patrick.net

Worth noting that the kibbutz @BernieSanders claims to have stayed at briefly in 1963 (שער העמקים) was affiliated with Mapam, the pro-Soviet, pro-Marxist political party. There’s precisely zero chance that Sanders didn’t choose it for that reason.

It’s also worth noting that the place was so in the tank for the Soviets that they were pro-Stalinist and one of the founders of the kibbutz, Aharon Cohen, was later convicted of spying for the Soviets.

This isn’t a small thing. The population of that commune (that’s what it was) in 1963 couldn’t have been more than a few hundred - almost entirely Romanian and Yugoslavian immigrants. There was no internet. You’d only find it if looking for a Marxist utopia.

Sanders didn’t go to Israel for Israel.
He went for proletarian revolution.
It’s amazing that the guy has run for federal office 13 times and never had to explain what his ideology was, why/how he chose that place, why he left, and if/when/how his philosophy changed.

It’s less amazing that he wields what was clearly a radical leftist field trip as some kind of solidarity with Israel. If there’s one thing we’re used to in the Jewish community, it’s people dressing their pre-existing secular leftism up as somehow inspired by Judaism.

https://twitter.com/DissidentRabbi/status/1232969739607138305?s=20