“Believe All Women” Should Not Be Political

The collapse of support for Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner should be about more than one campaign. It should force a national conversation about whether moral principles have become subordinate to political ideology.

When Lyndsey Fifield first came forward with allegations of abusive behavior against Platner, Democrats dismissed her as a “Republican operative.” Only after an additional rape allegation was reported, an allegation Platner has denied, did many Democratic leaders withdraw their support and call on him to end his campaign.

It was not the reports about Platner’s Nazi tattoo or the allegations of abusive behavior by multiple women that appeared to become the Democratic Party’s breaking point. Only after a progressive woman publicly accused him of rape did many Democratic leaders call on him to step aside. To many observers, it raises an uncomfortable question: was the decisive factor moral clarity, or the growing political cost of continuing to stand by him?

For many Jewish Democrats, this should be a moment of honest reflection. The Democratic Party of  Bill Clinton where support for Israel and the fight against antisemitism were foundational values is increasingly at odds with the party’s most influential extremist wing. Too many Jewish voters believed they could separate rising anti-Zionism from rising antisemitism, or that the movement would eventually draw a moral line. Instead, they have watched October 7 be minimized, Jewish trauma questioned, and anti-Israel extremism become increasingly normalized on the political left. It is time to confront an uncomfortable reality: a political movement that cannot consistently condemn terrorism, Jewish hate, or sexual violence when the victims are Jewish has lost its moral compass. That should concern every American, regardless of party affiliation.

As an Iranian Jewish mother, this is deeply personal.

My family fled Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. We know what happens when ideology becomes more important than truth, when political movements decide which victims deserve compassion and which do not. We came to America believing this country was different. We believed our leaders would defend moral principles consistently, not selectively.

Today, I fear we are losing that moral clarity.

There should never be a partisan response to rape.

There should never be a partisan response to terrorism.

There should never be a partisan response to antisemitism.

Yet, since October 7, too many Jews have watched the moral framework that once united Americans fracture before our eyes.

The Hamas massacre was marked by credible reports, eyewitness testimony, forensic evidence, and investigations documenting sexual violence against Israeli women. Yet many who once championed the #MeToo movement responded not with empathy but with skepticism, silence, or outright denial.

Where was “Believe All Women” when the women were Jewish?

That question has never been adequately answered.

For many Jewish Americans, the Platner episode feels painfully familiar. Too often, our pain is viewed through a political lens. Jewish victims are asked to meet a higher burden of proof. Jewish fears are minimized. Jewish trauma is debated rather than acknowledged.

This is not merely about Israel. It is about whether Jewish lives are afforded the same moral consideration as everyone else’s.

For decades, support for Israel was not a partisan issue. Democrats and Republicans alike recognized Israel as America’s closest democratic ally in the Middle East. They understood that Israel is a nation built on democratic institutions, free elections, an independent judiciary, and protections for women, religious minorities, and LGBTQ citizens that remain rare throughout much of the region.

That bipartisan consensus has weakened.

Today, too many voices within the Democratic coalition treat support for Israel as a political liability rather than a moral imperative. In some activist circles, antisemitism is excused and repackaged as anti-Zionism. Jewish identity itself has become grounds for suspicion.

As an Iranian Jew, I recognize this pattern because I have seen where it can lead.

History teaches that societies rarely abandon moral principles all at once. They do so gradually, making exceptions when the victims are unpopular, when acknowledging evil is politically inconvenient, or when ideology demands silence.

What starts with the Jews doesn’t end with the Jews.

The Democratic Party now faces a choice. It can reaffirm that rape is wrong regardless of the victim’s identity or the accused’s political affiliation. It can condemn terrorism without qualification. It can reject antisemitism wherever it appears. Or it can continue allowing extremist ideology determine whose suffering deserves compassion.

America deserves better.

The Jewish people deserve better.

Moral consistency is not a Republican value or a Democratic value. It is an American value.

If “Believe All Women” means anything, it must include Jewish women.

If our fight against hatred means anything, it must include Jews.

And if America is to remain the nation my family believed it to be, we cannot allow political ideology to determine whose humanity is worth defending.

Shirin Yadegar is a journalist, political commentator, talk show host and founder of www.lamommagazine.com