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Jamaal Bowman Accuses AIPAC of Being Funded By ‘Racist’ Republicans During Podcast Interview
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) complained about the amount of attention given to antisemitism and accused the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) of racism during a Tuesday interview with the Higher Learning podcast.
Higher Learning hosts Rachel Lindsay and Van Lathan asked Bowman if he believed the attention given to his views on the Israel-Hamas war have served as a distraction during his Democratic primary. Bowman agreed and argued that the US Congress has focused outsized attention on Israel at the expense of its constituents.
“Every other week, with all due respect, it seems like we’re voting on a bill related to Israel in support of Israel or reasserting that we are not antisemitic,” Bowman said.
Bowman said “racism” is the reason why Congress supposedly addresses the needs of Jews more urgently than its black and brown constituents
“The organization AIPAC, they’re funded mostly by racist, MAGA Republicans. And most of their resources go towards challenging black and brown members of Congress who happen to be critical of Israel, whether it is the occupation or apartheid or what’s happening right now,” Bowman said.
He added that AIPAC, the foremost pro-Israel lobbying group in the US, has had more time and opportunity to build “political power” and “economic power” than “marginalized folk” such as black Americans and immigrants.
Bowman then accused George Latimer, his opponent in the Democratic primary, of being financed by “MAGA Trump donors.” Bowman also pointed to AIPAC’s endorsement of Latimer as proof of his opponent’s lack of progressive bona fides.
“So this is an individual who is endorsed by AIPAC, which is mostly funded by MAGA Republicans, the same MAGA Republicans who didn’t certify the election results in 2020, the same MAGA Republicans who are trying to take your reproductive freedom, the same MAGA Republicans trying to take our voting rights,” Bowman said.
Bowman, who has long been a fierce critic of Israel, has found himself embroiled in a heated primary battle in New York’s heavily-Jewish 16th Congressional District. During a debate on May 13, Bowman claimed Latimer sees him as “an angry black man.” Bowman attempted to use Latimer’s relationship with AIPAC to tie him to Republicans.
“George Latimer has taken money from AIPAC, who also supports Republican candidates,” Bowman said.
The Algemeiner has reached out to AIPAC for comment for this story.
The post Jamaal Bowman Accuses AIPAC of Being Funded By ‘Racist’ Republicans During Podcast Interview first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘With or Without Russia’s Help’: Iran Pledges to Block South Caucasus Route Opened Up By Peace Deal
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
i24 News – Iran will block the establishment of a US-backed transit corridor in the South Caucasus region with or without Moscow’s help, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader was quoted as saying on Saturday by the Iran International website, one day after the historic peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“Mr. Trump thinks the Caucasus is a piece of real estate he can lease for 99 years,” Ali Akbar Velayati said of the so-called Zangezur corridor, the establishment of which is stipulated in the peace deal unveiled on Friday by US President Donald Trump. The White House said the transit route would facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources.
“This passage will not become a gateway for Trump’s mercenaries — it will become their graveyard,” the Khamenei advisor added.
Baku and Yerevan have been at loggerheads since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, prompting or forcing almost all of the territory’s 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.
Yet that painful history was put to the side on Friday at the White House, as Trump oversaw a signing ceremony, flanked by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The peace deal with Azerbaijan—a pro-Western ally of Israel—is expected to pull Armenia out of the Russian and Iranian sphere of influence and could transform the South Caucasus, an energy-producing region neighboring Russia, Europe, Turkey and Iran.
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UK Police Arrest 150 at Protest for Banned Palestine Action Group
People holding signs sit during a rally organised by Defend Our Juries, challenging the British government’s proscription of “Palestine Action” under anti-terrorism laws, in Parliament Square, in London, Britain, August 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
London’s Metropolitan Police said on Saturday it had arrested 150 people at a protest against Britain’s decision to ban the group Palestine Action, adding it was making further arrests.
Officers made arrests after crowds, waving placards expressing support for the group, gathered in Parliament Square, the force said on X.
Protesters, some wearing black and white Palestinian scarves, chanted “shame on you” and “hands off Gaza,” and held signs such as “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,” video taken by Reuters at the scene showed.
In July, British lawmakers banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged planes in protest against Britain’s support for Israel.
The ban makes it a crime to be a member of the group, carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
The co-founder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, last week won a bid to bring a legal challenge against the ban.
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‘No Leniency’: Iran Announces Arrest of 20 ‘Zionist Agents’
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addresses a special session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
i24 News – Iranian authorities have in recent months arrested 20 people charged with being “Israeli Mossad operatives,” the judiciary said, adding that the Islamic regime will mete out the harshest punishments.
“The judiciary will show no leniency toward spies and agents of the Zionist regime, and with firm rulings, will make an example of them all,” spokesperson Asghar Jahangiri told Iranian media. However, it is understood that an unspecified number of detainees were released, apparently after the charges against them could not be substantiated.
The Islamic Republic was left reeling by a devastating 12-day war with Israel earlier in the summer that left a significant proportion of its military arsenal in ruins and dealt a serious setback to its uranium enrichment program. The fallout included an uptick in executions of Iranians convicted of spying for Israel, with at least eight death sentences carried out in recent months. Hit with international sanctions, the country is in dire economic straights, with frequent energy outages and skyrocketing unemployment.
In recent weeks Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi affirmed that Tehran cannot give up on its nuclear enrichment program even as it was severely damaged during the war.
“It is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe. But obviously we cannot give up of enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists. And now, more than that, it is a question of national pride,” the official told Fox News.