PHILADELPHIA — That land from the river — the Hudson River, that is — to the highway, the northern end of Broadway, is evidently occupied in part by Zionists.
Pro-Arab activists insist that they are not antisemitic, yet the Democratic Socialists of America applied the word “Zionist” to Riverdale, a surviving bastion of Jewish New Yorkers in the northwest corner of the Bronx. DSA called Riverdale “an area with a heavy Zionist constituency.”
The DSA is upset with U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman for his opposition to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign and support for Israel’s anti-missile Iron Dome program. His decision to withdraw co-sponsorship of a bill backing the Abraham Accords last Tuesday (Feb. 15) was not enough to satisfy DSA, reports Jewish Insider.
“He isn’t signing a bill, but he’s already normalized the occupation, explicitly come out against BDS (the floor for any self-respecting socialist) and funded weapons to Israel,” DSA tweeted.
Then they tweeted that Bowman’s withdrawal of support for the accords came only “after newly drawn district borders now exclude Riverdale, an area with a heavy Zionist constituency.”
Bowman was elected to the House representing one of the largest Jewish populations in the country with Riverdale comprising an estimated 23,000 Jews in his congressional district. Although observers feared he would join the anti-Israel crowd in the House, he toppled longtime Israel ally Rep. Elliot Engel in the Democratic primary and went on to win the general election.
New York state’s redistricting plan will move Bowman out of Riverdale, which will be represented by Democratic Rep. Richie Torres, assuming he is re-elected.
“Zionist” is a dirty word for Israel-bashers who brand Zionism as a colonialist enterprise, which it certainly is not. They routinely reassure us that applying the word “Zionist” is not code for “Jew.”
It is curious that DSA is labeling Bowman’s constituents as Zionists since they can only vote in congressional elections if they are American citizens (though many could hold dual citizenship in both Israel and the United States).
Riverdale’s Jews worship in at least the three prime religious streams with a Conservative shul, a Reform temple and four Orthodox synagogues, according to a list of Riverdale synagogues. The community is also home to a Jewish community center, a mikveh and Jewish religious schools.
The affluent community roughly stretches from the Hudson River east to Broadway and from Yonkers south to the Harlem River; a tiny Manhattan neighborhood, Marble Hill, folds into Riverdale, making it geographically part of the Bronx, on the north side of the Harlem River. Past residents of Riverdale have included President Kennedy; Hadassah Lieberman, wife of former Democratic Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut; Carly Simon; and Willie Mays.
If all these Zionists occupy Riverdale, let’s hope that DSA will give them a heads-up if they ever plot an intifada.
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Bruce Ticker is a Philadelphia-based columnist. He may be contacted via bruce.ticker@sdjewishworld.com
Someone might want to tell those Israel-bashers that the word “Palestine” is not even Arabic. Good luck with that whole “colonialist enterprise” nonsense.