I’ve been watching, and reporting on, the Bowman-Latimer primary (though I haven’t published anything yet.) Some scattered thoughts as we are five days out from the election: This piece by Politico gets out an underlooked aspect of the race: Bowman began his political career closer to J Street than the Palestinian rights movement. politico.com/news/magazine/…

NEWS: Columbia University is suspending Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) as official student groups through the end of the fall term. news.columbia.edu/news/statement… Brandeis was the first university to take this action since Oct. 7 citing SJP’s alleged support for Hamas. Columbia is citing violations of school policies.

An incendiary claim has gone viral: That Palestinian fighters raped Israeli women during their attack on the rave in Kibbutz Reim. We should treat this claim with a huge dose of skepticism. The source is a SINGLE unnamed witness who told Tablet, “Women have been raped.” Note the passive voice. Did this witness personally see it? We don’t know. He doesn’t say. The writer, Liel Leibovitz, just lets the explosive claim in, without any comment.

🚨SCOOP 🚨: After ADL CEO @JGreenblattADL compared anti-Zionist orgs to right-wing extremists, ADL staffers dissented. Greenblatt called a special meeting to answer critics—and expressed frustration at leaks to journalists. We obtained audio of the meeting jewishcurrents.org/adl-staffers-d… Greenblatt’s hosting of a special meeting to pacify internal critics signifies that the organization’s vocal opposition to the anti-Zionist left is controversial even within an organization that has long been committed to Israel advocacy.

NEW from me in the @JewishCurrents newsletter: A post-midterms look at AIPAC’s massive spending, the lobby group’s goals, their accomplishments, and the obstacles they face as they continue to try to stop more progressive criticism of Israel. jewishcurrents.org/aipac-spent-bi… By dumping at least $28.5 million into elections, AIPAC sought to keep candidates critical of Israel’s human rights abuses from gaining greater power, to replace retiring progressive incumbents with allies, and to make progressives think twice about criticizing Israeli apartheid

Breaking via @BarakRavid: FBI opened a criminal investigation into Israel’s killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh news.walla.co.il/item/3540518 This news has been confirmed by at least three Israeli outlets now. It would be unprecedented for the US to open a criminal investigation into the actions of an Israeli soldier. haaretz.com/israel-news/20…

News on Shireen Abu Akleh:

1) US invited Abu Akleh family for White House meeting.

2) Six Senators in two separate letters expressed concern over the July 4 State Dept. statement

3) Carson amendment to force investigation did not make it into NDAA Significantly, Booker and Menendez, two of the most pro-Israel Senators, "urged President Biden to raise Ms. Abu Akleh’s case at the highest levels and press for accountability during his visit." foreign.senate.gov/press/chair/re…

NEWS: 11 progressive Democrats led by @RepAndreCarson introduced legislation that would force the US to investigate the killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and determine whether US weapons were used to kill her. jewishcurrents.org/progressives-i… This amendment to the NDAA was introduced after the State Dept. said Israel likely killed Shireen Abu Akleh, while also saying Israel’s killing of Abu Akleh was unintentional, and that it was the result of “tragic circumstances.”

🚨🚨🚨BREAKING: @SamTLevin and I obtained an internal draft memo from @ADL execs recommending the ADL end its practice of sending police delegations to Israel, and contemplating whether the delegations fuel police militarization and misconduct in the US. jewishcurrents.org/scoop-internal… "In light of" police brutality, "we must ask ourselves difficult questions, like whether we are contributing to the problem," the memo states. "We must ask ourselves if, upon returning home, those we train are more likely to use force.” jewishcurrents.org/scoop-internal…

SCOOP 🚨🚨🚨: @JamaalBowmanNY is withdrawing his sponsorship of legislation promoting Israel’s normalization deals with authoritarian Arab states. In a letter to constituents I obtained, he writes that the deals are "at odds with human rights and safety." jewishcurrents.org/jamaal-bowman-… In his letter to constituents, Bowman expressed concern that the agreements could threaten human rights in the region, emphasizing the dangers of the US’s “recognition of Morocco’s control over Western Sahara, and conversations about arms sales with the United Arab Emirates."

