'OPPRESSOR MYTH!' How the Left TURNED on Israel, Jews and the West | Batya Ungar-Sargon

The American author and political commentator Batya Ungar-Sargon has argued that the modern Left’s hostility towards Israel stems from a broader ideological worldview that divides society into “oppressors” and “the oppressed”, leading many progressives to side instinctively against both Israel and the West. Speaking to GB News, she said anti-Zionism had become “as central a component of the Left as climate activism”, claiming the movement’s priorities had shifted away from working-class concerns and towards identity politics.The author, whose new book explores the relationship between Jews and the political Left, argued that the roots of the trend lie in ideas that spread through Western universities in the 1960s and later became dominant among political, media and corporate elites.According to Ms Ungar-Sargon, this framework teaches people to view every issue through the lens of power, rather than morality, creating a binary distinction between oppressors and victims.“There’s only who is the oppressor and who is the oppressed,” she said, adding: “And if you have that mindset, it becomes determinative.” She argued that this worldview helps explain why some progressives reacted to the October 7 Hamas attacks by focusing criticism on Israel rather than the perpetrators.“If you believe somebody with darker skin colour has no moral responsibilities, and someone with lighter skin colour is always inherently oppressing them, you will end up looking at October 7 and simply not being able to think your way out of seeing Hamas as the good guys,” she claimed.Ms Ungar-Sargon suggested that anti-Israel sentiment should be understood as part of a wider rejection of Western civilisation rather than as a standalone issue.“I see it less as anti-Semitism, although of course it is anti-Semitic because it was so extreme and intensified, as part of a much larger anti-white, anti-American, anti-Western view,” she said.The author also criticised prominent online commentators who have distanced themselves from Donald Trump while adopting increasingly anti-Israel positions, claiming some were attempting to appeal to large Muslim audiences online.“They turned on Israel and the Jews and Trump at the same time,” she said, arguing that many now had “much more in common with the far Left”.Despite concerns about rising anti-Semitism following the Gaza conflict, Ms Ungar-Sargon maintained that America remains one of the most welcoming countries in history for Jewish communities.“The American people are the least anti-Semitic people on planet Earth to have ever walked planet Earth,” she said.She drew a distinction between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, arguing that while the two frequently overlap, they are not always identical.“I do think it is possible to oppose the state of Israel in a non-anti-Semitic way, if rare,” she said, pointing to Palestinians who oppose Israel’s existence but do not harbour hostility towards Jews.On the future of the Left, Ms Ungar-Sargon predicted that progressive movements were already beginning to retreat from some of their more radical positions after electoral setbacks and public backlash.“The progressives, it does feel, are especially bankrupt,” she said.Ms Ungar-Sargon suggested many voters were growing weary of identity-based politics and returning to concerns about borders, economic opportunity and the working class — themes she believes helped drive Donald Trump’s political success and will continue to shape Western politics in the years ahead. Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter