Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right, Am I Stuck in the Middle? Not!.

In 1973, Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan wrote a line for Stealers Wheel that seems strangely appropriate for American politics today.

For Jewish liberals, pro-Israel Democrats, Zionists and our friends, it can sometimes feel as though we are caught between two political movements moving farther away from us, or perhaps against us, whichever way we turn.

Are we trapped?

No. That is simply how they want us to feel.

I say: Don’t give in! Don’t give up! We are not stuck in the middle!

We are creating our own lane.

After watching the recent Democratic primaries and thinking hard about where we belong, I have reached a conclusion.

We can stay, aggressively, in the Democratic Party.

We are not surrendering our principles.

Stay and Fight!

In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate. I have serious disagreements with El-Sayed, particularly regarding Israel and his call to end American military aid to the Jewish state.

Last week, I wrote a Times of Israel article challenging Abdul El-Sayed to decide what kind of political future he wants: “Will Abdul El-Sayed Change Course to Unite the Democrat Party?”

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/will-abdul-el-sayed-change-course-to-unite-the-democrat-party/

He may very well become a United States senator. He could have a remarkable career ahead of him and become a genuine example of what an American Muslim statesman can be: loyal to the Constitution, committed to democratic government, willing to represent all the people, willing to engage seriously with the American Jewish community and pro-Israel Democrats, and willing to listen to people with whom he profoundly disagrees.

Abdul El-Sayed stands at a fork in the road.

He can demonstrate that a Muslim American can embrace the American Dream and constitutional democracy while remaining proudly Muslim, just as generations of Jewish Americans and Americans from countless other backgrounds have balanced their identities with their American identity.

Or does Abdul want to be known as a jihadist?

That choice is precisely why our engagement matters.

We cannot change the outcome of a primary!

But we can challenge the positions of candidates and, later, elected officials.

We can tell them what concerns us. We can demand that they confront antisemitism. We can challenge anti-Israel rhetoric and historical distortion.

If, over the months and years ahead, a candidate changes course, listens, moderates damaging positions and becomes someone whose reelection we can genuinely embrace, we should acknowledge that change.

If not, we primary them!

Winning a primary does not end the conversation.

We may have lost the opportunity to choose a different nominee in this election cycle, but we have not lost our ability to influence the person who won.

We keep the pressure on.

We keep making our case.

If genuine change occurs, we recognize it.

If it does not, primary!

That is democracy.

We Stay, and We Push Back!

What happens when a candidate whose views on Israel deeply concern us nevertheless becomes our party’s nominee?

The answer is clear!

We become relentless!

We challenge!

We tell them what they must do to earn our November vote!

We become impossible to ignore!

We fight for change inside our own party rather than abandon it and surrender whatever influence we have.

No free passes!

If a candidate says something antisemitic, we shout!

If a candidate repeats demonstrably false claims about Israel, challenge them!

If someone crosses from legitimate criticism of Israeli policy into demonization, historical distortion or denial of Jewish self-determination, respond loudly and publicly.

Write!

Protest!

Counter-demonstrate!

Show up!

Question!

Demand answers!

And when they get it right, we applaud!

The goal is not permanent condemnation.

The goal is influence, accountability and change!

We Must Push Back Hard!

One reason anti-Israel messaging has gained so much momentum is painfully simple:

Those spreading it are often more aggressive and better organized.

Terms such as “genocide,” “apartheid,” “colonialism,” “occupation” and even “baby killers” are repeated until many people absorb them as established facts.

That is how political language shapes perception.

Pro-Israel Democrats need to stop surrendering the vocabulary.

We use anti-Israel when anti-Israel is what we mean, instead of automatically calling everything “pro-Palestinian.”

Zionism is not a dirty word.

For Jews, Zionism is the movement for Jewish national self-determination in the historic homeland of the Jewish people.

Jewish history in the land did not begin in 1948.

Israel is not a European colony!

Those arguments should be made confidently, repeatedly and often!

But we should also be precise.

Criticizing a Muslim candidate because he is Muslim is wrong.

Criticizing a Muslim, Christian, Jewish or any other candidate because of what that candidate advocates is democracy.

If there is evidence of jihadist ideology or antisemitism, confront it swiftly!

If there is merely political disagreement, argue the politics.

That distinction matters.

Our language matters!

