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Monday, August 14, 2023

MinnPost reports, "Pro-Israel PAC pushing Minneapolis Councilwoman LaTrisha Vetaw to challenge Ilhan Omar While AIPAC targets Omar, Congressional Black Caucus PAC endorses endorses the lawmaker" [UPDATED]

click the image to read, or read full bio online

 

Anyone in CD5 can run to go to Congress. If a person has her own good reasons to seek moving from city council to DC, and those reasons are true to her heart, she should go for it. But it would have to be her own decision. Nobody else's. She must learn or already know who is boosting her taking a run, and what motivates the suggestion.

It is the lady's decision, and we all should wish her well in very seriously thinking it over. 

Vetaw still has her Ward 4 city council campaign website online - this contact page:

https://www.latrishaforward4.com/contact 

There she posts an email address: latrisha@latrishaforward4.org 

It is unclear to Crabgrass whether she might already have decided on a CD5 run, one way or the other; but the above is the contact info found online.

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Every reader is urged to honestly contact this lady with your feelings about a contest against Congress Rep. Omar; including how well or otherwise you feel Rep. Omar has done the job - and especially, should Ms Vetaw run, would you contribute to her campaign, to Omar's, both, or neither. 

Vetaw deserves such candid information because it will help her to know the mood of people, and where she might need to look and depend for campaign funding, beyond APAIC related PAC support. Having hard evidence from persons in the public can only assist good decision making.

This site's author's respect and support for Ihlen Omar is public knowledge, and Ms. Vetaw should know this already, or find it out. 

Nonetheless, the lady runs or declines, and it appears she is still testing the waters.

Public input can only help. Readers might want to read what MinnPost has reported before making contact. Whatever contact you make, be honest and respectful.

MinnPost, excerpted

by Craig Lassig --

WASHINGTON — Although it’s early in the campaign cycle, Rep. Ilhan Omar is drawing challengers and, once again, the politically powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is trying to defeat her.

Pro-Israel donors and political action committees affiliated with AIPAC have spent heavily to bolster the campaigns of Democrats who launched primary challenges to Omar, D-5th District.

The first challenger they helped was Antone Melton-Meaux, who received millions of dollars from pro-Israel donors, but was handily defeated by Omar in the Democratic primary of 2020.

In 2022, AIPAC gave $350,000 to a group that supported former Minnesota council member Don Samuels, who nearly defeated Omar in the Democratic primary.

Samuels criticized AIPAC and pro-Israel donors for not coming to his aid in the same way they helped Melton-Meaux. He is considering a  challenge to Omar again, said former campaign manager Joe Radinovich.

“Don came within 2,500 votes,” Radinovich said. “I think anyone in that position would give a second thought to taking that challenge again.”

However, according to Jewish Insider, AIPAC is now pushing Minneapolis City Councilmember LaTrisha Vetaw to challenge Omar.

Vetaw, who represents the city’s 4th Ward in north Minneapolis, and like Samuels, is considered a moderate, did not return several calls and emails requesting comment.

But Jewish Insider said in recent months AIPAC has met with Vetaw and is engaged in ongoing conversations to convince her to enter the primary. The story was based on unnamed “multiple sources familiar with AIPAC’s outreach.” AIPAC did not return several requests for comment.

Vetaw is serving her first term on the Minneapolis City Council. [...]

AIPAC appears to be aggressively recruiting candidates to challenge Democrats who boycotted Israeli President Issac Herzog’s speech to a joint session of Congress last month, including Rep. Jamal Bowman, D-N.Y.,

Omar and Bowman also voted against a GOP-led resolution that rejected claims that Israel is a racist state, something Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, had claimed before walking back those remarks.

Omar and other members of Congress targeted by AIPAC have been critical of Israel’s record on human rights.

So has Rep. Betty McCollum, D-4th District, who has had numerous confrontations with AIPAC. She also failed to attend Herzog’s speech and voted “present” on the GOP-led resolution concerning Israel. But Bill Harper, political adviser to McCollum’s re-election campaign, said the congresswoman had not been targeted.

“I’m not aware of any AIPAC activity in the 4th Congressional District DFL circles at all,” Harper said.

Omar lost her seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee in January after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and other Republican, including Rep. Tom Emmer, R-6th District, accused her of making “antisemitic remarks.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus political action committee, said he and the caucus would support Omar’s re-election.

