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(June 14, 2024 / JNS)

If you were wondering whether Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) was just a publicity-hungry leftist provocateur or a serious politician determined to do everything to advance her career on the national stage, you now have your answer. In an act of political triangulation worthy of former President Bill Clinton, the founding member of the leftist congressional Squad popularly known as AOC managed to take a stand against antisemitism and earn the applause of the liberal Jewish establishment while being bashed by even more extreme Jew-haters.

That AOC did this after repeatedly employing rhetoric about Israels war against Hamas, including falsely accusing the Jewish state of genocide that has helped fuel the current surge in antisemitism throughout the United States, illustrates not just her hypocrisy and chutzpah but also that she is a savvy political player. For years, shes been an avid supporter of the stands of Squad colleagues Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) as their open antisemitism became a national disgrace, as well as an indication of how she and fellow progressives were taking over the Democratic Party.

Her ability to flip the narrative about her anti-Israel incitement and demonization of the Jewish state is a testament both to her political acumen and the willingness of some of the people whose job it is to fight antisemitism to stay in sync with their allies on the Democratic left wing. But its also a sign of her ability to take advantage of an opportunity to position herself closer to the mainstream, thanks to the intolerance of left-wing extremists.

Pushing Biden to betray Israel

Since the Oct. 7 massacres in southern Israel, AOC has been a reliable Israel-basher and a key part of the left-wing coalition that has been pushing President Joe Biden and his administration to betray the Jewish state and let Hamas win the war. But for some on the far left, that wasnt good enough. Videos of the congresswoman being harassed by extremists for supposedly not being sufficiently anti-Israel went viral and wound up getting more publicity than her positions and statements making it clear that she was firmly in the anti-Zionist camp, along with her pals Omar and Tlaib.

Such attacks were annoying, but they also served her purpose as she eyes a future in national politics. That might mean an attempt to challenge Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, also of New York, when he runs for re-election in 2028 or even a longshot run for the presidency that year or in the future.

Having staked out ground as a fierce opponent of Israel and an inveterate basher of the AIPAC pro-Israel lobby in terms that are indistinguishable from traditional antisemitic tropes, AOC ought to be radioactive to mainstream Jewish groups. But even after the events of the last eight months as the anti-Israel progressives did all they could to help Hamas and to undermine support for the Jewish states right to self-defense, some of the people tasked with defending the Jews are still eager to help their erstwhile allies.

Providing cover for an extremist

A prime example of this is Amy Spitalnick, head of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the umbrella of Jewish community-relations groups across the nation. As I predicted when she was chosen for her job last year, Spitalnick is, even after Oct. 7, still more interested in fighting for the progressive political agenda and partisan Democratic goals than defending Israel and the Jews. So, it was unsurprising that she joined AOC, along with Stacy Burdett, a former ADL official, on a livestream webinar broadcast on X titled Antisemitism and the Fight for Democracy.

The title was the tip-off that the purpose of the program was to promote the Democratic Partys main 2024 talking point rather than doing something about Jew-hatred. The point being that liberal groups like the JCPA agree that the only way to defend democracy is to keep the Democrats in power and regard the fact that it is the political left that is the main source of contemporary antisemitism as an inconvenient fact that may be an obstacle to achieving that objective.

So, Spitalnick and Burdett were happy to provide cover for AOC to try and wiggle the progressives out of their current dilemma where there is no longer any doubt about their being primarily responsible for an unprecedented surge in antisemitism. In order to do that, AOC had to be willing to do something that the leader of her partythe supposedly moderate pro-Israel President Joe Bidenhas not been willing to do: Denounce the antisemites in his own party. As I noted earlier this year, Biden has been unwilling to have a Sister Souljah moment with the antisemitic wing of his party and has instead been kowtowing to the Democrats far-left and Arab-American elements as he sought to shore up support for his re-election effort among his partys base.

Sensing an opportunity to position herself closer to the political mainstream without actually having to moderate her positions, AOC pounced. During the course of the webinar, she made a statement that made her appear as if she is an opponent of antisemitism while not budging an inch in her anti-Zionism and willingness to smear Israel as a monstrous country guilty of genocide against innocent Palestinians.

