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American Jews have a Hasan Piker problem. Solving it is going to hurt
Years ago, I went to a therapist who practiced Acceptance and Commitment Therapy — popularly known as ACT — which asks patients to interrogate what their values are, and whether their behaviors are aligned with those values. This therapist had me use a little matrix. In one block, I would write down what really mattered to me; it was then my responsibility to figure out the particular behavior or choice that would help me accomplish it.
For a while, I had that matrix pinned to my fridge. I have thought of it again while following the increasingly vocal concerns raised by some Jews about Hasan Piker, the leftist, anti-Zionist Twitch streamer whose presence on the campaign trail with Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has caused great consternation.
Piker’s profile has been on the rise for some time, and his rhetoric about Israel in particular — which he has accused of advancing “Jewish supremacy” — has drawn allegations of antisemitism. But his appearances alongside El-Sayed, who has said he believes Israel’s government is as evil as Hamas, have brought particular scrutiny. El-Sayed’s opponents have seized on Piker’s presence to, essentially, accusing the candidate of not taking antisemitism seriously enough.
Rep. Haley Stevens said that Piker “is not somebody that you should be campaigning with at a moment when there is clearly a lot of pain and trauma across our state.” State Sen. Mallory McMorrow said Piker is “not entirely different from somebody like Nick Fuentes,” a far-right Holocaust denier. The Anti-Defamation League has accused Piker of denigrating Jewish people, and its leader, Jonathan Greenblatt, has said El-Sayed’s decision to campaign with him reflects “the dangerous normalization of antisemitism in our politics.”
Some of this may be political opportunism. But I do not doubt that there are many American Jews who are sincerely concerned about the normalization of antisemitism, and who are worried that Piker’s increasing prominence plays into that trend. I would ask those American Jews: What is it that really matters to you in this situation, and what are the behaviors and choices that can help you achieve your goals?
A flawed strategy for fighting antisemitism
If pushing back against antisemitism is the top priority for our community, I suspect that writing Piker off as an antisemite with whom engagement simply can’t be countenanced will do more harm than good.
There are plenty of things that Piker has said that I, too, find offensive.
I agree with him that Hamas’s horrific actions on Oct. 7, 2023, including acts of sexual violence, don’t justify the slaughter of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. But I think saying that it “doesn’t matter” whether rape happened amid the Hamas attack, as Piker has, is a cruel and callous way of making that particular point.
And while anti-Zionism is not categorically antisemitism, I think that Piker’s statement that anyone who has exhibited “positive feelings about the state of Israel” should be barred from consideration from any position of import, including “the fucking local dog catcher,” runs the risk of creating a litmus test for Jewish participation in civic life. That’s a concern I hope people running to be elected officials in a pluralistic society take seriously.
But to say that Piker, whose fervent anti-Zionism can cross over into potentially damaging and derisive territory, is akin to Nick Fuentes — a Holocaust denier whose entire worldview is underpinned by the idea that Jews are evil and exploitative — is to make a claim that there is little evidence to support.
This distinction matters. Fuentes’ antisemitism is so extreme and all-encompassing that his fans and followers will never be allies to American Jews. There is little evidence to believe the same is true for Piker. To successfully fight antisemitism, American Jews need a broad base of allies. In that context, Piker’s audience — including nearly 3 million followers on the streaming platform Twitch — is one that it would be a mistake for us to wholly write off.
Many people who follow Piker may agree both with his condemnation of Israel’s government and his condemnation of the deadly attack on a 2025 hostage solidarity walk in Boulder, Colorado. Those people can help in the fight against American antisemitism — but not if we completely refuse to engage with them.
Building alliances on the left
If American Jews’ goal is to discourage antisemitism, and to encourage people to speak thoughtfully and empathetically about Jews, then treating Piker as someone too extreme to engage with risks sending a message that Jews don’t want allies on the left.
This echoes a problem that arose during last year’s New York City mayoral race. Some Jewish groups discounted now-Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s substantial efforts at Jewish outreach, instead focusing wholly on his criticism of Israel. In practice, that choice risked suggesting that there was no reason for Mamdani to bother trying to support New York Jews, because given his stance on Israel, no positive actions he could take would ever be enough.
Thankfully, Mamdani hasn’t stopped making an effort. There’s no guarantee, however, that others on the left will do the same.
There are other ways to approach the ACT matrix on this issue. But in all the ones I can think of, treating Piker as persona non grata seems like a poor strategy for success.
This is true, as well, if concerned American Jews decide that what really matters to them is the opportunity to push back on increasingly negative views of Israel in the United States. Trying to do that by punishing any public figures who associate with Piker is unlikely to pay off. Negative views of Israel have risen since 2022, particularly among Democrats. In that time period, many American Jews have tried to call criticism of Israel antisemitic; the trends have nevertheless continued.
