Saving Private Bowman: AOC and Bernie Sanders Rush to Shore Up His Support

In the anti-Israel congressional cabal, beyond the obvious Muslims — Rashida Tlaib (D-Khan Yunis) and Ilhan Omar (D-Mogadishu) — the most vituperative in their attacks on Israel have been the former bartender and current congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Flats Fix) Senator Bernie Sanders (D-New Left Review), and the even more anti-Israel Jamaal Bowman (D-Wu-Tang Clan). Bowman is a peculiar sort; for years he was a conspiracy theorist on social media, focusing on the “real” malefactors behind the 9/11 attacks. Now he’s running scared against a centrist Democrat, George Latimer, who is leading him by double digits. More on their political rescue mission can be found here: “Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Host Rally for Jamaal Bowman as He Ramps Up Anti-Israel Attacks,” by Corey Walker, Algemeiner, June 18, 2024:

Key anti-Israel lawmakers in the US Congress are set to headline a rally to support the reelection bid of Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) as the embattled congressman intensifies his verbal attacks on the Jewish state.

Since Bowman is “embattled’ for precisely one reason — his attacks on Israel — wouldn’t you think he might tone that criticism down? But no, Jamaal Bowman is only becoming more outrageous in his remarks, accusing Israel of “apartheid” and “genocide.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will take the stage with Bowman on Saturday at St. Mary’s Park in the Bronx, New York. Sanders will also support Bowman at a rally on Friday at Maceachron Park in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.

Jamaal’s race will set the tone for progressive races across the country,” a sign-up form for the rally reads. “We’re going up against special interests who are using NY-16 [New York’s 16th Congressional District] as a test to see if they can win across the country. Our movement is strong, and we won’t let them win.”…

Apparently, as far as AOC and Bernie Sanders are concerned, supporters of Israel who contribute to the campaigns of candidates who agree with them, in order to defeat those who do not — like Jamaal Bowman — are “special interests.” Why are they any more deserving of that description than are those voters who contribute to candidates who support, or oppose, abortion, or Obamacare, or stricter immigration laws and enforcement at the southern border, or forgiving student debt, or any side, pro or con, on dozens of other issues? Why shouldn’t we describe those who want the American government to halt its military support for Israel and who thus contribute to people such as AOC, Bernie Sanders, and Jamaal Bowman as “special interests”? Sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander.

In the latest poll, Latimer has a 17-point lead over Bowman.

Ocasio-Cortez, one of the most prominent critics of Israel in Congress, has expressed great anxiety over the state of Bowman’s struggling campaign.

“I cannot think of a single race that better exemplifies the battle, frankly for our democracy, between everyday people choosing their representation and big money coming in and choosing it for them,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a recent interview.

By “big money” coming in, AOC means AIPAC money, but AIPAC is funded by 60,000 mostly small contributors. The real “big money” is that which has been funding anti-Israel “progressives” such as Bowman and AOC herself, and comes from such far-leftists as George Soros and assorted salon Bolsheviks. There is also “big money” supporting the anti-Israel candidates indirectly, coming from some deep-pocketed Muslims from abroad, such as the government of Hamas-supporting Qatar. Qatar influences American elections through its sprawling Al-Jazeera media empire (its stories on any topic always come up first on Google; how much did that cost the Al-Thani family?), and through its cultivation of Western journalists and politicians. Qatar also has a long history of making donations to think tanks in Washington, such as the Brookings Institution in the past, and the Stimson Center today. The resident experts on the Middle East at these places then supply anti-Israel material to the media, and to universities, where Middle East departments are often supported by the donations from Arab governments — not just Qatar, but also Saudi Arabia. Think of the malign anti-Israel influence in Washington of John Esposito, the founding director of the Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University and his fellows, now supported by Saudi money. Esposito and the others in their sinecures at the Alwaleed Center are always eager to share their “expertise” with both credulous politicians and media outlets in Washington.

The prominent Democrat [Jamaal Bowman] has previously denied that Israel is a democracy and accused the Jewish state of perpetrating “apartheid” and “genocide.”

No wonder AOC and Sanders want to rescue Bowman from defeat. On Israel, the embattled country which he claims practices “apartheid” and “genocide,” he’s their man.

Sanders, a progressive Jewish lawmaker who has launched similar accusations and accused Israel of inflicting “famine” on Palestinians, claimed that Bowman’s floundering reelection prospects are the result of an orchestrated attack by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the foremost pro-Israel lobbying organization in the US.

