A previously unseen 2018 campaign advertisement for an Illinois Democrat currently running for the U.S. House of Representatives features attacks on her opponent for his support of AIPAC and his stance against the BDS movement.
Marie Newman, who is running in a primary against incumbent Democratic Rep. Dan Lipinski in the state’s 3rd Congressional District, which leans Democratic, narrowly lost to Lipinski by less than 3 percentage points in the 2018 Democratic primary.
In the resurfaced ad, Edwards Realty Company president Edward Hassan says Lipinski “was the first one that signed to outlaw the BDS,” referring to the Protect Academic Freedom Act, which the congressman introduced in 2014 with then-Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.). The legislation would have prohibited federal funds towards institutions that participate in boycotting Israeli institutions or scholars.
In an email to JNS, Lipinski said, “I make no apologies for being opposed to BDS and standing strong to condemn anti-Semitism in every form it takes. As co-chair of the International Religious Freedom Caucus, I remain focused on eradicating anti-Semitism and religious intolerance of any kind. It speaks volumes about my opponent that she would make this divisive ad and that her campaign chair would make such inflammatory statements.”
Also in the ad, Shadin Maali—a mother, community advocate and small-business owner—states that Newman “doesn’t pander to special interest groups like AIPAC.” (Maali also happens to be Newman’s campaign chair.)
Lipinski’s district contains the headquarters of the American Muslims for Palestine, an anti-Israel group that supports BDS and was founded by Hatem Bazian, who co-founded Students for Justice in Palestine.
The district is also the location of the Mosque Foundation, whose leadership mostly consists of members belonging to the Muslim American Society and has “strong ties” to the Muslim Brotherhood.
According to the David Horowitz Freedom Center’s “Discover the Networks” project, it has even “raised money to honor the memory of Palestinian suicide bombers.”
