When they show you who they are, you should probably believe them. That tried-and-true bit of wisdom should be applied to "squad" member Congressman Jamaal Bowman of New York. Over the weekend, Bowman attended a fundraiser that was put on for him at a private home in Fairfax, Virginia. There's nothing unusual about House members hitting fundraisers during an election year, but this one was hosted by Nihad Awad, the national director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). In case you're not familiar with Awad, he is one of the people who came out shortly after the October 7 terror attacks and said that he was "happy" to see the people of Gaza "breaking their shackles" and storming into Israel. And here we have a member of the House from New York hanging out with him and leveraging him for fundraising purposes. (National Review)

House “squad” member Jamaal Bowman (D., N.Y.) held a fundraiser with a Hamas-sympathizing Muslim leader who was disavowed by the White House after he celebrated the brutal October 7 attack on Israel.

This past week, Nihad Awad, co-founder and national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, co-hosted the event for Bowman at a private home in Fairfax, Va., the New York Post first reported.

“Dear Friends in Northern Virginia, Maryland, and DC Area,” Awad’s tweet advertising the event read. “This evening at 7pm we have a fundraiser for Congressman Jamal Bowman, a staunch defender of Palestinian rights and also the target of AIPAC and its affiliates.”

Nihad Awad is so far off the end of the Israel-hating crowd that even the White House disavowed him after his remarks last November. During that same speech, he declared that the people of Gaza "have a right to self-defense," while claiming that Israel has no such right because they are "oppressors." That was too much even for Joe Biden, who came out and called Awad's comments "abhorrent." The White House had previously established a relationship with CAIR (hilariously to supposedly combat antisemitism), but they canceled it at that point.

I've been keeping tabs on CAIR for years and have long been signed up for their email distribution list. I don't do that because I support their work, but just so I can keep an eye on what they're up to. The group has been around since the 90s, but they really rose in prominence after the terror attacks of 9/11. They were allegedly working to promote better relations between American Muslims and the rest of the country, which is fine if that's all you're doing. But they quickly established themselves as apologists for terrorism and virulent critics of Israel and Jewish people in general. They really should be designated as a hate group in my opinion.

None of the prevents Jamaal Bowman from being a big fan of Awad and CAIR, apparently. In fact, all during the recent protests, he was taking to social media and tweeting out criticism of the police and campus administrators who called finally called them in. Here's one example.

I am outraged by the level of police presence called upon nonviolent student protestors on Columbia and CCNY’s campuses. As an educator who has first hand experience with the over-policing of our schools, this is personal to me.

— Congressman Jamaal Bowman (@RepBowman) May 1, 2024

We are left to wonder where all of Congressman Bowman's "outrage" was when these supposedly "nonviolent student protesters" were chanting about Intifada and "from the river to the sea" while blocking Jewish students from being able to attend classes. There might be a change coming to this situation, however. Bowman represents a district that votes overwhelmingly Democrat. He won his 2022 race by a 60-33 margin. But he's drawn a primary challenge from George Latimer, the Westchester County Executive, and a poll that was released at the end of March showed Latimer with a stunning 17-point lead over Bowman. Perhaps his own voters are growing fed up with his antics. The primary is on June 25, so we should know in a couple of months.