The race to represent New York’s newly redrawn 16th district – now one of the most Jewish congressional districts in the United States – has had a number of inconsistencies and consistencies this election cycle. The common refrain from lower Westchester was a strong dislike for far-left wing “Squad” member Rep. Jamaal Bowman to represent the district. What remained unclear, was whether the community would rally behind a single candidate to defeat Bowman, or split the vote to enable Bowman to coast to victory.
For the past two months, members of the Jewish community divided their support between Vedat Gashi and Catherine Parker. Gashi, who entered the race early, received a significant amount of support from everyone. When the district lines were redrawn in May, Parker entered the race and gathered support from local constituents and people who wanted to see a woman take the congressional seat, much as Nita Lowey had for decades.
Over this past week, realizing that dividing the vote between two candidates was a certain path to victory for Bowman, the Orthodox community opted to put its support behind Gashi as providing the best path to defeating the congressman who voted for policies like “Defund the Police“, “Abolish ICE“, calling the founding of Israel a “catastrophe”, and against the Infrastructure Bill.
Critical to the Orthodox community’s decision was the significant endorsements Gashi has – and continues – to accumulate, including from Mike Spano, the mayor of Yonkers, the largest city in the district and home to a significant base of Bowman support. Spano and Tom Meier, Chair of the Yonkers Democratic Committee will be hosting an event for Gashi on August 16.
Other endorsements this week came from former Rep. Nita Lowey on August 3rd as well as former Rep. Eliot Engel, whom Bowman defeated two years ago. Members of the Orthodox community in White Plains decided to back Gashi on August 2nd, and from New Rochelle on August 4th. The Orthodox community from Scarsdale has been behind Gashi from the start, supporting his moderate, common sense approach to legislation and support for Israel.
Other reasons for picking Gashi include his solid organizational infrastructure set up for the final weeks of the race, with several more months and significantly more money to campaign than Parker, who entered only recently.
Gashi for Congress flyer laying out clear reasons to support Gashi over Bowman, including supporting: the fight against crime; the president; Israel and US infrastructure. All are issues where Bowman was horribly deficient in his only term in office.
It’s never easy to defeat an incumbent, even one with a horrible track record like Bowman. Yet there is a path.
It remains to be seen if the broader Jewish community will get behind Gashi the way the Orthodox community joined in common cause this week. If they do, it might encourage Parker to drop from the race, thereby winning support from the community for her to pursue another political run in the future, and pave a clearer path to defeat a member of the far-left “Squad” on August 23rd.
Israel’s biggest critics in Congress came out to support Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI) in his Democratic primary against Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI). They included Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and J Street.
Far-left Rep. Rashida Tlaib,, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI) in a rally to support Levin’s primary race, August 2022.
Tlaib often falsely slanders Israel as an “apartheid government” committing “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinian Arabs. She calls the founding of the Jewish State a “Nakba” (catastrophe) and opposes countries normalizing relations with Israel.
Those sentiments make her a favorite of the extremist fringes of the left and right.
Members of anti-Israel IfNotNow together with Rep. Tlaib and Rep. Levin
J Street, a far-left pro-Palestinian group marketed as “pro-Israel”, poured over $700,000 into Rep. Levin’s progressive campaign against moderate pro-Israel Rep. Haley Stevens, who was backed by the bipartisan group AIPAC. Stevens won 59.5% of the Democratic primary vote on August 2nd, which brought out roughly 110,000 voters.
When Stevens prevailed over Levin, J Street issued a press release claiming that AIPAC’s involvement in the race was a “sad moment for diplomacy and democracy.” J Street was appalled that AIPAC spent $5 million on the race and had labeled Levin as “fringe”. Therefore, the progressive fringe group asked Democratic politicians to stay far away from AIPAC in the future.
“Candidates in future primaries should disavow and decline the support of AIPAC and its SuperPAC”
J STreet, august 2, 2022
J Street is peddling its extremist socialist policies as “mainstream” as it tries to become the sole voice regarding Israel in the Democratic Party. It is aggressively attempting to defeat any politician with moderate and pro-Israel views and replace them with alt-left voices who adhere to their socialist principles.