NEWS: A George Washington University office offered trauma support services to Palestinian students dealing with Israel's attack on Gaza. Then university administrators got involved, curtailed the office's work and threatened to shut the office down. jewishcurrents.org/george-washing… Nada Elbasha, a Palestinian American GW employee, has now initiated a complaint against the university, alleging that, in disciplining the office, the university violated the DC Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in educational institutions.

Jonathan Greenblatt, head of the ADL, says he and his organization are sorry for opposing the Park 51 Cordoba center, infamously labeled the “Ground Zero mosque.” cnn.com/2021/09/04/opi… This apology, while good, is low-hanging fruit. It distances the ADL from the right-wing extremists that led this anti-Muslim craze. And yet, the ADL has done and continues to do things that strengthen the war on terror’s architecture, like supporting CVE

🚨 BREAKING NEWS: The State Dept. granted Boeing an export license to sell $735 million in bombs to Israel, a Congressional staffer told me, bypassing Dem. opposition. Sen. Sanders placed a hold on State nominees in response, but lifted the hold today. 🚨 jewishcurrents.org/breaking-news-… The approval of the export license for the arms sale, which progressive legislators tried to block, immediately spurred opposition from Senator Bernie Sanders. Sanders was notified that the sale had gone through and responded by placing a hold on all State nominees.

Cowardly move by the AP. College should be a time of intellectual exploration, not a time when you need to look over your shoulder for every thing you do.

https://twitter.com/suhaunah/status/1395479074450022401

And before anyone says it, the same goes for a College Republican who wants to be a journalist and said some dumb thing about Hillary Clinton when they were 21.

WATCH now: What does Palestine mean for Black America? "Black people...understand that calls for Black internationalism are not abstract appeals for black unity, but rather efforts to promote justice on the planet," says Angela Davis.

🚨 🚨 🚨 BREAKING NEWS: @AOC is preparing to introduce a resolution that would block the United States’ planned $735 million sale of bombs to Israel. jewishcurrents.org/aoc-to-introdu… The resolution would halt the planned transfer of so-called JDAMs and of Small Diameter Bombs, both of which are bombs outfitted with special guidance systems to hit their intended targets. Both types of explosive are made by Boeing, and have been used by Israel in its attack

VIDEO: Yesterday at a protest in Dearborn, Rep. @DebDingell was confronted over why she rescinded her support of McCollum's bill banning US aid from subsidizing Israel's detention of Palestinian children. Her response? "I don't trust Betty McCollum. It will never get anywhere." Background: @BettyMcCollum04 had a bill to ban the US from subsidizing Israel's brutal military detention of Palestinian children. @DebDingell co-sponsored it--but then backed out. Now she says she did it because she didn't "trust" McCollum and the "bill wouldn't go anywhere."

THREAD: Here's some crucial background as to why Pompeo visited the Psagot Winery today. It's a simple story of political donors that bankroll politicians and Christian evangelicals. In July 2020, Pompeo went to a dinner sponsored by Simon Falic, the owner of Duty Free Americas (those airport shops) and a major funder of Israeli settlements. The Falic Family are majority owners of the Psagot Winery.

News via @repmarkpocan: 40 Democrats send a letter to Mike Pompeo (ahead of his trip to Israel) asking for condemnation of Israel's Election Day demolition of a Palestinian village, and inquiring whether US equipment was used in the demolition operation. “The Netanyahu government is attempting to use the cover of our presidential election to commit gross human rights atrocities and the largest single demolition of a Palestinian community in a decade." --@repmarkpocan

Notice @AdamMilstein’s tweets accusing @RashidaTlaib and @IlhanMN of terrorism and betrayal of the US? Wanna know more about who he is? Read my story: He’s on AIPAC national council, is a major donor to the group—and funds orgs that smear college students theintercept.com/2019/03/25/ada… From 2004-2016, the Milstein Family Foundation gave at least $4.4 million to groups in the United States and Israel that work to solidify the U.S.-Israel alliance and harshly attack critics of Israeli policy.