Associated Press
Most members of Congress have stood firmly behind Israel since the Hamas attack last month, but not Cori Bush. The Missouri Democrat called Israel’s response a “war crime” and an “ethnic cleansing campaign,” and was among the few House members who opposed a resolution supporting Israel.
Her unwavering stance has angered some in her district. St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell on Monday dropped a U.S. Senate bid to challenge Bush in next year’s 1st District Democratic primary, and moderate Democrats believe he could win.
Bush isn’t alone. She’s among a small group of Democrats viewed by critics as insufficiently supportive of Israel — both long before and now after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel — or insufficiently critical of Hamas. Across those districts, moderates like Bell are being encouraged to run. In particular, Summer Lee in Pennsylvania, Jamaal Bowman in New York, Ilhan Omar in Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib in Michigan probably will face challengers.
All five have condemned Hamas’ attack and antisemitism, but they’ve all made statements seen as inflammatory by Israel’s staunchest supporters and been critical of U.S. military aid to Israel.
Bush and Omar accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing.” Summer Lee said it had committed “human rights violations.” And at a recent ceasefire rally, Bowman said: “We cannot allow the lives of anyone to be erased. This erasure of Palestinian lives and experience has been happening for decades.”
Adding to the fraught politics for Democrats is the fact that others could face pressure for the opposite reason — such as Shri Thanedar in Detroit, who represents a heavily Democratic district with a big Muslim population but has backed Israel.
Last week, the House overwhelmingly passed a resolution supporting Israel. Bush, Bowman, Lee, Omar and Tlaib were among nine Democrats who opposed the measure, saying it failed to call for a ceasefire, create a pathway to peace or express the need to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
Bowman, Lee, Omar and Tlaib also were among the 17 sponsors of Bush’s resolution asking the Biden administration to call for a ceasefire. Critics of that resolution said it failed to mention Hamas’ unprovoked attack on Israel, hostages held by Hamas or that the U.S. considers Hamas a terrorist organization.
All five are considered progressives in the Democratic caucus and represent strongly Democratic districts, so the main threat to their re-election prospects would probably come from the Democratic Party.
Challenges to Bush and the others were possible even before the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 or Israel’s subsequent attack on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But their stances after Oct. 7 have fueled calls for primary challengers.
Lee and Omar — who narrowly held off primary competitors in 2022 — may be particularly vulnerable.
The progressive group Justice Democrats, which has backed primary challengers against moderate Democrats around the country, blamed the primary challenges on the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, and a network of Republican donors who help fund AIPAC’s efforts to elect unequivocal allies of Israel.
“Democratic members are truly out of step with their voters and their bases who do not want to see us barreling toward another war on their taxpayer dollars,” Justice Democrats’ spokesperson Usamah Andrabi said.
It remains unclear whether House Democrats will help incumbents fend off primary challengers through campaign fundraising arms. One organization, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said it could potentially get involved in a primary race to protect an incumbent, but declined to discuss specifics.
Before Oct. 7, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries issued statements of support for Omar and others, saying he will support the reelection of every House Democratic incumbent, regardless of ideology.
AIPAC declined to discuss its campaign efforts, saying “there will be a time for political action, but right now our priority is building and sustaining congressional support for Israel’s fight to permanently dismantle Hamas, which perpetrated this barbaric, terrorist attack on the Jewish state.”
Tlaib, the lone Palestinian American in Congress, has been an outspoken opponent of the Biden administration’s response to the conflict.
While Tlaib defeated her primary opponent handily last year, pro-Israel groups have already signaled that they will focus on defeating her in 2024. The Democratic Majority for Israel — which bills itself as the “voice of pro-Israel Democrats” — began running ads against Tlaib in Detroit this week.
Tlaib’s metro Detroit House district includes a large Arab American population in Dearborn and heavily Jewish neighborhoods in Southfield.
Her congressional neighbor, however, is in a different situation: Tlaib and Thanedar have feuded publicly since he criticized her statements on Hamas’ attack on Israel, and Thanedar — a freshman who represents Detroit — has since drawn criticism from Tlaib on how he runs his office.
Thanedar’s Detroit district has been a center of pro-Palestinian pushback in the state, with thousands of demonstrators calling for a ceasefire in the city’s downtown on Oct. 28.
He has a primary challenger in former state Sen. Adam Hollier — Thanedar beat Hollier by 5 percentage points in a nine-way primary in 2022 — but Hollier’s campaign said his run isn’t a response to Thanedar’s stance on Israel.