It’s completely within their right to lobby and say what they want, but they are both hypocrites and liars. The group lies when it says it is pro-Israel when in fact it is pro-Palestinian first and foremost, and when it claims its policies are mainstream. They are hypocrites when they state a desire for a “political space for open and healthy debate over US foreign policy” and then attempt to shut down AIPAC.
A long-time liberal Democrat, Gary Ackerman (D-NY) once said that J Street is “so open-minded about what constitutes support for Israel that its brains have fallen out.” He concluded that “America really does need a smart, credible, politically active organization that is as aggressively pro-peace as it is pro-Israel. Unfortunately, J-Street ain’t it.”
J Street, Rashida Tlaib and Bernie Sanders worked their hardest to defeat a moderate pro-Israel Democrat, and they are continuing to publicly push Americans to “disavow” bipartisanship and moderate solutions to today’s problems.
Some of Rep. Haley Stevens comments about Israel and anti-Semitism which seemingly offended pro-Israel progressives:
“I am deeply concerned by the persistent and growing effort to demonize Israel, the world’s only Jewish state and a close American ally, on the international stage. Whether through the chronic bias displayed by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) or accusations put out by groups like Amnesty International, I stand opposed to efforts to unjustifiably brand Israel as an “apartheid state,” and I will always work to mitigate the threat of delegitimization against our closest friends in the Middle East.” – February 2, 2022
“Make no mistake about it: a strong and enduring partnership between the United States and the State of Israel is paramount to our interests at home and abroad. Bipartisan support for Israel and a two-state solution promotes lasting peace and democracy in the Middle East. I’m eager to reaffirm my support for Israel, condemn anti-semitism in all its forms, and make clear that my beliefs on Israel and any other policy topic for that matter will never be bought and paid for.” – February 11, 2019
Quite a contrast from Levin saying “Unless Palestinian human rights are respected, we cannot fight antisemitism.” Levin’s appalling statement was rebuked by Liora Rez, director of Stop Antisemitism.org, saying “Neo nazis and radical Islamists quite frequently hold Jews in America responsible for the Israel/Palestinian conflict. For a sitting U.S. Congressman to mirror this horrific rhetoric does nothing but feed the Jew hating machine. Andy Levin should be ashamed of himself!”
And in even sharper contract to Levin-supporter Rashida Tlaib:
US President Joe Biden announced on July 31 that he had ordered the killing of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, a mastermind of several terrorist attacks against the United States. In his comments about the targeted assassination of one of the leaders of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Biden said “Justice has been delivered, and this terrorist leader is no more.”
Biden added that “We make it clear again tonight that no matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and take you out.” However, it is unclear whether al-Zawahiri posed any current threat to the United States. Biden administration officials made no attempt to relay any planned attacks and did not offer whether there was any attempt to arrest al-Zawahiri instead of killing him.
The justice was seemingly solely based on al-Zawahiri’s past actions killing thousands of innocent lives.
Biden’s view of justice served to terrorists is in sharp contrast to the Palestinian Authority that same day.
To mark the twentieth anniversary of Palestinian Arabs blowing up a cafeteria at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, murdering nine and injuring over 80, the Palestinian Authority raised the salaries of four terrorists by 14.29%.
As reported by Palestinian Media Watch, “Four of the members of the terrorist cell that carried out the attack – Wael Qassem, Wassim Abbasi, Alla Aldin Abbasi and Muhammed Odeh – were arrested shortly after [the bombing], in August 2002. Having now spent 20 years in prison, this month, the PA will give each of the terrorists a 14.29% rise in their basic salary, from 7,000 ($2,251) to 8,000 shekels/month ($2,572). Since the terrorists were residents of Jerusalem, the PA pays them an additional supplement of 300 shekels/month ($96). To date, the PA has paid each of the these four terrorists a sum of 1,034,500 shekels ($332,637). Four of the other terrorists convicted for their part in the attack on the university and other attacks include Muhammad Arman, Walid Anjas, Abdallah Barghouti and Ibrahim Hamed. Each of these terrorists is similarly receiving a monthly salary from the PA.
“To date, the PA rewarded the terrorists responsible for the bombing 8,022,600 shekels ($2,579,614).”
