From Mamdani to Michigan, Muslim Progressives Are America's Hope
A new alliance challenging Trumpism and unconditional support for Israel. Gaza helped bring that political transformation about
Strange are the ways of history. Just a few years ago, Benjamin Netanyahu stood and preached his doctrine about the war on Islamic terror to the "Western fools" like a prophet of doom. He described Israel as the last defensive wall protecting civilized Western values.
It will take us years to fully grasp the dramatic transformation happening now in the United States and around the world on matters of fundamental importance; a change that, in historic terms, seems to have transpired in the blink of an eye.
Suddenly, doors are being slammed shut to American politicians and influencers who once eagerly sought out the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Israel's all-powerful messenger. Today, anyone who wants to keep their good name stays away from AIPAC as if it were the plague.
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However, rather than lower its profile. AIPAC continues to meddle in domestic U.S. politics with irritating rudeness. Indeed, what do Michigan politics have to do with U.S.-Israel relations? And so, the Democratic primary for the Michigan senate seat turned into a battle between supporters and critics of Israel – or between supporters of mass destruction in Gaza and those who condemn it, if you will.
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From a distance, things seem absurd. Indeed, if AIPAC hadn't insisted on turning the candidates' attitudes toward Israel into the central issue of the primary, the race wouldn't have drawn global attention. However, AIPAC thought differently, and the reason is simple.
The organization has amassed enormous political power, to the point that the late President Jimmy Carter once said, "It's almost politically suicidal in the United States for a member of the Congress who wants to seek reelection to take any stand that might be interpreted as anti-policy of the conservative Israeli government, which is equated, as I've seen it myself, as antisemitism."
Now, with the support of $32 million, an unbelievable sum for a Senate primary, AIPAC could revive the historic poison of the "Protocols." With friends like these, Jews don't need enemies.
However, this episode is but a minor part of the bigger story unfolding before our eyes in the United States. The truly important part is that the pioneers of the progressive camp challenging U.S. President Donald Trump and his capitalist cronies have struck an alliance with Muslims and Arabs.
They embody the hope to make America sane again. America is indeed great, like Trump's slogan goes, and simultaneously insane. It's a disaster that endangers itself and the world.
Just a few years ago, Muslims Arabs were characterized as a dangerous threat. Today, more and more Arabs and Muslims are like stars dispelling the darkness of night. It started with Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar and continued with Zohran Mamdani and Abudl El-Sayed, who just won the Democratic Party primary for the Senate race in Michigan, as well as many others.
These forces have formed an alliance with the Democratic camp, with progressive leaders headed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, with Jewish organizations opposed to the occupation and with population groups targeted by Trump's racist policies. This alliance is the hope of America, and it might rescue it from the jaws of Trumpism.
Why did this change happen? It is likely that the ember that set this fire alight was what happened in Gaza. At first, a huge wave of solidarity with Israel swept across the world in wake of Hamas' October 7 massacre. But within a short while, the feeling grew that Israel was exploiting this solidarity to wage a war of mass killing, unprecedented destruction and widespread displacement of the local population.
This is the great irony of history: The Israeli government, which sought to fortify Israel's position through the war, contributed more than anyone else to undermining its moral and political foundation.
Indeed, a profound change is taking place today in public consciousness in the United States and around the world. It's of no comfort, but we should say it anyway: The blood of tens of thousands killed in Gaza was not spilled in vain.