Hamas attack exposes bankruptcy of the far left and right

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There is always a danger in using a foreign crisis, particularly one as horrific as the war against Israel launched by the Hamas terror group over the weekend, as a source of lessons on domestic American political issues. And yet in this case, it’s a plain fact that the new war in the Middle East has already had an effect on political alignment in the United States, exposing the bankruptcy of both the progressivist left and the populist right.

Expressions of solidarity with Hamas by large portions of the left have been widely seen as a “masks off” moment. The raids which began Saturday and were conducted with truly unspeakable cruelty were hailed as “resistance” by the oppressed by a number of American academics and activists.

At a rally in Manhattan organized by the Democratic Socialists of America, a group that includes progressive members of Congress as well as local politicians, a speaker cheered the Hamas attack on a music festival where at least 260 young people were slaughtered and many other taken hostage. (Several group members, including New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have finally condemned the cheerleading.) Several Black Lives Matter chapters shared an image celebrating the Hamas paratroopers who attacked the concert. Student groups at Harvard and other top universities issued statements blaming the murderous attacks entirely on Israel.

Many people have said that such shocking reactions from the left reveal progressive antisemitism. But while some American Hamas sympathizers are no doubt antisemitic, the real source of those sympathies on the left is the mindset that neatly divides the world into “oppressors” and “oppressed” and labels industrialized liberal democracies as “the oppressor.” In this calculus, which ignores the complex history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, Israelis are the evil colonizers and Palestinians are the righteous, victimized “people of color.” Never mind that many Israeli Jews are Black and brown people driven out, or rescued, from Middle Eastern and African countries.

While the left is discredited, so is the “America First” populist right. The current crisis makes especially obvious the need for American leadership on the international scene, in alliance with other liberal democracies.

Republican attempts to blame the attacks on Biden are irresponsible and morally repugnant. Donald Trump’s disjointed and self-centered remarks about the crisis have also been a reminder that at this point, Trumpism is not a legitimate political movement but a cult — one that cannot be allowed back into positions of power.

Right-wing populism has also taken a hit in Israel, where Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies helped splinter Israeli society on the eve of the attacks — and almost certainly contributed to the poor preparedness that cost far too many lives.

The liberal order rejected by both the right and left remains the best guarantee of security, peace, and human rights, domestically and internationally. In the current crisis, both the United States and Israel represent that order. Illiberal forces are exposed as enablers of evil.

No idea what is left or right in UK politics either. I just know parties. They call them parties because their members like going to parties I think as they often meet with food etc. What started off as a party must have got all political-like, and that is how we have the parties today?

The difference between the left and right parties in the UK is the food they serve.

Left = jelly & blancmange , sausage rolls and cheese and pineapple on a stick.

Right = triangular salmon sandwiches with the crusts cut off, vol au vents and scones with clotted cream

Yes. I don't get this left and right stuff. Easier to call parties by name.

I like making up theories as they make sense of life in a serious political world.

I look at behaviour. I don't think I have seen a sensibly behaved party yet in the UK or in the USA. Some of them need to stand in the naughty corner. (Not allowed to smack their behinds any more!)

The problem with political parties is they are too much like children. When they are quiet and well behaved they are up to something!

Ah. Not keen on blamongue. Love salmon but need the crusts to hold the sandwiches together.
If I was an MP, I would bring my own sandwiches!

Your choice of food would suggest you are right wing but bringing your own sandwiches would suggest you are left wing.

It took her 2 days

It took her 2 days

I don't understand the logic that if you share a political platform with another speaker you share responsibility for what that other speaker says and does. It's guilt by association. An old political tactic.