Last month, I noted that Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner of Maine is running on the claim that Israel is committing “genocide” against Palestinians by invading Gaza in response to Hamas — the government of Gaza — invading Israel. This is the opposite of the truth, of course; it is Hamas that has built its entire strategy and existence for many years around its aim to extinguish the Jewish people in Israel, while the actual evidence to support anything even vaguely resembling genocide by Israel is nowhere to be found. It’s a deliberate blood libel. But the truth is not the point, it’s the target.
Is Platner a one-off phenomenon? It is not surprising that Zohran Mamdani is running on the same theme, tweeting just yesterday, “This afternoon, I sat with Palestinian New Yorkers in Astoria and listened to what they and their families have endured as the genocide in Gaza continues, funded by our government.” In New York, the Democratic Socialists of America have pushed anti-Jewish measures such as the “Not On Our Dime Act,” an openly discriminatory bill against New York nonprofits aiding Jewish settlers; as I’ve detailed, the bill — with the support of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — “singles out Jews, and only Jews.” So, Mamdani is not an outlier among the New York DSA.
But the smear campaign extends beyond New York socialists and is at risk of becoming Democratic orthodoxy, at least among the party’s progressives. Last spring, Elizabeth Warren said of the International Court of Justice examining Israel, “I believe that they’ll find that it is genocide, and they have ample evidence to do so.” Now, in Michigan, progressive Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow is joining the chorus:
“I’m not accepting AIPAC support,” McMorrow told the questioner. “I’m not seeking their endorsement. I’ve never accepted their support. And what we are seeing in the Middle East is a moral abomination.” She went on to say she would’ve supported Sen. Bernie Sanders’ resolution to block offensive arm sales to Israel and called for a two-state solution.
“My view on this is we have completely lost the humanity of this issue,” McMorrow continued. “It is talked about as like a third rail litmus test without acknowledging these are human beings. They’re people. And our position should be that there is no individual life that is worth more than another individual life.” A different voter interrupted her to asked whether the conflict was a genocide. McMorrow paused for several seconds, exhaled, and responded, “based on the definition, yes.”
Adam Wren of Politico adds drily, “A spokesperson for McMorrow said she based her new stance on a United Nations Commission of Inquiry report from Sept. 16 declaring that a genocide took place, as well as conversations with community leaders.” Guess which of the two is driving the real shift here. McMorrow is in a three-way primary with Haley Stevens and Abdul El-Sayed. The Bernie Sanders–endorsed El-Sayed has long leveled the “genocide” charge, while Stevens is supported by AIPAC, so the lines will be clearly drawn in that primary.
On the Republican side, there are only a few voices in power taking the pro-Hamas position, Marjorie Taylor Greene being a conspicuous example. But the growth of this posture among Democrats is ominously rapid and picking up steam.