Jamaal Bowman is getting attacked for saying that Israel claims to represent all Jews. But Israel does exactly that, all the time.
By Jack Mirkinson, Discourse Blog
Today is a day ending in y, so you know what that means: there’s a disingenuous freakout about Israel going on.
This one involves New York congressman Jamaal Bowman. If the polls are correct, Bowman is set to be defeated in Tuesday’s Democratic primary against Westchester County Executive George Latimer, whose main campaign tactic appears to be “do constant racism.” Bowman is not any kind of revolutionary on Palestine; he probably had the worst politics on the issue of any Squad member early on in his tenure, though he’s been on something of a journey since. Still, he has called for a ceasefire in Gaza and used the term “genocide,” so AIPAC is destroying him. According to the New York Times, AIPAC’s Super PAC spent $14.5 million in “barely a month” to take Bowman out—more than any outside group has ever spent on any House race, ever. Another cool milestone for some of the worst people alive! (Also Hillary Clinton endorsed Latimer, because of course.)
But this blog isn’t actually about the Bowman primary, at least not directly. It’s about this Politico piece tracking Bowman’s shift towards a firmer pro-Palestinian stance over the last couple of years. The whole article is interesting, but it’s the very last part that got people mad over the weekend. From the piece (emphasis mine):
“There are a large number of people in this district who are Jewish, and I think they felt disregarded and disrespected [by Bowman],” Latimer told me. Bowman has a different take. That Israel’s actions in Gaza might be making Jews in his district less safe.
“I don’t know, man,” Bowman said. “When you [as Israel] say you represent all Jews, and then you behave badly, it opens the doors for people to make the connection between what Israel is doing and Jewish people, which I think is freaking dangerous as hell.”
Can he say that?!?!?! Apparently not, according to some of our most tiresome tweeters.
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