New Jersey – A bitter campaign in a northern New Jersey Democratic primary race has bought out a growing Muslim community to vote for a “friend of the Arabs” instead of the Jewish candidate.
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A redrawing of the state’s district has left two incumbents, Jewish Rep. Steve Rothman, running against Bill Pascrell, grandson of an Italian immigrant and former mayor of the city of Paterson, which hosts a large Muslim population.
The contest has drawn President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton into the fray.
Rothman was the only state Democratic legislator to support Obama’s bid for the presidential nomination. While not stating outright support for Rothman, President Obama met with the Congressman on Friday, the same day Clinton appeared at a rally for Pascrell, who endorsed Hillary Clinton for president.
The religious and ethnic elements festering behind the headlines in the campaign erupted when Arabic language posters urged the “Arab diaspora community” to “elect the friend of the Arabs.”
Pascrell has billed himself as being pro-Israel, but his website’s record of his votes on foreign policy show only one issue on Israel – “Israeli blockade on Gaza,” which he voted to ease.
Pro-Israel activist Ben Chouake told the Washington Free Beacon, “One side says, ‘We want this Jew out of office’ and, frankly, it’s pretty unsettling. They emphasized [Rothman] is a Jewish congressman.”
Pascrell has said he has voted in Congress to condemn Hamas terrorism, but some of his supporters are openly anti-Israel and often pro-Hamas. They include Imam Mohammed Qatanani, a Passaic cleric whom the State Department has accused of hiding a conviction in Israel for ties with Hamas.
Rothman has been trying to gain more support by encouraging Republican Orthodox Jews to switch party registration so they can vote in the Democratic party primary vote.
I’ll support whoever wins the primary, although I guess Rothman would be marginally better because it will be Jew vs. Jew in the general election.
The important thing is NOT to vote for that charlatan Shmuley Boteach. This guy set up a charity, collected almost $700,000, and used all but 10% for “expenses,” of which more than half were salaries, wages, and fees to “consultants.”
Aren’t we voting for the other guy because he’s a “friend of the Jews?”
I just love it when Democrats fight each other. I’m 100% positive that this whole “pro-Pascrell” campaign is being run by Rothman. Rothman knows he’s in trouble, so a good racial fight may get all the Jews voting for him.
Maybe Gary Schear can give up one of his cushy government jobs and paychecks and give it to one on these two clowns and leave the rest of us out of the filth known as NJ politics.
If the arabs like Pascrell you run and vote for his opponent, period.
The amazing thing is that this pro-Arab, pro-Israel issue has been openly discussed in the Palestinian/Arab and Jewish neighborhoods that are part of the new 9th CD since Rothman decided to run against Pascrell. Yet none of the “mainstream” media has touched this subject. There is no doubt that as far as Israel is concerned Rothman is the better candidate. Pascrell’s allies have organized a tremendous get out the vote effort in Paterson. The question is whether people like Ben Chouake and his friends in Norpac can get the sometimes apathetic Jews of Teaneck and environs out in numbers to counter Pascrell’s anti-Israel calls to his Muslim constituents.
I heard a commercial today where Rothman bichvodo uv’atzmo said he voted for “women’s rights” (liberal democrat euphemism for ABORTION aka BABY MURDER) almost 10 times where. Pascrell didn’t.
Now I don’t believe that Pesky Pascrell didn’t vote for “women’s rights” but I do believe Rothman that he did vote that way.
ANYONE on the other side will be better than ANY liberal.
umm, hello there, Arutz Sheva. “Arab” does NOT automatically mean “Muslim”. Nor, despite what the article says, vice versa.
Lots of non Arab Muslims in Persia (Iran) for example.
No, I don’t belong to an organized Party. I’m a Democrat.