“At a time when Republicans are erasing Black history, attacking abortion rights, and undermining democracy, Ilhan Omar is a champion for the rights of Minnesotans,” Meeks said in a statement. “She has delivered over $40 million in funding to her district, including vital funds to rebuild Lake Street, investments in entrepreneurs and food availability in the Northside, and skills training for clean energy. Despite constant racist attacks from MAGA Republicans, Ilhan consistently shows up for her constituents and we are proud to endorse her re-election campaign.”

Omar has raised more than $1.15 million for her re-election next year.

But AIPAC’s is known for its ability to raise and spend a lot of political money. For instance, the United Democracy Project, a super PAC affiliated with AIPAC, quietly contributed $350,000 to a separate group that boosted Samuels and raised about $36 million in the last campaign cycle and spent about $29 million.

That super PAC has raised another $9 million in the first six months of this year, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Samuels' above-mentioned advisor, Radinovich, had assisted Mayor Frey's campaigning in the past and has, himself, run for the CD8 seat, having lost the election to Stauber. 

With Vetaw being approached by AIPAC, it is unclear whether this cycle might also include AIPAC backing for Samuels too. 

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About the Benjamins

Last cycle NYTimes published an eye-opener - about the Benjamins:

Democratic Primaries Are Embroiled in Debate Over Support for Israel

A primary on Tuesday in suburban Maryland is the latest where pro-Israel groups have stepped in to try to defeat a candidate who doesn’t conform to their views.


Donna Edwards greeting voters on Wednesday in Fort Washington, Md. She said voters in her area were more concerned with many other issues than the Mideast.
Credit...T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times

OXON HILL, Md. — The primary on Tuesday for a Maryland House seat outside Washington would seem to be an ideologically monochromatic affair between two experienced, liberal lawyers who hope to represent a Democratic swath of predominantly Black middle-class suburbs.

But former Representative Donna Edwards’s run against the former Prince George’s County state’s attorney Glenn Ivey has become a fierce proxy fight between pro-Israel groups on the left and right, the latest skirmish in a war that threatens to drive a wedge between the Democratic Party’s ascending left wing and groups determined to stamp out dissent on Israel-Palestine orthodoxy.

As President Biden toured Israel and the West Bank this week and soaked in the accolades of Israel’s right and left, no such unity was in evidence back home. To the most ardent pro-Israel voices in the United States, Mr. Biden’s reception was proof that they still represent the mainstream, and that critics of Israel’s policies toward Palestinians, such as Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, are the outliers.

“Bernie and others need to accept the fact that the majority of progressive Democrats in America are pro-Israel,” said Patrick Dorton, a spokesman for the United Democracy Project, the nondescript name for a new political action committee affiliated with the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Not so, said Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of J Street, a progressive Jewish organization and foil for AIPAC, who maintains that politicians who support the Jewish state ignore the growing criticism of Israel’s actions in the West Bank and Gaza — especially among younger voters — at their peril.

After four years of Donald J. Trump’s overt efforts to peel Jewish voters away from the Democrats by pursuing policies long sought by the Israeli right, now should be a time of healing, Mr. Ben-Ami said. Instead, the interventions in Democratic primaries are “driving a wedge between communities of color, especially progressives, and the Jewish community” and “turning Israel into a political football,” he added.

With more than $22 million in contributions, AIPAC’s new super PAC has spent $21 million in the Democratic primaries so far, a staggering $5.9 million of that in the Edwards-Ivey race alone.

Another new Democratic group, the Democratic Majority for Israel, has spent at least $7 million in the primaries aiding what it termed “pro-Israel Democrats,” including $426,000 to support Mr. Ivey. Both groups have flooded the airwaves with ads that make no mention of their singular rationale, promoting “pro-Israel” Democrats.

J Street has spent a comparably paltry $720,000 to support Ms. Edwards and $400,000 trying to counter the two rival groups in four other contests.

The showdown Tuesday in Maryland is only the latest. The politics of the Israeli-Palestinian divide have roiled Democratic House primaries in South Texas, Cleveland, North Carolina, Illinois, California and Pennsylvania. And for Michigan’s August primary, the AIPAC affiliate and the Democratic Majority for Israel have lined up behind a moderate congresswoman, Haley Stevens, who is Christian, in her incumbent-versus-incumbent primary against a more progressive Democrat, Andy Levin, who is Jewish — a reminder that in the political world created by Mr. Trump, being Jewish is no longer equated with being “pro-Israel.” Indeed, the Israeli right now views evangelical Christians as a much larger and more powerful ally than American Jews.

