Jamaal Bowman’s “Good Trouble” Is All Out War With Zionists In Israel and America

Rep. Jamaal Bowman, the two term far-left extremist now serving New York’s 16th Congressional District touts himself as pushing for “good trouble.” As he launched his reelection campaign this week, he made very clear that it means war with supporters of Israel.

Bowman yelled to his crowd about the pro-Israel lobbying group that “AIPAC is one of the most powerful lobbies in America. Well you know what we have got to say to AIPAC? Bring it on, y’all. AIPAC, bring it on, y’all! We are not scared of none of that! I’m from the streets of New York…. I was a middle school principal. Taught kids in the South Bronx. Hey y’all, this is New York. AIPAC, we’re ready for all of that. If you wanna support a corporate career corrupt pay-to-play politician, you go ahead and do that…. Our movement is much more powerful than they can even imagine!“

The reelection event included a handful of other speakers including Nada Khader, Executive Director of the WESPAC Foundation, a highly controversial organization. The Anti Defamation League has flagged WESPAC for funding a range of antisemitic and anti-Israel organizations including the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Palestinian Youth Movement, US Palestinian Community Network, and Within Our Lifetime. Those organizations have become infamous for many violent incidents since the October 7 Hamas massacres.

Immediately after the October 7 atrocities, USPCN issued a statement which called the brutal massacre “self-defense operations,” and that “today’s attacks from the Palestinian Resistance should be understood as a legitimate response to unending violence from Israel’s extreme right-wing, racist, white supremacist, zionist government and settler movement.” According to ADL, “At a USPCN rally on October 18, a protester held a sign with paraglider imagery, reading, ‘We will redeem you, oh Palestine.’ Paraglider imagery has been popular because some of the Hamas terrorists used paragliders to invade Israel. At the same rally, another prominent sign was seen reading ‘Zionism racism,’ with an image of blood and dollar bills in the shape of a snake.”

ADL adds that “Within Our Lifetime-United for Palestine (WOL) is a radical New York-based anti-Israel organization led by Nerdeen Kiswani that routinely expresses support for violence against Israel. Kiswani has called for all “Zionists” to be vilified and expelled from community spaces, and both she and WOL explicitly call for the complete eradication of Israel, including for Israel to be “wiped off the map.” After the October 7 massacre, WOL posted “We must defend the Palestinian right to resist zionist [sic] settler violence and support Palestinian resistance in all its forms. By any means necessary. With no exceptions and no fine print.”

Palestinian Youth Movement has long plastered posters of a Palestinian takeover of Israel through the blood of “martyrs.” At a protest after the October 7 slaughter, one member of PYM suggested that the Israel-Hamas war will come to New York, “We want to show the world that when Palestine rises up in resistance, the diaspora rises with it.”

*Members of WESPAC-backed PYM affix billboards of “Glory to Our Martyrs” poster covering the entirety of Israel in New York.*

The theme of threatening Jews in Israel and the diaspora echoed at the Bowman event.

Khader said to a roaring crowd and an applauding Bowman (29:10) “You [Israeli Jews] get safety when Palestinians are free. You get safety when Palestinians have equality. You get safety when Palestinians have self-determination. And we have the right of return to our homeland!” In other words, Hamas’s actions in Israel on October 7 were justified because even though Gazans have self-determination, they still live in Gaza, and as long as they don’t get to move into Israeli towns where grandparents lived decades ago, they will continue to hunt down, rape, burn and brutalize Jews.

*Nada Khader of WESPAC threatening Jews with more attacks if Palestinians do not get to move into Israel, with Rep. Jamaal Bowman cheering “Free Palestine”*

This event was not an outlier.

Just a few nights earlier, Bowman spoke at a rally with noted anti-Zionist Norman Finkelstein who had said “Israel has no legal right to use any kind of force in Gaza — under any circumstances.” Bowman said he watched Finkelstein all of the time on YouTube and was “a bit starstruck” to be with him.

While Bowman continues to rail against AIPAC and aligns himself with a host of people who believe that all Zionists should be subject to attack, he claims that he’s for love and peace in a weak attempt to shield him from charges of antisemitism. He contemporaneously falsely claims that AIPAC is racist and targets people of color, as the best defensive is a good offense. Fellow squad member Alexandria Ocasio Cortes echoes her socialist comrade and said that AIPAC is “more racist and bigoted PACs in Congress as well, who disproportionately target members of color.” It’s a complete lie and attempt to divert attention from an extremist member of congress who was censured in a bipartisan vote.

The truth is that AIPAC backs many people of color including Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY15) in the neighboring district and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY8). Many others include Gabe Amo (D-RI1), Nanette Barragán (D-CA44), Joyce Beatty (D-OH3) and Shontel Brown (D-OH11) to name a few.

Bowman’s anti-Israel vitriol and associations have become so aggressive that even far left-wing group J Street has pulled its endorsement of him after saying it would not do so a few weeks ago.

To be clear, this not just about Israel and AIPAC. Bowman has repeatedly voted against resolutions condemning antisemitism such as H. Resolution 894. Meanwhile, his opponent, Westchester County Executive George Latimer endorsed the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

Bowman’s rants have made the Jewish constituents fearful. Just hours after his challenge to brawl with AIPAC, someone defaced two Jewish stores in Scarsdale, including an ice cream store frequented by teenagers. Latimer showed up to a rally at the store a few hours later. He came to the Westchester Jewish Council dinner a few days later, standing before a diverse multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-religious assembly of local politicians and told the audience over and again “you are not alone.”

*County Executive George Latimer before a diverse group of politicians at the Westchester Jewish Council dinner, January 2024 (photo: First One Through)*

Bowman did not attend the rally confronting the vandalism. He did not attend the WJC dinner.

New York’s Congressional District 16 has many Jews and Israel supporters who are angry and frightened by Bowman’s bellicosity. There are dozens of reasons and tens of thousands of people who want Bowman out of congress and hope to achieve that in the 2024 Democratic primary by backing George Latimer.

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