As the pro-Israel lobby seeks to shape a set of congressional races in Illinois, national progressive groups are pushing to elect a vocal advocate for Palestinian rights outside of Chicago.
The national progressive outfit Justice Democrats and the Peace, Accountability, and Leadership PAC, a new group that launched Wednesday to support candidates advocating for Palestine in the upcoming midterms, are endorsing activist Kat Abughazaleh for Congress in Illinois’s 9th District.
The endorsement comes as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee has made its biggest investment so far this cycle in electing pro-Israel Democrats in and around deep-blue Chicago, which is home to one of the nation’s largest populations of Palestinian residents.
Abughazaleh is one of over a dozen candidates running in the Democratic primary to replace retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky. Also running are state Sen. Laura Fine, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, local school board member and activist Bushra Amiwala, former hostage negotiator and agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation Phil Andrew, and state Rep. Hoan Huynh.
Schakowsky was a longtime recipient of support from J Street, a moderate pro-Israel group, and AIPAC appears to view the race as an opportunity to replace her with a more hardline supporter of Israel. The pro-Israel lobby has already taken one opportunity to go after a centrist who strayed from its party line, when it ran attack ads against former New Jersey Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski — a strategy that appeared to backfire and ultimately help get the progressive in the race elected.
Now, pro-Palestine groups see an opening in Chicago amid mounting public criticism of the pro-Israel lobby.
Both groups said the endorsement was a reflection of a historic level of public support for Palestinian human rights and cutting U.S. funding to Israel. Abughazaleh is the 12th candidate Justice Democrats has endorsed this cycle as it looks to more aggressively counter the pro-Israel lobby and come back from major losses in 2024.
Abughazaleh told The Intercept she’s running to hold Democrats to a higher standard.
“There’s been this idea of ‘vote blue no matter who’ for a long time that has gotten us to the moment that we’re in, because we haven’t held our party accountable,” she said. She added that she was the first candidate to launch her campaign in the race before Schakowsky announced her retirement.
“I didn’t wait in line or ask for permission,” Abughazaleh said. “I think a big part of that is because I felt a sense of urgency that many establishment politicians just don’t because they’re not facing the consequences that we are.”
“Kat has spent her career doing what so many voters are desperate to see the Democratic Party do right now: fight back against Republican extremism and fight for everyday people,” Justice Democrats spokesperson Usamah Andrabi said in a statement to The Intercept. “At a time when so many career politicians in the Party have to be convinced to condemn genocide,