We should support Palestinian rights. But people who glorify terrorism, advocate violence, deny Israel any right to exist or harass Jews should not automatically be protected by the vague description “pro-Palestinian.”

They are anti-Israel.

Christians Have a Stake in This Too!

There is another argument pro-Israel advocates have not made loudly enough.

We must confront anti-Israel Christians with this reality:

Israel is important to Christians too!

Christianity was born in this land.

Some of Christianity’s most sacred sites stand in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and throughout the region.

Churches, monasteries and the Stations of the Cross represent nearly two thousand years of history. In Jerusalem, pilgrims walk the Via Dolorosa, traditionally following the route associated with Jesus carrying the cross toward the crucifixion.

Christians who support movements seeking Israel’s elimination should ask themselves a difficult question:

What protections would exist for Christian holy places under jihadist rule in Israel?

That is not an abstract concern.

Jihadist organizations elsewhere have destroyed religious and archaeological sites and attacked religious minorities.

Nigeria offers another argument worth raising.

Jihadist violence there has been severe, and both Christian and Muslim communities have suffered horrific attacks.

I believe the extraordinary international focus on Israel often crowds out attention to crises such as these.

Christians marching against Israel should ask why atrocities against Christian communities elsewhere receive so little attention in America.

These are arguments we need to make.

And this is not a complete list.

You, the reader, may have better ones.

Add them in the comments.

The Right Does Not Get a Pass

None of this means giving Donald Trump or MAGA Republicans a pass.

Quite the opposite.

That responsibility falls on pro-Israel Republicans.

I am troubled whenever political leaders attempt to reshape historical institutions so uncomfortable parts of our national story become easier to ignore.

There is a broader principle at stake.

When politicians, religious extremists, ideological movements or authoritarian governments manipulate history, future generations inherit the distortion.

Liberal Zionists should oppose historical erasure wherever it occurs.

We must defend Jewish history.

We must defend Black history.

We must defend the history of every ethnic and religious community.

History belongs to all of us.

Why I Am Still a Democrat

I know some pro-Israel Democrats will disagree with me.

They will say the party has moved too far.

They will say they are finished.

I understand the frustration.

But America has two major political parties, and abandoning one of them does not make Israel safer.

Israel is strongest when American support remains bipartisan.

Politically, I believe I have more ability to challenge people inside my own party!

So I am staying!

I hope you join me!

I am pushing back against the anti-Israel movement wherever I encounter it.

That is how we create our own lane.

We are not required to choose between two extremes simply because those extremes insist that we do.

This Is a Call for Ideas

I want readers to do something unusual with this article.

Don’t simply finish it and move on.

If you find it useful, share it everywhere.

Put it on your Facebook page or other social media.

Send it to friends.

Post it in the comments when you encounter anti-Israel arguments, distortions or slurs that deserve an answer.

My list is not complete!

Please add your arguments wherever you share this article.

What arguments are working?

What misinformation are you encountering?

What questions should we be asking candidates?

Which candidates or elected officials have changed for the better and deserve acknowledgment?

Which deserve continued scrutiny?

What organizations are doing effective work?

If you have an argument, strategy or example that can help others push back more effectively, add it to the conversation.

We are creating a lane together, and that means learning from one another.

I also founded a Facebook community called We Are Progressive, Liberal, Woke, and Pro-Israel, now approaching 12,000 members. I will pin this article there and invite members to continue the conversation and add their own arguments and strategies.

You can do the same in the communities where you participate.

Share the article.

Add to it.

Make the case stronger.

Because silence creates an illusion.

It can make a loud minority look like a majority.

Visibility breaks that illusion.

Final Word

For a while, I wondered whether liberal Zionists like me had become politically homeless.

Clowns to the left.

Jokers to the right.

But I no longer see us wedged helplessly between them.

We are creating our own lane.

We are Democrats.

We are liberals.

We are Zionists.

And none of those identities requires us to surrender the others.

We cannot change who won yesterday’s primary, but we can challenge what that candidate believes tomorrow.

If they listen, grow and change, perhaps by the next election we will not merely tolerate their candidacy. We can embrace their evolution and reward it with re-election.

If not, we primary them!

We refuse to surrender Israel.

We refuse to surrender the Democratic Party.

And we refuse to let anyone else decide there is no political home for us.

We are not stuck in the middle.

We are creating our own lane!