A week ago, we reported that Hillary Clinton endorsed Democratic challenger George Latimer who is running against the incumbent, Squad member Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), in New York’s 16th congressional district. Clinton’s endorsement followed The Hill/Emerson poll that gave Latimer 48 points over Bowman’s 31.
Bowman, who in 2020 unseated 16-term incumbent and devoted friend of Israel Eliot Engel, started his career in the House with a pro-Israel position, making him enemies inside the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), and raising question marks among fellow Squad House members. In September 2021, for instance, Bowman voted yes on providing Israel with an additional $1 billion in aid to fund its Iron Dome missile defense system.
The change in Bowman’s stance on Israel was clearest on July 18, 2023, when he and eight other progressive Democrats voted against a congressional non-binding resolution that “the State of Israel is not a racist or apartheid state,” that Congress rejects “all forms of antisemitism and xenophobia,” and that “the United States will always be a staunch partner and supporter of Israel.”
This was followed naturally on October 25, 2023, when Bowman and the same eight progressive Democrats, together with Thomas Massie (R-ken), voted against resolution 771 supporting Israel after the October 7 Hamas attack. The resolution stated that the House “stands with Israel as it defends itself against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists,” and “reaffirms the United States’ commitment to Israel’s security.” it passed with 412 yes votes, 10 no votes, and 6 abstentions.
Then, on November 17, 2023, Bowman called reports of Israeli women being raped by Hamas a “propaganda,” and a “lie.”
What happened to Jamaal Bowman? According to a Politico report last Friday, J Street happened.
As 2021 drew to a close, Bowman disembarked from a tour bus into the sweltering atmosphere of Hebron, the city King David once made his capital, and the burial site of the Jewish people’s matriarchs and patriarchs, to explore the H2 sector of the city, where Jews are allowed to live.
It was part of a tour organized by J Street.
It stands to reason that, had Bowman chosen the AIPAC tour, he would be easing into his second term without much of a problem despite his Squad affiliation.
They went and ruined a friendly African American politician – not just for Israel, who is in dire need of friendly Democrats on the Hill, but they went and ruined Bowman’s career, too.
It should be noted that despite their heavy presence in Westchester County, Jews are far from being in the majority in Bowman’s 16th District, which is about 50% Black and Hispanic, and only 10% Jewish. It made sense politically to let Bowman keep his seat, instead of enlisting George Latimer who is very white and wasn’t interested in running. Remember, folks, if on Tuesday AIPAC’s expensive campaign succeeds in taking the Democratic primary from Bowman, it would be a Pyrrhic victory with the worst kind of optics.
ON THE BUS TO HEBRON WITH J STREET
The J Street tour exposed the Congressman to the realities of Hebron from PA Arab eyes, to a view that saw only the closed Arab shops and barbed wire, without any mention of the continuous waves of murder by the same PA Arabs who were sniping freely into Jewish homes, murdering men, women, children and infants in broad daylight; gunning down Jews who were walking home from shul Friday nights.
But most importantly, the J Street-sponsored visit ignored the fact that H2 represents just a tiny sliver of Hebron, while H1, which is completely Arab, and where Jews are banned, comprises the vast majority of the city.
In the map below, the 1997 IDF redeployment map, in keeping with the Oslo Accords, the purple sections represent Jewish dwellings, the vast yellow area is Arabs-only, and the white H2 section represents the security defenses against Arab terrorism:
As Politico’s Calder McHugh noted:
Bowman left profoundly demoralized. “There are streets they cannot walk and places they cannot go, simply because they are Palestinian,” he wrote, sharing a picture of himself posing with the students. “When I asked about their dreams, their answer was simple: freedom. The occupation must end.”
Reflecting back on the experience three years later, Bowman says, “You can almost breathe it in the air how suffocating the West Bank felt with the settlement expansions.”
The trip was a “transformational moment” for him, he tells me, one that left him doubtful about the prospects of a two-state solution — the default stated policy of most Democrats in America and liberal Zionists the world over. “[The two-state solution] was the thing that you say so that everyone leaves you alone … so that at the very least you could satisfy both sides, Palestinian freedom and the Jewish state,” he says.
It almost amazing that Bowman completely missed the fact that the H1 area of Hebron, now occupied by the Palestinian Authority, is Judenrein – as in no Jews allowed. Or perhaps it didn’t bother him.
Incidentally, on January 29, 2024, J Street withdrew its endorsement of Bowman, citing the “framing and approach” of his rhetoric after October 7. J Street’s president Jeremy Ben-Ami said that Bowman’s rhetoric had “gone too far.”
As always, the left’s capacity for introspection and accepting responsibility is astonishingly nominal.
