Antisemitism in Maryland's Fifth District

“If You Prick Us”: Antisemitism, the Fifth District, and the Line We Cannot Cross

We must tell the Ultra Progressives that NEVER AGAIN means NEVER AGAIN.

“If You Prick Us”: Antisemitism, the Fifth District, and the Line We Cannot Cross

By Barry O’Connell

“There has been a disturbing rise in antisemitism in Maryland, part of a growing effort to delegitimize the state of Israel. Antisemitism and hate must always be called out and confronted, no matter where it comes from. I am disgusted by attempts to criticize the religious background of any of my supporters. Any attempt to question campaign support from Jewish Americans because of their religion is antisemitic, full stop.

Israelis and Palestinians both deserve a future of peace, security, and opportunity, and in Congress I will do everything I can to work toward that future.”

— Adrian Boafo

The Line Boafo Draws Is the Line the Fifth District Must Face

Boafo’s words land with the weight of someone who has seen the shift up close. What he describes is not a policy disagreement. It’s not a debate about foreign aid or military sales. It’s something older, uglier, and unmistakable: the attempt to turn “Jewish money” into a political slur and to cast Jewish participation in democracy as inherently suspect.

That’s not a campaign issue.

That’s a civic emergency.

And it’s why this moment demands clarity, not euphemism.

The Shakespeare Hammer

Shakespeare asked a question that still lands like a hammer: If you prick us, do we not bleed? Four hundred years later, we’re still dealing with people who think Jewish Americans should somehow bleed quietly, speak softly, and stay out of politics. And now, in the Fifth District, we’ve got a chorus on the far left trying to launder that old prejudice into something “progressive” by calling it a fight against “Jewish money.”

Let’s be honest about what that means.

When you say “Jewish money,” you’re not critiquing policy.

You’re not critiquing foreign aid.

You’re not critiquing lobbying.

You’re saying Jewish participation is illegitimate.

That’s not activism.

That’s not solidarity.

That’s the oldest bigotry in the book with a new coat of paint.

I’ve had to remove people from my own group for pushing this garbage — the idea that Jewish influence is evil, that AIPAC is evil, that Jewish donors are somehow a threat to democracy. Meanwhile, the same people have no problem with Republican money, MAGA money, Christian money, union money, tech money, or anybody else’s money. Only one group gets singled out as inherently suspect. Only one group gets told to sit down and shut up.

And that’s where the Shakespeare line hits.

If you prick us, do we not bleed?

If every other American has the right to speak, to donate, to advocate, then Jewish Americans do too. The First Amendment doesn’t come with a footnote.

Supporting Israel doesn’t mean supporting everything Israel does. I’ve said it a hundred times: I support the nation‑state of Israel the same way I support the United States — fully, proudly — while still objecting to the decisions of leaders like Netanyahu or Trump. Most people get that when you explain it plainly. It’s only the fringe that insists on flattening the entire issue into a cartoon: either you support genocide or you want Israel wiped off the map. That’s not politics. That’s intellectual laziness with a moral cost.

Look at this week: Senator Angela Alsobrooks voted against selling certain military goods to Israel. My Jewish friends aren’t storming the gates over it. They’re not calling her a traitor. They’re not melting down the way some did over Chris Van Hollen. Why? Because she’s not denying Israel’s right to exist. She’s not delegitimizing Jewish identity. She’s not telling Jewish Americans their voice is unwelcome in their own democracy. She’s making a policy call — and people can disagree with policy.

That’s the difference.

Policy is debatable.

Existence is not.

So yes — the Shakespeare line works. It works because it exposes the core truth: Jewish Americans bleed, vote, speak, and participate like everyone else. And anyone who wants to carve out an exception for them is not fighting injustice. They’re repeating it.

A Safe Democratic Space — and Why It Matters

Over the past year, I’ve heard from more and more Jewish readers — donors, activists, professionals, parents — who tell me the same thing: they want a place inside the Democratic Party where they don’t have to choose between their identity and their politics.

They want to support Israel’s right to exist without being forced to defend Netanyahu.

They want to oppose antisemitism without being accused of warmongering.

They want to participate in democracy without being told their money is tainted.

If this platform has become a safe zone for them, it’s because we’re doing something simple:

defending equal rights without demanding ideological purity tests.

As a Christian, I don’t speak for the Jewish community. But I can stand beside them. And if my voice gives some people the cover to say what they already believe — that Israel has a right to exist, that Jewish Americans have a right to participate, and that antisemitism has no place in our politics — then that’s a responsibility I take seriously.

The Fifth District deserves a politics where Jewish Americans don’t have to bleed quietly.

And we’re not going to let anyone push them back into the shadows.