Tomorrow, South Florida voters will go to the polls to choose a Democrat for Congress from among 11 candidates running for an open seat, and the strongest progressive in the field, Florida State Rep. Omari Hardy, has become a target for the national Israel lobby group Democratic Majority for Israel because of his unapologetic support for Palestinian human rights.
Hardy has in turn made hay of the fact that DMFI is going after him. Hardy yesterday tweeted:
Hey, @DemMaj4Israel! The next time you do a robocall attacking me for supporting human rights in Palestine, you might want to remove me from the call list! [laughing/crying emoji] …
Last week Hardy posted a flyer from DMFI calling him antisemitic for his support of BDS, the nonviolent boycott campaign for Palestinian rights, and said he was proud of the “achievement” of being in the company of leading progressives DMFI has targeted, including Rep. Rashida Tlaib.
(We reached out today to Hardy’s office for a recording of the robocall but have not heard from it.)
Hardy has described Palestinian human rights as “the elephant in the room” of the race for the seat left open by the death of Alcee Hastings, a big supporter of Israel. Jewish Insider says the latest polls put Hardy at 6th place in a packed field: Broward County Commissioners Barbara Sharief and Dale Holness lead the race, along with Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who has financed her own campaign (at 13, 14 and 15 percent respectively). Those polls show Hardy, the youngest candidate in the race, with 5 percent. The margin of error is large in the poll; and a July poll from Data for Progress put Holness, Sharief and Hardy at the top of the field.
A former middle school teacher, Hardy has made a name for outspokenness during his one term in the Florida House, and for taking on “big sugar.” He has gained the endorsements of a progressive group that he says is spending $100,000 on his campaign, and of the South Florida Sun Sentinel for his youth and brashness and for representing “the future of the Florida Democratic Party.” Ballotpedia says that Sharief has the endorsement of the Miami Herald and the Palm Beach Post, as well as Emily’s List.
It is a marvel that the Democratic Majority for Israel is putting money into this race to thwart Hardy’s progress, but another sign that it fears that progressives who support BDS really are the “future” of the Democratic Party and wants to stem the growth of the leftwing Squad in the House. Last week Hardy posted the campaign flyer from DMFI with pride.
“The Democratic Majority for Israel (@DemMaj4Israel) is attacking me for supporting Palestinian human rights. Who else has earned DMFI’s ire?”
Hardy listed Nina Turner, Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush and Rashida Tlaib and said, “I couldn’t ask for better company.”
DMFI is saying nothing about its actions in its Congressional “action alerts” page.
Here is an excerpt of the Sun Sentinel’s endorsement of Hardy last month:
Hardy is truly a young man in a hurry, and that’s exactly what this downtrodden and often-neglected district needs. He’s an unapologetic progressive who’s unafraid to challenge deeply entrenched powerful interests such as the sugar industry…. Despite being a freshman and a back-bencher in Tallahassee, Hardy made an immediate impact, deftly using social media to amplify his voice. He challenged Republicans at every turn, including on a notorious “anti-riot” law, marginalizing of transgender athletes [etc.]
Hardy also has the endorsement of Roger Waters, who on Instagram publicized Hardy’s characterization of Palestinian human rights as the “elephant in the room”. (Waters is a friend of our site.)
You can be sure the wealthy Jewish folk in Florida, and others who are zionist supporters, will pour in the dollars, and work hard, to make sure this candidate never wins. A very sad state of affairs in America.
Check the plethera of lies and misinformation in the DMFI,S action alerts list and note that 6 of 9 are directly related to Israel .
https://demmajorityforisrael.org/take-action/action-alerts/
Note the irony of DMFI,S use of the term—So called , “Two State Solution Act”.
Drop the word “act”, DMFI and you will be making at least one true statement.
Alert number 1.
“Tell Your Representative: The so-called “Two-State Solution Act” is counterproductive
Democratic Majority for Israel strongly supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has opposed both new settlements and annexation. But a new measure introduced in the House of Representatives is counterproductive to achieving that goal. The bill, H.R. 5344, is one-sided and seems less about actually achieving a two-state solution and more about rewriting history — both ancient and modern — and stirring up anti-Israel hostility.
The bill wrongly blames Israel alone for the failure to achieve a two-state solution. The reality is that Israel has offered Palestinians — and Palestinian leaders have refused — a state of their own on several occasions.
As President Biden made clear, “Until the region says, unequivocally, they acknowledge the right of Israel to exist as an independent Jewish state, there will be no peace.”
Tell your representative today: do not support the one-sided “Two-State Solution Act,” H.R. 5344! “
For whom does the Democratic Party exist???
the Citizens of America or Zionist APARTHEID israel.
Israel’s designation of Palestinian human rights groups as terrorists is outrageous – International Trade Union Confederation (ituc-csi.org)
HUMAN & TRADE UNION RIGHTS NEWS
International Trade Confederation, October 29/21
“Israel’s designation of Palestinian human rights groups as terrorists is outrageous”
“Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights experts have joined the widespread criticism of the move.
“Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary, said: ‘This step by Israel is outrageous. The human rights groups in Palestine are doing vital work in protecting the rights of Palestinians and in working for transparency and accountability of Israel’s occupation of Palestine.’
“’This includes crucially important work in corporate accountability of multinationals operating in the Occupied Territories. We call upon Israel to reverse the designations immediately.’
“’It is no coincidence that this announcement coincides with Israel’s decision to build more than 4,000 new houses in illegal Israeli settlements inside Palestine, a move that has been sharply criticised by even Israel’s closest allies.
“The Israeli government seems intent on wrecking any prospect of a two-state solution, with Palestine and Israel co-existing as sovereign states. The existence of the settlements is a flagrant violation of international law, and instead of being expanded they should be dismantled.”
“Stephen Cotton, Chair of the Council of Global Unions and General Secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), added: ‘We are witnessing again actions by the Israeli government that will not help in any way to progress the peace process. The Global Union Federations and their members around the world call for the Israeli government to reverse the designation of the Palestinian human rights groups as terrorists, and cancel the decision to add 4,000 more homes to the illegal settlements.’”
Bravo, Omari! You probably have no chance of winning. But just making the notorious DMFI come out hard against you means a lot.
I do hope you become the face – and the soul – of the Democratic Party one day.
The fact that there is someone running for office who takes this stand – even though he’s very unlikely to win – is a good sign.