Last night Rep. Shontel Brown defeated Nina Turner in a Democratic primary for Congress in Cleveland for the second time in the last nine months. The race was significant because Turner, a former Sanders campaign co-chair with a lot of political experience, has twice now been singled out for defeat by rightwing Israel lobby groups, which poured money into Brown’s campaigns so as to stop the growth of the Squad, the progressive candidates, largely women of color, who have been elected in urban districts and have dared to be critical of Israel.
Shontel Brown did not talk about Israel as one of her public “priorities,” of course. Democratic voters aren’t big Israel supporters, outside of suburban Jewish neighborhoods. But that’s Brown raised money. As Democratic Majority for Israel bragged today, “When all is counted, DMFI PAC will have spent over $1 million in the race to boost Rep. Brown’s campaign in OH-11, more than any other outside spending group.” The Israel lobby group AIPAC’s PAC has raised nearly $16 million this year and spent a reported $282,000 for Brown.
What was Nina Turner’s crime? Expressing solidarity with Palestinians being thrown out of their homes and being bombed in Gaza.
“We are proud to stand with a passionate, pro-Israel progressive leader in Congress!” AIPAC’s PAC says. (Progressive? AIPAC also supports rightwing Trump election-deniers.)
Even Huffpo is saying that this race is all about the Israel lobby using money to targeting pro-Palestinian voices who aspire to federal office. “Top Pro-Israel Group Reshapes Democratic Primaries With Multimillion-Dollar Barrage.”
Lest anyone misses the message, Democratic Majority for Israel’s poster-rep, Ritchie Torres of the Bronx, who adores Israel, was in Ohio last night for the victory party and told Jewish Insider (per AIPAC):
“Shontel is a national symbol of a central truth that you can be both progressive & pro-Israel. The notion that you cannot be both is a vicious lie that should & must be finally put to rest.”
More of the corruption: Shontel Brown got a key endorsement from the new Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb. A Cleveland radio site reports from his swearing-in in January that the two met in Israel.
U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown, herself new to the job, introduced Bibb. She said she first met him on a trip to Israel in 2018. While others struggled to get up in the morning, Bibb would already be in the hotel lobby reading the news, she said.
This is, as I’ve said repeatedly, a war on the Democratic base by the party establishment. 70 percent of Democrats say their congressional rep supports Israel more than they do. Twice as many Democratic voters want our country to take the Palestinian side as those who want it to take Israel’s side; and Democratic voters put Israel at #9 on a list of America’s most important allies. But because there’s so much money in being pro-Israel, Nancy Pelosi says, “If this Capitol crumbled to the ground, the one thing that would remain would be…our cooperation with Israel.”
Huffpo ventures that the spending is making the left angry. You’d think it would be a giant controversy.
The size of the spending is a source of anger and anxiety for more left-leaning groups.
“They clearly are trying to intimidate people with large sums of money from small groups of people,” said Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of J Street, a more liberal pro-Israel group.
James Zogby, a pro-Palestinian activist and president of the Arab American Institute, said the new burst of spending confirmed the oft-denied influence of pro-Israel money in U.S. politics.
“It certainly makes [Minnesota Rep.] Ilhan Omar’s, ‘It’s all about the Benjamins’ comment seem less problematic than it appeared to some at the time,” said Zogby,
The progressive group Justice Democrats didn’t spend for Turner, though it did last year. It gave a statement to the Intercept saying they’re being “massively outgunned” by the rightwing Israel groups.
“The reality is our organization has to be strategic about our priorities as we are getting massively outgunned by Republican donors funneling millions to SuperPACs like AIPAC [the American Israel Public Affairs Committee] and DMFI [Democratic Majority for Israel] against our existing candidates.”
Democratic Majority for Israel is strutting its powers today:
“We are thrilled to congratulate Congresswoman Shontel Brown on her primary victory. After being the prime outside supporter of now-Rep. Brown’s successful special election campaign in August 2021, we are proud to have once again played a central role backing her in this race.
“Ohio Democrats sent a clear message that they want candidates… who will continue the Democratic Party’s proud tradition of supporting the U.S.-Israel relationship.
“Congresswoman Brown’s defeat of Nina Turner last summer sent an unambiguous message that being pro-Israel is not just wise policy but also good politics.
Power politics anyway. Some day, the Israel issue is going to be openly debated in a Democratic primary, and the base’s attitudes will be reflected by representatives. We keep waiting.