“Our goal is to build the broadest pro-Israel bipartisan coalition in Congress, period,” Mr. Dorton said.

The effort, remarkable for AIPAC, which until now has tried to keep its political interventions sotto voce, has yielded heated accusations of ethnic bias and deep concern that, rather than fortifying the Israeli government’s support within the Democratic Party, the groups are turning a tougher stance toward Israel and a forthright position supporting Palestinian autonomy into a litmus test for progressives.

“When an organization endorses, it’s essentially the political version of, ‘you’re with us or you’re against us.’ You’re creating a black-and-white scenario,” said Julie Rayman, senior director of policy and political affairs at the American Jewish Committee, which does not intervene in political races.

Mr. Ben-Ami is more direct.

“We’re about saving the space to preserve American policies that are more balanced, that push back on some of the things that are happening on the ground in Israel,” he said, adding, “AIPAC is trying to shut down the discussion and impose a political cost” on those who speak out.

Yousef Munayyer, a Palestinian rights activist and nonresident fellow at the Arab Center in Washington, sees the contretemps as a positive sign for his cause. For decades, AIPAC’s influence on campaigns was indirect. The group did not endorse or raise money for candidates, instead encouraging its members to do so.

Not anymore. The United Democracy Project was created this cycle with $8.5 million in seed money directly from AIPAC, as well as seven-figure contributions from two prominent Republicans, Bernie Marcus, a co-founder of Home Depot, and the hedge-fund manager Paul Singer, and from Haim Saban, an Israeli-American media magnate and Democratic donor.

Marshall Wittmann, AIPAC’s longtime spokesman, said the super PAC was a response to the soaring cost of campaigns, high congressional turnover and “hyper-partisanship.”

“We will not be deterred or intimidated from engaging in the democratic process to elect pro-Israel candidates,” he added.

Unmentioned in Mr. Wittmann’s lengthy statement was the rising volume on the Democratic left of voices calling for a fundamental re-evaluation of the United States’ reflexive backing of successive Israeli governments, as the occupation of the West Bank stretches into its second half-century and the prospects for a two-state solution grow more remote.

Mr. Munayyer said AIPAC’s new tack was evidence that it was losing its grip on the Democratic Party.

“It’s certainly a flex, but it’s a flex that was never necessary before,” he said of the new super PAC, adding, “Hegemony is not supposed to require the constant use of power to punish.”

For Ms. Edwards, who in 2008 became the first Black woman to represent Maryland in Congress, Middle East politics should be beside the point. She spent nearly a decade in the House before a failed bid for the Senate in 2016. Her intended return is backed by much of the Democratic leadership, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

And, she said, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the furthest thing from the mind of suburban Maryland voters: “Never, ever, ever” has it come up.

But to hawkish Israel groups, Ms. Edwards has emerged as an enemy. She was an early supporter of the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration — and fiercely opposed by AIPAC. After Mr. Trump walked away from the agreement, amid hosannas from AIPAC and many in the Jewish community, both Ms. Edwards and Mr. Ivey said they supported the Biden administration’s efforts to strike a stronger deal with Iran.

Perhaps even more eye-catching, Ms. Edwards voted “present” on a 2009 resolution recognizing Israel’s right to defend itself against attacks from Gaza, on a 2011 resolution “reaffirming the United States commitment to a negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations,” and in 2012 on a United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act that got 411 yes votes.

Ms. Edwards said those “present” votes were in protest of biases that she perceived in Republican-drafted resolutions — biases, she asserted, that are more broadly understood now in her party and among many American Jews.

“There’s not a rift between the progressive community and mainstream Jews,” Ms. Edwards said. Most American Jews desire a secure, democratic state for Israeli Jews side by side with a secure, democratic state for Palestinians, she argued, while “AIPAC and its front groups” have shown no interest in pressing for an autonomous, secure state for Palestinians.

And she called on Mr. Ivey to renounce his support from AIPAC, especially in light of its endorsements of Republicans who voted against certifying President Biden’s election.

That is a lengthy contiguous quote. The NYTimes item continues from there, where interested readers should check it out.

 The Benjamins are being lined up, and progressives need to watch their backs.