Is blaming or trying to silence or sideline people who speak critically of Israel the thing that’s going to get people to change their minds? That former therapist taught me to think more clearly about the connections between my actions and what I wanted. It was sometimes an uncomfortable experience; change often is. Piker’s popularity is one of the many signs that there is no going back to a past U.S. in which Jews could assume non-Jews (or even other Jews) supported Israel or Zionism. Given that reality, we will need to think about how to bring ourselves closer to the country we want to live in — without ignoring the practical realities of the country we have now.
The post American Jews have a Hasan Piker problem. Solving it is going to hurt appeared first on The Forward.
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Mamdani touts ‘Babies not Bombs’ messaging after flexing political muscle in the New York primaries
(New York Jewish Week) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani celebrated the victories of the progressive candidates he endorsed in New York’s Democratic primaries describing their success as a “shift in the balance of power.”
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, the morning after the primaries, Mamdani touted the triumphs as a shift in the balance of power between “working people” and “special interests.”
Mamdani-endorsed candidates Brad Lander, Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez won Democratic nominations for Congress. During the press conference, the mayor repeatedly highlighted their calls to restrict U.S. military aid to Israel and redirect federal funding to domestic priorities.
Following Mamdani’s election night sweep in New York, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that “America the Beautiful will NEVER be a Communist Country!!!”
The victories offered an early demonstration of Mamdani’s political influence beyond City Hall, as several Democratic Socialist candidates he backed, including Chevalier, defeated established Democratic incumbents in their districts.
“The working person is struggling in our city to afford basic needs,” Mamdani said, adding that Avila Chevalier’s oft-repeated slogan of investing in “Babies not Bombs,” is “the kind of conscience, the kind of clarity, the kind of conviction that has been missing in our politics for far too long.”
Mamdani responded to the president’s post on Wednesday, telling a reporter who asked whether his goal is to make America a “socialist” country that his “goal is to make America a place that every American can afford.”
When asked about federal policies that could be affected by Mamdani’s endorsed candidates, the mayor cited Valdez’s support for “foreign policy that understands human rights for all” and Lander’s commitment to co-sponsoring the Block the Bombs Act, which prohibits the sale of certain U.S.-made offensive weapons to Israel.
Mamdani also dismissed a question about whether he was concerned about how the victories would play out in November as Democrats try to win back the House.
“Every time the fight for working people takes a step forward, you will hear Republicans say that this is actually going to jeopardize the existence of that very fight,” he said.
When asked whether the election of Chevalier, who has faced scrutiny for past social media posts attacking Democrats and her appearance at an Oct. 8, 2023, pro-Palestinian rally in Times Square, could “complicate campaigns for Democrats as a whole,” Mamdani replied “No.”
“[Chevalier] often speaks about a politics of life. She speaks about ‘Babies not bombs,’” Mamdani continued. “What could be a better example of what the people of the district want to see versus what the people of the district have been forced to experience, which is tens of billions of dollars being spent at a national level to bomb children overseas, while children in our own districts are struggling.”
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Jewish anti-Zionist David Orkin defeats incumbent in NY Assembly primary
(New York Jewish Week) — David Orkin, a Jewish anti-Zionist attorney and democratic socialist, defeated incumbent New York State Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar in Tuesday’s Democratic primary. Orkin won State Assembly District 38, which includes parts of Queens.
Orkin, an immigrant workers’ rights attorney and union organizer, received 58.8% of the vote, while Rajkumar, who has represented the district since 2021 and is the first South Asian woman ever elected to office in the state, received 40.9%. The district covers a swath of Queens, including parts of Ridgewood, Glendale, Ozone Park, Woodhaven and Richmond Hill.
“Pro-Palestine candidates are sweeping in NYC tonight,” Jewish Voice for Peace Action wrote in a post on Instagram celebrating Orkin’s win Tuesday. “Palestine was on the ballot — and won. David will be a champion for Palestinian freedom in Albany.”
The post from JVP Action echoed a message Orkin had highlighted throughout his campaign.
“It’s so incredibly meaningful to me to be running this race as an anti-Zionist Jew, to be one of the few anti-Zionist Jewish voices that is in an elected seat in the state government,” Orkin said in an Instagram reel posted by Jewish Voice for Peace Action earlier this month.
He added that, if elected, he would be able to go in front of the state legislature and assert that “criticizing Israel for genocide, demanding an end to the occupation, demanding an end to funding war abroad is not antisemitic.”
Orkin’s victory came amid a strong night for democratic socialist candidates across New York City, including left-wing congressional candidates Brad Lander, Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez, who also defeated establishment-backed opponents in their primaries.
