An especially insulting op-ed in The Baltimore Sun
Friends,
As you are well-aware, there are climate chaos-deniers, especially in the Trump administration. The damage they will cause to the environment may takes decades to mitigate.
And as a protester against apartheid Israel, I have encountered people who refuse to accept the ongoing horror faced by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. This illogical screed is a written example of what we in the movement who condemn genocide have to suffer. I wrote an unpublished letter in response. Gwen Dubois also wrote a letter, and it was published. In separate emails, I will send her LTE and mine, Kagiso, Max
The party I once trusted turned its back on Israel | GUEST COMMENTARY
United States Sen. Angela D. Alsobrooks voted last month in favor
of resolutions to block the sale of certain weapons to Israel. (Karl Merton
Ferron/Staff)
By Caren Leven
PUBLISHED: August 10, 2025 at 2:15 PM EDT
I grew up believing the Democratic Party was the natural home for Jews like me. It was the party of civil rights, compassion and standing up for the vulnerable. For decades, Jews overwhelmingly supported Democrats; nearly 78% voted for Kamala Harris in 2024, but I was not one of them. By then, I had already quietly stepped away.
I had seen
too much. I had watched as antisemitism was excused as “anti-Zionism,” as
progressive spaces turned openly hostile to anyone who dared to love Israel
unapologetically. I saw Jewish students shouted down and shamed for supporting
the world’s only Jewish state. I stayed quiet about it for too long, mainly
because of the stigma attached to leaving the Democratic Party. Among many
Jews, simply voting Republican can feel like wearing a scarlet letter. That
stigma kept me silent.
October 7
changed my silence. On that day, Jewish families were slaughtered in their
homes, children kidnapped and entire communities terrorized simply for being
Jewish. That day, the deadliest for Jews since the Holocaust, should have been
a moment when leaders across the political spectrum stood with Israel and the
Jewish people without hesitation. Instead, too often, there was silence or
worse, excuses. Some leaders blamed Israel or treated Hamas’ barbarity as just
another “complicated conflict.” On college campuses, Jewish students were
harassed, threatened and assaulted while too many progressive leaders looked
away.
Meanwhile,
Republicans, many of whom I never imagined I would politically align with years
ago, spoke with clarity and conviction. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said
it simply: “America will always stand with Israel. Hamas is a terrorist
organization, and the United States will ensure Israel has the weapons it needs
to defend itself and its people.” That is what leadership sounds like.
Then came
one of the clearest signals yet, just days ago. Maryland’s own U.S. Sen. Angela
Alsobrooks voted to block U.S. arms sales to Israel at the very moment Israel
is fighting for its survival. Her justification?
“There are moments in history where our silence will not only be remembered —
it will be judged … I remain committed to the U.S.-Israel relationship … In
this moment, we must all do everything in our power as a global community to
get desperately needed aid to the people of Gaza.”
This is a complete distortion of reality. There is no commitment to Israel when you cut off the weapons it needs to defend its citizens from terrorists sworn to its destruction. Claiming loyalty while voting to cripple Israel’s defenses is not moral courage; it is political theater.
0And this is not an isolated incident. Democratic
Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib have repeatedly labeled Israel an
“apartheid state,” called for conditioning or ending U.S. aid, and even refused
to vote for resolutions condemning Hamas terrorism. When antisemitism hides
behind progressive slogans, far too many Democrats shrug or, worse, applaud.
Alsobrooks talked about “desperately needed aid.” Israel has allowed food, water, medicine and fuel into Gaza every single day, even during war. Yet according to the United Nations itself, Hamas and other armed groups hijacked 87% of the 2,010 aid trucks sent between May 19 and July 29, 2025, stealing supplies meant for civilians and using them to fuel terror. What Alsobrooks and others call “humanitarian aid” too often becomes Hamas’s war chest, while Israelis are left fighting for their lives with shrinking international support.
In my role
as executive director of a pro-Israel nonprofit, I see firsthand how rhetoric
in politics impacts Jewish students, families and safety on the ground. Words
matter, and silence is dangerous.
The truth
is, Oct. 7 did not change my politics; it changed my willingness to stay quiet.
I had already stopped voting Democrat because I could see where the party was
headed, but I was reluctant to say it out loud because of the stigma attached
to leaving. Now I do not care about the stigma.
I am an
Israeli-American, a proud Zionist and a Jewish mother raising my children to
love their people and their homeland without shame. My values have not changed;
I still believe in equality, compassion and justice, but the Democratic Party
no longer represents them when it comes to my safety and my identity.
I did not
leave the Democratic Party as a Jew. They left me. And I will never trade my
children’s safety, my people’s dignity or Israel’s survival for political
####
Donations can be sent
to Max Obuszewski, Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 431 Notre Dame Lane, Apt. 206,
Baltimore, MD 21212. Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at]
comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their
lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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