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20-02-2024
NEW YORK: Israel’s war on Gaza has seemingly reached the streets of New York. Not only has it pitched New Yorkers against the government and their elected representatives but also caused fissures among Pakistani Americans.
This fact has become more evident during the recent special by-election in New York’s 3rd District. The contest itself was divisive for many reasons. Yet, it became more so due to the candidates’ extreme pro-Israel stance.
Many Muslim voters, who have deep sympathies with the Palestinians, found themselves in a fix to choose between the devil and the deep blue sea.
As feared, the election flared up their sentiments not only against the candidates but also against those who supported and participated in their campaigns.
The special election was held after serial liar republican George Santos was disgracefully removed from Congress over charges of corruption. The fraudster had also lied about his Jewish ancestry.
The Democratic winner of the February 13 by-election is the veteran politician, Tom Suozzi. He is the son of the state who earlier got elected Nassau County executive and mayor of Glen Cove. Since 2017, he has also served as member of the House of Representatives.
The 61-year-old Suozzi’s views were known to most Pakistani Americans for at least three decades. Throughout his political career, Suozzi had attended a number of events hosted by this vibrant community and had also visited Pakistan during the devastating flood.
His Republican rival Mazi Melesa Pilip was a lesser-known figure. When she was 12, her family moved from Ethiopia to Israel. Before immigrating to Nassau County, she had served in the Israeli Defence Forces’ elite Paratrooper Brigade.
Her background was enough to displease many Muslim voters who equated her to the current IDF involved in the genocide of Palestinians. On the other hand, Suozzi’s unequivocal support for Israel had also perplexed them.
At the top of it, the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) endorsed Tom Suozzi for flipping the red constituency to blue.
In its statement, JDCA called for joining “Our efforts to elect Tom Suozzi-who aligns with Jewish voters on every key issue, including combating antisemitism…and supporting Israel.”
NY-03 constituency is diverse in every respect. It is home to 742,000 people and almost one-fourth are Asian Americans. About 11% of voters identify themselves as Jewish and roughly 18,000 are Muslim. Most of them hail from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.
American Pakistani Public Affairs Committee (APPAC) which had earlier supported top democrats and republicans hosted both Suozzi and Mazi. The aim was to hear them out before making any decision.
A participant who wanted to remain anonymous told this scribe that, a senior member of APPAC confronted Suozzi over his pro-Israel stance. He questioned Suozzi: “How do you sleep at night when Israel is indiscriminately bombing Gaza and killing thousands of innocent Palestinians that include women and children?”
According to another participant, it enraged Suozzi who remarked that at least, he was there to meet Muslim Pakistanis. The democrat furiously claimed that Mazi wouldn’t even meet Muslims. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