While Orkin was not endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whose winning endorsements of Lander, Chevalier and Valdez signaled a pro-Palestinian lurch for the party in the city with the world’s largest Jewish population outside of Israel. Nonetheless, his victory elevated a self-described anti-Zionist to the ranks of New York’s elected officials at a time when debates over Israel have become increasingly prominent within Democratic politics.
While Israel-related issues were not listed on Orkin’s platform, which centered on affordability and immigration, he repeatedly expressed his support for a “free Palestine” and attacked Rajkumar’s record of support for the Jewish state during his campaign.
“In the past several years my opponent AM Rajkumar has walked in the Israel day parade but has said NOTHING against the war in Gaza, occupation of Palestine, or Islamophobic attacks faced by the people of New York,” Orkin wrote in a May post on X.
Rajkumar, who was a close political ally of former New York City Mayor Eric Adams, in her campaign platform vowed to combat antisemitism.
After establishing a Jewish Voice for Peace chapter in Tucson, Arizona, in 2014, Orkin remained involved in pro-Palestinian activism as a member of the anti-Zionist activist group.
“I’ve been involved in the Jewish Palestine Solidarity Movement for 12, 13 years,” Orkin told Democratic Left last month. “I’ve dedicated part [of my] life to making sure that Jewish people are creating religious spaces outside of Zionism, and to making more space for Palestinian organizing to have an impact.”
On the campaign trail, Orkin received a host of endorsements from prominent progressive groups and lawmakers, including Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, JVP Action and NYC Democratic Socialists for America.
Rajkumar was endorsed by ActJew, the new nonprofit focused on combatting antisemitism, as well as the Queens Jewish Alliance and Assemblymembers Sam Berger, Kalman Yeger and Chuck Lavine.
Orkin received over $290,000 in campaign contributions for the election cycle, including over $156,000 from the office of the state comptroller, while Rajkumar received over $270,000, including $9,000 from health care executive Daniel Lowy.
“I have dedicated my life fighting for immigrants and workers, I am proud to have earned their support in this election, and I look forward to spending the rest of my life winning the beautiful and joyous lives we deserve,” Orkin said in a statement, according to QNS.
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Half of Americans think the U.S. is ‘too supportive’ of Israel
(JTA) — A new survey found that 48% of American voters think the United States is “too supportive” of Israel, the highest since the pollster started asking the question in 2017.
The survey published Wednesday by Quinnipiac University also found that 60% of respondents reported that military intervention in Iran was “not worth it” as opposed to 34% of voters who said it was “worth it.”
The number of respondents who think the U.S. support of Israel is about right is 38%, while just 7% think the U.S. is not supportive enough of Israel, the poll found.
Broken down by party, 66% of Democrats think the U.S. is too supportive of Israel, while 9% think it is not supportive enough and 18% think U.S. support for Israel is about right.
Among Republicans, 20% think the U.S. is too supportive of Israel, 69% think American support for Israel is “about right,” and 6% think the U.S. is not supportive enough.
Among independent voters, 55% think the U.S. is too supportive of Israel, 34% think U.S. support for Israel is about right, and 7% think the U.S. is not supportive enough.
The poll data were released one day after three Democrats critical of Israel swept their House primary races in New York City, and in races around the country even some reliably pro-Israel Democratic candidates distanced themselves from the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC.
A survey last year by Gallup found dwindling support for Israel among Democrats, as well as waning support among Republicans.
Still the party divide was also in sharp evidence in the latest poll. In responses to the question about whether the Iran war was “worth it”, Democrats disfavored military action in Iran at 93% and independents at 66%, while 75% of Republicans surveyed thought it was “worth it.”
Given a list of 10 issues and asked which, if any, they considered priorities in their decision-making process in the election for the U.S. House of Representatives, 41% of voters cited the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, above AI data centers (38%) and Donald Trump (38%). The high cost of living (70%) and health care (59%) topped the list.
The Quinnipiac poll was conducted from June 18 to 22, and includes responses from 1,165 self-identified registered voters.
The margin of error is 3.4 percentage points.
Among those surveyed, 48% said they had an unfavorable view of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Twenty percent said they had a favorable opinion, and 30% “haven’t heard enough” about him.
“Netanyahu gets poor marks from American voters as their appetite for supporting Israel wanes, with the share of voters who think the U.S. is too supportive of Israel hitting a new high,” Quinnipiac polling analyst Tim Malloy wrote in the report.
Voters were also asked about their views on the June 17 memorandum of understanding with Iran, which begins a 60-day negotiation period that does not outline an end to Iran’s nuclear program.
“After months of diplomatic fits and starts, global economic repercussions and a broad loss of life in the region, a majority of voters make their feelings clear: the Iran war was a bad idea,” Malloy wrote.
Voters who are either not confident or “not so confident” that the deal will succeed numbered 59%, and 61% think it is either likely or very likely that Iran will develop nuclear weapons.
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