Michael Ejercito
2019-02-07 18:28:02 UTC
Are the US and Other Democracies in Trouble?
by Judith Bergman
February 7, 2019 at 5:00 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13680/democracies-trouble
It is apparent that, over time, Jewish American Democrats will find
themselves the voters and donors of a party that will initially seek to
marginalize them, then ostracize them, and finally, demonize them.
With the last election cycle putting Islamists, who are openly hostile to
Jews, in the House of Representatives, the Democratic Party has jettisoned
even the pretense of repudiating their anti-Semites.
This transformation will be brought about by a group of new leaders who will
have the means effectively to rebrand their emerging power base, either
implicitly or explicitly, as the Neo-Islamic Democratic Party, thereby
asserting a dominance that will make today's political landscape
unrecognizable.
It is more than painful, as anti-Semitic libels are whitewashed by the media
or risk becoming part of the Congressional Record, to watch the American
Jewish community being played by the political party that many have called
"home."
Pictured: The United States Capitol building in Washington, DC. (Image
source: FEMA/Bill Koplitz/Wikimedia Commons)
Are democracies in trouble?
As someone outside the world's most powerful democracy, the United States,
it is concerning to see how many countries in the West are being
transformed. In Europe, free speech continues to be seriously eroded,
churches are desecrated, and religious Europeans murdered.
There are signs that the same transformation is beginning in the United
States, as well.
International observers have begun asking if the US has a problem.
Additionally, according to the Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US
Intelligence Community, released on January 29:
"Global jihadists in dozens of groups and countries threaten local and
regional US interests, despite having experienced some significant setbacks
in recent years, and some of these groups will remain intent on striking the
US homeland. Prominent jihadist ideologues and media platforms continue to
call for and justify efforts to attack the US homeland".[1]
The report adds:
"Homegrown violent extremists (HVEs) are likely to present the most acute
Sunni terrorist threat to the United States, and HVE activity almost
certainly will have societal effects disproportionate to the casualties and
damage it causes"[2].
Late last year, a synagogue in Pittsburgh was attacked. In Ohio, another
attack was being planned, "inspired by the mass shooting" in Pittsburgh.
Threats are, of course, directed against Christians as well as Jews.
Abroad, the US is being mocked, and Europe has set up a payment channel to
enable trade with Iran that evades US sanctions.
The American Jewish community seems to be facing a threat that it appears
quite content to ignore.
Not since the aviator legend Charles Lindbergh gathered fellow American
Nazis together and others condemned American Jews as being a "fifth column"
has the American Jewish community faced such a threat as it does today from
openly anti-Semitic candidates recently elected to Congress.
If the past is any way to predict how Jews will respond to this threat,
sadly, the vast majority will probably remain indifferent to the ominous
political changes now taking place around them. Their indifference, however,
is likely to come with an eventual cost.
Today's Congressional freshmen class includes Democrats who clearly seek to
upend the belief held by members of the Jewish community that they are a
respected minority within the American society. These newly elected members
seem to be trying to isolate the Jewish community from their political base
by engaging in the traditional canard used by past demagogues, from Rep.
Rashida Tlaib's tweet accusing Jews of dual loyalty to the age-old lies that
Jews conspire to control the media and finance.
These anti-Semitic falsehoods are being promoted against a backdrop of
increased assaults on members of the Jewish community at a rate not seen in
generations (most recently here and here).
A new report from the UK-based Institute for Jewish Policy Research, and
most likely also applicable in the US, has established "a clear link between
antisemitism and hostility towards Israel, finding that the strongest
holders of antisemitic views tend to support boycotts of Israel or consider
it an apartheid state."
"Jonathan Boyd, executive director of the Institute for Jewish Policy
Research and the report's co-author, said that people who hold 'traditional
antisemitic views' about divided Jewish loyalties or the nefarious use of
power are more likely to back ideas of boycott or apartheid than those who
do not hold them."
The report was based on a survey of 4,000 people in Britain carried out by
Ipsos Mori between late 2016 and early 2017.
The threat emerging from within the Democratic Party is not without irony.
The party has been the traditional home of the majority of American Jews
since the days of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. (His studied
indifference to chilling evidence of the Holocaust -- that was smuggled out
to the Allies -- is a topic for another day.) However, with the last
election cycle putting Islamists, who are openly hostile to Jews, in the
House of Representatives, the Democratic Party has jettisoned even the
pretense of repudiating their anti-Semites. As of this writing, not one
Democratic Congressional leader has called for disciplinary action in the
wake of recent anti-Semitic slurs by Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. Rather,
there are Republicans who have called out Tlaib.
These emerging political threats to the Jewish community come at a time when
social media has totally altered how, where and by whom political positions
are communicated throughout American society. They also come at a time when
radical Islamists, who have assumed seats in Congress, are seeking to stoke
the fires of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism. Further, it comes at a time
when a legitimate women's rights movement has been hijacked by an
anti-Semitic leadership. Expect the Democratic Party to be pushed further
into the Islamist camp in the months to come.
