Gaza protests against two Democrats spark outcry and debate on tactics | Democrats

Two recent incidents involving US congressional candidates on opposite coasts have sparked huge controversy, underscoring how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is transforming US elections and illustrating how aggressive protest tactics can trigger reactions that overshadow the issues activists want to highlight.

Scott Wiener, the gay Jewish state senator and transgender rights advocate who is currently the front-runner in the race to replace longtime Rep. Nancy Pelosi in California’s 11th district, said he felt compelled to leave last week’s annual trans pride parade in San Francisco after a group of people rushed toward him at a local park where the event was taking place, surrounded him and yelled at him for his stance on Israel’s war on Gaza.

“They were so physically and verbally aggressive that it was impossible for me to stay in the park safely,” Wiener said. expression Also, shortly after the incident filmed and was shared on social media by a local activist. In the video, activists surrounding Wiener curse at him, with one of them saying at one point: “From the moment you started supporting Israel, you stopped being gay.”

“I have no objection to anyone disagreeing with me, opposing me, or protesting me,” Wiener said. “But when opposition and disagreement turns into harassment, it crosses that line, including cornering me, touching me, or trying to physically bully me at a public event.”

This incident led to widespread condemnation from many elected officials. Including Pelosi and Wiener’s rival Connie Chan in the congressional race.

The other incident occurred last month in New York City; A cafe in Brooklyn said in a since-deleted social media post that they would turn away Democratic congressman Dan Goldman, who was at the cafe with his daughter earlier that day, because of his support for Israel, stating that their employees knew him. “We do not serve racists, fascists, homophobes, enablers of genocide, or anyone in between,” the post read.

The incident caused immediate reaction in some quarters accuses shop of antisemitism. The US justice department’s civil rights division said it was investigating the cafe for potentially discriminating against a customer “based on his race, religion or national origin.” One Interview with CNNGoldman called the episode “sadBut he said he would prefer the justice department spend its resources “investigating antisemitism against people who don’t have my platform, who aren’t elected officials.”

Goldman is a supporter of Israel and supported by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac). funds received of aligned political action committees, has since lost the primary to Brad Lander. Both are Jewish, but Lander is much more critical of Israel; That stance helped propel him to a resounding victory in the progressive district of Brooklyn and Manhattan that Goldman represents. Goldman has since said his support for Israel cost him the election.

“In the end, it really came down to the Israel-Gaza issue,” he said. Interview with CNN. “He took on a huge, huge role in democratic politics.”

Goldman’s loss was perhaps the starkest example that reflexive support for Israel (once seen as a prerequisite for political survival) is no longer a safe bet, and many otherwise progressive Democrats are learning the hard way that they have lost seats to unabashedly pro-Palestinian rivals in recent primaries.

“It used to be thought that politicians on the left could be progressive on a lot of issues other than Palestine, but that’s no longer the case,” Ashik Siddique, co-chairman of the Democratic Socialists of America, which supports many such candidates, said in a recent interview. “This has become a very clear litmus test.”

A week after the clash between Wiener and pro-Palestinian protesters in San Francisco, some Jewish activists decried the resulting backlash as a distraction from the protesters’ focus on crimes against Palestinians.

Known as one of California’s more progressive state legislators, Wiener has introduced a number of pro-LGBTQ+ bills, although he has faced criticism from some San Francisco leftists on other issues such as homelessness and housing. But he faced the harshest backlash, including from Jewish and transgender voters, for his initial hesitancy to call Israel’s actions in Gaza “genocide” and his support for Israel’s actions in Gaza. state legislation It aims to combat antisemitism in schools, which critics say undermines teachers’ ability to speak honestly about Palestine.

Wiener criticized the government of Benjamin Netanyahu and said he would not approve US military aid to Israel if elected to Congress. But he refused to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide during a debate in January. He later adopted the term video notificationPro-Palestinian critics were unhappy that his changed stance came so late, and pro-Israeli critics accused him of bowing to pressure.

As discussions about the incident at the trans march last week escalated, the organizers of the protest released a statement. long description He said Wiener was “not in danger” and accused her of using the confrontation in “fundraising communications.” The group also said the focus on Wiener distracted from the aggressive police response to the incident, which resulted in several arrests.

“Trans March participants holding politicians accountable is nothing new,” they wrote. “While Senator Wiener continued to exaggerate this incident in national press interviews beginning Friday, we are particularly disappointed that he did not address the harm it caused and the disproportionate response. [the San Francisco police department] violence against transgender people, children, families and their allies.”

The San Francisco chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace said in a statement that the anger over the incident involving Wiener was “unwarranted.”

“Israel has killed tens of thousands of Palestinian children in Gaza, destroyed most schools, and bombed most hospitals. This horror is not only financed by our taxes, but also supported and enabled by many of our so-called progressive leaders,” the group wrote. “This is what should create outrage, not just a few angry words from someone speaking out against genocide.”

A group member who attended the protest and said he witnessed Wiener being removed from the park said he was “glad to see her confronted.”

The participant, who described himself as a “queer anti-Zionist Jew” but wanted to remain anonymous, said, “Trans liberation is a resistance against the same fascist forces occupying Palestine. Wiener’s support for the occupation directly contradicts the essence of the Trans March.” “We cannot have the safety and liberation of trans people, Jews, immigrants, and other people until Palestine is liberated.”

‘Not effective’

Pro-Israel critics took advantage of last week’s incident to claim that Wiener had surrendered to left-wing “gangs” and pointed to his alleged failure.purity testAs an indication that the left will do thisown food” and “ a warning against tryingsoothe“ IT.

Some on the left complained that the activists’ tactics sparked controversy that was not helpful to the cause of Palestinian liberation.

Author and political commentator Peter Beinart, who has become increasingly critical of Israel over the years and whose latest book deals with the subject of “Being Jewish after the fall of Gaza”, discussed the Wiener incident in an article. video Sent to your substack.

He argued that protesters opposing Wiener were “acting like scum” and that he slowly increased his support for Israel in response to shifts in public opinion. “It is not effective to push people further – and I want him to go further than he is currently – by treating people this way,” he wrote.

Beinart also expressed disappointment that the incident had caught the attention of many in the Jewish community and urged people to understand where the “anger” displayed by protesters was coming from.

“Imagine if people watching this video from Scott Wiener also read new UN report “It has been revealed what Israel did to Palestinian children,” he said.

He then continued the report’s findings: “Israel has killed at least 20,000 children and injured at least 44,000 in Gaza since October 7. At least 5,000 of the children it killed were under the age of five. It killed more than 5,000 children under the age of five and more than 1,000 children under the age of one.”