__________UPDATE___________

MinnPost mentioned but did not link to this JI item, which details AIPAC aiming at a number of progressives, without getting into the sums of money available, or likely to be spent against Omar, Bowman, or others.

For a sense of the scale of money which may be spent against progressives, see this websearch. JI in 2021 published of the then early efforts to fund actual political challengers to any candidate taking a non-cheerleader approach regarding Israeli treatment of occupied people and occupied territory.

It appears earlier testing the waters encouraged upcoming big spending. An example: One item in Haaretz a year ago, unfortunately behind a paywall, nonetheless opens:

Trump Ally Robert Kraft Gave $1 Million to AIPAC’s Super PAC

Robert Kraft donated the money to AIPAC’s United Democracy Project in July. The super PAC spent over $26 million on Democratic races during primary season

Twenty-six million is not chump change. Expect the same or more, 2024. 

Max Berger a few months earlier published a detailed item, "INVESTIGATION: The Super PACs Trying To Take Down Working Class Candidates For Congress -- Inside the flood of billionaire super PAC money — $18 million in 3 months — that's targeting working class candidates " with text after a chart of money spent against good people in the 2022 election:

Who’s funding them?

Much of the big money intervening against these working-class champions comes from AIPAC-affiliated donors, a right-wing lobby for Israel. These ads that AIPAC helps fund however, virtually never mention the word Israel. They route funding through two giant super PACs: the Democratic Majority for Israel and the United Democracy Project. All together, the two AIPAC-related super PACs have spent over $10 million in these seven races. 

United Democracy Project 

The United Democracy Project – the biggest funder of this ad barrage – proclaims to be engaged in efforts to strengthen democracies here and abroad. But, AIPAC PAC has also endorsed 109 Republicans who sided with the insurrectionists and voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election. So, a billionaire-funded super PAC that supports Republicans who objected to Electoral College results is creating ads saying working-class candidates of color aren’t real Democrats. 

The United Democracy Project raised $15.7 million in the first quarter — $8.5 million of that from AIPAC itself. Major individual donors to UDP in the first quarter included investor and media mogul Haim Saban, who donated $1 million; investors Michael Leffell and Linda Rubin, who each donated $500,000; investor Ed Levy, philanthropist Phil de Toledo, investor Tony Davis and financial analyst Victor Kohn, who each donated $250,000; and investor Kenneth Levy, who donated $200,000.

DMFI 

The Democratic Majority for Israel is a super PAC founded by people tied to AIPAC that allows them to engage in Democratic primaries without AIPAC’s brand. Many of DMFI’s donors have also been affiliated with AIPAC. For example, Stacy Schusterman, the chairman of oil and gas company Samson Energy and DMFI PAC’s top donor this year with $2.5 million given, is a former AIPAC board member. Several DMFI board members have previously held positions with AIPAC or its affiliate the American Israel Education Fund, including co-chairs Ann Lewis and Todd Richman.

Mainstream Democrats 

Major Democratic donor Reid Hoffman has invested $500,000 into a new super PAC meant to beat back Democratic left-wing populists. Its website says it’s “the only Democratic group with the courage to consistently defend mainstream Democrats and defeat extreme candidates whose stated goal is “to overthrow” the Democratic Party.”   

According to Puck News, “Mainstream Democrats shares staff, offices and other resources with another PAC that has gone after Turner, the Democratic Majority For Israel—which, despite its name, has been focused on beating back liberals more broadly. Now, with a new brand and with Hoffman’s help, the group is going bigger.” 

Protect Our Future

Recently, these groups have been joined by Protect Our Future, which gets much of  its money from Sam Bankman-Fried, a crypto billionaire who is worth $24 billion. Protect Our Future says it’s concerned with vaccination preparedness, but many of the crypto billionaires are trying to cultivate positive relationships with lawmakers because they fear the potential of future crypto regulation. It’s spent $16 million dollars across all races this election cycle. 

Their Playbook

The billionaire funded super PACs have targeted candidates around the country who have been fighting for a working-class agenda: Jessica Cisernos in Laredo, Erica Smith and Nida Allam in North Carolina, Nina Turner in Cleveland, and Andy Levin in Michigan. They’ve also gone all out to help Kurt Schrader in Oregon. The  super PACs see these candidates as threats to their control of the Democratic Party.

Their sharpest line of attack, which they’ve repeated in several races, is that working-class candidates are not real Democrats (again, coming from an organization which has endorsed 109 Republicans who refused to certify Biden’s election).

