Useful Idiots II: The JVP “Not in Our Name” Protest

On Friday, Oct. 27, a Jewish Voices for Peace rally was held in Grand Central Station to protest the actions of the Israeli military in its attacks on Gaza. Many of the protesters wore t-shirts bearing the words: “Not on our name”.

To those who wore those shirts:

What the Israeli military is doing is not being done in YOUR privileged elitist safe-in-the-U.S. name. The actions of the IDF is being done in the name of the pregnant woman whose belly was slit by a Hamas terrorist, who removed and killed the fetus and then the woman. It is being done in the name of the children who were forced to watch as their parents and siblings were executed. It is being done in the name of the families burned alive in their safe rooms. It is being done in the name of the elderly massacred at a bus stop. It is being done in the name of the young women raped and killed simply because they were Jews attending a music festival. It is being done in names of all of these — and all of the others massacred by Hamas on Oct. 7.

But in YOUR name. Don’t flatter yourselves. The IDF doesn’t do ANYTHING in the name of the kinds of people at the Grand Central Station rally. Wearing t-shirts with that slogan on them is just plain stupid. It makes as much sense to wear those t-shirts at that rally as it would be to wear them to a protest against wind farms that are killing whales off the Atlantic coast. Or whatever.

Ironically, the only people who might conceivably think that IDF actions are being done “in the name of” the protesters at GCS are rabid anti-Semites – who don’t care whether a Jewish person supports Israel of not. To those anti-Semites, it is enough that someone is Jewish, and they will blame Jews for EVERYTHING, including the massacre of Jews by Hamas (and – as a further irony – many of the JVP protesters also blame Jews for the massacre of Jews by Hamas – go figure, huh). When Hamas was massacring and capturing residents of Israel on Oct. 7, they didn’t check on whether those they were killing and capturing were “bad Jews” or “good Jews”. When the terrorists come for Jews, they don’t spare the JVP members. Indeed, some of the leading voices for peace in Israel are among those killed by Hamas. So yeah — when they come for the Jews, they’ll come for you too.

And even back at your elite $80K per year private college campuses, the fact that you wore a “Not in our name” t-shirt won’t guarantee that the progressive leaders and groups that you strive to be accepted by will approve of you – although they might want to use you for their own anti-Semitic purposes. You do make very useful idiots. But make no mistake about it. The IDF does nothing in your name, and doesn’t give a shit what you do or think.