In 2009, a book came out titled, "I Can't Believe You Said That," which gave quotes from various leftists which they uttered in unguarded moments.   

Since the left must moderate its statements when the audience isn't completely onboard, a book like this is one way to understand the left's real outlook on a particular issue.  

Another way to decipher their agenda is to look at how the left operates when it gets into power.   Let’s first look at quotes since October 7 of this year, on the Hamas invasion of Israel - some of these quotes are from Muslims in Western countries, some are from non-Muslim leftists.

Muslim journalist Latifa Abouchakra, a broad smile spreading across her face, said, “Nothing will ever be able to take back this moment, this moment of triumph … this moment of humiliation” of Jews. 

Keep in mind that in the Hamas invasion, the killers filmed their own atrocities with pride.   They seemed to enjoy what they were doing, which included  shooting children in front of their parents.

Israel retaliated, as Hamas of course expected, and legions of protesters, from Australia to New York, came out to decry Israel's invasion of Gaza.   

Pro-Israel Jews pasted posters of the hostages that Hamas had taken back to Gaza, and anti-Israel protestors tore them down.   This tearing down was not good for PR, so: Linda Sarsour,  (co-chair of the 2017 pink pussy-hat Woman's March) argued that the kidnap posters were a Jewish conspiracy to make her side look heartless.

Linda stated to demonstrators: "There are provocateurs all across the city" waiting for you to rip down "their little posters …... They’re on your college campus, they’re outside the supermarket, they’re outside Grand Central Station.”

Leftists who applauded the invasion, included Russell Rickford, Associate Professor of History at Cornell University who said:

…many Palestinians, conscious, who abhor violence -- as do you, as do I -- who abhor the targeting of civilians -- as do you, as do I -- who were able to breathe! They were able to breathe, for the first time in years! It was exhilarating. It was exhilarating, it was energizing. And if they weren't exhilarated by this challenge to the monopoly of violence...

Then there was: Jemma DeCristo, Assistant Professor of American Studies at University of California, Davis, who in numerous tweets claimed that anti-Israel activists should start “putting hands” on journalists who “misrepresent” the situation. On Oct. 10, 2023 she tweeted that these “zionist journalists” have “houses w addresses, kids in school... they can fear their bosses, but they should fear us more.”

Apart from the Hamas operation, leftists have come out against Israel to sympathetic audience.   Patrice Cullors, a founder of Black Lives Matter, said during a 2015 panel, “Palestine is our generation’s South Africa. If we don’t step up boldly and courageously to end the imperialist project that’s called Israel, we’re doomed.”

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said this at a progressive conference.  "Let’s say it out loud. AIPAC [a pro-Israel lobby] backs extreme election deniers and then goes after people of color, most of whom are women, who dare to do our jobs and fight for our constituents. Their MO is to try to shame and blame…and elect a Republican majority.

So who do leftist regimes historically ally with when they get into power?   A few examples:

In 1968 Castro sent military instructors into Palestinian bases in Jordan to train Palestinian Fedayeen.  The Egyptian newspaper Ahar Sa'ah reported on Sept. 13, 1978 that 500 Palestinian fighters were training in Cuba. 

In 1972 three members of the Japanese Red Army took a flight from Rome to Tel Aviv.  Dressed conservatively and carrying slim violin cases, they attracted little attention. As they entered the waiting area, they opened up their violin cases and extracted assault rifles and began to fire indiscriminately as well as toss grenades.

Around 1970, the Soviet 18th Air Defense Division, manning batteries of SAM-3 anti-aircraft missiles, had taken an unsustainable toll on the Israeli Air Force. In particular, the Soviet missiles had shot down many of Israel’s new, vaunted American-made F-4s

Even now, MEMRI reports that Hamas leaders have good relations with Vladimir Putin's Russia. 

As the Doha-based Hamas leader abroad Khaled Mash'al said, "Russia has benefited" from the October 7 attack "because we distracted the U.S. from them and from Ukraine ... The Russians told us that what happened on October 7 would be taught in military academies."

The agenda of the hard left is the elimination of Israel.  If we do not share this agenda, then it behooves the rest of us to be wary of the so-called moderate left on that issue, as well as on others.

Image: Festival of Faiths, via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.0