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JUNE 19, 2020 • 27 SIVAN 5780
Primary Echoing Splits Among Democrats Engel-Bowman race drawing attention of pro-Israel activists; with Lowey stepping down, some fret loss of allies. On Sunday, June 7, more than 100 members of the Crown Heights Chabad community march for racial justice along Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. M O G E L B E R
Orthodox Progressives Finding Their Voices on Racial Justice Defying trends, mothers and others pull off three demonstrations to protest the George Floyd killing; more actions in the works. Eli Reiter Special to The Jewish Week
I
t started, like much activism these days, on an internet group chat. But these weren’t your stereotypical social-justice-type Jews. Miriam Levy-Haim, Maayan Zik and more than a dozen other residents of the Orthodox community of Crown Heights were looking to organize a solidarity rally with their non-Jewish neighbors of color to show support for racial justice in the wake of George Floyd’s killing in police custody. It was a group chat
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of like-minded progressive, observant and formerly observant Jews who shared articles, Twitter screenshots and memes. Ilana Spencer, a group member and organizer, said she hoped such a rally would “normalize being a social-justice activist by being a visibly frum [observant] person.” After all, much of the Orthodox community is politically conservative and not often part of larger, liberal Jewish coalitions with African Americans on issues like race and other issues of social injustice. “This is something to do as a
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Arts Guide Sabbath Back Of The Book
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Stewart Ain Staff Writer
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ro-Israel stalwart Rep. Eliot Engel (D-Bronx, Westchester) is facing a surprisingly stiff challenge heading into next Tuesday’s Democratic primary, in a race that echoes many of the tensions between old-guard Democrats and the party’s emergent progressive wing.
Pro-Israel stalwart Eliot Engel, right, is in fight of his political life against challenger Jamaal Bowman. G E T T Y I M A G E S / B R A N D N E W C O N G R E S S . O R G And while Israel has not been central to the campaigns of Engel or his challenger — education activist and middle-school principal Jamaal Bowman — the race has drawn the attention of pro-Israel activists. Engel, a 16-term moderate Democrat and chairman of the House’s Foreign Affairs Committee, is a leading pro-Israel voice in Congress who voted against the Iran nuclear deal in 2015. He is 73 and has been in office since 1989. Bowman, 43, has said that he would condition U.S. aid to Israel and “make sure that the rights and dignity of both the Israeli and
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