The defeat of Rep. Jamaal Bowman in New York sends a clear message to current and aspiring progressive politicians throughout the country: that antisemitism is not only bad morals, it’s also bad politics.
As the first member of the so-called “Squad” to lose in a Democratic primary, Bowman’s downward spiral and ultimate unseating must now serve as a clarion call for the rest of the left. Our movement for progress, our work to advance social, racial, economic, gender, and environmental justice in America, will fail if we do not work to eradicate the malignant antisemitism metastasizing within it.
It has been shocking to see that some who recklessly claim the mantle of progressivism are the most unapologetic in their indifference—or sometimes, malevolence—toward Jewish suffering, trauma, and victimization.
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Progressive voters across the country are rightly concerned by the far-left wing of our movement denying sexual violence, blindly embracing “resistance” and “decolonization” narratives that endorse terrorism, mocking and blocking Jewish students on college campuses, and violently protesting outside of synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses. The echoes of history are too stark to ignore.
This weekend, as Rep. Bowman was shouting antisemitic-coded slurs like “the many against the money” from a stage in the South Bronx, a pro-Hamas mob attacked Jews outside a synagogue in a heavily Jewish neighborhood in Los Angeles—on the same day as a ceremony marking the groundbreaking of the new Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, which experienced the worst attack on the Jewish community in American history.
As we commemorate and rebuild after this heinous attack from the extreme right, we’re simultaneously experiencing a slow-motion pogrom coming from the radical left. Violent antisemitism is coming from every direction, and threatening the very foundations of our liberal society. A country that cannot protect ethnic and religious minorities cannot function as a democracy.
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)—who claim to fight for social justice, and of which Bowman reportedly still claims membership—have done everything in their power to institutionalize antisemitism, making it a litmus test issue for progressive activism and ostracizing millions of Jewish Americans—people with a long tradition of leading and supporting successful fights for justice, equality, and freedom.
The lessons of history are clear, and we’ve seen them repeat too frequently in the recent past: the British Labour Party, the Canadian Green Party, the Sunrise Movement, the Women’s March and the Movement for Black Lives have all been mired in antisemitism-related controversies over the past few years, and we—women, members of LGBTQ communities, Black and brown people, immigrants and refugees, anyone experiencing police brutality, food insecurity, or climate-related inequities—are all paying the price.
Those of us who have been fighting for the progressive agenda have long known the threats we face from forces in the conservative movement that are working to roll back hard-fought wins for voting rights, LGBTQ equality, reproductive freedom, health equity, and racial justice. Antisemitic elements within our progressive movement make our fights for justice exponentially more difficult by diverting attention and resources from our coalitions, while providing legitimate fodder to those creating culture wars out of our progress on civil and human rights.
Put simply, progressive antisemitism hurts our causes, while helping to put into power people who oppose our progressive agenda.
That’s why, this primary season, truly progressive voters are making their voices heard and reclaiming, for both the progressive movement and the Democratic Party, what it means to be truly and consistently progressive. Sincere progressives are saying “Not In Our Name” to the normalization of antisemitism—just as we do for all other marginalized groups against all other forms of hate.
Real progressives condemn the gaslighting of and violence against Jews, whether done in the name of “anti-Zionism,” “anti-Israel” sentiment, as criticism of Israeli policy, or for any other reason. Real progressives fight violence, sexual assault, murder, kidnapping, and all forms of hate with the passion and resolve this fight deserves and demands. Real progressives reject binary frameworks that dehumanize people and work to advance human rights, opportunity, justice and collective liberation for all—Israeli and Palestinian, and everyone else.
True progressives, whether Jewish or not, are more engaged in mobilizing, more aggressively than ever, to reclaim the progressive movement from the radical elements of division that are destroying our ability to advance progress and justice for all Americans—and emboldening the forces of theocracy, authoritarianism, and white supremacy that threaten us all.
There are some who believe in and advocate fervently for justice, who have been targeted so viciously by antisemites in the extreme left that they believe the progressive movement has been too perverted to repair. But Rep. Bowman’s defeat should serve as a reminder that it is up to us, the true progressives, to reclaim our movement, to protect its integrity, to refuse to cede the space. We should demand that these false progressives leave. We cannot afford to leave ourselves.
Democratic voters made their voices heard in New York’s 16th Congressional District. Now all eyes will be on Missouri’s 1st, where another “Squad” member, Rep. Cori Bush, faces a competitive primary challenge.
And after that, the spotlight will be on the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August. There, we hope true progressives will stand up and stand strong for the values that reject hate, embrace justice, and can work to rebuild a truly inclusive movement that welcomes all who want to fight for progress—including Jews and Zionists.
