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Jamaal Bowman Calls for End to Iron Dome Funding, Denounces AIPAC as ‘Zionist Regime’
US Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) speaks during the National Action Network National Convention in New York City, US, April 7, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
US Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) has recently intensified his anti-Israel rhetoric, condemning the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as a “Zionist regime” and calling for an end to all US funding to the Jewish state, including for its vaunted Iron Dome air defense system.
Bowman, a left-wing lawmaker and longtime critic of Israel, has been scrambling in recent months to shore up support among progressives in the final stretch leading up to the June 24 Democratic primary. Recent polls show the congressman trailing his opponent, Westchester County executive George Latimer, by double-digits.
In a recent speech to a crowd of Muslim men, Bowman implored the audience to vote for him, exclaiming that he is “fighting against genocide” and therefore “being attacked by the Zionist regime we call AIPAC.” Notably, there was virtually no applause from the audience for these lines.
During a debate against Latimer on Tuesday, Bowman asserted that the US government should “stop all funding” to Israel, including Iron Dome.
Earlier this month, to secure funding from the Democratic Socialists of America — a prominent left-wing organization that has made anti-Israel activism its top priority — Bowman agreed to stop his support for Iron Dome funding. Iron Dome is an air defense system that saves Israeli lives from rockets and missiles launched by neighboring terrorist groups, such as Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Bowman asserted during the debate that there is no “military solution” to everlasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Instead, Bowman called for both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to work together to negotiate a “permanent ceasefire” and an end to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Bowman then contended that “children are starving to death” in Gaza, an assertion that the United Nations Famine Review Committee has rejected. He also dodged a question from the moderator on whether America is “condoning” a genocide of Palestinians by Israel, despite making this claim several times before.
In another portion of the debate, Bowman accused Latimer of an unwillingness to “acknowledge the existence of the Palestinian people.” He also argued that AIPAC, the foremost pro-Israel lobbying organization in the US, has financed Latimer’s entire campaign under the condition that he reject Palestinian self-determination. Latimer responded, stating that Bowman has denied Hamas’ Oct. 7 atrocities and has partnered with activist groups that want to eradicate the Jewish state.
Bowman struck a far more moderate tone on Israel during a Wednesday night appearance on “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert. He called for a “ceasefire” and the establishment of a “pathway to peace.” The congressman reiterated that he supports a “two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and argued that the US foreign policy establishment should reorient its practices towards “leading through diplomacy” rather than securing peace through military strength.
The progressive lawmaker notably did not accuse Israel of “genocide” on “The Late Show” as he has done in other settings.
Observers speculate that Bowman’s repeated condemnations of Israel have made him a particularly vulnerable and weak candidate in the heavily-Jewish Westchester County district. In an attempt to save his floundering reelection campaign, the progressive firebrand has attempted to consolidate support among the most left-leaning voters by continuously castigating Israel.
Bowman on Wednesday apologized for dismissing widely reported and corroborated claims of Hamas terrorists raping Israeli women. He called such claims “propaganda” before being forced to walk back his comments after receiving widespread scrutiny.
The congressman has also argued that Israel is a product of “white supremacy” and “white nationalism,” despite the fact that about half of Israeli Jews are Mizrahi, meaning they are of Middle Eastern or North African descent.
An Emerson College poll conducted from June 6-8 shows Bowman trailing his opponent 48 percent to 31 percent.
The post Jamaal Bowman Calls for End to Iron Dome Funding, Denounces AIPAC as ‘Zionist Regime’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd
Magdeburg Christmas market, December 21, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Christian Mang
i24 News – A suspected terrorist plowed a vehicle into a crowd at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg, west of the capital Berlin, killing at least five and injuring dozens more.
Local police confirmed that the suspect was a Saudi national born in 1974 and acting alone.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his concern about the incident, saying that “reports from Magdeburg suggest something bad. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.”
Police declined to give casualty numbers, confirming only a large-scale operation at the market, where people had gathered to celebrate in the days leading up to the Christmas holidays.
The post Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister
A person waves a flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, as people gather during a celebration called by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) near the Umayyad Mosque, after the ousting of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, Photo: December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File Photo
Syria’s new rulers have appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency which toppled Bashar al-Assad, as defense minister in the interim government, an official source said on Saturday.
Abu Qasra, who is also known by the nom de guerre Abu Hassan 600, is a senior figure in the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group which led the campaign that ousted Assad this month. He led numerous military operations during Syria’s revolution, the source said.
Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed “the form of the military institution in the new Syria” during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported.
Abu Qasra during the meeting sat next to Sharaa, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, photos published by SANA showed.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said this week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Assad’s army.
Bashir, who formerly led an HTS-affiliated administration in the northwestern province of Idlib, has said he will lead a three-month transitional government. The new administration has not declared plans for what will happen after that.
Earlier on Saturday, the ruling General Command named Asaad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new administration told Reuters that this step “comes in response to the aspirations of the Syrian people to establish international relations that bring peace and stability.”
Shibani, a 37-year-old graduate of Damascus University, previously led the political department of the rebels’ Idlib government, the General Command said.
Sharaa’s group was part of al Qaeda until he broke ties in 2016. It had been confined to Idlib for years until going on the offensive in late November, sweeping through the cities of western Syria and into Damascus as the army melted away.
Sharaa has met with a number of international envoys this week. He has said his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development and that he is not interested in engaging in any new conflicts.
Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family’s decades-long rule.
Washington designated Sharaa a terrorist in 2013, saying al Qaeda in Iraq had tasked him with overthrowing Assad’s rule and establishing Islamic sharia law in Syria. US officials said on Friday that Washington would remove a $10 million bounty on his head.
The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times and left cities bombed to rubble and the economy hollowed out by global sanctions.
The post Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels
View of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) building in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash90.
i24 News – Sweden will no longer fund the U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) and will instead provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza via other channels, the Scandinavian country said on Friday.
The decision comes on the heels of multiple revelations regarding the agency’s employees’ involvement in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.
Sweden’s decision was in response to the Israeli ban, as it will make channeling aid via the agency more difficult, the country’s aid minister, Benjamin Dousa, said.
“Large parts of UNRWA’s operations in Gaza are either going to be severely weakened or completely impossible,” Dousa said. “For the government, the most important thing is that support gets through.”
The Palestinian embassy in Stockholm said in a statement: “We reject the idea of finding alternatives to UNRWA, which has a special mandate to provide services to Palestinian refugees.”
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel thanked Dousa for a meeting they had this week and for Sweden’s decision to drop its support for UNRWA.
“There are worthy and viable alternatives for humanitarian aid, and I appreciate the willingness to listen and adopt a different approach,” she said.
The post Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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