WASHINGTON — They were warned that their criticism of Israel after October 7 could harm them politically. But in the months since the bloody war between the Jewish state and Hamas began, progressives in Congress who have called for a ceasefire in Gaza are seeing record fundraising amounts as they fight to stay in office.
Members of the “Squad” – a group of liberals in the House of Representatives – are handpicked by pro-Israel PACs such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, better known as AIPAC. The groups have pledged or plan to spend tens of millions of dollars in an effort to defeat them in this year’s Democratic primaries and general election, turning otherwise safely Democratic districts into an electoral battleground.
The cohort of Black and brown lawmakers are facing what they see as an “existential threat” to their political careers. It’s a fight that raises important questions about who can be a Democrat in Congress, what positions on Israel and Palestine are allowed, and what positions on Israel and Palestine are allowed. role that outside groups should play in determining both.
Unlike in previous cycles, progressives are increasingly supported by Arab-American and Muslim groups who are organizing in record numbers to ensure their voices are heard on Capitol Hill.
“The fact that we are having a record-breaking fundraising quarter in the midst of these AIPAC attacks, while we have a viable challenger, is because the Muslim community has felt erased and dehumanized in this process,” Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., told me. Associated Press in an interview last month.
AIPAC has defended its record, telling the AP in a statement that “it is fully consistent with progressive values to stand with the Jewish state,” and that the group has a history of supporting members of Congress Progressive Caucus.
Democrats in Congress have long been sensitive to the divisions surrounding Israel, with even lawmakers aligned with AIPAC refusing to officially discuss the situation.
Bowman, who is part of a group of 19 Democrats who have called for a ceasefire in Gaza, faces a Democratic challenger backed by AIPAC. The group, which has historically had enormous influence in Washington, has changed strategy in recent years, moving from strictly a lobbying organization to helping elected centrist, pro-Israel Democrats. In 2022, it began challenging Democratic incumbents in primaries.
Leading up to November, the group and PACs associated with its ethos have again begun contributing to candidates running against members of the squad. In addition to Bowman, Democrats facing challengers include Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania and Cori Bush of Missouri, all of whom have not only called for a ceasefire but also demanded it end to US aid to Israel as its bombardment. It is estimated that more than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since October.
Progressive groups are keeping a close eye on the campaign as they track the unprecedented flow of money into congressional district races at levels usually seen for battleground Senate seats.
In 2022, AIPAC spent approximately $27 million on progressive candidates. This cycle’s war chest is expected to be more than twice as large.
In the last quarter alone, the group was the largest donor to George Latimer, Bowman’s opponent in the Democratic primary. AIPAC gave the Westchester County executive more than $600,000, representing more than 40% of his $1.4 million in contributions to date, according to campaign finance reports filed Wednesday.
Bowman, meanwhile, managed to raise a total of more than $730,000 last quarter — most of which his campaign said came from Arab and Muslim grassroots groups and individual donors.
“(Muslim and Arab groups) are building an infrastructure that is financial, political and social to fight back against AIPAC and to fight back against entities that continue to demonize them as Muslims, Arabs and as brown people,” Bowman said.
It marks a record quarter for the educator-turned-congressman who narrowly managed to raise $200,000 in contributions as of December 2021. But outside groups like Justice Democrats say the challenge ahead is significant, with AIPAC having the ability to drop more than half a million on a candidate in a single quarter.
“This is against candidates, black and brown candidates, who come from working class, who represent working-class districts, who don’t take corporate PAC money, who rely on grassroots fundraising. So this is not a fair fight,” said Usamah Andrabi, communications director of Justice Democrats. “It’s never been a fair fight.”
In addition to the four members of the squad – Bowman, Lee, Omar and Bush – who already face both the primaries and the general election, pro-Israel groups are still looking for candidates to take on some other vocal Palestinians advocates in Congress.
One progressive who has been no stranger to AIPAC-backed challenges since coming to Washington is Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, the only Palestinian serving in Congress.
While there has been an active effort to recruit an opponent against her this cycle, no candidate has accepted calls from various groups to take her on. Still, Tlaib has raised nearly $3.7 million since the start of the Gaza war, a record amount for the third-term congresswoman who has been under constant attack from both sides for her criticism of Israel. She was criticized by the House of Representatives in November for her comments about the war.
Tlaib’s massive fundraising can largely be attributed to grassroots efforts, with donations coming from 32,600 people in the three months, according to the campaign. More than 20,000 of these people were first-time donors, and the average donation was less than $75, according to the campaign.
“We are proud of our grassroots campaign that brings people together to fight for justice for everyone, no matter where you live or who you are,” said Carolina Toro-Román, Tlaib’s co-campaign manager.
Tlaib has easily defeated top opponents in the past, in part because her district includes parts of Dearborn and one of the largest Arab-American communities in the country.
Hussein Dabajeh, a Dearborn resident and Democratic consultant, said there has been an active effort within the community to financially support not only Tlaib, but also all lawmakers who have called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“Whether it’s chats on WhatsApp, Facebook groups, coordinated emails from different organizations, text message campaigns, phone calls or town halls, efforts are coming from the community,” Dabajeh said. “Not just in Dearborn or Detroit, but from across the country.”
Before November, progressive members and the outside groups that support them are looking beyond fundraising tactics to question AIPAC’s standing with the Democratic Party.
Candidates targeted by the group are trying to raise awareness of what they say is AIPAC’s toxic role in the Democratic primaries. In recent years, several major Republican donors have helped fund the group’s efforts to target candidates critical of Israel. In 2022, most of the money was spent on the Democratic primary between then-Rep. Andy Levin and Rep. Haley Stevens in Michigan came from GOP donors.
After the latest war between Israel and Hamas in 2021, Levin, a self-described Zionist and former president of the synagogue, renewed his calls for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. That, in addition to the redistricting in Michigan, resulted in a perfect storm against Levin, who faced an organized campaign by AIPAC that would funnel an unprecedented amount of money — more than $4 million — to Stevens, a centrist, pro-Israel member. . Stevens won the primaries and helped expel Levin and his vocal criticism of the Jewish state from Congress.
“I think this is really a structural issue for democracy in general and an existential issue for the Democratic Party,” Levin told the AP last month. “What kind of party are we if we allow the Republicans to come in and determine who we choose in a Democratic primary to run against the other side?”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Progressive Caucus, which is also a target of AIPAC this year, said she has spoken with Democrats who continue to receive money from the group about the damage it could do to the party and their efforts to Win back the House of Representatives. .
“This hurts the Democratic Party’s ability to challenge our incumbents,” Japayal said. “Our goal as a united Democratic Party is to ensure that Joe Biden remains in the White House, and that we take back the House and make Hakeem Jeffries our speaker and that we expand our ranks in the Senate.”
And AIPAC, she says, has become a major obstacle to that goal.
___ Associated Press writer Joey Cappelletti in Lansing, Michigan, contributed to this report.