Berger, Jan 2023, published (with SBF being the now jailed  Samuel Bankman - Fried):

SBF and the Injustice Democrats

How SBF, AIPAC and pro-Trump billionaires coordinated to crush the left

Jan 3, 2023

When I looked into SBF’s political giving to write a follow up to last week’s piece, I thought I knew what I was looking for. It’s a subject I’ve written about before.

But, when I looked at the end-of-cycle FEC data, the results were truly shocking.

I found more evidence SBF was collaborating with AIPAC and Trump supporting billionaires to stop the growth of the squad and the electoral left.

Five billionaire funded PACs were coordinating closely on a strategy to defeat progressive candidates in Democratic primaries — a kind of Injustice Democrats.

Mark Mellman, a long-time operative and AIPAC ally, appears to be at the center of the effort and likely spearheaded the shared campaign. He was hired by four of the five groups this cycle, who collectively paid his firm $476,016.67. 

As you may have heard, SBF gave nearly $40 million to Democrats in 2022. But, I found that SBF wasn’t primarily funding groups that help Democrats defeat Republicans. According to FEC data, over 75% of the money SBF contributed to Democrats in 2022 went to groups that spent nearly all their money on competitive primaries in the Democratic Party.

SBF personally contributed $29,250,000 to Protect Our Future and DMI PAC (which later contributed the money to Web3 Forward). Both of these groups spent the vast majority of their money on Democratic primaries. They also worked closely with two AIPAC affiliated SuperPACs called the United Democracy Project (UDP) and the Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI), and a group called Mainstream Democrats which aimed to defeat the “far-left.”

Together, these five PACs make up the Injustice Democrats.

[...] SBF was one of the key funders of the Injustice Democrats.

But, SBF wasn’t the only billionaire to support the effort. Trump supporting billionaires Bernard Marcus (owner of Home Depot), Robert Kraft (owner of the Patriots), and Paul Singer (owner of Elliot Investment Management) each gave a million dollars to help defeat working class candidates.

Overall, the five groups that make up the Injustice Democrats spent $44,454,111 on outside expenditure this cycle.

What did SBF have in common with the pro-Israel lobby and pro-Trump billionaires? In short, a desire to staunch the rise of the left, [...]

 June 20, 2022 writing at Crooks&Liars:

This morning, I reached out to one of the sharpest and most effective young political operatives of the 2022 cycle, Morris Katz, who has worked with several progressive campaigns that have come under vicious attack from AIPAC and DMFI.

"AIPAC," explained Katz, "is on a mission to destroy the Democratic Party from within. It’s a front for GOP billionaires and corporations to smear progressive women of color and interfere in our primaries. They pose an existential threat to American Democracy and it’s critical that we have Congresswoman Edwards' back as they try to steal this election."

Pelosi seems upset that AIPAC has gone rogue and is attacking outstanding Democratic incumbents and attacking Donna Edwards, who she worked closely with in the past.

But she should have thought more carefully about what she was doing when she allowed Hakeem Jeffries to weaponize AIPAC against progressives like Jessica Cisneros, Michelle Vallejo, Summer Lee and Nina Turner, at least two of whom beat back the AIPAC barrage of GOP sewer money and are on their way to Congress.

I spoke with a member of the Congressional Black Caucus last night, a former colleague of Edwards', who told me that Donna was a "principled progressive with a coherent liberal ideology, which isn't that common among CBC members... Some Members admired and respected her, others weren't particularly thrilled about her [political] independence."

Sludge last month commenting on the Jayapal situation:

 On Monday, more than 40 of the congresswoman’s Democratic colleagues, including several who recently received more than a hundred thousand dollars from the PAC of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), signed a statement condemning Jayapal’s remarks. 

“We are deeply concerned about Representative Pramila Jayapal’s unacceptable comments regarding our historic, democratic ally Israel, and we appreciate her retraction,” the letter said. “Israel is the legitimate homeland of the Jewish people and efforts to delegitimize and demonize it are not only dangerous and antisemitic, but they also undermine America’s national security.”

The statement was circulated by Democrat Rep. John Gottheimer (N.J.), who has taken more than $159,000 in bundled donations from AIPAC’s PAC so far this year, according to a recent disclosure. Money-in-politics website OpenSecrets says that Gottheimer received more than $217,000 from AIPAC last cycle, making it his largest contributor. 