There is no “orchestrated attack” — how sinister that sounds! — by AIPAC. The organization donates money to candidates that it believes agrees with it on the need to support Israel. The people who contribute to AIPAC may be politically of the left, right, or center; they come together to support Israel. This AIPAC support for candidates favorable to Israel is no more an “orchestrated attack” than what the Natural Resources Defense Council does when it gives money to “environmentally friendly” candidates who support more government programs to encourage solar and wind projects.

“Right-wing Super PACs like AIPAC are targeting Jamaal Bowman because he fights for the values of working class people in his district, whether it’s affordable housing, childcare and pre-K, public schools, or climate justice,” Sanders wrote on X/Twitter last month….

It is absurd to call AIPAC a “right-wing organization.” It has taken no position on any issue other than support for Israel. It does not oppose Jamaal Bowman, as Sanders claims, because of his “sharing the working-class values of his people in his district,” or because he supports “childcare and pre-K, public schools, or climate justice.” AIPAC has said nothing about those matters. It opposes Jamaal Bowman because he accuses Israel of practicing apartheid, and committing genocide, and wants to end American military support for the Jewish state. AIPAC does support Congressman Ritchie Torres from the Bronx, who is also in favor of “childcare and pre-K, public schools, and climate justice,” but differs from Bowman in one thing: Torres is a stout defender of Israel, and Bowman constantly calumniates the Jewish state.

For his part, Jamal Bowman has attacked AIPAC, just as grotesquely has he attacks Israel itself, accusing the organization of “racism” for daring to oppose him, a black man, and supporting his primary opponent, the pro-Israel George Latimer, a white man. Bowman’s skin color has nothing to do with AIPAC’s opposition to him. His absurdly accusing Israel of apartheid” and “genocide” are what led AIPAC to support his opponent George Latimer.

Progressives fear that a loss for Bowman would diminish their leverage over the Democratic Party on key issues, including the Israel-Hamas war. Left-wing lawmakers believe that removing Bowman from office will embolden moderate forces to pull the Democrats to the political center….

Let us hope their fears come true; that the almost certain defeat of Jamaal Bowman, and possibly, the defeat of at least one other vulnerable Squadroon, Cori Bush in Missouri, will strengthen the forces of centrist sanity in the Democratic Party.

Just as Bowman had previously had to “walk back” his bizarre conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks, now he has had to “walk back” his dismissal of claims about Hamas’ mass rapes and murders of Israeli women and girls during the October 7 attacks.

The congressman also hosted a fundraiser last month with Nihad Awad, who said in November that he was “happy” to witness Hamas’ rampage across southern Israel on Oct. 7, when the Palestinian terror group invaded the Jewish state from neighboring Gaza, murdered 1,200 people, and kidnapped over 250 others as hostages. The massacre launched the ongoing war in Gaza, where Israel has been waging a military campaign aimed at dismantling Hamas and freeing the hostages.

That’s quite a choice by Jamaal Bowman of someone to help with his fundraising efforts: Nihad Awad of CAIR, who did not condemn, but rather expressed his delight at seeing online the atrocities committed by Hamas. The company he keeps should be enough to condemn Bowman to the outer darkness.

In an interview with left-wing pundit Olayemi Olurin earlier this month, Bowman argued that support for the Jewish state is rooted in “white supremacy” and “white nationalism.” He also suggested that Israel is responsible for the Oct. 7 atrocities, claiming that Israel’s alleged oppressive treatment of Palestinians might have spurred Hamas, which rules Gaza, to lash out.

Jamaal Bowman’s claim that support for Israel is based on “white supremacy” and “white nationalism” is as ludicrous as are his conspiracy theories about 9/11, and will come as a surprise to Congressman Ritchie Torres and many other black supporters of Israel, including the late Reverend Martin Luther King.

Fortunately, after George Latimer soundly defeats him in the Democratic primary, Bowman’s antisemitic mischief-making on Capitol Hill will be over. Don’t worry about him. He will no doubt be provided with a consolation prize. I see him being given his own talk show on Al-Jazeera television, , where he can interview to his heart’s content the likes of such people as the world’s-greatest-authority, Cornel West, Marc Lamont Hill, Tavis Smiley and, of course, Louis Farrakhan.