Rep. Jamaal Bowman lost key Jewish support this week after appearing alongside an accused antisemite who publicly celebrated Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
J-Street, a politically left-wing Jewish advocacy nonprofit, removed Bowman’s name on Friday from its list of 122 members of Congress it supports in 2024.
“When the rhetoric, the framing and the approach goes too far, that’s where we’ll hold our line,” J-Street boss Jeremy Ben-Ami told The Forward, which first reported the story. “And that’s when we felt that Bowman crossed the line here.”
“The rhetoric surrounding the genocide, the insults against Israel, and sometimes the Jews, that occur in some of these events – that needs to be called out in real time,” Ben-Ami continued.
The J-Street leader specifically cited Bowman’s recent appearance with Norman Finkelstein as a last resort. Finkelstein, who has been denounced by critics as “antisemitic” for decades, wrote the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre “warmed every fiber of my being.”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Rep. Jamaal Bowman hugs during a Gaza ceasefire vigil with state lawmakers and religious leaders outside the White House. AP J-Street leader Jeremy Ben-Ami said Bowman’s rhetoric had “crossed the line”. LightRocket via Getty Images Rep. Jamaal Bowman has positioned himself as one of Hamas’ strongest allies in Congress. AFP via Getty Images
Although Bowman later claimed he was unaware of Finkelstein’s notorious history, during the event in Yonkers he said he was “shocked” to see him and “watched him all the time on YouTube.”
“The collection of statements and positions over the past three months has made it clear that the difference in approach is significant,” said Ben-Ami.
J-Street, which supports progressive lawmakers across the country, helped dominate Bowman’s career after he unseated then-Rep. Eliot Engel in 2020. The group raised more than $39,000 for him in 2022 and gave him an additional $100,000 through his J Street Action Fund .
Bowman, who called for a ceasefire, just days after the Hamas massacre in Israel, has positioned himself as one of Hamas’s strongest allies in Congress and has been a prime target of pro-Israel groups seeking to oust him. He faces a well-funded primary run by Westchester County Executive George Latimer.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