Several of the Democrats who signed the Gottheimer statement had also recently disclosed taking large sums of bundled donations from AIPAC PAC. Rep. Kathy Manning (D-N.C.) signed the statement after taking nearly $210,000 from AIPAC PAC since the beginning of the year. Another signer, Rep. David Trone (D-Md.), has received more than $116,000 from AIPAC PAC this year. Several more signers have received more than $20,000 from AIPAC PAC this year, including Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.), and Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.).

Multiple human rights groups have called Israel an apartheid state over its systematic mistreatment of Palestinians. In its 2021 report “A Threshold Crossed,” Human Rights Watch argues that the Israelis have subjugated Palestiniatians by virtue of their identities in ways that amount to the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution, as defined under International law. Amnesty International released a report in February of this year that found that “Israel has established and maintained an institutionalized regime of oppression and domination of the Palestinian population for the benefit of Jewish Israelis – a system of apartheid – wherever it has exercised control over Palestinians’ lives since 1948.” 

House Democratic leadership came out with a separate statement condemning Jayapal’s remarks on Monday. In a post to Twitter, House Majority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Democratic Whip Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Conn.), Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) and Vice Chair Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) declared that “Israel is not a racist state.”

“The special relationship between the United States and Israel will endure,” the Democratic leaders said. “We are determined to make sure support for Israel in the Congress remains strongly bipartisan.”

Jeffries has received more than $419,000 from AIPAC PAC in the form of earmarked donations so far this year, according to data from the Federal Election Commission, and Clark has received more than $49,000 in bundled funds from the group.   

Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) quote tweeted the leaders’ statement and said that she agreed with them in their rejection of any description that Israel is racist. Frankel has received more than $34,000 from AIPAC PAC already this year. 

For many years, AIPAC worked to cultivate an image of political neutrality and chose not to make donations to politicians. The group’s lack of political donations gave it a talking point to use against claims that it influences U.S. foreign policy through money, such as when Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said in February 2019 tweets that the group’s power was “all about the Benjamins.” 

AIPAC formed its PAC and super PAC last year, and some of its former allies questioned the move. AIPAC’s former chief lobbyist and legislative director Douglas Bloomfield expressed his concern with the PAC and super PAC in comments to Haaretz. “When someone says ‘it’s all about the Benjamins,’ what’s the answer?” Bloomfield said. 

On Tuesday, the House voted 412-9 to pass a resolution that says that “the State of Israel is not a racist or apartheid state, Congress rejects all forms of antisemitism and xenophobia; and the United States will always be a staunch partner and supporter of Israel.”

In comments on Monday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (D-Calif.,) blasted Jayapal and other Democrats for what he called antisemitic statements. “These are just multiple Democrats, on multiple times, consistently saying antisemitic remarks, and it has got to stop,” McCarthy said. 

AIPAC PAC has earmarked more than $285,000 for McCarthy already this year, according to Federal Election Commission data.

THE BENJAMINS! THE BENJAMINS! THE BENJAMINS - its all about THE BENJAMINS! Omar said it before these PAC movements arose, proving her statement to be the dead honest truth. THAT WOMAN DESERVES TO BE REELECTED AND THE PROGRESSIVES AMONG US DESERVE TO SEE HER REELECTED. 

One more from a week ago:

This article originally appeared on Haaretz, and was reprinted here with permission. Sign up here to get Haaretz’s free Daily Brief newsletter delivered to your inbox.

Jewish billionaire Bernie Marcus, one of the most significant megadonors to the Republican Party, quietly donated $1 million to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s super PAC in May.

The Home Depot co-founder’s donation will undoubtedly lead to renewed scrutiny of AIPAC’s United Democracy Project super PAC, since Republican funds will play a significant role in its efforts to sway Democratic primaries ahead of one of the most hotly contested elections in U.S. history.

No super PAC (political action committee) can by law directly contribute to politicians, but can solicit and spend unlimited campaign sums for or against particular candidates.

The United Democracy Project super PAC spent nearly $27 million exclusively on Democratic primaries during its debut run in the 2022 election cycle, with more than $10 million on attack ads alone. None of those ads – nor the name of the super PAC – mentioned Israel once.

Marcus was among GOP megadonors donating at least $1 million to the super PAC last election cycle. His was perhaps the first donation to raise alarm that AIPAC was allowing Republican supporters to influence Democratic elections.

