It’s time for Marin elected leaders to declare themselves: Do you stand with Israel or not?

Sherman R. Frederick/Properly Subversive

We always assumed that the hatred of Jews in Marin County was coming from the occasional rightwing goofball Nazi wannabe from Vallejo slinking into town to pepper houses with Nazi swastikas and related BS propaganda. It’s more than upsetting to find out that those hateful thoughts may be harbored by Marin’s radical political left. 

I’m talking about the Democratic Socialists of America, who have gained a foothold in Marin politics by leading a rent control measure in Fairfax and trying to get it on in Larkspur. 

In Fairfax, the Town Council already held hands with DSA thinkers on rent control. The Town Council did it in record time and they partied with the DSA when it was accomplished.  It caught many in the town by surprise. So much so that it sparked a petition to put the whole idea up for a vote.  If I’m reading the tea leaves correctly, the Town Council’s rent control ordinance will go down in flaming defeat. 

Community leaders I know in Fairfax say the Town Council got too far out in front of this issue and passed it without community support. Landlords, who are essentially affordable housing providers there, have been painted as the bad guys by the Town Council. The net result, some landlords say, will be a drastic reduction of affordable rental properties.

In light of the reprehensible pro-Hamas rally in New York by the DSA, it’s probably time to pin down local leaders on where they do, in fact, stand on this ugly left-wing bigotry. At the Sunday DSA rally, swastika’s were not uncommon. So, do local leaders like those in Fairfax who support the DSA’s rent control views now distance themselves from the DSA and now stand with Israel? Nothing but silence so far.

David Greenfield, an Orthodox Jewish Democrat and former N.Y. City councilman, reinforced my biases on the subject: 

“If you don’t condemn the DSA ‘rally’ that took place today with swastikas, ‘intifada’ signs and chants of ‘river to the sea’ then we KNOW you hate Jews too.” 

It’s time for DSA supporters in Marin to declare. 

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A day after Hamas attacked Israel killing hundreds of people, Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted out a post in which he said the U.S. supports a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Specifically, he wrote: “Turkish Foreign Minister @HakanFidan and I spoke further on Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Israel. I encouraged Türkiye’s advocacy for a cease-fire and the release of all hostages held by Hamas immediately.”

Remember, this is before Israel took any action to defend itself. Well, as you can imagine, that sentiment didn’t age well. President Joe Biden subsequently made it clear that the U.S. stands “rock-solid” behind Israel and supported, not a cease fire, but a full-on military campaign to rid Israel of the Hamas threat. 

Blinken took his tweet down (and I hope stuck it up his arse), but not before he took much well deserved criticism. 

Once again, it raises the issue of competency for the Biden Administration on the world stage. Does one hand of the Biden Administration’s foreign policy know what the other is doing?

After a tweet like that, you gotta wonder. 

ONE MORE THING

Thanks for spending time in this little corner of Bay Area journalism. Until next time, avoid soreheads, laugh a little and always question authority.

(“Properly Subversive” is a commentary written by Sherman R. Frederick for Marinscope Community Newspapers, the “mother ship” of the Novato Advance, the Ross Valley Reporter, the San Rafael News-Pointer, Mill Valley Herald, Twin City Times and the Sausalito Marin Scope. Mr. Frederick leads Battle Born Media, a news organization dedicated to the preservation of community newspapers. You can reach him by email at shermfrederick@gmail.com.)