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Cori Bush Bashes AIPAC On Her Way Out, Says Pro-Israel Group ‘Cheated’ St. Louis Voters
US Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) raises her fist as US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) addresses a pro-Hamas demonstration in Washington, DC. Photo: Reuters/Allison Bailey
Outgoing Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) blasted the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) during a radio interview, accusing the foremost pro-Israel lobbying firm engaging in practices that “cheated the people of St. Louis”
While chatting with St. Louis Public Radio on Dec. 23, Bush argued that her August election loss was the result of a rapid influx of pro-Israel money.
“The amount of money that was spent against me made my race the second most expensive House race in U.S. history. You know, not in the last decade. Not, you know, several years. In U.S. History,” Bush said.
“So, the fact that they spent 15 times as much—people like me have to understand this. I spent around $1.4 million when I unseated my predecessor, $1.4 million. And I won by a little less than 5,000 votes,” she added.
She lamented that AIPAC reportedly spent a staggering $15,000,000 against her “to win by 6,800 votes.”
“So this is the thing that really bothers me about this. If someone wants to run, I have no problem with that,” she said, conceding that political opponents might have better “ideas” than her.
However, Bush fretted that her opponent, U.S. Representative-elect Wesley Bell, supposedly entered the race out of frustration over her anti-Israel positions. She suggested that AIPAC hand-picked Bell to run against her because she called for a “ceasefire” between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group in the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7 slaughters in the Jewish state.
“He came out and said that the reason why he was running against me was because I called for a ceasefire. That was initially what he said. But never once did any of their ads say anything about Israel, Gaza, ceasefire,” Bush said.
The congresswoman pointed out that ads funded by AIPAC focused primarily on “ridiculous things” like her legislative record and issues more proximate to the people of St. Louis, such as contamination in the city’s drinking water.
“They lied about my record. They spewed disinformation and misinformation about my work,” she said, accusing AIPAC of helping Bell win by spreading “lies” and “fabrications.”
Bush lost her reelection campaign to St. Louis attorney Wesley Bell in August while making her opposition to Israel a key talking point of the race. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) flooded the race with a staggering sum of money to secure her defeat.
Bush’s conduct in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’s’ atrocities on Oct. 7 drew widespread condemnation from pro-Israel leaders and convinced AIPAC to intervene in her primary contest. Only nine days after the massacre, Bush called for an “immediate ceasefire” between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group. As the war dragged on, her rhetoric toward Israel sharpened, with the congresswoman accusing the Jewish state of committing “genocide” in Gaza and “apartheid” in the West Bank. Bush has also accused Israel of inflicting a “famine” in Gaza without providing evidence.
Bush’s anti-Israel stance incensed the St. Louis Jewish community, causing a cohort of 30 local rabbis to write a letter repudiating Bush and endorsing Bell. In the letter, the rabbis slammed Bush for “continually fanned the flames with the most outrageous smears of Israel, accusing the Jewish state of ‘ethnic cleansing’ and ‘genocide’ as it has fought to defeat the terrorists.”
The post Cori Bush Bashes AIPAC On Her Way Out, Says Pro-Israel Group ‘Cheated’ St. Louis Voters first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.