The billionaire has long been known for his Jewish philanthropic efforts and support of GOP candidates and political action committees. He has steered contributions to pro-Israel candidates while bankrolling efforts aimed at promoting Israel advocacy and opposing the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Marcus was also among the first Republican Party mainstays to support Donald Trump. He donated $7 million to Trump’s 2016 campaign, saying that the “fate of the nation depends on sending him, and not Hillary Clinton, to the White House” – particularly due to a “leftward” shift of the Supreme Court had she been elected.

In recent years, Marcus has drawn criticism for backing GOP candidates who have compared Democrats to Nazis and bankrolling a campaign to place the Green Party on election ballots in order to take away votes from Democrats. He described attacks on Steve Bannon as a “shonda” (disgrace), defending Trump’s far-right adviser as a “passionate Zionist and supporter of Israel.”

He was one of six people to make a donation of $1 million or more to the United Democracy Project last election cycle, alongside fellow Republican megadonor Paul Singer and others who are more closely aligned to the Democratic Party like media mogul Haim Saban – a fact that AIPAC officials highlight to rebuff criticism of the source of the funding.

Does that name, Haim Saban, ring a bell? Yes, the Haim Saban who fucked over Keith Ellison's positioning to become head of DNC. Hollywood Haim.

That item, with much in between, ends:

Among the likeliest primaries where United Democracy Project may involve itself is for Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s New York seat. The progressive lawmaker, a target for pro-Israel groups since in 2020 defeating AIPAC’s favorite Democrat, Rep. Eliot Engel, is expected to face a significant primary effort after becoming increasingly outspoken against the Israeli occupation and the Mideast status quo in Washington.

Bowman and other progressive critics of U.S.-Israel policy have found themselves increasingly marginalized as the GOP majority in the House has found repeated opportunities to politicize Israel through official measures – with the participation of Democratic leadership, all of whom have been endorsed by AIPAC.

“It is unfortunate that after years of grumbling to the press on the paramount importance of protecting incumbents, Democratic leadership has seemingly turned its back on ours – allowing outside groups like AIPAC to target them with multimillion-dollar primary challenges,” Justice Democrats Executive Director Alexandra Rojas told HuffPost.

The Jewish progressive movement IfNotNow has also chosen to make AIPAC a central focus ahead of the 2024 election cycle, launching a “Reject AIPAC” campaign targeting lawmakers in states with large Jewish populations.

“We’re at a crossroads. Our political and community leaders have a choice to make: are they on the side of equality, justice and a thriving future for all in Israel-Palestine and the U.S., or are they on the side of AIPAC and their extremist allies,” IfNotNow Political Director Eva Borgwardt said in a press statement.

The anti-occupation activists are demanding candidates decline endorsements and contributions from AIPAC, accusing it of being on the wrong side of the fight for democracy in both the United States and Israel.

“AIPAC is not just an obstacle to progress for Israelis and Palestinians. Their intervention in Democratic primaries serves as a huge obstacle to necessary policies like universal health care, meaningful climate action and workers’ rights. AIPAC’s endorsement should be as welcome in progressive circles as the NRA or the fossil fuel lobby,” Borgwardt added.

Progressives, meanwhile, are hoping Lee’s victory offers a blueprint for combating AIPAC’s resources by coordinating their own network of donors, operatives and local community members focused on both anti-occupation activism and ideologically consistent domestic policy.

I hope LaTrisha Vetaw takes a long hard look at who is recruiting her to undermine Rep. Omar, and considers long term as well as short term best self interest.

We find out soon. 

_________FURTHER UPDATE________

The MinnPost item drew a comment thread which raises the question: How have these commentators drawn their views, given how mainstream media seem to have a bias in reporting about Isreal, and given how anyone speaking out against Israel and how it treats the occupants of the occupied territories gets pilloried by multiple online outlets and by alert pro-Israel politicians; the usual response being to shout "ANTISEMITE!!" at the drop of any judgmental word. And "tropes" or "memes" get a lot of mileage too, as reflexive responses. The MinnPost commentators must be attuned to alternate information sources on the web. 

We should hope Councilmember Vetaw while deliberating a candidacy takes time to read that comment thread. One interesting aspect of the comments, Vetaw is not even mentioned, while AIPAC gets its share of criticism and scorn.

There is a lesson there for Ms. Vetaw, but she may run and do well. Remember that Jamaal Bowman, now another AIPAC super PAC target, defeated Elliot Engle, who had years of seniority to be the ranking Dem on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, as a dedicated pro-Israel New York politician. Upsets happen.