In Pittsburgh, Lee has faced broad criticism from the Jewish community, where members just marked the five-year anniversary of a gunman’s rampage through the Tree of Life synagogue, killing 11 people in the worst attack on Jews on American soil.
On Tuesday, a group of 36 rabbis and four cantors released a letter criticizing Lee for voting against the House resolution expressing support for Israel and for supporting Bush’s ceasefire resolution.
“It’s a rare day in any Jewish community when you have Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, Chabad and Reconstructionists together on one page,” said Rabbi Daniel Fellman of Pittsburgh’s Temple Sinai, who helped organize the effort. “But the reality is that Rep. Lee isn’t representing her constituents.”
Lee already has one declared opponent, and more may be coming.
Bhavini Patel, 29, said she would have run regardless of Lee’s stance on Israel. But, she said, Lee’s standing in the Jewish community shows how Lee doesn’t try to understand the people she represents.
In Minneapolis, a former school board member, Don Samuels, is considering a second campaign against Omar after he came within 2 percentage points of unseating her in 2022’s primary election.
That close race turned mostly on the future of policing in the city where George Floyd was murdered. It remains to be seen how Omar’s stance on Israel will play out in her district, which has a large Somali American Muslim population.
Omar has long been dogged by accusations that she is anti-Israel and antisemitic — accusations that have intensified since the Hamas attack.
In New York, current Westchester County Executive George Latimer is considering challenging Bowman.
Latimer said people had encouraged him to challenge Bowman long before Oct. 7, including overtures that had nothing to do with Israel. After Hamas’ attack, however, some in the Jewish community have intensified their efforts.
A group of more than two dozen rabbis last month publicized a letter they wrote asking Latimer to challenge Bowman, citing the congressman’s posture on Israel.
Latimer said he would decide in the coming months.
In Missouri, Bush — who has called Israel an “apartheid” state — said she is pushing a “pro-peace agenda.”
Writing on social media, she said, “Israel’s collective punishment against Palestinians for Hamas’s actions is a war crime. I strongly condemn Hamas & their appalling violations of human rights, but violations of human rights don’t justify more human rights violations in retaliation.”
Her challenger, Bell, said those types of comments “send the wrong message and we need to be sending to rogue nations and dictators and terrorist groups the message that that they cannot have missiles trained on Israel like we see with Hamas, like we see with Iran.”
The Rev. Darryl Gray, who like Bush is a leading civil rights activist in St. Louis, said he saw Bush as an advocate for peace. He said she believes that Israeli leaders are “not looking for de-escalation, not looking for ceasefire, but looking for revenge.”
34 comments
Nikki Fried
November 4, 2023 at 6:18 pm
Deport all of those nuts, everyone of them. Hamas needs some substitutes. Give ‘em AOC, Tlaib, Omar, and the rest of the squad and liberal wackos. Close the Southern Border now.
Earl Pitts "World-Wide Political Influncer" American
November 4, 2023 at 8:36 pm
But wait Nikki,
THERES MORE MUCH MORE:
“Pro-Palestinian Democrats may face a go to HEII and burn forever reckoning”.
Now that will get your attention.
Thank you Nikki, thank you America,
Earl Pitts American
Rick Whitaker
November 5, 2023 at 7:01 pm
CAUTION ⚠ TROLL COMMENT BY EARL ( NIKKI )
Rick Whitaker
November 5, 2023 at 6:59 pm
FAKE EARL COMMENT
Lol
November 10, 2023 at 12:23 pm
I agreee we need to send all the Jewish dual citizens back to Israel where they belong
My Take
November 4, 2023 at 6:27 pm
You don’t have to be that much in lockstep (dare I use “goosestep”) IN Israel. It is in the US where you are pilloried (dare I use “crucified”) if not in principal agreement with far-right Likud and with AIPAC. Others have been pointing this out for a long tìme.
My Take
November 4, 2023 at 6:30 pm
Start with reading Haaretz for more moderate views IN Israel.
Dy Take
November 4, 2023 at 7:12 pm
The massive blood-drenched ethnic butchery near and in Gaza now, along with the growing ethnic murderousness in the West Bank, is precisely what various far-right, mostly Republican supporter, radicals have openly said they want to bring about in the US. We get to read their statements mostly from ones just arrested, often for mass murder and as explanation for their crime. But there are many others with a less-wide audience.