Antisemitism, hate and violence against Jews because of their identity is real, and it is dangerous, said Ocasio-Cortez, earning herself praise not just from her accomplices Spitalnick and Burdett, but even from a pro-Israel stalwart like Abe Foxman, the former head of the Anti-Defamation League in the days when it prioritized the fight against antisemitism rather than the cause of the Democratic Party, as is the case with his successor, CEO and national director Jonathan Greenblatt.

Indeed, Foxman wasnt the only one duped by AOC into lauding her stand because of the belief that even the most minimal acknowledgment that antisemitism exists on the left seemed a breakthrough.

However, her point was that antisemitism undermined the progressive agenda. Antisemitism is an assault on our values as Americans and especially as progressives, she said. Antisemitism is also a threat to a community that is a vital partner in our struggles against injustice. So, when the Jewish community is threatened, the progressive movement is undermined. That is why we reject it as fiercely as we reject and look for misogyny, Islamophobia or any form of bigotry or discrimination in any space that we occupy. Right now, antisemitism is on the rise in America and across the world. Acknowledging that fact does not take away from fights for liberation, it actually advances them.

Still opposing Zionism

The congresswoman made clear that she was merely distancing herself from the more vulgar forms of Jew-hatred, like the rampage of pro-Palestinian demonstrators outside the White House, anti-Israel mobs protesting in front of a Wall Street exhibit about the Oct. 7 murders at the Nova music festival, the targeting of Jews during a day of rage on the New York City subway and the red-paint vandalization of the homes of officials associated with the Brooklyn Museum.

In essence, what she was trying to do was to separate herself from the thugs on the streets while still opposing the existence of the one Jewish state on the planet. She also essentially backs efforts to ensure that the genocidal and fascist terrorists of Hamas are allowed to escape accountability for atrocities on Oct. 7, and go back to governing Gaza and working towards their goal of destroying Israel.

It is also important to say here in this moment and during that conversation that criticism of the Israeli government is not inherently antisemitic and criticism of Zionism is not automatically antisemitic, AOC added.

Of course, criticism of any Israeli government is not antisemitic. But criticism of Zionism is indistinguishable from an effort to deny Jews rights that no one would think of denying to anyone else. This statement gave herand by implication, other progressivesa pass for engaging in the worst kind of libels against Israel and demonizing its efforts to defend itself against those who see Oct. 7 as just a trailer for what they wish to do to the rest of Israel.

No responsible Jewish leader should be providing cover for a member of Congress who has done so much to advance the anti-Israel cause. But more important is the need for those who pretend to lead the Jewish community to understand that the ideological basis for the open antisemitism in the streets of Americas cities and on college campuses is to be found in the beliefs about critical race theory and intersectionality that an avowed Marxist like AOC calls fights for liberation. A condemnation of antisemitism that doesnt acknowledge that the extremism and violence against Jews so ubiquitous right now can be directly linked to the promotion of these ideas is useless.

As has been abundantly clear for years but can no longer be ignored since Oct. 7, the mindset that sees the world divided into two groups of white oppressors and people of color who are their victims, locked in a perpetual race war, inevitably falsely labels Israel and Jews as the former. The fact that the JCPA and ADL have refused to renounce their endorsement of these toxic woke progressive agenda items, even as they acknowledged the spike in antisemitism from their former allies on the left, shows just how morally bankrupt these organizations and leaders like Spitalnick and Greenblatt have become.

The future of the Democrats?

There should be no pass given to politicians, academics or anyone who pretends to oppose antisemitism while still opposing Israels existence and right to exist. And none for those, like AOC, whose main goal since Oct. 7 has been to prevent the elimination of Hamas. Those progressives who dont want to dirty their hands in the way the masked thugs do arent opposing antisemitism. The mobs in the streets may have gone farther than the congresswoman and other progressives are comfortable with in expressing their hatred for Israel and the Jews. Still, their end goals are no different from hers and anyone else who is working for victory for Hamas. Her advocacy advances their cause, whether or not she or they are willing to admit it.

Those who see AOC as the future of the Democratic Party probably arent wrong. Most Democrats arent in agreement with her extreme positions on foreign policy, or even the environment and green new deal measures that would impoverish the nation and harm middle- and working-class Americans while elites like AOC remain untouched. But the progressives dominate the younger generation of Democratic activists and the party base.

