This is how the golden age of Diaspora Jewry ends.

Judged in the context of Jewish history, it is more likely than not if something isn’t done. And what needs to be done is to smash the Red-Green Alliance.

photo: The New York Public Library/Unsplash

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This is a guest essay by Benjamin Kerstein, an Israeli-American writer based in Tel Aviv and Recipient of the 2024 Louis Rapaport Award for Excellence in Commentary from the American Jewish Press Association.

You can also listen to the podcast version of this essay on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, YouTube, and Spotify.

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It is obvious why Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic Party primary for the New York mayoralty, and it was foreseeable months ago: There are a lot of votes in hating the Jews.

New York was one of the epicenters, if not the epicenter, of the national pogrom led by the Red-Green Alliance between radical progressives and radical Muslims, which initially erupted in celebration of the October 7th massacre. All those who took part in it and all those who should have known better but still coddled and cowered before it voted for Mamdani, who is a Red-Green Alliance member in good standing.

Add to that the legions of overeducated, under-talented, and unemployed young and not-so-young people fleeced by the higher education system. Tell or imply to them that the Jews are the ones who caused all their problems, and you have a plurality at the very least.

Mamdani’s win is instructive, however, because it gives us a good sense of where the Red-Green Alliance is now.

This paradoxical alliance, united solely by antisemitism, has made some progress in ghettoizing American Jews. But it has made little to no progress toward its ultimate goals of destroying Israel and the American republic.

It has made considerable progress, however, toward forming an effective electoral coalition, conquering and colonizing the Democratic Party, and asserting itself as a formidable force in national politics.

Indeed, the progress of the Red-Green Alliance is striking. It literally is the dictatorship of the professoriate that rules academia under a totalitarian regime. It owns much of the labor movement and certainly the NGO industry. It has captured substantial segments of K-12 public education, pop culture, and the intellectual and media establishments.

Even before Mamdani’s victory, it had made serious inroads in national politics by colonizing the political Left. The Red-Green Alliance is supported with great passion by the infamous “Squad” of leftist congresspeople. It counts fellow travelers in the Senate like Elizabeth Warren and the Red-Green Alliance’s leading useful Jew, Bernie Sanders. There is no doubt that a considerable percentage of the federal bureaucracy either belongs to it or vicariously supports it.

In particular, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who will likely be the Democratic nominee for president in 2028, is a passionate advocate of the Red-Green Alliance. In other words, the Red-Green Alliance has at least an outside chance of winning the White House in the next election.

It is doing better than most people would like to admit.

Due to the efforts of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, the Red-Green Alliance has been checked in the streets and, to an extent, in the universities. The threat of arrest and financial sanction has created some measure of deterrence. Thus, the Red-Green Alliance has realized that, at least for now, rampant criminality and general mayhem do not serve its purposes.

Consequently, the Red-Green Alliance has adopted two new tactics.

One was inevitable: outright terrorism. Recent atrocities clearly demonstrate this, but unfortunately, they are being addressed piecemeal. The authorities have yet to realize that the Red-Green Alliance is a nationwide criminal conspiracy which has consciously resorted to systematic violence to achieve its goals. A RICO¹ investigation, unfortunately, appears to be a distant prospect. However, if the atrocities persist — and they likely will — more aggressive government action may occur.

Perhaps anticipating this, the Red-Green Alliance has adopted its second tactic: the political path. Their overall goal is to first elect Red-Green Alliance politicians and then conquer and colonize the Democratic Party. As mentioned above, the Red-Green Alliance has achieved considerable success in this regard.

The tactics used to achieve this are both straightforward and disingenuous. On one level, the Red-Green Alliance uses open antisemitism to mobilize voters, as shown, for example, by Mamdani’s outspoken pride in his involvement with the antisemitic hate group “Students for Justice in Palestine.”

On another level, the Red-Green Alliance exploits economic discontent to mobilize non-antisemitic voters or at least those whose primary concern is not hating Jews. As Mamdani has demonstrated, the Red-Green Alliance effectively bribes these voters by promising them endless taxpayer-funded abundance that may be enjoyed for a while but will inevitably become inadequate once other people’s money runs out.