An entire generation of liberal Democratic leadership that at least
recognized Israel's right to exist is being pushed aside. The leaders that
remain (such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi) had been "assaulted" daily with
online tweets, trolls and bots launched by younger, aggressive and
thoroughly committed Democratic socialists who seek to reinvent the party in
their own image, sometimes by using sophisticated online tactics that seemed
unstoppable, until Pelosi awarded them plum positions on the prestigious
House Oversight and Foreign Relations Committees.
The Jewish American experience in standing with the Civil Rights movement of
the 1960s is in the process of being relegated either to ancient history, or
the realm of fiction, or discarded as inconsequential.
As an observer far from the U.S., perhaps it is easier to see, and call
attention to, this threat. In Israel, for instance, the Jewish community may
quarrel and debate among itself but it always appreciates the precarious
nature of its survival. Today's American Jewish community, however, remains
blind to the threat, repeating the mantra of the German Jews of the early
1930s that there has always been anti-Semitism and, aside from some
uncomfortable moments, it is not really an existential threat.
A retired attorney, Pete Cohon, noted:
"Democrats were presumed to be for the little guy, and Republicans were
assumed to be rich, white men. The Jewish community (other than the
Orthodox) and the Democrats became joined at the hip. The majority of Jewish
families taught its kids to vote Democrat for justice for the little guy.
Voting Democrat became a part of Jewish culture in America...
"These Jews just can't let anything disturb the comfortable delusion that
they inherited from their parents and grandparents that the Democrats are
for the little guy, especially the Jews.
"But times have changed, and they are wrong. Today, the big issue is the
survival of Israel, and it is the Republicans, not the Democrats, who are on
our side."
From this offshore observation post, however, it is apparent that, over
time, American Jews who are Democrats, and most apparently are, will find
themselves the voters and donors of a party that will initially seek to
marginalize them, then ostracize them, and finally, demonize them. This
transformation will be brought about by a group of new leaders, who will
have the means effectively to rebrand their emerging power base, either
implicitly or explicitly, as the neo-Islamic Democratic Party, thereby
asserting a dominance that will make today's political landscape
unrecognizable.
It is more than painful, as anti-Semitic libels are whitewashed by the media
or risk becoming part of the Congressional Record, to watch the American
Jewish community being played by the political party that many have called
"home."
Judith Bergman, a columnist, lawyer and political analyst, is a
Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
[1] Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community p 10.
[2] Ibid. p 12
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by Judith Bergman
February 7, 2019 at 5:00 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13680/democracies-trouble
It is apparent that, over time, Jewish American Democrats will find
themselves the voters and donors of a party that will initially seek to
marginalize them, then ostracize them, and finally, demonize them.
With the last election cycle putting Islamists, who are openly hostile to
Jews, in the House of Representatives, the Democratic Party has jettisoned
even the pretense of repudiating their anti-Semites.
This transformation will be brought about by a group of new leaders who will
have the means effectively to rebrand their emerging power base, either
implicitly or explicitly, as the Neo-Islamic Democratic Party, thereby
asserting a dominance that will make today's political landscape
unrecognizable.
It is more than painful, as anti-Semitic libels are whitewashed by the media
or risk becoming part of the Congressional Record, to watch the American
Jewish community being played by the political party that many have called
"home."
Pictured: The United States Capitol building in Washington, DC. (Image
source: FEMA/Bill Koplitz/Wikimedia Commons)
Are democracies in trouble?
As someone outside the world's most powerful democracy, the United States,
it is concerning to see how many countries in the West are being
transformed. In Europe, free speech continues to be seriously eroded,
churches are desecrated, and religious Europeans murdered.
There are signs that the same transformation is beginning in the United
States, as well.
International observers have begun asking if the US has a problem.
Additionally, according to the Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US
Intelligence Community, released on January 29:
"Global jihadists in dozens of groups and countries threaten local and
regional US interests, despite having experienced some significant setbacks
in recent years, and some of these groups will remain intent on striking the
US homeland. Prominent jihadist ideologues and media platforms continue to
call for and justify efforts to attack the US homeland".[1]
The report adds:
"Homegrown violent extremists (HVEs) are likely to present the most acute
Sunni terrorist threat to the United States, and HVE activity almost
certainly will have societal effects disproportionate to the casualties and
damage it causes"[2].
Late last year, a synagogue in Pittsburgh was attacked. In Ohio, another
attack was being planned, "inspired by the mass shooting" in Pittsburgh.
Threats are, of course, directed against Christians as well as Jews.
Abroad, the US is being mocked, and Europe has set up a payment channel to
enable trade with Iran that evades US sanctions.
The American Jewish community seems to be facing a threat that it appears
quite content to ignore.
Not since the aviator legend Charles Lindbergh gathered fellow American
Nazis together and others condemned American Jews as being a "fifth column"
has the American Jewish community faced such a threat as it does today from
openly anti-Semitic candidates recently elected to Congress.
