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How the Media’s Antisemitism Machine Helped Take Down Josh Shapiro
We’ve been here before, and now Israel and the Jews are at the center of the US presidential election race.
Until Vice President Kamala Harris announced Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday, mainstream and social media outlets focused attention on Jewish Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who was considered a front runner.
The New York Times “Draws Fresh Scrutiny” to Take Down a Proud Jew
Despite Shapiro’s capabilities, his effectiveness as a politician, and his policies on issues that matter to the American people, the media, including The New York Times, chose to focus on him as a pro-Israel Jew who has been outspoken on antisemitism on college campuses.
Is this really such a devastating a problem for American voters who are focused on the constantly rising prices of basic necessities?
It apparently doesn’t matter that this Statista poll shows foreign policy as second-to-last on the list of top voter issues:
Or likewise, that this ABC News/IPSOS poll shows that the Israel-Hamas war is the lowest priority of all issues among US voters.
All that matters, according to the Times, is that Shapiro has “been one of the Democratic Party’s staunchest defenders of Israel at a moment when the party is splintered over the war in Gaza” and that he considers himself “a Zionist.”
The Times tried to damn him by revealing on Saturday that he volunteered “in the Israeli army” when he was 20-years-old, when he actually just did some volunteer projects on an IDF base.
An op-ed Shapiro wrote for his college newspaper, written after his experience volunteering in Israel, was initially resurfaced by the Philadephia Inquirer. At the time, he wrote that he didn’t believe Palestinians were capable of peace because they are “too battle-minded.”
This is a view that 30 years later, created a rumble across the media, despite his attempt to take it back. Shapiro has been viewed as a centrist in the Democratic Party, and has been very outspoken about his support for a two-state solution.
Social media dictates the news agenda
Shapiro’s five-month stint doing volunteer service projects, including on an IDF base more than 30 years ago, spread across social media and the Twitterverse (or rather X-Universe). Of course, it was twisted into him “serving in a foreign military.”
Wikipedia is trying very hard to cover up that Josh Shapiro voluntarily served in a foreign military pic.twitter.com/l7A4rDrQCL
— ib (@Indian_Bronson) August 3, 2024
Josh Shapiro is likely to be our next vice president
Josh Shapiro volunteered for the IDF but not the US military
Many of these dual-citizens have more loyalty to Isreal than America pic.twitter.com/tXwrEA7R89
— Jake Shields (@jakeshieldsajj) August 3, 2024
Then, the media latched onto this antisemitic agenda, making it a central issue. The question of whether it was a good idea for Shapiro, a Jewish politician, to be up for one of the highest ranking US political positions has been an issue of debate on television broadcasts. Is this appropriate, they asked? Especially since he is pro-Israel? Is America ready for a Jewish and pro-Israel vice president?
As reports leaked of Harris’ official pick of Walz, celebrations kicked off for a Zionist losing out:
Yeah!!! A sigh of relief that Kamala Harris chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her VP. He has a great record as governor. And it sends an important message that she did not chose Josh Shapiro.
Some of Walz policies as governor:
He cut child poverty by 1/3!!! universal school… pic.twitter.com/leBjDDvzk6
— Medea Benjamin (@medeabenjamin) August 6, 2024
Across the country, an inherent anti-Israel narrative has taken hold since October 7, and even those well-meaning, Jewish allies filled with concern have been duped into dividing Americans even more with this conversation.
.@RepAuchincloss: “Those in the overly online left who are attacking Josh Shapiro’s pro-Israel positions in a different way than they are attacking non-Jewish veep contenders’ positions, they’re just telling on themselves. There’s a strong undercurrent of antisemitism to that.” pic.twitter.com/tI1S2satLk
— CNN This Morning with Kasie Hunt (@CNNThisMorning) August 5, 2024
While there were CNN interviews on its news broadcasts like the one above — where anchors and analysts alike were quick to condemn this narrative and discuss its antisemitic nature — this goes beyond what would be acceptable or politically correct to discuss for any other group. The fact that Shapiro was singled out among a list of alternative options for Harris who have virtually the same stances on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and US aid to Israel and Gaza is antisemitic.
If Americans care about inflation, the economy and immigration most out of anything, why would they vote based off of whether or not he is a Jew?
HonestReporting’s executive director Gil Hoffman brings us back to the source.
