After Hamas’ Oct. 7 atrocities, we immediately thought no reasonable person could do anything but condemn the terrorist group in the strongest words possible.
And yet Congress’ progressive “Squad” has not only refused to condemn Hamas — its vile antisemitism threatens the Democratic Party, the United States and Israel, and its hateful rhetoric endangers millions of Jewish Americans.
The Squad’s pro-Hamas positions, which wholly contradict the values America and Israel cherish, are a growing political vulnerability for Democrats, and the time has come for Democrats to distance themselves from such hateful and dangerous policies.
Nine progressive Democrats voting against a bipartisan bill reaffirming America’s support for Israel against “the barbaric war launched by Hamas” shows how extreme the far left has become — and exposes the antisemitic rot at the heart of the Squad and the growing rift between it and the rest of the party.
Condemning a terrorist group that committed the greatest single massacre of Jews since the Holocaust should not be controversial.
But progressives have a deep-seated hatred of Israel, with Squad members even threatening President Biden politically if he does not acquiesce to their extreme demands.
In the latest political stunt, Rep. Rashida Tlaib posted a video accusing Biden of supporting Israel’s “genocide” against the Palestinians and warning he would pay a political price for his opposition to a cease-fire that would reward Hamas: If he continues to oppose it, “don’t count on us in 2024.”
Tlaib also posted a defense of the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which the Anti-Defamation League correctly notes is antisemitic, as it calls to eradicate Israel, the state that lies between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
Tlaib’s comment drew swift condemnation from mainstream Democrats such as Rep. Elissa Slotkin, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Sen. Jacky Rosen, who called Tlaib “wrong” and blasted her for promoting a phrase calling for “eliminating the state of Israel.”
It goes without saying that Tlaib’s promotion and defense of a thinly veiled call for the Jewish state’s destruction should have been condemned by every elected official on both sides of the aisle — yet Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the face of the Squad, has repeatedly proven unwilling to disavow the antisemitic comments of her far-left colleagues.
She’s even joined them. Ocasio-Cortez recently charged Israel with committing completely unsubstantiated war crimes and used antisemitic tropes to accuse the American Israel Public Affairs Committee — a pro-Israel lobbying group — of being “racist and bigoted” and an “extremist organization that destabilizes US democracy” because of AIPAC’s historical support for political opponents of antisemitic Squad members.
It is now critical that our party, by word and deed, disavow the Squad and its pro-Hamas positions, as it’s clear their members are unable to police themselves.
If not for moral reasons then for political reasons — at least three Squad members are vulnerable to primary challenges.
One of the most vulnerable is Rep. Jamaal Bowman, who has taken a wide range of positions on Israel and hasn’t explicitly condemned Hamas nor embraced Israel as the only democracy in a region dominated by repressive dictators.
The New York Times reports Jews make up between 20% and 30% of Democratic primary voters in his New York district.
Indeed, Bowman’s vote against the bipartisan resolution reaffirming America’s support for Israel and condemning Hamas landed him in hot water at home, with more than two dozen rabbis in his district blasting it as “a position of appeasement towards Hamas’s terror regime.”
Their letter continued: “Since being elected, Bowman has led the effort to erode support for Israel on Capitol Hill and within the Democratic Party.”
Potential challengers to Bowman have taken note as well.
Westchester County Executive George Latimer, a likely challenger, has stepped up efforts to show his support both of Israel and the local Jewish community, making less-than-subtle distinctions between his support for Israel and Bowman’s progressive stance.
Bowman isn’t alone in the hot seat.
At least two other Squad members are vulnerable for reasons broader than their antisemitic dislike of Israel, such as progressives’ tax-happy economic policies and prioritization of social issues over kitchen-table issues like the economy, crime and education.
Rep. Summer Lee, a newcomer to Congress, also drew the condemnation of dozens of rabbis and cantors from her district — which includes the Tree of Life Synagogue, where a gunman killed 11 Jews in 2018 — after she voted against the bipartisan resolution.
Lee’s challenger Bhavini Patel called her out for “failing to condemn the initial Hamas attack” and making “wildly out of touch and irresponsible” comments when Lee falsely accused Israel of bombing a hospital in Gaza, which proved to be the fault of an errant Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket.
Even Squad members in deep-blue districts aren’t immune.
Rep. Ilhan Omar won her 2022 primary by just two points and is facing a slew of challengers, including Don Samuels, who almost beat her then.
He recently told The Post Omar’s “knee-jerk reactions to global events” have been a distraction from issues like “public education, public safety [and] housing prices.”
Given the gravity of this moment, Democrats must consider a primary challenge to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
A serious primary opponent would make the case that her abhorrent positions on the Middle East and inability to condemn the vile antisemitism of those like Tlaib and Omar have not gone unnoticed.
She also hurt her district in killing Amazon’s planned New York headquarters, which resulted in thousands of jobs lost along with the additional revenue surrounding small businesses would have accrued.
After the Oct. 7 attacks, Democrats can no longer afford to brush the Squad’s virulent antisemitism under the rug, lest they pay a steep electoral — and moral — price.
Ultimately, as lifelong Democrats, we must say: Enough is enough. It’s time to fire the Squad.
We implore the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and outside PACs not to support offensive outliers whose positions contradict the core values of our party and our country.
We implore voters to send them home.
Their positions are deeply out of sync with mainstream Americans and will tarnish the entire Democratic Party if we allow them to remain under the Democrat banner.
Douglas Schoen was a senior adviser to Bill Clinton’s 1996 campaign, a White House adviser (1994-2000) and an adviser to Hillary Clinton’s 2000 US Senate campaign. Andrew Stein served as New York City Council president, 1986-94.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