P.S. Marilyn Rosenthal, the head of AIPAC’s PAC, sent out a fundraising letter today calling the victory a “momentous” day for Israel supporters. “This race, in which a supporter of Israel faced a detractor of the alliance, is the first of many that will take place this month and in the months ahead. It is essential that we continue to strengthen our friends as the election cycle continues.” I think they’re nervous about “detractors of the alliance”!
h/t Michael Arria, James North and Adam Horowitz.
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Israeli Apartheid toward Palestinians isn’t Just a Human Rights Issue; it is about Colonialism (juancole.com)
Informed Comment, April 29/2022, by Romana Wadi.
“Israeli Apartheid toward Palestinians isn’t Just a Human Rights Issue; it is about Colonialism”
“Since 2021, criticism of Israel has focused heavily on its apartheid system and practices. The gradual awareness within the international community, since B’Tselem’s declaration, which was followed by that of Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, as well as other institutions, validated the Palestinian people’s earlier assertions of apartheid. Unfortunately, little recognition was given to Palestinians for raising awareness on their predicament before the more prominent non-governmental and human rights organisations brought Israeli apartheid to mainstream attention.
“Amnesty International’s report came under harsh criticism from Palestinians when it tweeted a clarification that the organisation ‘has taken no position on the occupation itself,’ opting to focus on ‘the Israeli government’s obligations, as the occupying power, under international law’. As Palestinians rightly pointed out, Israel’s apartheid policies are derived from its settler-colonial ideology, practice and expansion. There is no exonerating Israel from its colonial violence when speaking about its current apartheid system.
“Speaking about the escalation of Israeli violence in Jerusalem, the UN Special Rapporteur, Michael Lynk, unfortunately made a similar omission when calling upon the international community to halt the brutality of Israel’s security forces. ‘The past few weeks have seen a rising level of violence associated with Israel’s 55-year-old occupation of Palestine,’ Lynk declared. Yet, the earliest association that should be made would require mention of Israel’s colonial existence and expansion.
Video: Race, Apartheid, and Settler Colonialism – YouTube (cont’d)
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“’This entrenched Israeli occupation, which has become indistinguishable from practices of apartheid, is based on the institutional discrimination of one racial-national-ethnic group over another,’ Lynk added.
“Focusing on Israel’s military occupation is only a part of the Palestinian experience. Exclusive focus obliterates the fact that Israel is a settler-colonial entity & its apartheid practices exist to strengthen its earlier & subsequent land appropriation. Unfortunately, the two-state compromise has been instrumental in mellowing the focus on settler-colonialism, prioritising ‘an end to the occupation’ with no consideration for the fact that Israel’s colonial structure would remain in place even without military occupation.
“Lynk is correct to point out that Israel’s military occupation has become a permanently entrenched reality, mirroring the spineless diplomacy that keeps the international community relevant in terms of interfering with the Palestinian people’s political rights.
“’Only by providing a horizon of hope, through the international community’s meaningful demand that the occupation must fully end with all deliberate speed, can this alarming rise in violence be reversed,’ Lynk concluded. But the demand to end the occupation is not linked to decolonisation in the international community’s defunct framework.
“If both the Israeli military occupation & apartheid are derivatives of Israeli colonialism, then colonialism needs to be addressed when speaking about both manifestations of violence. With Palestinians incurring repetitive losses, fragmented narratives such as these spouted by the international community & human rights organisations are only fuelling further impunity. Limiting the discourse to occupation & apartheid is focused on finding a temporary fix, while leaving Israel’s colonial structure intact. There is also no recognition of the earlier ethnic cleansing upon which Israel was founded, leaving Palestinians still vulnerable to various forms of colonial violence, compounded with the international community’s alienation from the political process which dissociated Palestinians from their history.”
68% of those who have an opinion think their congressmen support Israel more than they do. But over 50% don’t have an opinion or don’t know. Omitting info can be a form of lying. This 70%, which is really less than 34%, is a lie.
As you point out, Israel isn’t an important issue for most voters and it is doubtful it will become such. Any candidate that chooses to take an anti-Israel position only shoots themself in the foot. They gain pretty much no votes (and mobilize the pro-Israel voters against them), but they do gain enemies. Enemies with deep pockets and good connections with the establishment that will hit them on all the topics that are important to the electorate. Seems politically dumb. There are two ways y’all have to fix that. You can make Israel a super important topic, which just isn’t going to happen. It’s too far and most people don’t know and couldn’t be made to care about it. Or you can start raising money. Good luck. We can keep this going for quite a while.
The way this is going you’ll pick up a few congressional seats here and there in safe blue areas. And even for those there will be a constant fight. Everywhere else you’ll just get demolished.
When a solution to the problem that makes common sense is developed and articulated, there will be safe political positions for American politicians to embrace. Until then money, media, and organizing will rule.