But, there are signs some Americans are unwilling to tolerate it anymore.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) was defeated, the first of the “Squad” to lose in a Democratic primary, in a 9 point loss to a pro-Israel Democrat, George Latimer.
Bowman is known for his far-left progressive and antisemitic views. He accused Israel of genocide and at a recent campaign rally in New York, went on a profanity-laced tirade against the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
“We’re all going to show f***ing AIPAC the power of the motherf***ing South Bronx,” Bowman said. “People ask me why I’ve got a foul mouth: What am I supposed to do? You comin’ after me. You comin’ after my family. You comin’ after my children. I’m not supposed to fight back? We’re going to show them who the f*** we are.”
It’s a relief to see New Yorkers refuse to reelect this Congressman, who not only seems to be filled with hatred of Jews, but clearly lacks emotional maturity as well. Bowman made waves in Congress last year when he pulled a fire alarm to get out of taking a vote on a government spending bill.
The irony of Bowman’s obvious antisemitism as a progressive does not go unnoticed and unfortunately, does not seem to be uncommon. In the spring, the world watched as dozens of universities, including Ivy League college campuses like Columbia, wrestled with disruptive, vocal, and sometimes violent protests. College students vocally supported Palestine — and in some cases, Hamas — while jeering and smearing Jewish students on campus. Antisemitic riots broke out in Los Angeles just last Sunday.
Yet these same students spewing antisemitism, without impunity, also appear to be politically progressive, embracing diversity and inclusivity of views, ethnicity and background. Unfortunately, Jewish students and Jewish people are always excluded from the reach of progressive ideology — they must be excluded and hated, according to some on the left — an irony that’s so obvious, most far-left progressives cannot even see it.
At The Daily Beast, author Amanda Berman hopes Bowman’s loss “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.” While both statements are objectively true, I hope she’s correct that others are also receiving that message.
Even though it was disappointing, embarrassing even, to see Bowman’s outrageous, progressive, bigoted views in Congress, the fact that he lost, and lost by a good margin, could show that either the tide is turning against antisemitism, or, that antisemitism, once revealed openly, will not be tolerated. Either way, the way a democratic republic is supposed to function is for the people to elect others to represent them in Congress. And when the people are unhappy with that representation, the people choose another to better represent them. In this case, it’s good to see that New Yorkers in this district voiced their wishes loud and clear: Bowman, an antisemite, is no longer welcome to represent them in Congress.
Our government has many problems, and the people don’t always choose rightly, but in this case, Bowman’s tirades and bigotry has exposed beliefs with which the people disagree and so they’ve ousted him for it. Good for them.
Whether or not Bowman’s loss will be a “clarion call for the rest of the left” as Berman expressed in her piece, remains to be seen. I hope this is true, and Bowman’s loss serves as both a mirror and a teaching tool for the future. Protests on college campuses, the beliefs this next generation seems to hold dear — a toxic combination of progressivism and bigotry — have created cynicism. Hopefully Bowman’s loss rings loud and clear: antisemitism will not be tolerated, not under the guise of politics, power, or progressivism.
