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I have always had a bit of a soft spot for Van Jones, despite his being on the other side of the aisle and his being an Obama Democrat. 

It boils down to this: even when he is wrong, which in my judgment is often, he is thoughtful and articulate. I don’t get the feeling that he is a dishonest hack who only mouths the party line all the time. 

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Of course, I am soft on some people, like Jones and Kirby. So sue me. 

In any case, Jones hit the nail on the head when describing what is so troubling about the pro-Hamas protests we have been seeing across America. 

Jones is 100% right. Anti-war protests are not inherently antisemitic. There is plenty of room for disagreements about the proper Israeli response to Hamas’ terror attacks, especially if you have been bamboozled by the propaganda into believing that Israel is starving Gaza or intentionally targeting civilians. (Neither of which is true, but you see the claims all the time in the mainstream media, so a lot of people believe them). 

But it is undeniable that the preponderance of the protests has been aimed not at Israeli policies but at the existence of Israel itself and also the existence of Jews. 

We are seeing a brewing pogrom, where Jews are targeted for being Jewish, and the war is merely an excuse to go after Jewish people who have absolutely nothing to do with the war. 

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The near-pogrom in Los Angeles is only the latest example–and it was so terrible that even Democrats up to the president and as anti-Israel as some of the Squad members denounced it. Jews were hunted down and beaten in a Jewish neighborhood, with people carrying placards bearing the images and slogans of antisemitic terrorists. 

There has been lots of praise for Hitler, shouts of “go back to Poland” or “I am Hamas” in these protests of late, as well as lots of anti-Jewish slogans and graffiti painted on walls and at synagogs. 

It’s easy to forget, but all this started not after Israel went into Gaza but on October 7th, when leftists and antisemites celebrated the attacks on Israel. Compassion for Gazans has never been the motivating factor; it is hatred for Jews and also of Western Culture. 

We often hear from the terrorist-lovers that Jews are using the Holocaust as a propaganda weapon to mute criticism of Israel, but the reality is exactly the opposite. Pro-Hamas terrorists are making up propaganda about non-existent atrocities and famines in Gaza as a smokescreen to justify their desire to insult and harm Jews. 

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If I were to criticize the war–and I have my own thoughts about what Israel has done right and done wrong–I would focus on Netanyahu’s bowing to Biden’s pressure too often. The war would be over, the controversy would subside, and the rebuilding would have already begun if the war hadn’t been stretched out by the pauses demanded by the president. Wars don’t get better with age; they get worse. 

But I have the luxury of not having to balance the various pressures, so that’s easy for me to say. 

In any case, Jones is saying what needs to be said, and I applaud him. 

My guess is that too few CNN viewers care what Republicans are saying about this, and hear too often from reflexive critics of Israel and Zionism. 

10/10, Van Jones.