THE CORBYNIZATION OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY CONTINUES APACE: How Vermont Became Ground Zero for the Anti-Israel Movement.
Rachel Feldman, who co-founded pro-Israel group Shalom Alliance, told me Vermont was particularly vulnerable to a campaign like AFSC.
“It’s a Trojan horse,” Birong told me. “They’re just wedging the door open a little bit with words that sound ‘peaceful’ and ‘anti-war.’ And that is the ever-evolving nature of antisemitism.”
In most towns, the pledge under consideration comes from American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a tax-exempt Quaker organization that launched the so-called Apartheid-Free Communities network in spring 2023. It states that their goal is “not necessarily” to push towns toward boycotting and divesting from Israel—just toward any actions against “Israeli apartheid.”
“How to do that is up to your community and your context, and many can choose to engage in boycott or divestment actions.”
Late last year, Israel announced that AFSC—along with 36 other international organizations—could no longer operate in Gaza after failing to turn in a list of their Palestinian employees, along with their addresses and contact information. AFSC, which has been working in Gaza since 1948, called the new regulations a “part of a systematic effort” to “inflict further harm on Gaza’s civilian population.”
Just look at Senator Bernie Sanders, she said.
Polls consistently show that Sanders, a Jew and frequent critic of Israel who has called the country’s war against Hamas a “genocide,” is the most popular senator in America. All three members of the state’s congressional delegation are critics of Israel and boycotted Netanyahu’s 2024 address to Congress, including Rep. Becca Balint, who has described herself as “Jew-ish” and said that her “spiritual life is an amalgamation of Judaism, Quakerism, and Buddhism.”
When Sanders “walks through Montpelier, it’s like he’s a rock star,” Feldman said, calling him a “folk icon.”
“People want someone to look up to, and Bernie is that person for a lot of Vermonters.”
Vermont is a state of liberal superlatives. It is among the whitest, most elderly, and most progressive states in the country. It “takes seriously the concepts of institutionalized racism. We were fertile ground to be convinced that Jews are the oppressors,” Feldman told me. More than 80 percent of Vermonters live in towns that have adopted a Declaration of Inclusion, a pledge that “condemns racism” and is intended for “everyone to feel safe and welcome in our community.” No state voted more heavily for Kamala Harris in the most recent presidential election. And unlike the anti-Israel movement on college campuses and in major cities like New York, the activists driving this campaign are often boomers—retirees with a long track record of anti-war activism and nothing but time to kill. Catherine Bock, a 77-year-old Burlington resident, falls into that camp.
Vermont stalwart Howard Dean has also fallen in line with the left’s current hatred of Israel:
● Shot: Dean defends Middle East remarks.
Under fire for saying that the United States should be even-handed in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, 2004 Democratic presidential front-runner Howard Dean Wednesday said he would not abandon the long-standing policy of strong U.S. support for Israel.
The former Vermont governor said criticism of his remarks by presidential rival Sen. Joseph Lieberman was a “despicable” attempt to divide the Democratic Party, which has long enjoyed the support of many Jewish voters.
“We do have a special relationship with Israel. We would defend Israel if necessary. I think that is well-known,” he told CNN. “However, we are also the only country capable of bringing peace to the Middle East, and when we sit at the negotiating table, we do have to have the trust of both sides or we will never succeed.”
—CNN, September 10th, 2003.
● Chaser: Former Vermont Governor calls Israel an Apartheid state.
—The Jerusalem Post, October 3rd, 2021.
In 2003, Jonah Goldberg wrote about revisiting David Brooks’ “Latte Town” image of Burlington, Vermont during the Clinton-era 1990s:
In his Weekly Standard article, entitled “The Rise of the Latte Town,” Brooks highlighted Burlington, Vermont as Exhibit A in what he identified as a profound transformation of American liberalism and American society in general. Brooks declared, “One of the striking things about Burlington is that it is relatively apolitical.” He noted how the bookstores downplayed overtly partisan books in favor of tomes which explained how individual citizens could help the homeless. “Bulletin boards are everywhere,” he reported, “but most of the fliers advertise rock bands, not rallies.” He saw only three political bumper stickers there: two simply said “Bernie” (a reference to Vermont’s only congressman, an Independent in the House and a socialist in his heart) and the third was a sticker for Rush–which he found on the outskirts of town on a pickup truck, so maybe the owner was an out-of-towner making a delivery.
All in all, Brooks discovered, Leftists didn’t care much about national or international politics. They wanted to be left with their expensive-but-necessary homes, cars, and clothes. “So these upscale liberals have retreated from national and urban politics and instead concentrated their energies on the local politics and small-scale activism to be found in the Latte Towns.” Moreover, while this retreat may be literal for those who voted with their feet and moved to Burlington, Austin, Texas, and Portland, Oregon, there has been a broader psychological retreat by the Left in general. “In this sense, Latte Towns represent a fundamental transformation in the American Left, the shift from the adversary culture to the alternative culture.”
Visiting Burlington in 2003 one discovers a very different Latte Town, and not just because Brooks seemed not to notice all of the drug addicts and facially pierced ne’er-do-wells. Oh, by the way, Latte Towns (Alan Ehrenhalt coined the term) are exactly what you’d think. I describe them in my forthcoming NRODT piece as one of those clever, crunchy, condescending college burgs crammed with students–and professors–with open-toed shoes and closed minds. The kids can name 50 different espresso drinks but not one reason to cut a tax, a tree, or their hair.
Anyway, Burlington is hardly the “apolitical” hamlet Brooks encountered. These days the bookstores front a lot more Noam Chomsky and Al Franken. You can still find flyers for bands–if you’re willing to peel off the ones advertising trips to Cuba. Political bumper stickers are everywhere. “Impeach Bush” is particularly popular, but my favorite was one I saw while driving along the campus of the University of Vermont: “The Road to Hell is Paved with Republicans.” You can also find it for sale at the “Peace & Justice Center & Store” on Church street in the heart of downtown Burlington.
Fast-forward to Latte Town in 2026:
