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The Red-Green Alliance is Coming to America

The red-green alliance is the increasing collaboration between radical progressive groups (the reds) and Islamists (the greens), in particular American organizations that identify with the Muslim Brotherhood ideology.
[additional-authors]
December 22, 2021
Valeria Blanc/Getty Images

On September 21, 2021 the Israeli Government was stunned by the removal of $1 billion for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system from a bill—a move that was led by progressive legislators from the Democratic Party in Congress. Although the House of Representatives approved the funding with a huge majority two days later, this unprecedented event is the result of a fundamental change that Washington is undergoing and of the growing influence of ideological currents on American foreign policy in the Middle East and toward Israel.

To a great extent, this fundamental change is the result of a social phenomenon that migrated from Europe to the U.S. and is known as the red-green alliance—namely the increasing collaboration between radical progressive groups (the reds) and Islamists (the greens), in particular American organizations that identify with the Muslim Brotherhood ideology.

This collaboration is the result of two distinct developments that have a significant impact on the status of Jewish communities and the State of Israel in the U.S.: The Israel and Jewish erasure in the current progressive discourse, and the strengthening of organizations who are ideologically affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood movement. 

The Israel and Jewish Erasure in the Progressive Discourse

The first development is the strengthening of identity politics in the U.S., and the influence of the progressive movement on mainstream discourse. Political and social polarization has caused the current progressive discourse to become dichotomous; groups are categorized as privileged or, alternatively, as oppressed, usually on the basis of social status and skin color.

Likewise, as the State of Israel is catalogued as a white European colonial enterprise, many progressives fail to capture the unique circumstances and challenges around the establishment and existence of the Jewish state. 

While many of the social goals of the progressive movement are laudable, the binary structure of the discourse results in what I call the “Jewish-Israeli erasure.” In other words, because the prototype of discrimination in the U.S. is based on the history of the Black community, Jews are often catalogued in the progressive discourse as white and privileged.  As a result, the progressive discourse fails to capture many aspects of the Jewish identity and communal life that are the result of a much more complex history and nuanced reality. This often results in downplaying the severity of the threat of antisemitism. Likewise, as the State of Israel is catalogued as a white European colonial enterprise, many progressives fail to capture the unique circumstances and challenges around the establishment and existence of the Jewish state. 

The Rise of American Organizations Affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood 

Since its establishment in Egypt in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood movement has become one of the most important Islamist movements in the world, though organizations identified with it outside the Middle East have no official affiliation with it.  

The Muslim Brotherhood has a conservative and fundamentalist agenda and is driven by a vision of establishing a Caliphate. The movement is considered part of the political Islam (or ‘Islamism”), a paradigm that believes that Islam should guide social and political life, and characterizes organizations that strive to become legitimate political players, and do not undermine the legitimacy of state institutions (as do Salafi Al-Qaeda and ISIS). As such, despite its radical vision, the movement displays considerable tactical pragmatism. 

Moreover, the global Muslim Brotherhood movement is more decentralized than ever, in a way that challenges the cohesiveness of the movement. Hamas, for example, which was founded as the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza, considers the Israeli Ra’am Party, which has roots in the Muslim Brotherhood and is currently part of the Israeli government coalition, as its ideological enemy. Another example is the clear generation gap in regard to LGBTQ between young Muslims who were born in America and the immigrant generation of their parents. Despite these substantial changes, these organizations still share a common vision, agenda and ideological ties.

The September 11 attacks had serious consequences for Muslims in America who experienced a wave of anti-Muslim acts and strict domestic policy. Many of them consider the term of President Trump to be a low point, while election of a Democratic administration is seen as a historic opportunity.

The strategy and level of organization of Islamists make them increasingly influential. They often benefit from the use of diplomatic platforms and public affairs operations of Qatar and Turkey, as well as from media platforms such as Qatar’s Al Jazeera and social media channel AJ+. Several members of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party participate frequently in anti-Israel events organized by these organizations. 

Most Muslims in America probably do not identify with the Muslim Brotherhood. However, the level of organizations and the use of the abovementioned platforms have gained Islamists the informal status as the representative of the Muslim community in the eyes of law enforcement authorities.

The Red-Green Alliance and U.S. Policy in the Middle East

As a social phenomenon, the red-green alliance emerged in Europe, with an agenda that includes clear anti-Western, anti-American, and anti-Zionist elements. Despite the differences and even the opposite views between the radical left and political Islam, their cooperation is deep and anchored in an intellectual and philosophical effort to legitimize it. 

In the U.S., this cooperation is accelerated by a process of “progressivization” of Muslim Brotherhood organizations, who are gradually adopting the rhetoric and certain parts of the progressive movement’s agenda. Organizations such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which ten years ago was accused in federal court of being part of a network that supported the financing of terrorism, is at the forefront of the struggle for social justice as part of the Black Lives Matter campaign, and is also promoting prison reform and advocates for a higher minimum wage.  

Beside their domestic agenda, the red-green alliance is beginning to coalesce into a coherent perception of an ideal American foreign policy. This approach seemingly rests on an American tradition of commitment to promote liberal democratic values and human rights in the world and the coalescing consensus in the U.S. on restraining American military involvement in the world. However, this perception of ideal foreign policy derives heavily from an interpretation of the Middle East through the framework of identity politics, and from the Muslim Brotherhood agenda in the Middle East. For example, while international human rights organizations sharply criticize most countries in the Middle East, due to their tendency to suppress protest through surveillance and force, the red-green alliance in the U.S. focuses its criticism almost exclusively on the pro-Western axis of countries, which are the ideological enemies of the Muslim Brotherhood axis led by Qatar and Turkey.

