November 8, 2023

The large protest against Israel and in support of the Hamas terrorists on November 4 in Washington, D.C. was primarily organized by the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism). It has called for a wave of disruption across the country on November 9 to “Shut It Down for Palestine.”

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This group was founded just three days after the September 11, 2001 Al-Qaeda terrorist attack on New York City and the Pentagon that killed some 3,000 people. ANSWER’s declared aim was to create “a massive antiwar movement” that would block U.S. retaliation against the attacks. So now ANSWER wants to block Israeli retaliation against the October 7, 2023 terrorist attacks which killed over 1,400 people. They are not “antiwar” and certainly have no interest in “peace.” ANSWER picks sides in conflicts around the world, protesting the actions of one side, and justifying the actions of the other. They want victory for their chosen side which is invariably the side acting against the United States, its friends, and its allies. That is the core nature of the Left.

ANSWER chose against Israel long ago, holding a rally in April 2002 in Washington calling for the “liberation” of Palestine, which means wiping Israel off the map. The chants heard today of “from the river to the sea” do not express any new objective. The only plan for genocide, the style of which was demonstrated in the torture and murder of babies on 10/7, has come from the Palestinian terrorists, their backers in Iran (who have threatened to use nuclear weapons to obliterate Israel), and their left-wing supporters on college campuses where barbarism has become the essence of enlightenment.

Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, as it had from southern Lebanon in 2000. Terrorist groups Hamas in Gaza and Hezb’allah in Lebanon (both backed by Iran) seized the open territory. Peaceful development has not been their priority. This hard experience explains why Israel cannot withdraw from the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem, or its West Bank security wall. And why it must clean out Gaza. In the real world, the right to exist requires more than a scrap of paper to have meaning or endure. When enemies won’t stop, they have to be stopped.

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The population centers of the West Bank are under the Palestinian Authority. Israel does not want to govern large Muslim populations. Judaism is not an evangelical-universal religion like Christianity and Islam. Israel is meant to be a Jewish State, a sanctuary after the Nazi Holocaust. It is in the homeland of the Jewish people, who founded the first Israel in the 10th century BC. The Israelis just want to be left alone. Peace is their fondest hope. A sincere antiwar movement would embrace their cause as it would improve the lives of everyone across the entire region. In 75 years, Israel has turned a desert into a thriving free society whose achievements should inspire progress elsewhere rather than hatred — except among those who are “triggered” by success.

As my previous column argues, there is more than anti-Semitism at work in the left-wing choice against Israel. Jerusalem is considered an outpost of western civilization, the real enemy. Thus, any aggression committed by enemies of the West is to be supported by opposing any defense against such aggression. This is in the name of a global revolution.

ANSWER thus supports Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, holding a rally in Washington last March. Its lengthy list of coalition groups opposing aid to Ukrainian freedom fighters included several Palestinian groups, as well as avowed Marxist organizations, open-border advocates, and climate change activists. The unifying theme of the Left’s many causes is to cripple, transform, and defeat America, the leader of the western world.

ANSWER’s support for Russian brutality in Ukraine comes after its support for Russia’s intervention in the Syrian civil war on the grounds that Vladimir Putin was acting to “defend Assad from the U.S.” This goes back to the use of chemical weapons against Syrian civilians by despot Bashar al-Assad in his attempt to crush a rebellion. This crossed President Barack Obama’s “red line” but in the face of protests (including by left-wing and libertarian members of Congress), he took no action. This allowed Russia to intervene with air strikes in support of Iranian-backed troops to save the regime. ANSWER held new protests against President Donald Trump’s missile strikes on Syria in 2017, denouncing “U.S. imperialist military actions against an independent, sovereign Middle Eastern government… under the pretext of protecting civilians from weapons of mass destruction.” Of course, when Russia and Iran attack independent and sovereign states, it is endorsed because the existence of their victims is not considered legitimate. Ukraine should not exist any more than Israel should. And killing civilians is just part of that eradication.

Taiwan is also on the eradication list. ANSWER supports China’s claim to the self-governing island and opposes any attempt by the U.S. or its allies to defend its freedom. Arm sales are to be canceled, U.S. bases are to be closed across Asia, and the “No to NATO” campaign is to be expanded from Europe to Asia. President Biden is accused of wanting “to continue the New Cold War on China, including through attempts to expand NATO’s sphere of operation into the Pacific” started by President Trump. Any time free nations band together for mutual security against aggression, it is labeled by the Left a “provocation” justifying the aggression.

ANSWER has embraced Beijing so tightly that it has defended the Communist regime against the well-documented charge of operating concentration camps in Xinjiang. It even cited a Cuban statement denouncing “interference in China’s internal affairs under the pretext of human rights” to reconfirm Cold War relationships. Beijing can subject the Muslim Uyghur to slave labor because China poses a large threat to the U.S. and its allies. This is the only consistency in ANSWER policy.

Al-Qaeda attacked on 9/11 because it wanted to scare the U.S. out of the Middle East. The Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri convinced the Saudi Osama bin-Ladin that the reason they had failed to overthrow their home governments was because of American support for those governments. If America withdrew from the world, revolution could run rampant. This was not a new idea. Leftists like Daniel Singer had lamented the collapse of the USSR because “the Soviet Union was the only potential external obstacle to the expansion of American imperialism.” Many on the Left now assign that duty to China, but Russia, Iran, and other violent players have their role to play as well. They welcome a new Cold War because it allows them to renew their vows.

However, al-Qaeda discovered (as had others) that direct attacks only make Americans mad, not scared. ANSWER is in the more dangerous tradition of subversion from within. The U.S.-led global alliance system (NATO, the Quad plus South Korea and other, smaller aligned states) comprises over 60% of global GDP with the world’s most advanced technology. The U.S. itself is the largest national economy with the long, proud role as the Arsenal of Democracy. This foundation of power can only be subverted, it cannot be defeated. Power must be used to be effective, so the aim of the Left is to prevent its use by us so that weaker adversaries can prevail in their ambitions to change the world in horrible ways.

In our contentious world, ANSWER has picked its champions to bring down the West. We must back our friends and allies with the same vigor and superior resources; and not be afraid to enter the fray ourselves when needed to get the win. We must not tire (the Left’s greatest temptation to a decadent society) in our role as the lead nation in the lead civilization of our age. As Winston Churchill said, “It is the courage to continue that counts.”

William R. Hawkins is a former economics professor who served on the professional staff of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee. He has written widely on international economics and national security issues for both professional and popular publications. 

Image: ANSWER