Will BDS factor into New York’s 10th district race?

There are twelve candidates on the ballot in the Democratic primary for New York’s 10th district. There were thirteen, but former NYC mayor Bill de Blasio dropped out last month. The New York Times just endorsed Dan Goldman. He’s a conservative Democrat, attorney, and heir to the Levi Strauss fortune. He hits the standard notes on the subject of Israel. He believes in the perpetual promise of a two-state solution. He’s iffy on settlement expansion and believes the Israeli government has moved a little too far to the right, but Palestinians need to disavow any violence because as long as Hamas et cetera, et cetera. He obviously opposes the BDS movement. Here he is responding to a question about conditioning military aid in a Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) questionnaire:

The special relationship between the United States and Israel must remain a cornerstone of our national security policy. As the lone true democratic nation in the Middle East, and as the homeland for the Jewish people, I believe the United States must do whatever is necessary to support Israel’s security. This includes military and security assistance without preconditions so that Israel is capable of defending itself against neighbors who don’t recognize its legitimacy. To be very clear, Israel must have the right and ability to defend itself. That’s why I support the funding of U.S. security assistance to Israel, to ensure security from terror in all forms.

We’re going to return to that same questionnaire in a moment.

Mondaire Jones is currently the Representative for the state’s 17th district and he’s only running in the 10th because Rep. Sean Maloney (who currently represents the 18th) was going to run against him. The election is a week away and at the moment it doesn’t look like Jones made the best decision. Here’s New York Magazine reporter Ross Barkan on Twitter: “Anything can happen with a week to go, but it’s looking like Mondaire Jones’ gambit failed. He bet on endorsements that didn’t arrive and on voters not caring he came from Rockland. He’s a talented politician who got advice that was not very good, or really was too confident. From what people told me, Mondaire thought he’d be in-line for WFP [Working Families Party], a possible NYT endorsement, and even the backing of heavyweight House colleagues. He got Pelosi, but couldn’t get AOC or Nydia [Velazquez]. His huge TV spending didn’t move him in the polls.”

Jones is often associated with the few progressive members that exist in the House. On domestic issues this lines up, but he’s certainly no Rashida Tlaib when it comes to foreign policy. Before he was elected he said he would use his position to strengthen the U.S./Israel relationship and last year he signed an AIPAC-promoted letter opposing any conditioning of military aid to the country.

Then there’s New York State Assembly member Yuh-Line Niou. Niou’s candidacy has gotten short shrift in the media. While the New York Times backed Goldman, it has all but ignored Niou. A headline from June (for a story on her Working Families Party endorsement) referred to her “a lesser known candidate” and their Goldman endorsement didn’t mention her once. An NYT article about Niou, and fellow progressive candidate Carmen Rivera, quoted a number of Rivera supporters but no one backing Niou.

Niou has repeatedly said she supports the BDS movement since July, but when pressed on the issue she only talks about how people have the right to boycott Israel. This is obviously a massive distinction. There’s plenty of Democratic lawmakers who oppose anti-BDS legislation on First Amendment grounds, but don’t support the movement or straight up condemn it.

One such exchange can be found in the New York Times‘s recent interview with Niou:

NYT: So can I ask you — you said that you support B.D.S., this movement to boycott Israel. You have a very large Jewish community in this district. How do you explain that to your Jewish voters?

Well, I support the freedom of speech. I think that that’s really my point here, is that I think that people have the right to be able to exercise what we’ve always exercised in our American democracy, whether it’s the Great Boycott or the Montgomery bus boycotts or —

I think that it’s really important to be able to exercise that freedom of speech. I think that it’s important to protect it. I think that it’s important to make sure that people have that. I think that the Jewish community is not a monolith, just like the A.A.P.I. community is not a monolith. And I think that there are a lot of people who also believe that Palestinian human rights are important in this moment and in all ways.

I think that it’s really important that we are looking at protecting everyone. I think that it’s really about making sure that we have Israeli and Palestinian rights respected. It’s something that I strongly believe, because I think that no matter what I do, I look through a human-rights lens no matter what. That’s where we have to have that political courageous too.

NYT: But does that mean you support boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel?

Niou: I think that it’s important for us to be able to honor the fact that there is a movement of doing that. I think that that part is important.

Niou is then asked again if she supports it…

Niou: I support its right to exist. There are currently people all over the country who have put out laws that would prohibit people from doing certain things that are just their First Amendment rights. And I think that that part is really important to make sure that we are not prohibiting people from doing things that are protected by our law, right?

We are allowed to criticize our government. We’re allowed to criticize how our government interacts with other governments. And I think that that’s something that must be protected, just like freedom of the press. We should make sure to protect our freedom of the press. We should make sure to protect our freedom of speech.

Ok, now back to that JCRC questionnaire. Like I said, that Goldman reply was from a question about conditioning aid. The next question is about BDS. Here are the two questions and how Niou answered:

JCRC: Where do you stand on conditioning US Military or Non-Military Aid to Israel?

