'The left has really let us down.' Why many American Jews feel abandoned
Like many American Jews, Jonah Goldman sides politically with the left, including its push for the rights of Palestinians.
During college, he was active in J Street, the liberal Jewish advocacy group that opposes the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and lobbies for a two-state solution.
But in the aftermath of Hamas' gruesome raid on Israel this month, Goldman has never felt so isolated from people he long considered his allies.
He was shocked by how quickly friends mobilized for the Palestinian cause while failing to condemn the attack. The militants killed more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians — slaughtering families, including children — and taking about 200 more hostage.
Good people he never considered antisemitic suddenly seemed "supportive of Jewish genocide," he said.
On social media and college campuses as well as at pro-Palestinian rallies — the sort of protests Goldman once would have joined — the assault has been portrayed as a form of resistance. He wondered why there was so little mourning for dead Jews.
"The left in America has really let us down," said Goldman, 31, who lives in the Washington area and considers himself
