Timothy Stinson

[Middle East Monitor @MiddleEastMnt]

Pro-Israel donors linked to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) are reportedly using new, innocuous-sounding fundraising vehicles to direct money to favoured candidates in high-stakes Democratic primaries, as support for Israel becomes increasingly toxic in US politics.

According to details reviewed by The Lever, a newly formed joint fundraising committee, Better Blue Fund is one of the groups using weakened campaign finance rules to act as a “one-stop shop” for contributions from some of the pro-Israel lobby’s largest longtime donors. More than $250,000 has been raised by the fund in under two months for Democratic candidates who have faced scrutiny over their support for military aid to Israel or past links to pro-Israel groups.

The committee is currently supporting former Utah congressman Ben McAdams, New York representatives Adriano Espaillat and Dan Goldman and Missouri representative Wesley Bell, all of whom face contested primaries. It is also fundraising for representatives Bob Menendez of New Jersey, Grace Meng of New York, Steve Cohen of Tennessee and Jeremy Moss, a Democratic challenger in Michigan’s 11th District. All eight candidates are currently endorsed by pro-Israel groups or have been in the past.

The Better Blue Fund was formed in March as a joint fundraising committee, a structure which allows multiple candidates to raise funds collectively and attract larger contributions from wealthy donors. Critics say such vehicles can obscure the political interests behind the money, particularly when the committee’s name gives no indication of a pro-Israel agenda.

In one example cited in the report, pro-Israel contributions appear to have been routed through a more discreet channel. McAdams was publicly endorsed by Democratic Majority for Israel in 2020 and received $5,000 from its PAC, but this year the group has offered no public endorsement or direct financial support.

https://t.co/kTqdVmcP32

[Matt Duss @mattduss]

Last week saw a number of Democratic-aligned organizations either ignoring the Gaza genocide or honoring senior officials who helped perpetrate it. That's both morally wrong and politically foolish.
https://t.co/1OhS0kbuTN

[If Americans Knew @ifamericansknew]

How Israel’s Resettlement Demands Shifted Toward Europe https://t.co/x9nH8XVWgC

[Ryan Grim @ryangrim]

"The UN has added Israel to the blacklist of sexual violence in conflict zones, alongside the world's most brutal terrorist organizations." -- Danny Dannon, Israeli ambassador to the UN.

[Harrison Mann @Harrison_J_Mann]

Asked to keep in mind the suffering of Palestinians, not just Jews, Jake Sullivan responded:

"That smacked of whataboutism, like they're both equal. That's unacceptable."

Incredible how many people and organizations still want to associate with this guy.

[Middle East Eye @MiddleEastEye]

“This surgeon’s mode of torture was being raped to death.”

In an interview with Tucker Carlson, Nick Maynard, a British surgeon who has worked repeatedly in Gaza since 2010, highlights evidence and testimonies regarding the killing of Palestinian surgeon in an Israeli prison

[AIPAC Tracker @TrackAIPAC]

Trump-Backed Genocide Fan Lets Israeli Suspect Go in Nevada Biolab Mystery

"An Israeli-born, Trump-appointed acting U.S. attorney – who has referred to Palestinians as “animals,” called for Gaza to be wiped “off the map,” and suggested “even the children” in Gaza are terrorists – dropped a gun charge against an Israeli immigrant who operated a biolab in Nevada."

Her name is Sigal Chattah.

[Al Jazeera English @AJEnglish]

BREAKING: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says he has directed Israel’s military to take more of occupied Gaza, initially by seizing 70% of the Palestinian territory.

🔴 LIVE updates: https://t.co/s2sqFxCvAX

[Drop Site @DropSiteNews]

Q: Is there an antisemitism problem in the Democratic Party?

A: Michigan Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow: “There is.”

—
The exchange came as McMorrow, Haley Stevens, and Abdul El-Sayed debated AIPAC campaign donations at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Conference. El-Sayed said both antisemitism and Islamophobia stem from the scourge of white supremacy.

