New Jersey – Bitter Primary Pits Arabs Against Jews

New Jersey – A bitter campaign in a northern New Jersey Democratic primary race has bought out a growing Muslim community to vote for a “friend of the Arabs” instead of the Jewish candidate.

A redrawing of the state’s district has left two incumbents, Jewish Rep. Steve Rothman, running against Bill Pascrell, grandson of an Italian immigrant and former mayor of the city of Paterson, which hosts a large Muslim population.

The contest has drawn President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton into the fray.

Rothman was the only state Democratic legislator to support Obama’s bid for the presidential nomination. While not stating outright support for Rothman, President Obama met with the Congressman on Friday, the same day Clinton appeared at a rally for Pascrell, who endorsed Hillary Clinton for president.

The religious and ethnic elements festering behind the headlines in the campaign erupted when Arabic language posters urged the “Arab diaspora community” to “elect the friend of the Arabs.”

Pascrell has billed himself as being pro-Israel, but his website’s record of his votes on foreign policy show only one issue on Israel – “Israeli blockade on Gaza,” which he voted to ease.

Pro-Israel activist Ben Chouake told the Washington Free Beacon, “One side says, ‘We want this Jew out of office’ and, frankly, it’s pretty unsettling. They emphasized [Rothman] is a Jewish congressman.”

Pascrell has said he has voted in Congress to condemn Hamas terrorism, but some of his supporters are openly anti-Israel and often pro-Hamas. They include Imam Mohammed Qatanani, a Passaic cleric whom the State Department has accused of hiding a conviction in Israel for ties with Hamas.

Rothman has been trying to gain more support by encouraging Republican Orthodox Jews to switch party registration so they can vote in the Democratic party primary vote.