If the past is any way to predict how Jews will respond to this threat,
sadly, the vast majority will probably remain indifferent to the ominous
political changes now taking place around them. Their indifference, however,
is likely to come with an eventual cost.
Today's Congressional freshmen class includes Democrats who clearly seek to
upend the belief held by members of the Jewish community that they are a
respected minority within the American society. These newly elected members
seem to be trying to isolate the Jewish community from their political base
by engaging in the traditional canard used by past demagogues, from Rep.
Rashida Tlaib's tweet accusing Jews of dual loyalty to the age-old lies that
Jews conspire to control the media and finance.
These anti-Semitic falsehoods are being promoted against a backdrop of
increased assaults on members of the Jewish community at a rate not seen in
generations (most recently here and here).
A new report from the UK-based Institute for Jewish Policy Research, and
most likely also applicable in the US, has established "a clear link between
antisemitism and hostility towards Israel, finding that the strongest
holders of antisemitic views tend to support boycotts of Israel or consider
it an apartheid state."
"Jonathan Boyd, executive director of the Institute for Jewish Policy
Research and the report's co-author, said that people who hold 'traditional
antisemitic views' about divided Jewish loyalties or the nefarious use of
power are more likely to back ideas of boycott or apartheid than those who
do not hold them."
The report was based on a survey of 4,000 people in Britain carried out by
Ipsos Mori between late 2016 and early 2017.
The threat emerging from within the Democratic Party is not without irony.
The party has been the traditional home of the majority of American Jews
since the days of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. (His studied
indifference to chilling evidence of the Holocaust -- that was smuggled out
to the Allies -- is a topic for another day.) However, with the last
election cycle putting Islamists, who are openly hostile to Jews, in the
House of Representatives, the Democratic Party has jettisoned even the
pretense of repudiating their anti-Semites. As of this writing, not one
Democratic Congressional leader has called for disciplinary action in the
wake of recent anti-Semitic slurs by Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. Rather,
there are Republicans who have called out Tlaib.
These emerging political threats to the Jewish community come at a time when
social media has totally altered how, where and by whom political positions
are communicated throughout American society. They also come at a time when
radical Islamists, who have assumed seats in Congress, are seeking to stoke
the fires of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism. Further, it comes at a time
when a legitimate women's rights movement has been hijacked by an
anti-Semitic leadership. Expect the Democratic Party to be pushed further
into the Islamist camp in the months to come.
An entire generation of liberal Democratic leadership that at least
recognized Israel's right to exist is being pushed aside. The leaders that
remain (such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi) had been "assaulted" daily with
online tweets, trolls and bots launched by younger, aggressive and
thoroughly committed Democratic socialists who seek to reinvent the party in
their own image, sometimes by using sophisticated online tactics that seemed
unstoppable, until Pelosi awarded them plum positions on the prestigious
House Oversight and Foreign Relations Committees.
The Jewish American experience in standing with the Civil Rights movement of
the 1960s is in the process of being relegated either to ancient history, or
the realm of fiction, or discarded as inconsequential.
As an observer far from the U.S., perhaps it is easier to see, and call
attention to, this threat. In Israel, for instance, the Jewish community may
quarrel and debate among itself but it always appreciates the precarious
nature of its survival. Today's American Jewish community, however, remains
blind to the threat, repeating the mantra of the German Jews of the early
1930s that there has always been anti-Semitism and, aside from some
uncomfortable moments, it is not really an existential threat.
A retired attorney, Pete Cohon, noted:
"Democrats were presumed to be for the little guy, and Republicans were
assumed to be rich, white men. The Jewish community (other than the
Orthodox) and the Democrats became joined at the hip. The majority of Jewish
families taught its kids to vote Democrat for justice for the little guy.
Voting Democrat became a part of Jewish culture in America...
"These Jews just can't let anything disturb the comfortable delusion that
they inherited from their parents and grandparents that the Democrats are
for the little guy, especially the Jews.
"But times have changed, and they are wrong. Today, the big issue is the
survival of Israel, and it is the Republicans, not the Democrats, who are on
our side."
From this offshore observation post, however, it is apparent that, over
time, American Jews who are Democrats, and most apparently are, will find
themselves the voters and donors of a party that will initially seek to
marginalize them, then ostracize them, and finally, demonize them. This
transformation will be brought about by a group of new leaders, who will
have the means effectively to rebrand their emerging power base, either
implicitly or explicitly, as the neo-Islamic Democratic Party, thereby
asserting a dominance that will make today's political landscape
unrecognizable.
It is more than painful, as anti-Semitic libels are whitewashed by the media
or risk becoming part of the Congressional Record, to watch the American
Jewish community being played by the political party that many have called
"home."
Judith Bergman, a columnist, lawyer and political analyst, is a
Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
[1] Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community p 10.
[2] Ibid. p 12
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