Tipsheet

Soon to Be Former Rep. Jamaal Bowman to Be Honored by Group With Terrorist Ties

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  October 21, 2024 9:30 PM

Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) only has a few months left in office, but the Squad member is being lauded in other ways for his anti-Israel narratives. While Bowman lost his primary to Westchester County Executive George Latimer in June, he'll be honored by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) with their 2024 Champion of Justice award. He'll also serve as the keynote speaker for the event, while antisemitic activist Linda Sarsour will emcee the event. 

An announcement from last Friday praised the congressman for having "dedicated his time in Congress to advocating for racial justice, civil rights, economic fairness and a just foreign policy, including in the Middle East." There's specific emphasis on this latter point, as the announcement went on to laud Bowman for being "one of the first members of Congress with the moral courage to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and has consistently condemned the Israeli government's genocidal attacks on the Palestinian people."

There's more than what that glowing announcement and what the video shared over X lets on, though. 

What CAIR describes as "moral courage" has amounted to Bowman not merely "call[ing] for a ceasefire in Gaza," but also claiming that reports of the brutal rapes that Israeli women endured by Hamas terrorists on October 7 of last year were "propaganda." A detailed report from The New York Times later came out, but at the time when Bowman had made his remarks in mid-November of last year, there had already been plenty of confirmed testimonies. While he apologized after the comments resurfaced, it was too little too late for Bowman. 

Bowman has also referred to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a "maniac" and boycotted his joint session before Congress in July, as did many other Democrats. Both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were absent, even though the vice president was supposed to preside. 

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Leading up to Bowman's primary against Latimer, the most expensive U.S. House primary ever, Bowman hit back at pro-Israel groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). He claimed that AIPAC "has full control of Congress," and that they were targeting him because he was an "outspoken black man." It's worth reminding that AIPAC supports black men from both the Democratic and Republican Party, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). 

Bowman's rampant anti-Israel and peddling of antisemitic tropes led to his epic loss against Latimer on June 25. The race was called rather quickly in the evening, and Latimer won with 58.4 percent of the vote to Bowman's 41.6 percent. 

The clip above, however, did include footage of Bowman from his infamous rally in the Bronx in the days before his primary, where he was where he was joined by fellow Squad member, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). Not only did the two behave erratically, with Bowman even waving around a stool at one point, but the rally took place in an area of the Bronx that wasn't even in Bowman's district.

Following the October 7 attack last year, CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad praised the attacks, as Katie covered last December. CAIR, which describes itself as "the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization," has also had a visible presence at the Biden-Harris White House. The group also has ties to terrorists, as they were an an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation [HLF] case in the 1990s and have been tied to Hamas. 

The award ceremony will take place on November 22 in Washington, DC, at a yet to be announced location.