Jamaal Bowman’s Courage
JVL Introduction
The power of the Israel Lobby in the US was demonstrated in the defeat of Democratic Representative Jamaal Bowman in the primaries.
Bowman was a political phenomenon – a genuinely radical Democrat Congressman who called out class exploitation and racial oppression in his own country and made Palestinian rights one of his key causes.
Unpopular with pro-Israel Democrats for this reason the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’ (Aipac) poured an unprecedented $14+ million into the campaign against him.
It has been called the most expensive House primary in history.
In a coruscating video, a clearly shell-shocked and grieving Peter Beinart – unshaven, bleary-eyed, for once looking his age – is adamant that Bowman was targeted not only because he stood up for the Palestinians. It was also because he was a courageous and passionate progressive on a whole range of issues.
So Beinart has no problem in saying that AIPAC’s donors are generally Jewish and also extremely wealthy (try saying/writing that in the UK!) who support Israel and defend the general class interests of rich folk.
The $14+ million campaign against Jamaal was a class one as well as a pro-Israel one.
His loss is a loss for the entire left, in the US and elsewhere.
RK (h/t NW)
This article was originally published by the Beinart Notebook on Wed 26 Jun 2024. Read the original here.
Jamaal Bowman’s Courage
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I just hope that Jamal Bowman stands as an independent and calls out this buying of voters with millions of dollars
Last week – a few days before his defeat in the Primary – Bowman sponsored a Bill in Congress “to impose an income tax on excess profits of certain corporations.”
Peter Beinart is right to draw attention to the fact that people like Bowman – rare though they are – present a threat not simply to the Zionist lobby but to the vastly wealthy, whether Zionist or not. The fact that in the United States the richest one-per-cent of the electorate control who gets elected and who doesn’t, simply demonstrates that it is a rotten and – if words are to have any meaning – thoroughly undemocratic system.
Came across the following on The Intercept while checking out Bowman’s defeat, posted yesterday:
62 Democrats Join 207 Republicans in Vote to Conceal Gaza Death Toll
Democratic leaders did not tell members to vote against an amendment to block the State Department from citing the Gaza Health Ministry’s statistics.
The House of Representatives has voted to effectively conceal the death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza.
On Thursday, lawmakers voted 269-144 on an amendment to prohibit the State Department from citing statistics from the Gaza Health Ministry. The measure is part of the annual State Department appropriations bill. It was led by Democratic Reps. Jared Moskowitz, Fla., and Josh Gottheimer, N.J., and Republican Reps. Joe Wilson, S.C.; Mike Lawler, N.Y.; and Carol Miller, W.V.
Moskowitz and Gottheimer are among several Democrats who have repeatedly worked to undermine the movement for Palestinian rights and pro-Palestinian speech.
In April, the pair joined Republicans to lead a resolution condemning the phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” as antisemitic….
“It’s despicable but not shocking that 62 Democrats joined Republicans to refute the Gaza death toll,” one Democratic staffer told The Intercept. “Democratic leadership should be ashamed for refusing to take a stand and call out the blatant anti-Palestinian racism and genocide denial in our party.”
The reality is that the US is run and controlled by fascists, as this makes abundantly clear.
https://theintercept.com/2024/06/27/congress-gaza-death-toll-democrats/