Step 1 (1965-1975): The Left has always had an attitude of embracing those who are different – and in their view underrepresented and underprivileged – and trying to understand more about them. They also tend to be younger and more impressionable. Arab and anti-American groups take advantage of the anti-American sentiment from the Vietnam War and paint Israel as a US proxy given their “unbreakable alliance” that began after the 1967 War. The red-green alliance extends to US soil, but is relegated to the extremist fringe.
Step 2 (1975-2005): Alliances slowly form between the far Left and opportunistic anti-American, Arab, and Palestinian groups as the US-Israel alliance strengthens under Reagan and Clinton. The Arabs up their PR game during the Second Intifada and, realizing they can never penetrate the patriotic Right, cater their messaging to the Left, who is also angry at U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and Iran, which is happening concurrently under a Republican president.
Step 3 (2005-): In the years that follow, social media is on the rise, and fact checking in journalism gets sloppy. Agendas start to control the “facts,” rather than facts controlling the agenda, in order to make things newsworthy and get more views. With the rise of blogging and citizen journalism, the competition for clicks becomes steeper. Facebook introduces a way that you can actually live in an echo-chamber, filtering out views you might disagree with or find problematic. As such, the feeling of unanimity on both the right and the left polarizes them, and lack of exposure to the other side decreases mutual empathy and understanding.
Step 4 (2010-): Social media starts to flourish in the developing world, most of which has been brainwashed by the anti-Israel red-green alliance, who were opportunistic long before we were and who know how to cater to the third world mindset. Since a large portion of the world’s Muslims live in the developing world, and Islam had become almost synonymous with being anti-Israel as preached in nearly every mosque around the world, this rapid increase in social media users meant more communication between the Left and the Muslim world (because like I said, the Left is more open to talking to people who are different and whom they see as downtrodden). These Muslims, who see Israel’s defeat of 7 Arab-Muslim armies as an insult to the honor of Islam, brainwash these leftists with the propaganda they can most expertly wield: images and short videos. Images tell a thousand words in under a second, but also are the most effective way their governments cater to the largely-illiterate masses. One gory picture that one is told is their Muslim brother can undo a lifetime of pro-Israel logic and reason, and only bolsters a lifetime of antisemitic indoctrination and hate, which they like to downplay for Western audiences and call it “human rights.”
Step 5 (2012-): Alliances between the Left and the Muslim world via social media lead to alliances between various anti-Israel Muslim groups and the left. These groups on the Left, which most leftists trust and see as fixing the world, lend credibility to the Islamist anti-Israel agenda masqueraded as progressive anti-orientalism. Due to these alliances, the messages of the Left and the anti-Israel groups begin to blend together, gradually becoming part of the leftist package. Benjamin Netanyahu’s open support of his old friend Mitt Romney’s bid for president is used as a tool to alienate the Left.
Step 6 (~2013-): These new alliances, coupled with the polarization of opinions in Step 3, mean that anti-Israel rhetoric becomes a cornerstone of the leftist package, that you have to accept otherwise you’re not seen as a true progressive.
Step 7 (2014-): In the Wake of the Gaza War, Israeli PR finally sort of wakes up. However, the echo chamber effect of social media has never been so pronounced, leaving people to feel stronger in their beliefs. By then, the partisan divide is considered cemented: Left = Anti-Israel, Right = Pro-Israel. The echo chamber effect leads the Left to drift even father left and forces left-wing Jews to make a choice between “progressive values” and supporting Israel. Most American Jews, who tend to be relatively assimilated, choose progressive values and while most feel they can’t ideologically abandon Israel altogether, they believe Israel will take care of itself no matter what because how powerful the Left perceives it to be. As a result of this tug-of-war many American Jews feel, J Street, seen as a “middle way,” flourishes and supports a lot of the allegations from anti-Israel sources and outlets under the guise of being pro-Israel. These organizations are then seen as more credible, and become rabbit holes in which Jews who feel they were indoctrinated to be pro-Israel can get stuck in. This new obsession with criticizing Israel on the Left and the rise of J Street pave the way for groups like Jewish Voice for Peace, who are overtly anti-Israel. More and more of the Jews who chose progressive values over Israel end up abandoning Israel altogether.
Step 8 (2015-): Obama and Kerry, simply staying in tune with the trends on the Left of increased radicalization and stronger alliances with anti-Israel and anti-American agents, decide to echo this “criticism” of Israel they hear in their leftist circles. The Democratic Party drifts farther to the left, to reflect the leftward shift of most democrats. When Bibi speaks to congress about the Iran Deal against Obama’s wishes, which the leftists embraced as a peaceful measure, Obama, who felt personally slighted by this act, milked the betrayal to his fellow democrats to turn them even further away from Israel due to his preference for the underdog no matter what, and a personal beef with Bibi, who supported his rival in the 2012 election. Kerry also felt slighted, given his daughter married an Iranian and he has that family connection to look after.
Step 9 (2016-): As the Trump campaign intensifies, the increased polarization brought on by social media algorithms, leading the left’s visceral hatred of Trump and by extension, Republicans to intensify, causes even further divide between the Left and Right. Bernie’s campaign, beloved by leftist youth, most exemplifies the direction the New Left is taking, with his snubbing of the AIPAC conference and his appointment of many anti-Zionists and post-Zionists to key positions. The Left starts to hate all things ever associated with the Right, which includes Israel. The echo chamber effect creates a positive feedback loop, causing the above to exacerbate further and further. American Jews, loyal to the Democratic Party and repulsed by Trump and Pence’s regressive social policies and offensive comments, while falling prey to the leftist media’s obsession with making him appear antisemitic, feel even more distant from Israel. Jews ally with anti-Israel social justice organizations over the common goal to defeat Trump because they see it as a moral imperative. Trump wins, and the left is bitter.
Step 10 (December 28, 2016): Kerry gives his infamous speech, only reflecting what the Left has been saying for years, and the shift the Left has taken, which has gradually cemented into the dogma due to the help of the echo chamber effect.
So in sum, I believe Kerry’s Speech was the product of:
1. Left-Arabist alliances spanning back to the 1960’s.
2. Polarization of the Left and Right due to the echo chamber effect.
3. Proliferation of social media in the Arab would.
4. The Left’s opportunistic attempt to paint Bibi and Israel as one and the same.
5. The demonization of anything having to do with the Right due to lack of mutual understanding created by the echo chamber effect.
This speech did not happen in a vacuum. It reflects the path the Left has been taking for years and should surprise no one.
Fortunately, the fact that Trump won the election means that the polarization had reached a tipping point, and the reactionary right is tired of it.
My prediction: pendulum is about to swing the other way.