PA President Mahmoud Abbas defended these payment before the United Nations in September when he said “Why should we have to clarify and justify providing assistance to families of prisoners and martyrs, who are the victims of the occupation and its oppressive policies? We cannot abandon our people and we will continue striving to free all our prisoners.“
US President Joe Biden and PA President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, July 2022. The leaders have very different views of how to deal with terrorists. (photo: Reuters)
The murder of innocent civilians is reprehensible. While it is unfortunate that the offending terrorists are killed instead of tried and imprisoned, it is often necessary. Justice requires as much.
The stain of inhumanity is not confined to the terrorists but permeates those who support, encourage and incentivize them. The Palestinian Authority has shown its moral code in its twisted definition of justice as rewarding terrorists.
In the United States, justice for terrorists and their victims means punishing terrorists. For Palestinian Arabs, justice requires cash compensation for the murderers and falsely labeling the slain victims as foreign invaders.
The Democratic Party has been becoming more liberal and anti-Israel in its views over the past several years. It has left many pro-Israel Democrats feeling lost in their party but unwilling to cross party lines, so they are banding together in a last ditch effort to save the soul of the party.
Democrats Becoming More Liberal
The polarization of America’s parties has been happening for decades. According to Pew Research polls, the Democratic Party in 2000 had roughly 6% and 21% of its members being very liberal and liberal, respectively, a total of 27%, with a similar total of 23% being conservative and very conservative (a net difference of 4%). By 2012, the very liberal wing hit 10% with other liberals accounting for 27%, a 37% total, while the conservatives in the party shrunk to 20% (a net difference of 17%). By 2019, liberals accounted for as much of half the party, 47%, while conservatives shrunk to 14% (a 33% spread).
Pew refined its description of Democrats into seven categories in 2021. The Progressive Left, Outside Left and Establishment Liberals accounted for 12%, 16% and 23%, respectively, a total of 51% of the party. The moderates, which were called Democratic Mainstays and Stressed Sideliners accounted for 28% and 13%, a 41% total. People on the right accounted for less than 8% of the party.
The spread between left and right among Democrats grew from 4% in 2000 to 43% in 2021.
The Democratic Party had virtually the same number of liberals and conservatives in 2000. In 2021, liberals accounted for a majority, while conservatives had shrunken to a mere 8 percent.
Educated White people led this polarization of the party. White extremism jumped from 30% to 55% between 2020 and 2019, while Hispanics and Blacks moved from 25% each to 37% and 29% in 2019, respectively. The greater the level of education, the more liberal one became, by an expanding basis more recently.
Liberals Becoming More Anti-Israel
American liberals have become increasingly hostile to the Jewish State.
According to a July 2022 Pew poll, 62% of liberals have an unfavorable opinion of Israel. That is in sharp contrast to 75% of conservatives who have a favorable opinion of Israel. The difference principally comes from young people, where 56% of those aged 18-19 had negative feelings towards Israel while 69% of American Jews over 65 years old had positive views of Israel.
In a related dynamic, Reform Jews are less connected to Israel and more liberal. A May 2021 Pew poll found that 87% of Orthodox Jews believe that God gave the land of Israel to Jews, while only 26% of Reform Jews felt the same. By way of comparison, 70% of White Evangelicals believe God gave the land to Jews. White Evangelicals were also the most likely to view the government of Israel favorably and Palestinian leadership unfavorably. Atheists were most likely to view the Israeli government unfavorably and Palestinians favorably.
Pro-Israel Democrats and Orthodox Liberals In A Bind
The shifting sands have left many people within the party feeling very uncomfortable. Religious Jews and pro-Israel Jews of all denominations feel increasingly marginalized and in strong disagreement with the direction of the Democratic party as it relates to Israel.
Left-wing groups like J Street are actively pushing anti-Israel legislation and promoting anti-Israel candidates for Congress. They are mis-educating progressives that Israel is a horrible country that persecutes Arabs, and that the United States should take aggressive measures against the only Jewish State. They have actively and successfully worked to destroy the bipartisan support that Israel enjoyed for decades.
While the situation has forced some people to leave the Democrats to become Independents or Republicans, many have sought to stay and fight the anti-Zionist tide.
Democratic Majority For Israel (DMFI)
DMFI was started by a political strategist named Mark Mellman. He worked with many Democrats on their campaigns including Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD). He was joined by other people who worked inside the Democratic party for years, and others who worked for AIPAC, the bipartisan pro-Israel group.