That she is disassociating herself from the worst excesses of her allies while still engaging in antisemitic tropes about AIPAC and Zionism is no reason for Jews who purport to speak for American Jewry to back her deception. Indeed, it says more about the collapse of Jewish leadership at a time when its needed most. Either way, AOCs determination to act in a matter that will allow her to advance her toxic causes and personal ambitions is a warning for those who care about not just Israel and the Jews, but the future of America. The more influential a Marxist extremist like her grows, the more dangerous a place this country will be not just for Jews but for the cause of liberty itself.

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS (Jewish News Syndicate). Follow him @jonathans_tobin.

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AOC and progressives can't hide their role in stoking antisemitism - JNS.org - JNS.org

Nuclear power could be Americas saving grace if progressive activists would only stop kneecapping its spread.

Although its both clean and abundant, nuclear power is often overlooked by a misinformed public and environmental activists alike.

But change makers like Bill Gates are championing the technology, and should be celebrated for doing so.

The billionaire philanthropist has invested $1 billion in TerraPower, a brand new nuclear power plant which commenced construction in June in Kemmerer, Wyoming.

A 345-megawatt Natrium reactor the next-generation of nuclear technology its expected to be safer than traditional fission power plants because sodium is used to cool the reactor.

The plant, which has an estimated total cost of $4 billion, is yet to be approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, but Gates said that hes confident TerraPower will hold up to scrutiny.

This milestone marks a significant step forward for the future of nuclear energy, Nuclear Energy Institute president Maria Korsnick told The Post. We are shaping a brighter, cleaner future for our nation.

Shes right. Nuclear power is quite possibly the key to a cleaner environment in the future.

Its a zero-emission energy source which doesnt create polluting byproducts and is, theoretically, almost unlimited, given that its derived from the splitting of atoms.

To put it in perspective: Nuclear energy spared so much carbon dioxide in 2020 that it was the equivalent of removing 100 million cars from the road.

This is a big step toward safe, abundant, zero-carbon energy, and its important for the future of this country that projects like this succeed, Gates told NPR of his TerraPower project.

So where are all the climate alarmists cheering him on?

Theyre advocating for futile solutions.

Environmentalists tend to champion inefficient and often unsightly renewable energy sources like solar and wind all while ignoring or denigrating nuclear energy.

Over time, it gradually struck me that there was really no amount of technological innovation that was going to make the sun shine more regularly or wind blow more reliably, Michael Shellenberger, the founder of the pro-nuclear non-profit Environmental Progress and a former anti-nuclear activist himself, previously explained in a TED Talk.

He has pointed out that progressives like Bernie Sanders and Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts have long railed against nuclear energy and supported closing plants, all while purporting to be champions of the environment.

Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Green New Deal champion from Maine, even admitted that she and environmentalist politicians all have a general resistance to [nuclear energy].

Stubborn anti-nuclear activism can have real consequences.

Germany has shuttered all of its nuclear power plants in a gradual phase out that ended in 2022 at the behest of the countrys progressive Green Party.

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Its natural that those of us that became very concerned about climate change would gravitate towards really romantic solutions like harmonizing human civilization with the natural world using renewable energies, Shellenberger, the author of Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All, said during his TED Talk.

But I think its also understandable that as the facts have come in, many of us have started to question our prior beliefs and change our minds.

Pragmatists like Gates see the miraculous potential nuclear energy holds, in spite of stigma and resistance.

And yet, activists are still living in an upside down world more interested in hopelessly railing against big oil, indulging apocalyptic fantasies and dousing Van Gogh paintings in soup than actually solving problems.

Its time the climate cult wake up and realize that the key to clean, efficient and abundant energy is right under their noses.

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Bill Gates' great $1B commitment to nuclear energy should be a wake-up call to climate progressives - New York Post

#LatimerLostUs

A group of volunteers and supporters that were behind George Latimers County Executive run have come together to launch a new progressive, grassroots group opposing the 30-year politicians controversial run for NY-16s congressional seat.

The group, called Westchester Progressives, is made up of progressive Democrats from across the county who say that while Congressman Jamaal Bowman champions the districts progressive values, Latimer has sold them out in both rhetoric and record.