They are filled with hate. But they do like Trump and DeSSantis.
Rambo
November 4, 2023 at 7:25 pm
Care to comment on the over 1400 murdered by Hamas, primarily women, children and the elderly? Where are those Hamas fighters now? Oh yeah, hiding in their bunkers below hospitals, schools, etc. Remember Hamas started this on 7 Oct. Israel will finish it.
My Take
November 4, 2023 at 7:52 pm
Care to commemt on how many of those ~10,000 Gazan Palestinians slaughtered by bombardment were members or even supporters, of Hamas, especially the children?
And it hardly all started this year.
Likud and Hamas . . . two peas in a pod.
Rambo
November 4, 2023 at 8:14 pm
Like I said Israel will finish it. Do you think those Hamas pussies that use their people as human shields thought of the ramifications on their attack on innocent civilians 7 Oct?
Rick Whitaker
November 5, 2023 at 7:04 pm
rambo, you are obviously a maga cultist so no one cares what you hate
My Take
November 4, 2023 at 9:52 pm
Dispassionate people could justify–without approving of–Hamas’s attackiñg and killing IDF. It’s a war against armed oppressors after all
There is NO excuse for the intentioñal, or even just reckless, killing of civilians. Torture–of anyone–is ltotally loathsome, and the intemtional killing of children is vile beyond description.
But do notice that these same crimes are similarly reported for Russian troops in occupied Crimea. And the Trumpsuckers and other Republicans give a big yawn for there.
The nonJewish GOP howlers over Hamas don’t really care that much on moral grounds, but there is political advantage to howl.
My Take
November 9, 2023 at 2:03 am
Occupied Ukraìne, not necessarily Crimea.
Rambo
November 4, 2023 at 10:14 pm
So where was the squad, and the other lefty loonies when these atrocities were taking place in Crimea?
SteveHC
November 5, 2023 at 1:14 am
Answer: Nowhere to be found. And now as far as I know they wish to halt further provision of Ameican (military) aid to Ukraine.
Rick Whitaker
November 5, 2023 at 7:14 pm
wrong party, it’s the maga party that is a putin loving party, it’s the one that rejects helping ukraine. trump owes putin millions of dollars.
Rick Whitaker
November 5, 2023 at 7:10 pm
apples and orange argument, that is a tell on your intelligence. you sound like a fool. maybe you are just a stable genius.
My Takeder
November 4, 2023 at 10:23 pm
The seething hatred many Palestinians have for Israel is pretty understandable. Their country was stolen. And they are daily oppressed. Now how do we get them a nation, albeit much smaller, self determination and equality, and a FUTURE for themselves and their children to help get their minds of of the lamentable past?
SteveHC
November 5, 2023 at 1:00 am
“Israel’s collective punishment against Palestinians for Hamas’s actions is a war crime. I strongly condemn Hamas & their appalling violations of human rights, but violations of human rights don’t justify more human rights violations in retaliation.” – Cori Bush
The problem with these statements by Bush are the FACTS that Israel 1) has the right to not only defend itself from attacks by Hamas, but – as a result of Hamas’s historical pattern of attacks as well as the content of its organizational charter – now has the right to do what it must to PREVENT such attacks from re-occuring going forward, and 2) as a result of Hamas’s *deliberate* strategy of embedding itself so tightly within Gaza’s civil society – including such things as placing military operations directly withing civilian structures, using Gaza civilians as human shields, training civilians and their children to serve as deadly soldiers and suicide bombers, etc. – it is *impossible* for Israel to uphold its military rights in these regards without unintentionally causing collateral damage and fatalities among Gaza’s civilian population… to repeat, it’s IMPOSSIBLE. Thus that collateral damage and the civilian fatalities are in fact the fault of Hamas, *NOT* Israel. These are facts, not opinions.
Rick Whitaker
November 5, 2023 at 7:23 pm
so nutinyahoo’s negligence in security and intelligence giving hamas an opening, is not a problem? far right wing parties like nutinyahoo’s cause more problems than they solve. you neglected to mention that fact. you are biased on this subject. good luck with that.
SteveHC
November 5, 2023 at 1:09 am
Given her wording and phrasing of those statements are deliberate on Bush’s part, they lead me to believe that not only is she anti-Israel (and possibly antisemitic) but also does not truly care about the plight of Palestinians and Gaza’s civilians, but rather utters such nonsense simply out of the belief that doing so will “buy” her votes… in other words, she is engaging in political grandstanding, and potentially *dangerous* grandstanding at that. Her constituents presumably deserve better.