DMFI is attempting to be what J Street claims to be – an actual pro-Israel voice within the Democratic Party. It is working with moderate and progressive Democrats to keep and get them elected, while educating them about the thriving liberal Jewish State.
The new organization is fighting a battle on two fronts.
Its principal opponent is the Republican Jewish Coalition which helps elect pro-Israel Republicans. It’s more immediate threat – and the reason it came into existence – is the far-left pro-Palestinian group J Street.
Some of the most ferocious political battles today are being fought in primaries, not November elections. The far-left wing group Justice Democrats, as well as Democratic Socialists of America are putting significant resources to get anti-Zionist socialists into office. J Street has locked arms with these groups on many occasions, and provides a fig leaf cover for the candidates’ and DSA’s anti-Semitism.
Consider the congressional race in Texas where moderate Democrat Henry Cuellar (one of the most conservative members of the Democratic Party according to govtracks), was targeted by Justice Democrats in the 2020 and 2022 primaries. They put up Jessica Cisneros, a socialist, to combat the moderate pro-Israel Cuellar. J Street poured money to back Cisneros, even though Cisneros had made zero comments and had no track record about Israel. J Street simply locked arms with the most extreme elements of the party, regardless of their views on Israel, despite a tagline which claims that they are “pro-Israel.”
In sharp contrast, DMFI came out strongly for Cuellar. The group posted about Cuellar’s victory: “The race was a test of the political influence of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and the power of Justice Democrats, a progressive group supporting candidates who challenged moderate incumbent Democrats. Cisneros was also backed by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), as well as J Street PAC. Cuellar, a moderate Democrat, was backed by his party’s establishment and pro-Israel groups including Democratic Majority for Israel and Pro Israel America.“
It is remarkable – and scary – that in addition to a two-party Democrat-Republican dynamic that most of America witnesses, there is a battle inside the Democratic Party between moderates/ DMFI and the alt-left/ Justice Democrats/ J Street wing. Even scarier, the trend lines are now favoring the extremist and anti-Zionist wing, a horrible situation for both the United States and Israel.
There is nothing quite as satisfying as a single issue organization getting the attention it seeks from the president of the United States.
Imagine a pro-choice group getting a visit from President Biden. Or an organization focused on conservation watching the president announce a major environmental initiative at a national park. The press releases would be flowery and over-flowing.
So it is not a surprise that AIPAC, the bi-partisan pro-Israel organization issued press releases surrounding President Biden’s trip to the Middle East.
First on July 14, it issued a statement on the Jerusalem Declaration. The three paragraph press release opened with “AIPAC welcomes the historic Jerusalem Declaration that will strengthen and expand the U.S.-Israel relationship. This critical declaration reflects America’s enduring and ironclad alliance with the Jewish state, which is based on shared values and interests. It pledges America’s commitment to Israel’s security by ensuring the protection of Israel’s qualitative military edge.” It acknowledged the efforts of the president in the closing statement “We deeply appreciate the leadership of President Biden and Prime Minister Lapid and their administrations in forging this unequivocal commitment to the continuing partnership between the U.S. and Israel.“
AIPAC press releases about President Biden’s visit to the Middle East in July 2022
AIPAC issued another statement the following day thanking Saudi Arabia for opening its airspace for a direct flight from Israel for the president. AIPAC once again thanked President Biden for making it happen: “We are grateful for the efforts of President Biden and his administration in achieving this breakthrough as well as those of the Israeli and Saudi governments.“
Another pro-Israel organization, the Democratic Majority For Israel (DMFI) similarly celebrated the presidential visit to Israel with a press release. It issued a three paragraph statement thanking the president, leading with “From the moment President Biden landed at Ben Gurion airport for the 10th time on Wednesday and declared, ‘You need not be a Jew to be a Zionist,’ we were reminded that his affection for the Jewish state runs, as he likes to say, ‘bone deep.’” It continued:
“Over the three-day visit, the President reaffirmed his administration’s enduring commitment to the U.S.-Israel relationship through new security and technology partnerships, vowed to prevent a nuclear armed Iran, and delivered tangible steps towards advancing peace between Israel and Arab states. His emotional visit to the hallowed ground of Yad Vashem and meeting with survivors of the Holocaust underscored his promise to stand against anti-Israel and antisemitic hatred around the world.
