The time has come for the state with the largest Jewish representation in the country to make our voices heard. Nobody reading this needs to be informed of the horrendous situation in which we find ourselves in present-day America. It can be dangerous to walk down a given street in New York City with your Jewishness showing, and all the more so on a college campus.
We have seen how the pro-Hamas/pro-destruction-of-Israel side were able to band together to affect change in Michigan, and obviously how President Biden changed his political strategy to cater to the extreme left of his party. It is now our turn. While New York does not wield the same political power as Michigan, these are the tools we have in our arsenal to make it known to this president how displeased we are with his political choices, and how fearful we are of the direction he is allowing the country to go under his watch.
We have also been abandoned by the self-proclaimed “Shomer Yisrael,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Once claiming to be Israel’s greatest defender, he has completely lost the plot, proving himself to be more of a Kapo than a shomer, doing anything to retain his political status, even if it means kowtowing to his party’s extreme base. How fast he went from his powerful speech at the Israel rally in November to a weak-kneed sermon in March at the behest of the Biden Administration.
So what can we do? We can use our power of the poll, where we have outsized numbers as the other side has in Michigan. New York does not have the option to write-in a candidate in the primaries, and of course, we are now too far into the campaign to get someone else on the ballot. Your options are President Joe Biden or Dean Phillips, who seems to be a mainstream Democrat who probably does not have much different opinions on Israel than does the President.
However, we need to use Dean Phillips as our protest vote. Phillips has already dropped out, so his votes will not provide any significant political impact. However, if we as a nation, as a community, and (apparently most importantly) as a voting bloc, are able to get enough people out there to show President Biden that we are displeased with how he has handled the situation both here in the United States and abroad, perhaps we can get through to him that we are not merely meant to be another statistic, but a force with which to be reckoned.
It’s funny; going into 2024, I thought this would be the year to ensure all New Yorkers should switch their party affiliation to Republican so we can have a say in who the Republican candidate should be. That clearly no longer matters here. No - we now have the responsibility to ensure that all Democratic voters point out to our President that he has betrayed us, that he no longer has our trust. The only currency Joe Biden deals with is the currency of votes. Primary elections are scheduled for June 25, but early voting has already started. If you have not yet voted, please consider Dean Phillips for your protest vote.
Izzo Zwiren works in healthcare administration, constantly concerning himself with the state of healthcare politics. The topic of healthcare has led Izzo to become passionate about a variety of political issues affecting our country today. Aside from politics, Izzo is a fan of trivia, stand-up comedy, and the New York Giants. Izzo lives on Long Island with his wife and two adorable, hilarious daughters.
