Days before the Democratic House primary in Michigan, Sen. Bernie Sanders told hundreds of voters gathered in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac Friday night that a vote for Rep. Andy Levin would send a vital message to billionaires and corporate PACs, including one controlled by the powerful anti-Palestinian rights lobby, that “they cannot buy our democracy.”
The Vermont independent senator joined Levin, his fellow Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib in a rally to stump support the two progressive lawmakers. Some of his remarks were focused on the political-action committee established by American Israel Public Affairs Committees (AIPAC). the United Democracy Project (UDP).
The UDP pouredRepresentative Haley Stevens, a pro Israel Democrat, has invested more than $4million in his campaign to face Levin in a newly drawn district.
Sanders and Levin — who are both Jewish — oppose the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, a position which has made them targets of AIPAC. The group’s PAC has called Levin’s Two State Solution Act, which he introduced last year, “anti-Israel” and told supporters he “represents the fringe wing” of the Democratic Party in an email urging them to support Stevens.
AIPAC’s opposition to Levin, however “has nothing to do — in my view — with Israel,” Sanders said in Pontiac Friday night. “It is simply trying to defeat candidates and members of Congress who stand for working families and are prepared to demand that the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share of taxes.”
“There is something profoundly wrong in our political system when a handful of billionaires, through super PACs that spend millions of dollars, try to defeat progressive candidates for Congress,” he added. “That is not what democracy is about. That is what oligarchy is about.”
Jewish American-led pro-Palestinian rights group IfNotNow said Friday’s rally represented “Muslims and Jews uniting for a shared future of equality and justice for all” and rejected AIPAC’s interference with the Levin-Stevens race.
Michigan has Jews for Rashida, Andy.
Tonight @RashidaTlaib @AbdulElSayedTalked alongside @Andy_Levin @BernieSanders —Muslims and Jews uniting for a shared future of equality + justice for all.
AIPAC, you and your billionaire donors don’t represent us ✌️ pic.twitter.com/NmjeGDx2eo
— IfNotNow🔥 (@IfNotNowOrg) July 30, 2022
As Common DreamsHas reportedThe UDP has also spent millions of money to defeat Summer Lee, U.S. House Candidate in Pennsylvania, and former candidates Jessica Cisneros from Texas and Nida Allen in North Carolina.
All the candidates support Palestinian rights, and criticize the billions of dollars that the U.S. annually spends to support the Israeli army.
While aggressively wading into Democratic primaries across the country, UDP “has not been similarly active in Republican primaries, even in races where Republican candidates have been widely criticized for antisemitic comments,” The American Prospect reportedThis was earlier in the month.
The PAC does have strong ties with Republicans, however, with Bernie Marcus and Paul Singer, billionaire Republican donors, contributing $1 million each.
“The billionaire class is saying, ‘We own this country; we own the political system, and we will not tolerate dissent. Either you work for us, or get out of here.’ And Andy has chosen not to work for them,” said Sanders on Friday night of Levin, a former labor organizer.
The UDP has not intervened in Tlaib’s primary race, which she is expected to win, but asCommon Dreams reported Last month, Pro-Israel America, an AIPAC-affiliated organization, endorsed one of her adversaries and Urban Empowerment Action PAC. announced in May it would spend $1 million to boost Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey’s primary challenge.
“AIPAC has made their mission targeting progressives for their right-wing corporate donors,” saidLee expressing her support for Levin Friday “Our movement must be united against corporate power.”