Rick Whitaker
November 5, 2023 at 7:27 pm
you are saying 2 wrongs make a right. bush is saying 2 wrongs are 2 wrongs. your bias makes it hard to take you seriously.
My Take
November 5, 2023 at 2:28 am
The slaughter of civilians is unavoidable only to the extent that aerial bombs and rocket and artillery warheads necessary parts of the only solution. Kneejerk acceptance of that decision by the Arab-hating present Israeli government doesn’t make it so, nor does shallow analysis by opinionated know nothings, i.e., most commentators (and commenters).
My Take
November 5, 2023 at 2:59 am
Hamas’s hideous actions against civiĺians was larger but not much different from the rightwing death squads in Latin America that Republicans had no real problem with. Hamas is simply not on “their side.”
It’s going to take decent principled people ever to design a workable solution. That leaves out Hamas. And the Isreali rightwing. And Iran. And America’s Israel Firsters, both Kosher and Goy. And the duped followers of all persuasions.
After Hamas, I’d make Gaza a UN protectorate for a generation. I’ď ask France to manage it. They know Arabs via North Africa. And the Foreign Legion is expeŕienced in quieting armed troublemakers. I wouldn’t have France pay a franc in doing it. That is for other nations to pay.
BUT we will likely eventually let Israel treat the place like a prison again . . . and then it explodes again.
Rick Whitaker
November 5, 2023 at 7:29 pm
explain that to steveHC
My Take
November 5, 2023 at 11:31 pm
Consider.
What did the world get when the vengeful French and English, after deposing the kaiser im WW1, punished the German nation with severe sanctions and restrictions?
WW2 with flattened cities and tens of millions dead in Europe.
What did the world get with the American-pushed Marshall Plan to rebuild Germany after the Nazis were defeated in WW2?
A peaceful prosperous close ally.
Same story with Japan.
See any lesson here ?
My Take
November 6, 2023 at 7:05 pm
Republicans today are too dishonest or dumb to differentiate identified causès or reasons fŕom justifications or excuses.
Scott
November 7, 2023 at 4:18 am
Several years ago, I read a BBC article about anti-Semitism in Britian’s Labour Party. According to the article, it primarily manifested itself on the far left. Now it manifests itself on the far left of the Democratic Party in the U.S. Israelis were attacked by Hamas, elected by Palestinians, in a manner too gruesome to depict here. In the wake of the Balfour Declaration and subsequently the Holocaust, the State of Israel was founded on the “Never Again” principle. Israel has the right to exist and to defend itself. If some Democrats in Congress can convince their colleagues to end foreign aid to Israel, let the chips fall where they may, which includes ending our funding of the UN, et al. In any event, we shouldn’t interfere with Israel’s sovereign right to defend itself. If new elections were held today in Gaza, the Palestinians, indoctrinated with anti-Semitism at an early age (e.g., school books there) would likely re-elect Hamas. Palestinians, though their elected representatives, have historically never wanted a two-state solution. Rather, they’d like nothing more than a 2nd Holocaust and to wipe the State of Israel off the face of the Earth.
My Take
November 7, 2023 at 11:43 am
Ànd far-right Israelis want to drive every Arab out of the West Bank and Gaza in “transfer” and make it all Jewish Israel.
Don’t jùdge sides by their ftinges, even if subtantial.
Is MAGA America?
It’s Complicated
November 7, 2023 at 11:56 am
Funny thing about the U.S. House – Representatives are generally a fair reflection of the voters in the district. In some cases the voters ‘move’ and an intrenched incumbent hangs on, but generally the voters will retire someone who ceases to reflect them. People shouldn’t let legislators who are on the fringes affect their vital signs because that reality is out of our control.
My Take
November 8, 2023 at 12:00 am
Putin in Ukraine does aĺmost the exact same thing as Hamas (mass attack, rape, torture, murder, hostages, ongoing ròcket attacks on cities).
Republican scum: “Yawn. Not our affair.”
But attack Israel . . . .
My Take
November 8, 2023 at 3:22 pm
“Israel’s Education Minister said that he doesn’t rule out re-establishing Israeli settlements in the Strip” — Haaretz
Big surprise . . . Not.
My Take
November 8, 2023 at 4:34 pm
Hamas needs neutralizing, but so does the Israeli right wing, especially the far right wing.
There can be no real peace while either is in charge. Listen to their proposals.
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