Even though the red-green foreign policy approach is not the dominant approach of the current administration, its influence in Washington is growing in a way that creates new challenges to Israel in four different ways. First, while the red-green alliance is unable at this time to seriously challenge the special relationship between the U.S. and Israel, it does change the discourse on Israel. Second, it seems that the red-green alliance has impacted the change in policy of the U.S. administration toward America’s traditional pro-Western allies. Curbing the normalization momentum of the Abraham Accords is a side effect of this trend. Third, the red-green alliance shows no great enthusiasm toward Iran, but its agenda strengthens Iran, as it weakens the axis of Arab states that stands against it. This result is accepted with indifference among red-green alliance organizations, as in the eyes of many progressives Iran does not pose a threat to the U.S., and in the eyes of Muslim Brotherhood organizations, the struggle against pro-Western Sunni Muslim states is more important. Fourth, whereas progressive streams are silent about Iran, they are actively vocal in their support for Hamas. This support of Hamas and not of more secular-liberal Palestinian groups ostensibly identified with the political process may be surprising. But this support is the direct result of the progressive alliance with Muslim Brotherhood organizations, who sympathize with Hamas, which was established as a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza.

A Conundrum of Inaction

Embarrassingly, today there is no broad systematic Jewish attempt to challenge the Jewish-Israeli erasure in the progressive discourse. 

Embarrassingly, today there is no broad systematic Jewish attempt to challenge the Jewish-Israeli erasure in the progressive discourse. The reason is that the contemporary Jewish community is politically, socially, and organizationally polarized, and there is no shared understanding in regard to the challenge.  

Moreover, the Israel-Jewish erasure framework is being internalized by a disturbingly growing number of Jews who consider themselves to be white and privileged, and as a result, exacerbate the Jewish identity challenge in the U.S., as well as undermine community cohesion. It is no wonder that the Jewish community is struggling to create a cohesive and united front against the challenge with only limited results, and that the gap between Israel and many American Jews is growing. 

Moreover, lamentably progressive leaders and groups only seldom condemn blunt antisemitism on the part of leaders of organizations identified with Islamists. While the Israel-Jewish erasure in the progressive discourse is often based not on hate but on the binary structure of the discourse, the “Islamophobia card” and perhaps a “racism of low expectations” enable the existence of crude antisemitism in the red-green alliance.

What Can Be Done? 

The Jewish community is too polarized to expect a “total” mobilization, or a replication of the mobilization that characterized the Jewish community in the past. However, it is likely to be possible to mobilize several dozen organizations, even without a wall-to-wall consensus, to achieve the threshold needed to change the momentum in the current discourse. This critical mass should comprise a mix that includes the Jewish establishment, community-relations organizations, philanthropists, non-establishment center and left organizations, and “communities in the making,” such as the Israeli ex-pat community and Russian speaking Jews. 

The key for such mobilization is anchored in the ability of Jewish leadership to create a shared comprehension of the challenge and generate a galvanizing vision. It is recommended that attempts to instill a shared understanding in regard to the challenge will focus on the threat emanating from the Jewish-Israeli erasure, and on the entire woke culture. Targeted activity against the Jewish-Israeli erasure “speaks” the language of identity politics, and may be a good basis to establish broad coalitions that will include both liberal non-establishment organizations and the Jewish establishment. 

The Jewish community can exploit the unique opportunity to provide a galvanizing vision for the community that focuses on “rebuilding the Jewish center,” and strengthening internal community cohesion on the basis of a vision of peoplehood. Such an agenda has a real potential to effectively strengthen Jewish identity and position the Jewish community at the forefront of rehabilitating the mainstream political discourse. It may also resonate with the Jewish silent majority and with emerging communities, such as that of Russian-speaking Jews. In this community there is the rise of a new class of young philanthropists, activists, and intellectuals who typically have a strong pro-Israel agenda. At least in part, this emergence is a reaction to the Jewish-Israeli erasure, which in their eyes parallels the attempts to erase Jewish identity in the Soviet Union.

The Israel-Jewish erasure framework is being internalized by a disturbingly growing number of Jews who consider themselves to be white and privileged, and as a result, exacerbate the Jewish identity challenge in the U.S.

Finally, there may also be an opportunity to work to leverage the Abraham Accords paradigm and neutralize the Muslim Brotherhood doctrine. Such an effort could be pursued by cooperating with local Muslim organizations, as well as cooperating with the existing lobbying activity of the Abraham Accords countries in order to remotivate the normalization drive in the Middle East. It is also possible to charge the Israeli-Jewish “legitimacy battery” through joint tikkun olam projects with Abraham Accords nations.

An old joke tells the story of an old Jewish man who prays day after day for his Lord, begging the Lord to allow him to win the lottery, until even God pities him and asks him to meet him halfway and buy a lottery ticket. Likewise, we should not expect the Israel-Jewish erasure and expressions of antisemitism from the red-green alliance to simply go away, without a serious attempt to challenge them.


Eran Shayshon is CEO of the Reut Group.

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