Said Farah Kathwari, (George Latimer Transition Team member & Westchester County Human Rights Commission board member) I voted for George Latimer because I thought we needed somebody who would stop trying to divide us along ethnic lines. Instead, hes spreading hateful rhetoric about Muslims and accusing people of being Hamas supporters just for wanting peace. I remember what it was like after 9/11I dont want that to happen to my children.

Brook Packard, a resident of George Latimers hometown, Rye NY said, We elected George to get MAGA Republicans out of Westchester. Now hes win-ing and dining with top Trump Donors, taking a million dollars from a Republican-funded PAC. They even registered thousands of Republicans as Democrats to vote for him. All to run against one of the most important progressive champions in Congress. He wasnt uplifting our values; he was uplifting himself.

The campaigns supporters cite Latimers extensive support from Republicans, both through the AIPAC right wing lobby group which recruited Latimer to run and is spending over $25 million to support him in what could be the most expensive primary ever, and directly from Trump fundraisers [he attended].

Said Sandra Bernabei (Founder, Antiracist Alliance, National Association of Social Workers President 2014-16) We worked to build the Democratic party so we could keep unseating Republicans. We were ready to spend this year going all-in on helping Democrats, just like we went all-in on helping George beat Rob Astorino in 2017. Instead, were now defending one of the most vital young Black progressives in Congress from George! Running against Jamaal Bowman is dividing the party at the time we should be uniting.

Westchester Progressives are announcing their launch with the #LatimerLostUs social media campaign. Members are asking like-minded progressives, who previously supported Latimer, to use the hashtag #LatimerLostUs to share their reasons why they are not endorsing George Latimer to represent them in the U.S. Congress.

Westchester Progressives can be found on Instagram (@WestchesterProgressives), on Twitter/X (@WEProgressives) and the Westchester Progressives Group on Facebook.

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"Westchester Progressives" New Grassroots Group Forms to Support True Progressive Values in Heated NY-16 ... - Yonkers Times

Members of the NFP after the announcement of the program, June 14, 2024. Source: La France Insoumise/X

French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the National Assembly following the devastating outcome of the European Parliament election on June 9. The liberal coalition to which Macrons Renaissance party belongs won only 13 seats, compared to 30 seized by Marine Le Pens far-right National Rally. The announcement was initially cheered by the far-right and met with shock at the center.

Macrons government has been hemorrhaging popularity due to several controversial policies: increasing the retirement age, tightening immigration guidelines, and signaling readiness to send French soldiers to Ukraine. Additionally, the administration has faced criticism for its treatment of overseas territories, including, most recently, the crackdown on popular uprisings in New Caledonia.

Current polls forecast around 33% of the national vote going to the National Rally, convincingly more than Renaissance, which is just below 20%. In this scenario, the National Rally would not hold the absolute majority, but would still have enough space to pursue its anti-immigration and security agenda.

Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, the National Rallys candidate for prime minister, have been negotiating with other right-wing and center-right parties to improve their standing. Talks were held with Reconquest, ric Zemmours far-right group, and The Republicans, a Gaullist conservative party.

However, all the negotiations have faced obstacles. Zemmour announced there would be no alliance with the National Rally, causing a split with his European Parliament candidate, Marion Marchal, who returned to Le Pens (her aunts) camp. Among the conservatives, The Republicans president, Eric Ciotti, announced an alliance with the far-right, but the rest of the party leadership opposed it, leading to Ciottis expulsion. Ciotti and The Republicans are now trying to resolve the dispute in court, just days before the campaign starts.

While ruptures abound on the right, center-left and left parties have spent the days since the European election trying to form a joint platform to prevent Le Pen from seizing power, and reverse some of Macrons policies. On Friday, June 14, the Socialist Party, the Communist Party, the Greens, and France Unbowed (La France Insoumise, LFI) announced the program of the New Popular Front (Nouveau Front Populaire, NFP). The joint platform includes lowering the retirement age and curbing rising food and energy prices. The coalitions main objective, according to LFIs Manon Aubry, is to improve living conditions for millions of people.

Building unity on the left is a positive development considering the popularity of the National Rally, though there has obviously been hard bargaining over the program. Previous platforms left of the center have dissolved over disagreements on the wars in Ukraine and Palestine. While LFI has advocated for peace and disarmament, the others adopted a more mainstream European stance, shying away from substantial criticism of the pro-NATO trend that has been growing stronger in the region.

