Why is Israel spending millions of dollars to remove Rashida Tlaib from the US Congress?

Washington -

Palestinian-American Representative Rashida Tlaib is facing attempts to get her out of Congress by defeating her in the Democratic primary in Michigan's 12th district, which takes place today, Tuesday local time.

Several Democratic contenders are running in the primaries, including Detroit local legislator Janice Winfrey, former Rep. Chanel Jackson, and Lathrop Mayor Kelly Garrett.

Candidate Janice Winfrey won the support of AIPAC, the largest and most powerful Jewish lobby organization in America, in an attempt to defeat Tlaib.

Tlaib is ahead in the local opinion polls in the elections, in which the winner guarantees an easy victory over the Republican candidate in the upcoming November elections, as the district is historically democratic and the victory in it is guaranteed for the Democratic candidate.

AIPAC has intensified its efforts in recent months in an effort to defeat Israel's critics in Congress, led by Representative Rashida Tlaib and her colleague from Minnesota, Representative Ilhan Omar of Somali origin.

The two progressive Muslim representatives, known for adopting positions that anger the Jewish lobby in the United States, are facing a primaries within the Democratic Party surrounded by a strong campaign by AIPAC by supporting their rivals with millions of dollars.

The Minnesota primaries will be held next Tuesday, August 9th.

The members of the US House of Representatives are renewed through elections held every two years, and winning the primaries paves the way for Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib to run in the legislative elections next November against the Republican Party candidates to maintain their seats in the House of Representatives.

sudden entry

Various developments within the Democratic Party during the past years led to the emergence of the progressive left movement led by Senator Bernie Sanders.

The victory of veiled Muslim MP Ilhan Omar in the Minnesota state elections, and Rashida Tlaib in Michigan in November 2018, then their victory again in the 2020 elections, is evidence of the strength of the current of change within the democratic camp.

The two Muslim representatives have faced wide challenges since their arrival in the House of Representatives, whether with regard to their exceptional background or their unconventional political positions according to American standards, especially their strong rejection of the arbitrary practices and Israeli violations of the rights of the Palestinian people.

The Israeli lobby's accusations of two MPs, Tlaib and Omar, did not stop at their positions regarding Palestinian rights. Rather, the powerful lobby machine accused them of "anti-Semitism." These pressures did not succeed in removing them early from the political process.

smear campaigns

In its attempt to exclude Tlaib from the political scene, a PAC financial committee supporting AIPAC-backed candidates raised $12 million for attacks on Israel's critics in the House of Representatives.

"It has become abundantly clear that anti-Israelism will have a negative impact on the chances of success of the congressional candidates," said committee spokesman Patrick Dorton.

According to Dorton, those "extremist views" of Israel over the past few years have seeped into politics in a way that threatens historical and partisan support for Israel in Congress.

He stresses that AIPAC's position is clear. It is important to confront the anti-Israel candidates in the primaries by preventing them from reaching the final stage of the electoral race.

AIPAC spent more than a million dollars to support Janice Winfrey, the black American politician in Detroit, and to defeat Tlaib.

The committee emanating from AIPAC is following a tactic that accuses Representative Tlaib of ignoring the needs of African Americans and focusing on the rights of the Palestinians.

Tlaib's rivals tout that the poor constituency hopes to have a candidate who does not have issues that distract him from demanding the rights of citizens of African descent.

good alliances

AIPAC's attack on Representative Rashida did not stop according to the traditional methods of distorting her image and record among voters, but went - as usual - to form an alliance with groups of African Americans who represent most of the voters in the 12th district in Michigan.

There is already concern among African-American voters that there is no black representative of Detroit representing the Detroit area for the first time in decades, and that the entire state may not have a single black representative in Congress.

Representative Rashida Tlaib defends her record in Congress vigorously, and Tlaib is touting other achievements in addition to her tough stance in opposing Israeli policies, such as establishing neighborhood service centers to help address issues facing her current constituents.

Tlaib campaigned to increase the allocations of US infrastructure reform legislation to focus on projects within her district, especially road and bridge construction and childcare programs.

AIPAC's targeting of candidates who reject Israeli policies is not limited to Representative Tlaib, as it also targets progressive Jewish MP Andy Levin.

A few days ago, Senator Bernie Sanders visited Michigan, and participated in electoral activities to support Representative Levin and Representative Tlaib in the face of their rivals supported by AIPAC.