This works because of the nature of the discontent being exploited. British-American journalist Andrew Stuttaford posited that this discontent is a consequence of “elite overproduction.”² That is, the number of people earning mostly useless degrees from prestigious universities has surged. Consequently, the number of graduates exceeds the availability of suitable job opportunities, and AI is eating away at even those jobs.

As a result, numerous graduates, regardless of their age, are grappling with underemployment or prolonged unemployment. At the same time, they are burdened with tens of thousands of dollars in looming student loans. Compounding the issue, these individuals often reside in ruinously expensive cities like New York.

These people cannot be entirely blamed for their discontent. In their youth, they were sold a bill of goods by a corrupt educational establishment that eagerly accepted their money despite knowing it could not deliver the economic benefits it promised would come with a college degree.

This combination of factors fuels inevitable frustration, making this lumpen upper-middle class highly vulnerable to exploitation by unscrupulous individuals.

Of course, the deprivation experienced by this lumpen is somewhat exaggerated. While the Romans were correct in saying, “Do not stand in the way of a hungry man,” these individuals are not at risk of starvation. They could, if they chose, leave New York and find work at McDonald’s. But this is not what they were promised, and their anger at being fleeced is understandable.

It is not forgivable, however, that they are willing to indulge antisemitism to express that anger politically. In this, they are part of a long historical continuum. Although economic discontent is seldom the sole cause of increased antisemitism, it often plays a significant role. A well-known example is the severe inflation that afflicted Germany during the Weimar Republic era, to which many attribute the eventual rise of the Nazis.

This overlooks the fact that Germany’s discontented citizens could have expressed their discontent without supporting Nazism. In the same way, today’s discontented Americans could express their discontent while opposing the Red-Green Alliance.

However, they have chosen not to oppose it.

This indicates that a disturbingly large segment of the American elite — or at least those educated to be part of it — are indifferent to antisemitism so long as they receive government largesse. This alone should give us significant pause.

The Red-Green Alliance has gained some influence, but the question remains: What will it do with real power, up to and including the powers of the presidency?

The likely answer is a significant intensification of the Red-Green Alliance’s campaign against American Jews. This would include a resurgence of street violence, including outright pogroms, and more acts of terrorism. The aim will be to intimidate, silence, and ultimately marginalize the American Jewish community, which the Red-Green Alliance views as a bulwark of Israel’s existence and its supposedly omnipotent power over U.S. foreign policy.

In the face of the widespread antisemitic violence they have themselves incited and enabled, Red-Green Alliance politicians will take no action. Similar to the months following October 7th, pogromists will be released or given reduced sentences, Jewish concerns will be ignored, and police will be prevented from taking action. Any public opposition to the violence and the Red-Green Alliance in general will be dismissed as a “Zionist” conspiracy or “Islamophobia,” resulting in the political, social, and cultural marginalization of leading Jewish politicians and organizations.

It is uncertain what the ultimate outcome of this will be. American Jews may choose to submit to ghettoization, organize a fierce resistance, or remain silent in hopes that the political tide will turn. It is probable that a significant number will simply leave. They might relocate to more welcoming regions of the United States — which Jews are already doing — or simply seek refuge in Israel. Regardless of their choice, a golden age of Diaspora Jewry will come to an end and, with it, a part of America will die.

All of this is not even to mention the devastating consequences for Israel, which are terrifying to contemplate. The Red-Green Alliance has always been resolute in its avowed goal of destroying the Jewish state, and it rightly perceives ending American support for Israel as a crucial step towards achieving this genocidal objective. Once in power, there is no doubt that it would impose an arms embargo, sever trade relations, cease all military aid and strategic ties, and enact sanctions on the Jewish state.

Needless to say, Israel’s predicament will be dire. Of course, there are no permanent alliances, only permanent interests. If Israel’s leaders play their cards right — and they may — another ally might be found. However, at the moment, it is difficult to see who it might be.

