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian Arab conflict, which is contrary to U.S. national interests and endangers the largest community of Jews in the world, in Israel.
And when called on his bias, Biden has blamed it all on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, instead of the various Palestinian Arab groups which refuse to make peace. Biden’s deflection is nothing more than a talking point that is approaching Big Lie status.
There are numerous examples of Democratic bias against Israel post-October 7th. President Biden has threatened significant shifts in U.S. policy — including an end to the U.S. defense of Israel at the United Nations and restrictions on the use of U.S. weapons by Israeli Defense Forces in Gaza – if Israel invades Rafah to finally destroy the remaining terrorists of Hamas. And he has followed through. Biden also told Israel not to retaliate against the recent Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack on Israel. Democratic leadership has pushed for Israel’s prime minister to leave, as if he initiated the October 7th attack. And many Congressional Democrats seem ok with punishing Israel for defending itself.
American Jews have a critical choice to make. Over two thousand years ago, Hillel the Elder, a prominent Jewish sage in ancient Israel – not Palestine – taught the following: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”
Today, if American Jews are not for themselves, and for other Jews, and for Jewish interests, who will be for them? Will it be the UN? Will it be the Western European nations? Will it be Third World nations? Will it be Hollywood celebrities?
Will it be Joe Biden and the majority of the Democratic Party?
No. The fact is, the world loves dead Jews. So, American Jews must stand up for themselves. And if others don’t like it – it is what it is. They should also heed the advice of Golda Meir, a former socialist Israeli prime minister, who once said, “if we have a choice between being dead and pitied, and being alive with a bad image, we’d rather be alive and have the bad image.”
Of course, some will say that American Jews should not be self-serving. But there is no real danger of that. It is a fact that a larger percentage of American Jews give to charitable causes than households of other faiths. It is also a fact that Jews, both American and Israeli, have striven, over and over again, to reach out to their enemies, including the Palestinians, to help, and make peace, with them. (And yes, Palestinian Arabs hate and kill American Jews – and other Americans – too.) Meanwhile, not once, have the Palestinians missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity for peace.
As Hillel said, American Jews cannot procrastinate. They must fight for their interests now, before it is too late. Before the U.S. becomes like France, where there are Jewish (and other non-Muslim) “no-go” districts and rampant violent anti-Semitic attacks. In 2006, Ilan Halimi, a 23 year old French Jew, was kidnapped and tortured to death over three weeks by a Muslim gang. Halimi’s captors beat, burned, stabbed and poured toxic fluid on him before he died. In 2012, four French Jewish civilians, including three Jewish children (aged 8, 5, and 3), were shot by a Muslim terrorist. The terrorist yanked one little girl, Myriam Monsonego, by her blond hair, pressed his gun against her skull, and fired. And in 2017, a 65 year old French woman named Sarah Halimi, was first bludgeoned, and then thrown out of her window to her death by a vicious criminal who called her a “dirty Jewess” and also celebrated, “Allahu Akbar, I killed the demon!”
In particular, I believe that it is well past the time for American Jewish Democrats to turn Franklin D. Roosevelt’s, John F. Kennedy’s, or Bill Clinton’s picture to the wall (echoing what was once said here), and vote according to their own interests. If there is a Democrat who actually respects them, and their vital concerns – their desire to live, and to avoid anti-Semitism – then they can and should vote for that Democrat. But if there isn’t, then they should vote for a better candidate – Republican, or any other party – or abstain from voting altogether.
For the Presidency, there is no real choice. Donald Trump’s record is superior in every way to that of Joe Biden. And unlike Biden, he isn’t going to play political games to win the approval of pro-Hamas anti-Semites. Not only is his Republican base far less anti-Semitic, but he also has a personal reason to be supportive – his daughter and grandchildren are Jewish!
Now, I am under no illusion about how traumatizing this might be to some dyed-in-the-wool Democrats. They pride themselves on their liberalism, and their commitment to the Democratic Party. And many of them do not like Donald Trump, or other Republicans. But, keeping the United States a nation where Jews can live in peace and security, and where they can worship and think as they choose, seems to be well worth that sacrifice.
I know that other Jews have given up far more to live free in this country. My great-great-grandfather certainly did. Over one hundred years ago, his son, my great-grandfather, was drafted to serve in the Russian army. To avoid what would have been a likely death sentence for his Jewish son, my great-great-grandfather sent him to the United States, despite knowing that this meant he would have to serve in his son’s place. To avoid that, my great-great-grandfather then sliced off his own trigger finger, making himself useless to the Russians. He wasn’t drafted, and he was eventually able to join his son in freedom in the United States.
Compared to that, American Jews adjusting their voting behavior is merely a minor inconvenience.
Adam Turner is a national security and political professional, with over two decades of experience on the campaign trail, and on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. His handle on X is @AdamEdwTurner.