“We applaud the administration’s leadership and steady diplomacy in brokering an agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel with the announcement that Saudi Arabia will open its airspace to planes flying to and from Israel. Now, Israel’s nearly two-million Muslim citizens will be able to take charter flights directly to Saudi Arabia to participate in the Hajj. This is an important step towards building a more peaceful and integrated Middle East. We urge the administration to keep up the momentum and continue this vital work.”
This enthusiasm should not be a surprise, as DMFI is not only a pro-Israel group, but focused on the Democratic Party, getting to celebrate a Democratic president visiting Israel.
Screen shot of J Street press releases from June 24 to July 21, 2022 did not include any statements about Democratic President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel.
Instead of marking the incredible event of this “pro-Israel” (their words, not mine), J Street spoke about Roe v. Wade (not in its tagline), its support of far left-wing congressional candidates (five times!) and lambasting Israel three times, including a call to condition aid to Israel (something Biden said he would never do).
J Street is a far left-wing group masquerading as a pro-Israel organization, which chose not to utter a single positive thing about a Democratic president visiting Israel. Its supporters who care about Israel should shift their donations to DMFI, and those who care about other progressive issues should donate to those specific causes which speak to the donor. Abandon J Street, as it continues to reveal itself as a deceitful front to shield anti-Semites and anti-Zionists.
New York State redrew its district lines for congress late in May because of the 2020 census, causing a delay in the congressional primaries in the state. Many people are unaware of the ramifications of this action.
Surprise! You’re in NY-16, not NY-17
The first surprise is that people in lower Westchester are now in NY congressional district number 16, not 17. The new district lines run roughly from the border of New York City up to a few miles north of Interstate-287, and includes the Wakefield section of the Bronx.
New York’s 16th Congressional District has been redrawn as of May 20, 2022. It covers a small section of the Bronx and then all of lower Westchester County. Many residents used to be part of NY-17 and are unaware that their congressional district and representative has changed.
This district is roughly 42% White, 27% Hispanic and 21% Black, with a small percentage of Asians and others. The Black community is principally in the southern part of the district, closer to New York City.
Surprise! Rep. Jamaal Bowman is your congressman
Rep. Jamaal Bowman is the incumbent in NY-16 but much of the district is new for him. While he continues to have a base of support from his 2020 run, located in the Bronx, Yonkers and Mount Vernon, the northern portion of the new NY-16 was previously in NY-17 and represented by Rep. Mondaire Jones.
Because Bowman does not have a built-in base in the district which would normally benefit an incumbent, a couple of local politicians have entered the race to unseat him.
Surprise! Democratic primaries are on August 23rd with early voting beginning August 13
While many people in New York think they already voted in primaries several weeks ago, the congressional primary is on a separate date to afford the congressional candidates time to assemble a campaign. The date chosen for the primary is deep in the summer, when many people are on vacations and others are running off to university. Primary day is likely to have a very low voter turn-out, meaning that every vote counts that much more. People can change / register to vote in the primary by using this form by July 29.
Fight One – Bowman versus Others
Bowman’s policies are deeply unpopular in much of the district. His calls to ‘Defund the Police’, ‘Abolish I.C.E.’, Open Borders and teaching Critical Race Theory in schools are all echoes of his fellow far-left Squad comrades. Further, voting against the Infrastructure Bill – and then subsequently lying to his constituents that he voted for it – left a bad taste for many. His bad track record providing constituent services adds to his weak candidacy.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MN), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), members of the Socialist Squad. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Catherine Parker is one of the Democrats challenging Bowman. She has been a member of the Westchester Board of Legislators since 2013, and has consistently voiced her disapproval with Bowman’s votes on numerous issues, such as the infrastructure bill, saying Bowman’s “protest vote spoke more of his unwillingness to accept compromise than actually accomplishing anything.”
Parker believes that her nine years of experience in Westchester not only give her a solid base of support and track record of serving her constituents, but are likely critical in ultimately working across the aisle in congress, as Democrats are likely to lose a large number of seats during November elections.
Vedat Gashi is also running in the Democratic primary to unseat Bowman, having jumped in many months ago. He was able to get a number of endorsements and raise a significant amount of funds as people in Westchester were eager to retire Bowman. Unfortunately, both he and his base have fallen outside of the final district lines, making his path to victory more complicated.