At the NFP launch, party representatives stated their priority would be returning to a path of peace for France on the international stage, including support for Ukraine in the face of Vladimir Putins war of aggression and giving ourselves the means to obtain an immediate ceasefire in the face of the ongoing massacres in Gaza. The extent to which friction over the interpretation of this priority will affect the NFPs success remains to be seen.

Currently, the unified left front holds around 28-30% in the polls: not enough to overtake the National Rally, but enough to mount resistance if the expected scenario occurs.

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Left and progressives form New Popular Front to counter far-right in French elections - Peoples Dispatch

WASHINGTON A group of advocates and progressive Democratic lawmakers called on the U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday to end its contract withMOHELA, a Missouri-based student loan servicer.

U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Greg Casar of Texas and U.S. Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts urged the department to cut ties with MOHELA, also known as the Higher Education Loan Authority of the State of Missouri, during a press conference hosted by the Debt Collective, which advocates for canceling student debt.

Advocates and the lawmakers accused MOHELA of being a predatory loan service and failing student borrowers, citing mismanagement, administrative failures and hours-long wait times for assistance.

It is time to stop their contract, it is time to fire them, it is time to listen to the borrowers that have been speaking up about the struggles that they are facing, and it is time for us to do the right thing, Omar said. We are asking the administration to take this step forward because it is past time that we listen to the borrowers that have been suffering under the incompetence of MOHELA.

The Education Department did not respond on the record to a request for comment Wednesday.

In moves it has characterized as bolstering protections for borrowers, the department launched a newaccountability initiativein November and has transitioned to new loan servicing contracts.

MOHELA is at the center oftwo class-action lawsuitsin recent months accusing the nonprofit of a failure to timely process and render decisions for student loan borrowers enrolled in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

One of the lawsuitsnames MOHELA alone,while the other namesboth the nonprofit and the U.S. Education Department.

The student loan servicer has also taken heat from the Student Borrower Protection Center, an advocacy group, and the American Federation of Teachers, a major teachers union. In areportfrom February, the two entities accused the nonprofit of failing to perform basic servicing functions.

They also claimed that more than four in ten student loan borrowers MOHELA services have experienced a servicing failure since loan payments resumed in September 2023.

In March, MOHELAsent a cease and desist letterto the Student Borrower Protection Center, accusing its report of making false, misleading and sensationalized claims and insinuations regarding MOHELA and its business activities.

A spokesperson for MOHELA said in an emailed statement Wednesday that borrowers are not better off when outside groups spread false and misleading information about our work as a federal contractor for FSA. The spokesperson added that MOHELA remains committed to continuing to provide the highest quality of customer service to the borrowers that we serve.

Student loan servicers are companies contracted by the federal government to handle billing and other administrative tasks regarding federal student loans, according toFederal Student Aid.

MOHELA services nearly 8 million borrowers after winning a contract in 2022 to handle the Education Departments Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, said during Wednesdays event that at every step, MOHELA has failed student loan borrowers.

Theyve lost paperwork, theyve given people the runaround, Pierce said while standing next to an exhibit displaying what appeared to be a nine-hour hold time when trying to reach one of MOHELAs customer service representatives.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, at Wednesdays press conference said MOHELA has a call-deflection scheme.

When it is critical for people to be on the phone with someone, they cant get on the phone with someone, Weingarten said.

Shamell Bell, a member of the Debt Collective, said her interactions with the student loan servicer have been nothing short of a nightmare.

Bell said she was in a labyrinth of just false information, false promises and failures that are not just administrative errors but also systemic obstacles that jeopardize the financial stability and mental wellness of countless borrowers like myself.

Meanwhile, theBiden administrationsaid earlier Wednesday that it had approved an additional $7.7 billion in student debt relief for 160,500 borrowers. The bulk of the relief more than $5 billion went to nearly 67,000 borrowers partaking in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

Wednesdays move brought the administrations total loan forgiveness to $167 billion for 4.75 million Americans.

The Biden-Harris Administration remains persistent about our efforts to bring student debt relief to millions more across the country, and this announcement proves it, U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement. One out of every 10 federal student loan borrowers approved for debt relief means one out of every 10 borrowers now has financial breathing room and a burden lifted.

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Progressives push Biden administration to cut ties with Missouri student loan servicer Missouri Independent - Missouri Independent