All of this, of course, is in the nature of a worst-case scenario. I do not say that it will happen or must happen. Judged in the context of Jewish history, however, I believe it is more likely than not if something isn’t done.

What needs to be done is to smash the Red-Green Alliance.

Smashing the Red-Green Alliance is not an easy task, but it is certainly not impossible. The movement has several glaring vulnerabilities, including its involvement in criminal activities, overt appeals to racism, constant incitement to violence, outspoken anti-Americanism, and the general unpleasantness of many of its leaders once they leave their regional enclaves.

Obviously, the task of leading the charge against the Red-Green Alliance lies with American Jews. In this, however, the community is handicapped, because their so-called “leaders,” almost to a man, have proven either unwilling or totally unable to effectively resist the Red-Green Alliance.

Indeed, in a fit of absence of mind, these “leaders” had a hand in creating the Red-Green Alliance by stupidly empowering communities and organizations that were blatantly antisemitic but appealed to “progressive” sentiments.

Jewish “leaders” overlooked the fact there was never a guarantee that those they empowered would express gratitude. Nor was there any guarantee that the beneficiaries might not come to loathe their benefactors precisely because they were benefactors.

Even today, Jewish “leaders” fail to recognize that there is no guarantee that anyone will like the Jews. Consequently, the Jews must always prioritize their own defense. Jews should certainly seek allies and friends, but ultimately, we must be committed solely to the Jewish struggle and nothing else.

Fortunately, a multitude of new and better Jewish organizations are rising to power, and it will fall to them to lead the organized defense. They should direct all their resources toward the one goal of smashing the Red-Green Alliance, undistracted by peripheral issues, disagreements, or disputes. Once the Red-Green Alliance has been effectively marginalized, American Jews can resume their endless arguments. Until then, the struggle must prevail.

Fortunately, American Jews are beginning this struggle with a distinct advantage: The majority of Americans hate the Red-Green Alliance. They are literally repulsed by its antisemitism, anti-Americanism, criminal behavior, and general love of violence and mayhem. Outside of tiny pockets of American society where it is worshipped — mostly in universities and coastal urban centers — the Red-Green Alliance is despised.

Thus, in the struggle against the Red-Green Alliance, the Jews possess a secret weapon, though their “leaders” are inexplicably loath to employ it. Accordingly, American Jews should defend themselves just as anyone else would: By identifying their enemies’ weaknesses and exploiting them.

They should examine what Americans hate the most about the Red-Green Alliance and then amplify and emphasize it. They must make the Red-Green Alliance’s excesses a spectacle, ensuring that its cries of “death to America,” “by any means necessary,” “globalize the intifada,” “from the river to the sea,” and so on are constantly reverberating in the public consciousness. Images of the Red-Green Alliance’s criminal acts of violence and vandalism should become an indelible part of the media landscape.

American Jews must capitalize on the fact that the Red-Green Alliance cannot stop itself. It cannot keep its mouth shut and it cannot give up its belief that no laws or morals apply to it. It cannot help saying what it means and doing what it says. It believes itself to be beyond good and evil, and acts accordingly. Most Americans, thankfully, disagree. American Jews should remind their fellow citizens of this as often as possible.

This is an urgent need not only because of the threat posed by the Red-Green Alliance itself. Although the Red-Green Alliance is currently despised, this may not last. Economic distress, a lost war, demographic changes, or similar upheavals could make the Red-Green Alliance a viable alternative in the eyes of the American majority. Such unexpected and sudden shifts have happened many times in history, and if it occurs in the United States, American Jews will be in very serious trouble indeed.

The moment must be seized while it is still here. The opportunity to smash the Red-Green Alliance exists and should be taken. It is the responsibility of American Jews to act, but in doing so, they will represent the silent majority of Americans who still wish to uphold their country’s core principles.

In the face of a movement of pure hate, American Jews should harness the collective revulsion of their fellow citizens. It is the only way to save the United States from the dire fate that awaits it if hatred is left unchecked.

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1. The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization.

2. “The Mamdani Vote: The Shape of Things to Come?” National Review.