Fight Two – Parker versus Gashi
While much of Westchester despises the thought of being represented by a member of the Socialist Squad, the pro-Israel community is fighting amongst themselves regarding supporting the two contenders.
Bowman has a terrible track record on Israel. He co-sponsored legislation calling the founding of Israel a ‘Nakba”, a catastrophe. He voted against supporting the Abraham Accords in which Israel made peace with four new countries. He voted against supplying Israel with weapons amidst a wave of attacks from a foreign designated terrorist group. And he has almost the identical voting record as two of the most alt-left anti-Semitic members of congress, Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN).
In sharp contrast, both Gashi and Parker have made statements which are pro-Israel and against anti-Semitism. Parker said clearly that she would take money from AIPAC, as her views on Israel are in line with the pro-Israel organization.
Gashi supporters point to his endorsements and more money raised than Parker as demonstrating a higher probability of winning. Parker’s supporters note that Gashi’s advantages are principally because he’s been in the race twice as long as Parker but she is catching up. With an established base in the district and more women traditionally voting in primaries, Parker may have the better path to defeating Bowman.
But it is all beside the point. The only likely path to defeating Bowman would require one of the two to drop out, making it a head-to-head race. Supporters of Gashi are lobbying Parker to drop out and Parker supporters are urging the same of Gashi. While everyone seems to like both candidates, they are simultaneously angry at both for effectively paving a pathway for Bowman’s victory.
Likely Result
Neither Gashi nor Parker will likely drop out. They will both ask their supporters for funds in a cause they know is doomed, as each candidate benefits from enhanced name recognition and the ability to bank the extra funds for another race in the future. Bowman will win a district that hates him.
Another result is that the Jewish community will turn on itself, pointing fingers at supporters of the opposing candidate for not getting their candidate to back down. They will scream at AIPAC and DMFI (Democratic Majority For Israel) for not stepping forward to endorse one of the candidates to galvanize support for a shot at the difficult road to victory, since the groups don’t want to offend potential wealthy donors from Westchester to their PACs.
What is NOT likely, but should, happen is a focused game plan for 2024. The community needs to build alliances with moderate Democratic politicians who will be willing to run against Bowman in the next cycle. Community leaders need to assemble a NY16PAC which will rally behind a single candidate next time. The process cannot be fought in the last months of the race, but over the next two years.
Members of the community should also keep Bowman’s email and office numbers – (202) 225-2464 and (914) 371-9220 – handy to constantly inform him of their views on important topics. People in Congress must know that people are watching and are holding them accountable.
There will probably be no surprises in two years, and hopefully only a single fight to defeat the alt-left extremist who is poised to become your voice in congress.
President Biden is being pressured by pro-abortion groups to take action after the US Supreme Court ruled that the right to abortion is not federally guaranteed and that each state must decide for itself how to handle the procedure. Even in states like New York which allow abortion until the moment of birth, pro-choice people are demanding federal action.
Biden opted to hand monies to the hospital system directly because the Palestinian Authority flatly refuses to stop awarding money to terrorists that attack Jewish civilians. The Taylor Force Act, named for an American visiting Israel who was killed by a Palestinian Arab, prevents the United States from handing money to the PA while it actively funds the murder of civilians.
The US Congress must still approve Biden’s proposed $100 million award to the Palestinian hospital network. It will be interesting to see if members of congress like Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes (D-NY) and Cori Bush (D-MO) who were arrested during their protest about abortion in front of the Supreme Court, will approve this funding for Palestinians whom they historically prioritize over any issue, including anti-Semitism and terrorism.
Rep. Ilhan Omar arrested in front of US Supreme Court on July 19, protesting abortion ruling. She must now decide if the US should hand $100 million to Palestinian hospitals which ban abortion. (picture: Tom Williams/Getty Images)
It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when America became so divided as a nation. Political parties and politicians had smeared opposing sides since the founding of the republic – especially during election season – but citizens were able to sit and converse with people of a different party.
Some people have squarely put the blame on Donald Trump. The man didn’t merely have a different set of priorities and policies, but his vulgarity, misogyny and various racist and demeaning comments put him beyond the pale for many Americans. The fact that he won the presidency, did not simply upset people but made them question the moral fabric of society.
