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Israeli Labor Party leader bemoans abandonment by global left

“I fail to see how shouting jihad and calling for a mass murder of Jews is pro-Palestinian,” said Merav Michaeli.

Israeli Labor Party leader Merav Michaeli leads a party meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 17, 2023. Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90.
Israeli Labor Party leader Merav Michaeli leads a party meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 17, 2023. Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90.

Merav Michaeli, the head of Israel’s opposition Labor Party, slammed the global political left in an article published on Tuesday for being “complicit” in Hamas’s crimes against humanity.

Speaking to Politico on the sidelines of the Party of European Socialists conference in Spain late last week, Michaeli said she thinks “something very bad is happening on the left.”

“It became very, very clear in this attack that people who consider themselves to be democratic, progressive, are supporting a totalitarian terror regime that oppresses women [and] the LGBTQ+ community,” she claimed.

“It’s important for me to emphasize to them that when you do not very strongly go against Hamas and what it does in Gaza, including to its own people, you are complicit,” continued the Labor leader.

“I fail to see how shouting jihad and calling for a mass murder of Jews is pro-Palestinian,” she said.

According to Michaeli, calling for a ceasefire now is “giving permission to Hamas to continue rearming itself, continue stealing food, water, medicine and fuel from its own people, and yes, rebasing itself.”

At last week’s meeting in Málaga, delegates from France, Ireland and Belgium called for a ceasefire in the fighting against the Gaza-based terror group.

Still, Michaeli reassured that the Jewish state still has some “very strong allies” on the center-left, adding that “the more you go to the left, the more there’s a big mix-up.”

Thunberg skews climate message

More than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and thousands wounded in the Oct. 7 murderous attacks by Hamas operatives on southern Israel. In addition, terrorists took some 240 people hostage.

Earlier this week, a Dutchman confronted Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg at a left-wing protest in Amsterdam after she attempted to connect the climate movement with the Palestinians.

“I have come here for a climate demonstration, not a political view,” the man said before being escorted off the stage.

Thunberg, who was wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh worn by Hamas terrorists, subsequently led the crowd in a chant of “No climate justice on occupied land.”

“The most powerful response we can offer is not conflict but proudly and peacefully enjoying the food, atmosphere and togetherness that these wonderful businesses bring to Philadelphia,” the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia said.
“It’s an evolving trend that shows greater signs of permanence than temporary quality,” Dan Diker of the Jerusalem Center for Foreign Affairs told JNS.
“At a time when some are trying to silence our community, we have a voice at the table,” New York state Assembly member Sam Berger told JNS. “Make no mistake. We intend to use it.”
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