3 days ago
Pou takes heat over Israel trip
Good Thursday morning!
Two freshman Democrats from New Jersey just went on an AIPAC-affiliated trip to Israel: Nellie Pou and Herb Conaway. But only Pou represents a district with a big Palestinian-American population. And it's getting pushback — from the right and left.
As noted last week, Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh hasn't ruled out a challenge to Pou. Yesterday, Sayegh's wife, Farhanna, asked her Facebook followers to 'flood' Pou's office with phone calls.
'While we struggle to pay our taxes and wait far too long for critical infrastructure repairs, our congresswoman Nellie Pou is off on a 'free' vacation to Israel,' she wrote. 'Last year, an estimated $22.8 BILLION of our hard-earned money went to military operations in Israel — fueling war crimes instead of fostering peace.'
The Israel visit comes at a time when news of starvation in Gaza and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to seize Gaza City have led to significant opposition from some Senate Democrats.
Pou is far from the New Jersey delegation's closest Israel ally. In a July 26 statement she called for increased humanitarian aid and a permanent ceasefire, citing 'deteriorating conditions and loss of innocent lives in Gaza.' She (and Conaway) also voted against this AIPAC-backed bill to sanction non-Americans who assist the International Criminal Court in prosecuting Israelis, even though almost half of New Jersey's Democratic delegation supported it.
Farhanna Sayegh's comments followed a critical social media post about the trip by Paterson Black Lives Matter activist Zellie Thomas, who told me he would ' love to see a primary against' the congresswoman 'so there can be a real debate around some of these issues and not have her believe that she's a shoo-in.'
Pou Campaign Manager Morghan Cyr in a statement called her trip a 'fact-finding mission' in which she spoke to both Israeli government and Palestinian Authority officials.
'In her interactions with Israeli government officials, she pressed them for details on getting more aid to Palestinians, for getting the hostages home safely, and for their plans for ending this war. She met with the UN World Food Programme and other aid distribution groups to discuss their aid distribution plan and urge them for immediate progress,' Cyr said. 'The Congresswoman's goals for the region remain unchanged: a two state solution allowing peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians, release of all the remaining hostages, safe distribution of more humanitarian aid to Gaza, the removal of Hamas, and an immediate ceasefire so the hard work of rebuilding can begin.'
Pou is also facing criticism over Passaic County's water crisis. GOP opponent Billy Prempeh criticized her for being overseas 'chasing foreign donor points' instead of being in Washington to push for funding commitments.
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