The election will come down to a few ‘swing states’ in the rust belt region of the US. Typically, the VP is picked on the basis of broadening the combined ticket to appeal to more voters. There were about 3 front runners when it came to Kamala Harris’ pick. Josh Shapiro, the Jewish governor from Pennsylvania was considered to to be the likely and the safe choice. Josh Shapiro is a popular governor in Pennsylvania, and picking him as VP would have likely ensured that the democrats won Pennsylvania in November – he has a 61% approval rating in Pennsylvania. Having the approval of 6 in 10 voters in a swing state, while being the incumbent governor, is no small feat. A win for the democrats there would most likely mean that Donald Trump would have no viable route to the presidency. This is an overwhelmingly important state in the election campaign. This should have been a simple pick for the Harris Campaign. Further to this, Kamala Harris arranged to announce her VP in the state of Pennsylvania, making it seem as though Josh Shapiro’s nomination was in the bag.

However Josh Shapiro had one big drawback. He is Jewish. He is also a supporter of the state of Israel. Currently, in the democratic party, this seems to be a mark against you. The irony of this is that seemingly, in his expectation of being picked as VP, Josh Shapiro had begun to moderate his positions on Israel to fit with Kamala Harris.
Does this mean that Kamala Harris’ surprise pick of Tim Walz over Josh Shapiro is antisemitic? No. But it does seem as though Kamala Harris feels the need to please her far-left democratic base by avoiding a Jew on the ticket. With the Democratic National Convention weeks away,  the idea of having Palestinian protests outside the event is unthinkable – having a Jewish VP nominee could well have initiated such protests. CNN’s John King said, “He’s Jewish, so there could be some risk in putting him on the ticket”. In what world do we live in where statements like that can be made. Additionally, Josh Shapiro was the only potential VP contender to be subjected to an organised campaign that was trying to stop Kamala Harris picking him. Some hard-left congressional staffers and members of the democratic socialists of America, have been warning of Shapiro’s support for Israel. There is even a website called “nogenocidejosh.com” that solely exists to protest the possibility of Shapiro being picked as a VP candidate! The bizarre part of this is that Josh Shapiro is not even that pro-Israel. His position is very similar to Tim Walz, the actual VP pick. The difference between them is the awkward fact that Shapiro is Jewish.
An article in the Atlantic had the following to say: “Sadly, this selective stigmatization isn’t new to progressive politics. In 2021, the Washington, D.C., branch of the climate-action group Sunrise Movement pulled out of a voting-rights rally because of the participation of three American Jewish groups. All three were known for their progressive domestic-policy advocacy and supported a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But the D.C. chapter of Sunrise nonetheless argued for their exclusion because the groups were “Zionist.” It has become hard to escape the conclusion that some of the activists imposing this inquisition have a problem not just with Israel or Zionism but with Jews, who they assume are serving a foreign power, no matter what they’ve actually said or done. some on the progressive left are the ones treating Jewish identity as inherently suspect and holding Jewish political actors to a different standard than their non-Jewish counterparts.”|The New York Times said, “Many Jewish Organisations backed Harris’s pick for running mate, but beneath that public sentiment is unease over antisemitism on both the left and the right”.
US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said, “I think that clearly was a major factor, is that she was reluctant to put a vice presidential nominee on the ticket with Jewish heritage because they’re having a split in the Democratic Party, they have a pro-Palestinian, in some cases pro-Hamas wing of the Democratic Party. Sadly for Josh Shapiro, because of his heritage, I think that is the reason he was overlooked”
JNS also said the following, “This is an election in which leading Democrats believe they are going to need a united party with their left-wing activist base fully on board with the national ticket. That’s why President Joe Biden sent officials to bend their knees to Dearborn, Mich. earlier this year to the pro-Hamas mayor of the city known as America’s “jihad capital.” Shapiro being an affiliated synagogue member who attended Jewish day school and sends his own children to them, as well as having a record of support for Israel dating back to his youth, made him unacceptable to that crucial wing of the party.”
Picking Shapiro would have also shored up Jewish support in therms of votes and campaign contributions – they could have sent a message to Jews that they are still welcome in the democratic party. But Harris chose not to. It must also be noted that Kamala Harris has also shown promise of some extremely radical anti-Israel positions – such as not attending Netanyahu’s speech in the Knesset, a major snub.

We read in Revelation 16:13-16 describes how the frog-like spirits will gather the nations to battle against the Jewish people in the latter days. The frog-like spirits that result in this antisemitism can be identified with the spirit of humanism that was unleashed in the French Revolution and has shaped the world we live in today. Just as the peasants and common people rose up against the church and the noblemen in the French Revolution, today there is a new oppressed-oppressor binary. Different characters but the same story. Now its the time of the intersectional coalition of oppressed and marginalised groups to supposedly rise up against the patriarchy and colonialism and white privilege. Part of this false binary, places the Jewish people in the position of white colonialist oppressors who are persecuting indigenous peoples in the land of Palestine – this is a narrative that is false on many levels, but fits with the overall theme of the oppressed oppressor binary. This is one of the ways that the frog-like spirits have resulted in antisemitism in our times.
The Democrat party in the US has displayed extremes of the humanistic frog like spirits – it is no surprise to find that they are not keen on a Jewish vice presidential nominee.

This has been Daniel Blackburn joining you for this week’s edition of Bible in the News.