Niou: I believe our tax dollars should never be used to violate human rights, which is why I support the [Betty] McCollum legislation, which is also supported by J-Street and Americans for Peace Now, among others.

As the question below about BDS does not allow candidates to elaborate, I’m going to share more here. I am adamantly committed to the safety, security and wellbeing of all Jewish people, whether they live in my district, in New York, in the United States, in Israel – or anywhere else in the world.

I have dedicated my personal and public life to fighting for all targeted communities impacted by bigotry, white supremacy, and nationalism. That has and will always include Jews. When it comes to Israel-Palestine, I support the BDS movement’s right to political speech, including boycotts and economic pressure, which has been targeted by laws that undermine core first amendment principles. Boycotts are a tried, true, respected, and constitutionally protected nonviolent tactic for human rights and social justice movements. From the movement against South African apartheid to the grape boycott in solidarity with the United Farm Workers to the Montgomery bus boycott to fight segregation.

I share the movement’s commitment to human rights, equality, and freedom for everyone in the region. I do not support calls to oppose the BDS movement; at the same time, I do not agree with all of its demands nor do I embrace all of its tactics. No movement is perfect just like no person is perfect.

JCRC: Do you support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement?

No.

So what’s going on here? Either Niou has conflated the right to boycott and support for BD, or this strategy is purposeful. If it is purposeful, then what does her campaign see as the advantage and what is the endgame? Does she believe she’ll get support from pro-Palestine voters, but not alienate pro-Israel voters or pro-Israel groups in the process? Is she simply waiting to get elected before coming out in support of BDS or denouncing the movement?

If it’s a political strategy it doesn’t entirely add up. Niou’s wavering certainly hasn’t stopped pro-Israel groups from criticizing her. It hasn’t even stopped fellow Democrats from attacking her. Bill de Blasio called her out before dropping out of the race and State Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs condemned her comments. “She should pull out her history book,” he said. “Her position shows a lack of understanding of the region.”

Niou’s confusing stance has not generated support from Palestine groups either. So again, where’s the advantage? Anecdotally it seems like her position may have alienated some voters, but failed to gain any new ones. One wonders what would have happened if Niou had simply come out and declared herself an unashamed supporter of the movement. Imagine if, when confronted with something like the JCRC questionnaire, Niou said, “Israel is an apartheid state that subjects the Palestinian people to perpetual human rights violations and daily humiliations. It kills with impunity and this violence is financed by the United States government. I believe there’s a lot of important things we could spend $3.8 billion on, right here in the United States. These are the reasons I support an international nonviolent movement committed to ending Israeli oppression.”

Keep in mind that most Democratic voters support the goals of the movement after learning about it, but most still don’t know what BDS is.

If the Andy Levin/Haley Stevens race in Michigan showed taught us anything, it’s that groups like AIPAC will attack anyone who deviates from their line. It doesn’t matter if you’re a pro-Israel candidate who never cosponsors pro-Palestine legislation, like Levin was. His attempts to thread some sort of needle on the issue seemingly proved futile. We have yet to see a candidate enthusiastically back BDS and win. You might recall that Cori Bush had some nice words about the movement on her campaign website, but they were quietly removed in response to attacks. Imagine the blow to the pro-Israel lobbying groups when this finally happens. It won’t be Niou, but it feels inevitable.

Having said all that, it’s entirely possible that Niou’s team looked at the Levin race and walked away with an entirely different conclusion. Maybe they saw AIPAC drop millions on a Democratic primary and feared their candidate could be the next victim. Personally, it would be hard for me to see that happening in this race. As pollster Peter Feld pointed out on a recent episode of our podcast, Levin was probably going to lose his primary with or without the intervention of AIPAC. The group purposely zeroes in on vulnerable candidates to project the image of a behemoth that can’t be crossed. I don’t see AIPAC hedging their bets on a wacky twelve-person primary in New York, but that doesn’t mean the specter of the Israel lobby isn’t impacting the decisions of candidates.

One more note on the 10th district race. Former House member Elizabeth Holtzman is one of the candidates. She was recently interviewed by Hamodia, which led to this exchange:

Hamodia: Would you visit Israel on an AIPAC trip?

Holtzman: I’ve visited Israel plenty of times. No one has to take me to Israel.

Hamodia: Would you go on an AIPAC trip?

Holtzman: I don’t need to go on a sponsored trip. No one has to take me on a trip to Israel.

Hamodia: Are you saying that as a Member of Congress, you’re not going to go on any sponsored trips to Israel?

Holtzman: I didn’t say that. I said I don’t need to go on a sponsored trip. I have been there many times. And if I need to go to Israel, I can figure out how to get there.

Hamodia: Would you go on a trip sponsored by any group at all?

Holtzman: Not necessarily. I don’t know why I would need to go on a trip that’s sponsored by somebody. I actually know some of the members of the government. I’ve been to Israel many times. I don’t need someone to take me by the hand and lead me around.