[Ryan Grim @ryangrim]

An invading army telling people to leave their homes at 4 am or be killed

[AIPAC Tracker @TrackAIPAC]

Rep. Al Green: "Question for AIPAC: Why are so many candidates rejecting your once open and notorious contributions? Answer: You have become persona non grata. Shame on you for what you have condoned. Crawl back into your hole."

[CAIR National @CAIRNational]

We applaud the Americans who kneeled on the U.S. Capitol to reflect on the detention without trial and abuse of Palestinians in Israeli prisons, and the torture and sexual abuse Israel inflicted upon human rights activists kidnapped from the Gaza aid flotilla. These protesters are heroes, not criminals. They should go free and all charges against them should be dropped.

We call on law enforcement authorities to immediately release the protesters who were detained after holding an anti-torture demonstration and then unnecessarily held overnight on the false charge of resisting arrest. According to eyewitness reporters and video footage of the events, the protestors were completely peaceful and complied with law enforcement during their arrests.

[Jadaliyya @jadaliyya]

Who is Raffi Berg, the BBC Middle East editor who sympathizes with Israeli settlers and exalts the Mossad?

"On the politico-religious front, he seldom misses an opportunity to assert in his own words, or via his interviewees, the Jewish people's historical and religious connections to, and rightful ownership of, the land they occupy. Jewish displacement under Sharon's 2005 Disengagement Plan is treated accordingly.

Take this passage about a hard-line religious settler who – after twenty-one years of "home-building" in Gaza (not occupation, mind you) – has relocated to another colony in the West Bank.

As the setting sun cast an orange glow over the Hebron Hills, Mrs Yitzhaki gazed out across the vineyards beneath her patio, a chill wind in the air. "It's colder here, of course," she said, "and the view is very different, but it's all the Land of Israel."

If that unchallenged proclamation transmitted in a BBC News article does not ring alarm bells, how about this?

The Yitzhakis have kept the keys to their house and left with the promise to their children that one day they would go back."

Martin Asser worked with Raffi Berg for eight years, from his recruitment to the News Online World team in 2001, until Asser left the Middle East online desk in 2009, and Berg took his place.

✍️ Raffi Berg: In His Own Words by @martasser
https://t.co/Za9SrEWVlv

[Timothy Stinson @StinsonTimothy]

https://t.co/pUYmUwm62z The world has finally begun to examine what Europeans did to Indigenous peoples of this continent.

[A Left-Wing Account ™️ @PushDemsLeft]

Shapiro says opposing AIPAC's big spending on behalf of a gen*cidal foreign state is wrong because you shouldn't "silence certain voices" or "say that certain people participating in politics shouldn't count," yet he tried to abuse his power to ban American student protestors 🤔

[The Hind Rajab Foundation @HindRFoundation]

🚨🇵🇱 The #HindRajabFoundation, together with KAKTUS, filed a criminal complaint against Israeli droner Jonathan Barkat (currently in Poland) for war crimes including the destruction of the Istiqlal Mosque in Gaza.
We call for his immediate arrest.
More ⬇️
https://t.co/MtVX4sEuGt

[Ryan Grim @ryangrim]

What’s emerging from Gush Etzion just gets worse and worse. This is also a knock on effect of a lack of any accountability.

[BladeoftheSun @BladeoftheS]

Amos Goldberg, Professor of Genocide Studies at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem "Yes, it is genocide. It's so difficult and painful to admit it, but we can no longer avoid this conclusion. Jewish history will henceforth be stained"

Is there anyone more qualified and unbiased?

[Breaking the Silence @BtSIsrael]

People often talk about olive tree uprooting in the West Bank as the work of violent settlers acting alone. But in recent months, the IDF itself has carried out mass uprooting under official military orders. The IDF fighting trees is nothing new; the insane scale is. Why?>>

[Yousef Munayyer @YousefMunayyer]

The message from Democrats in 2024 was "This is the most important election in history! Trump is the most serious threat to American democracy ever! Get out and vote!" But also "We don't care enough about keeping the WH to stop supporting a genocide thousands of miles away"