AIPAC Targets Black Mayor Of Pittsburgh

An easy one for them; he's probably going to lose anyway

I just read an excellent piece from Matt Cassell, a very talented reporter at the Jewish Insider. Jewish Insider is predictably right-wing and pure AIPAC but its reporter is very good and JI does publish interesting stuff. Here’s the link to the story.

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So now the antisemitism factory that is AIPAC (and its camp followers in Pittsburgh) are trying to defeat the incumbent mayor of that city because they didn’t like his statement on the anniversary of October 7th.

This is so Israel lobby!

Forget that the mayor of Pittsburgh is not a major (or even minor) foreign policy player. Even if Henry Kissinger had been mayor of Pittsburgh, he would have had no role in foreign policy. Trying to defeat the mayor of Pittsburgh over his Mideast views is like trying to defeat the mayor of Boston over her response to the Los Angeles fires.

Here’s the thing. Mayor Gainey is unpopular in general and is being challenged by a strong qualified opponent from a prominent Pittsburgh family, Corey O’Connor (no relation although I do have a first cousin with that name!) There is a good chance Gainey will lose.

But whether he wins or loses, it will be about Pittsburgh not Israel.

But AIPAC sees a target of opportunity. Since Gainey probably will lose anyway, why not take credit and say he lost because he isn’t good on Israel? It helps with fundraising for AIPAC and helps to scare other politicians into never, ever dissenting from the AIPAC line.

Also Pittsburgh AIPACers (and their DC sherpas) are still smarting because Pittsburghers defied them in 2020 and elected the terrific African American woman Summer Lee to Congress over their handpicked candidate.

They spent a fortune on that race and all they accomplished was to harm relations between the local African American community and the Jewish community.

But they don’t care about that. The only African Americans they want to see in Congress are the ones they both choose and then fund like Ritchie Torres who is one of AIPAC’s enforcers in Congress (an African American/Latino version of the godawful AIPAC boys Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) and the most egregious Gaza war cheerleader of all, Sen. John Fetterman (D-AIPAC).

AIPAC (and its tools) are a danger to Jews. And it’s getting worse with Trump pulling a jiu jitsu move and inserting Jews and Israel into the center of one of his most hateful actions, the Mahmoud Khalil kidnapping/arrest.

It’s jiu jitsu because in the name of fighting antisemitism, our first antisemitic president is stirring up antisemitism among those on the far right and far left who think Jews run the world. Very clever, if you don’t give a damn about anything except intimidating US officials into supporting whatever Netanyahu wants.

AIPAC and the other “mainstream” Jewish organizations who back it are a curse. 80% of Jews are progressives and only 33% approve of Israel’s behavior. Even the right-wing American Jewish Committee bucked AIPAC and ADL and condemned Khalil’s arrest. How dare these outliers (or outliars) speak for Jews.

Rep. Ritchie Torres doing his job…for AIPAC.