Did this @nytimes article that exaggerated Josh Shapiro’s connection to Israel lead to him not being picked at @KamalaHarris‘s running mate? You decide. https://t.co/WSTgNsYU7G
— Gil Hoffman (@Gil_Hoffman) August 6, 2024
An important point, and one that will most likely not be addressed in mainstream media.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post How the Media’s Antisemitism Machine Helped Take Down Josh Shapiro first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘The Art of the Yiddish Monologue’ and other mini-courses in Yiddish
במשך פֿונעם חודש יאַנואַר 2026 וועט ייִוואָ פֿירן די ווײַטערדיקע מיני־קורסן אויף ייִדיש:
• „די קונסט פֿונעם ייִדישן מאָנאָלאָג“, וווּ מע וועט לייענען און אַרומרעדן מאָנאָלאָגן פֿון שלום עליכם, י. לץ פּרץ, דער טונקעלער, ב. קאָוונער, משה נאַדיר, רחל ברכות און יצחק באַשעוויס. מע וועט אויל אַרומרעדן די געשיכטע פֿונעם מאָנאָלאָג אין ייִדישן טעאַטער (שיין בייקער)
• שעפֿעריש שרײַבן, וווּ מע וועט אויפֿן סמך פֿון ליטעראַטור־מוסטערן באַטראַכטן די וויכטיקע באַשטאַנדטיילן פֿון פּראָזע — שפּראַך, סטיל, דיאַלאָג, געשטאַלט און פּייסאַזש (באָריס סאַנדלער)
• יצחק־לייבוש פּרץ און זײַנע באַציִונגען מיט די נײַ־געבוירענע ייִדישע סאָציאַליסטישע קרײַזן אין משך פֿון די 1890ער יאָרן (עדי מהלאל)
• די גרויסע אַקטריסע אסתּר רחל קאַמינסקאַ, וווּ די סטודענטן וועלן לייענען אירע זכרונות אויף ייִדיש (מיכל יאַשינסקי)
• די לידער פֿון דוד האָפֿשטײן, וואָס איז מערקווירדיק צוליב זײַן צונױפֿפֿלעכט פֿון דײַטשישע, רוסישע און אוקראַיִנישע ליטעראַרישע טראַדיציעס מיט תּנכישע און מאָדערנע ייִדישע השפּעות (יודזשין אָרנשטיין)
• די ייִוואָ־גדולים אין זייערע אייגענע ווערטער, וווּ מע וועט לייענען די שריפֿטן פֿון א. טשעריקאָװער, מ. װײַנרײַך, י. לעשטשינסקי, י. מאַרק, ש. ניגער, נ. פּרילוצקי, ז. קלמנאָװיטש, ז. רייזען, י. שאַצקי און נ. שטיף (דוד בראַון)
The post ‘The Art of the Yiddish Monologue’ and other mini-courses in Yiddish appeared first on The Forward.
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Suspect at Large in Brown University Shooting that Killed at Least Two, Injured Eight
Police vehicles stand near the site of a mass shooting reported by authorities at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, U.S., December 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Taylor Coester
Police in Rhode Island were searching for a suspect in a shooting at Brown University in Providence in which two people died and eight were critically wounded at the Ivy League school, officials said.
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley told a news conference that police were still searching for the shooter, who struck at Brown’s Barus & Holley engineering building, where exams were taking place at the time. Officials said police were looking for a male dressed in black and were scouring local video cameras in the area for footage to get a better description of the suspect.
Smiley said officials could not yet disclose details about the victims, including whether they were students. He lamented the shooting.
“We are a week and a half away from Christmas. And two people died today and another eight are in the hospital,” he said. “So please pray for those families.”
Brown is on College Hill in Providence, Rhode Island‘s state capital. The university has hundreds of buildings, including lecture halls, laboratories and dormitories.
President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that he had been briefed on the situation, which he called “terrible.”
“All we can do right now is pray for the victims and for those that were very badly hurt.”
Compared to many countries, mass shootings in schools, workplaces, and places of worship are more common in the US, which has some of the most permissive gun laws in the developed world. The Gun Violence Archive, which defines mass shootings as any incident in which four or more victims have been shot, has counted 389 of them this year in the US.
Last year the US had more than 500 mass shootings, according to the archive.
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Rights Groups Condemn Re-Arrest of Nobel Laureate Mohammadi in Iran
Taghi Ramahi, husband of Narges Mohammadi, a jailed Iranian women’s rights advocate, who won the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize, poses with an undated photo of himself and his wife, during an interview at his home in Paris, France, October 6, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Christian Hartmann
International human rights groups have condemned the re-arrest of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi in Iran, with the Nobel committee calling on Iranian authorities to immediately clarify her whereabouts.
Mohammadi’s French lawyer, Chirine Ardakani, said on X that the human rights activist was arrested on Friday after denouncing the suspicious death of lawyer Khosrow Alikordi at his memorial ceremony in the northeastern city of Mashhad.
Mashhad prosecutor Hasan Hematifar told reporters on Saturday that Mohammadi was among 39 people arrested after the ceremony.
Hematifar said she and Alikordi’s brother had made provocative remarks at the event and encouraged those present “to chant ‘norm‑breaking’ slogans” and disturb the peace, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
The prosecutor said Mashhad’s chief of police and another officer received knife wounds when trying to manage the scene.
CALLS FOR RELEASE
The Norwegian Nobel Committee called on Iranian authorities “to immediately clarify Mohammadi’s whereabouts, ensure her safety and integrity, and to release her without conditions.”
The European Union also called for Mohammadi’s release. “The EU urges Iranian authorities to release Ms Mohammadi, taking also into account her fragile health condition, as well as all those unjustly arrested in the exercise of their freedom of expression,” an EU spokesperson said on Saturday.
A video purportedly showing Mohammadi, 53, without the mandatory veil, standing on a car with a microphone and chanting “Long Live Iran” in front of a crowd, has gone viral on social media.
Ardakani said Mohammadi was beaten before her arrest.
Reporters Without Borders said four journalists and other participants were also arrested at the memorial for human rights lawyer Alikordi, who was found dead in his office on December 5.
Authorities gave the cause of his death as a heart attack, but rights groups have called for an investigation into his death.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said the crowd also chanted “death to the dictator,” a reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as: “We fight, we die, we accept no humiliation.”
Mohammadi, who received the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize, has spent more than 10 years of her life in prison, most recently from November 2021 when she was charged with “propaganda against the state,” “acting against national security,” and membership of “illegal organizations.”
This year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, the Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, said on Saturday that the opposition’s campaign in Venezuela was akin to that taking place in Iran.
“In Oslo this week, the world honored the power of conscience. I said to the ‘citizens of the world’ that our struggle is a long march toward freedom. That march is not Venezuelan alone. It is Iranian, it is universal,” she said on X on Saturday.