The people who voted for Hillary Clinton in November 2016 did not simply support her, they internalized her September 2016 comments about Trump supporters when she said “You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic—you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up.“
Clinton took aim at half of America, and the insult felt by the targets of the attack, as well as the concurrence of her supporters, continues to be felt today in a deeply divided America.
The Jewish community may similarly have broken during the 2022 primary season.
In commenting about various Democratic primaries, Jeremy Ben Ami, the head of the far-left wing Jewish pro-Palestinian group J Street smeared Jewish moderates as racists, saying “There seems to be something particularly on the line for some parts of the Jewish community when women of color speak out.“
J Street President Jeremy Ben AmiNY Times article on July 16, 2022
The vile smear would be bad enough if Ben Ami was attacking the Republican Jewish Coalition, the opposing right-wing political advocacy group to J Street. But Ben Ami was attacking fellow Democrats who support the agenda of the moderate Democratic group, Democratic Majority For Israel (DMFI) and the bi-partisan group AIPAC.
The divide in the United States is tragically growing deeper. We may now also be witnessing the cleft in the Jewish community break open, as J Street slanders Jews to the right of their far-left ideology as irredeemable bigots.
As society moves from a Bell to a Barbell Curve, with politics becoming dominated by the extremes rather than the center, it is important for all people over 18 years old to register to vote. Once upon a time, when the country was led by moderates, people could afford to stay home as the difference between a center-right or center-left candidate was pretty modest.
No longer.
In deep red and deep blue districts, extremists backed by the likes of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are being elected to the office. They secure their positions in the PRIMARIES when many people don’t come out to vote, thinking that elections principally happen in November.
In New York State this year, primaries are happening on August 23, 2022, with early voting beginning on August 13. This second primary (one for statewide positions happened several weeks ago) is because of the late redistricting in the state. New district boundaries brought various politicians in and out of their historic zones, forcing a delay in the vote.
JULY 29, 2022 IS THE LAST DAY TO REGISTER TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS UPCOMING ELECTION FOR YOUR CONGRESSPERSON. You can download the New York State voter registration form, and mail it in before July 29 to help keep extremists out of power.
An example of the extremists in New York State can be found in NY-16, now headed by Rep. Jamaal Bowman who came to power with the backing of the DSA. His newly redrawn district covers southern Westchester County.
A terrible tragedy unfolded on the US-Mexico border, as 53 migrants were found dead in the back of a truck, who were being smuggled into the United States. It is being marked as the deadliest human smuggling incident in US history.
The tragedy is a function of a number of problems, principally, the swelling number of people attempting to come into the United States from Mexico illegally.
From 2010 through 2020, the number of people coming over the US-Mexico border was a fraction of what has been happening under the Biden administration. Pew Research, summarized the statistics from the US Borders and Customs Protection (CBP), and tracked that 2021 saw the migrants from Mexico jump to over 608,000 and from countries other than Mexico to well over 1 million. Those countries with dramatic increases included Ecuador, Brazil, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Haiti and Cuba.
Texas has been particularly overwhelmed. Along the Rio Grande and Del Rio areas, migrant encounters are up over five times between 2020 and 2021.
And 2022 is seeing an even greater number of encounters – and fewer people being returned across the border.
According to the CBP, May 2022 had 239,416 migrant encounters, an all-time record, breaking the previous all-time record set in April. Only 42 percent of those were expelled, the lowest percentage since Title 42 was put in place. As a record number of people are coming across the border, a record number are also staying.
Amidst this onslaught, Present Biden requested eight percent LESS money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in his budget. The proposal also includes a request for fewer detention beds. This plan for fewer people to control the border and fewer detention beds is exactly the opposite of the needs for the situation on the ground.
These bad policies are voiced by members of the Democratic Socialists of America squad, including Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) who have all called to ‘Abolish ICE’. They have essentially cheered the lack of action by ‘Border Czar’ Kamala Harris‘s do-nothing approach.
Vice President and “Border Czar” Kamala Harris (right) with Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) (middle) who has called to ‘Abolish ICE’
The DSA is loudly calling to abolish ICE and lobbying government officials for ‘Open Borders‘ which helped fuel the surge at the border, as well as the Biden-Harris lack of action. It should be no surprise that such activities led to the enormous human tragedy witnessed in Texas. More tragedies are likely to continue.
First One Through 