Bowman deserves small donor attention much as Omar deserves it. The big money machine being against both means each needs progressive donor attention.


_________FURTHER UPDATE_________

Expanding upon the two mentioned above, Omar and Bowman; the obvious websearch = candidates AIPAC PAC money is being spent against

drew primarily reporting from 2022 mid-term election spending, which was massive

Doing that websearch via Google, switched from "anytime' to "past month" does filter out older stuff, *and* when run moments ago returned:

About 585 results (0.32 seconds)

Readers are urged to run the "past month" Google to check out returned items. In the course of doing that, several things were encountered worth special mention.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IfNotNow

https://theintercept.com/2023/07/18/israel-aipac-democrats-texas-pervez-agwan/
 https://www.rejectaipac.org/

https://www.rejectaipac.org/national

https://www.whois.com/whois/rejectaipac.org

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-755035

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-755041
https://jewishinsider.com/2023/08/aipac-anti-israel-lawmakers-squad-jamaal-bowman-ilhan-omar-justice-democrats/

https://mondoweiss.net/2023/08/aipac-looking-to-target-omar-bowman-and-other-progressives-in-democratic-party-primaries/

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-hands-smotrich-full-authority-to-expand-existing-settlements/

Here is one that from the headline appeared metaphorical about the settlements, and conduct in the occupied territory, but it in fact is entirely literal.

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-754109

More could be written, but the post is long enough, and then some.

FURTHER: Quickly -- Two more links -

https://www.ifnotnowmovement.org/

https://www.whois.com/whois/ifnotnowmovement.org

KNOW WHO YOU ARE DEALING WITH: Crabgrass likes non-anonymized whois info more than blank disclosure. But the site owner picks how much to tell the world, via whois, what to not disclose. "Trust me" has always been a gamble, always will be. For this IfNotNowMovement.org, this image from "about" pages gives comfort -

118713307_3320575711362707_8329520910222794623_n.jpg
Bernie cred!

Compare: https://www.whois.com/whois/rejectaipac.org each at "Registrant Contact" field. One, Ontario. The other, Israel, Capital Region - (with no Bernie cred). Compare "Registered On" dates. Compare the info each site seeks on fill-out forms. Define your own comfort zone.

_________FURTHER UPDATE_________

In an undated, but current as of mid-August 2023 item, AIPAC posts "featured candidates," with a suggestion that for payments to "featured candidates" campaigns routed through the AIPAC Political Portal "Credit goes to You and AIPAC". The word "endorsement" is not used, however on the homepage, https://www.aipacpac.org/ you click a "Who We Support" button to get to https://candidates.aipacpac.org/page/featured/ for the "featured" list, so if that is not an endorsement, what else is it?  

By searching the "featured" page for R-MN and D-MN it was clear that the only MN House or Senate office holders un-featured are Reps Omar and McCollum, and Sen. Smith. Thus identifying three that progressives might wish to help.

Of the "Learn More" buttons for each featured politician only one was of real interest, to see if Dean Phillips's "support" was for President, as well as for House continuity. No mention of support or touting, presidentially, was found.

FURTHER: While not previously particularly enamored of Sen. Smith, beyond her earlier Planned Parenthood affiliation, Crabgrass sees gravitas in an AIPAC snub, given how AIPAC has most recently degenerated into a pom-pom group for Netanyahu's excessively cruel and aggressive government, where its "friends" become suspect.

Moreover, HuffPo recently featured Smith favorably, in a well written, credible item

That combination puts Tina Smith on the Crabgrass favorable "follow list."

Interestingly, MN CD4 and CD5 incumbents were snubbed by AIPAC PAC, suggesting that progressive urban Reps are disfavored by AIPAC decision makers.

My district's Rep., Emmer, is not a Crabgrass favorite, far from it, although an upgrade from Michel Bachmann, so there is further cause to distrust/dislike AIPAC PAC's choosing who to "feature."

In fact, the featured candidates included House leadership position holders of both parties, such as Emmer, and there is not a single progressive in such leadership, in either party. They are all conservatives, having a range of right wing policy positions, but if any single one of them has a single progressive bone in his/her body, it has yet to show. On the Dem side, they wish to suppress progressives. That is why you give to individual candidates, and not DCCC, or DSCC. Or simply give to Justice Democrats.