Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou Doubles Down on BDS Support at Congressional District 10 Community Forum

Edited by: TJVNews.com

A progressive seeking the Democratic nomination for the open seat in Congress in New York’s newly drawn District 10 doubled down on her defense of the notorious anti-Israel BDS movement during a candidates forum Tuesday night organized by Jewish groups, as was reported by the JTA.

When responding to a question put forth by Rabbi Rachel Timoner of Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn, State Assembly member Yuh-Line Niou said: “I support the BDS movement’s right to political speech. This includes boycotts and economic pressure, which has been targeted by laws that undermine core First Amendment principles.”

As one of the frontrunners in the Brooklyn Congressional race that former New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio withdrew from last week, Niou had previously told Jewish Insider: “I believe in the right to protest as a fundamental tenet of western democracy, so I do support BDS.”

Her statements draw instant heat on social media and in the political sphere.

The Washington Examiner reported that Kalman Yeger, a Democratic New York City councilman whose council district overlaps with the 10th Congressional District, slammed Niou’s support of BDS as “extremist antisemitic positioning” in a tweet.

Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres, a prominent supporter of Israel who represents parts of the Bronx in Congress, also criticized Niou’s support for BDS, describing the movement as “sinister” and “eliminationist.” And Brian Robinson, a rival Democratic candidate in the 10th District race who is Jewish, seemingly equated Niou’s support for BDS with support for Nazis.

Niou has positioned herself as an extremist left-wing “woke” politician, earning endorsements from the Working Families Party and the Sunset Movement which is a dangerous Marxist think tank that specializes in infiltrating public schools with far-left extremism.

Jewish Insider reported that Niou’s position, however carefully worded, is likely to draw scrutiny in the district and could possibly reverberate beyond the race, which national pro-Israel groups have been monitoring for weeks. Only a small handful of House Democrats — including Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) — support the movement

Her platform is a carbon copy of every single left wing radical attempting to hijack the Democrat party.

The 38-year-old lawmaker supports the Green New Deal, universal single-payer healthcare and abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, among other causes championed by the party’s activist wing., according to Jewish Insider.

The 10th Congressional District is going to be one of the most observed races in the election cycle, in NY. Democratic candidates include Rep. Mondaire Jones, ex-Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman, and Dan Goldman, House Democrats’ lead counsel during the first impeachment of President Donald Trump.

The Tuesday evening forum was sponsored by the far-left wing organization known as the New Jewish Agenda, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Hew York and the Forward newspaper, as was reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. The gathering of the Congressional candidates and concerned voters took place at Rabbi Timoner’s synagogue in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn.

Niou was not physically present at the synagogue but appeared via Zoom due to the increasing Covid-19 infection rates in the city.

The JTA reported that District 10, which stretches from Lower Manhattan to Brooklyn, includes a significant Jewish constituency, including liberal Park Slope and haredi Orthodox Borough Park.

Of the Boycott, Divestments & Sanctions movement that targets Israel for isolation, the JTA reported that Niou said that while she does “not support calls to oppose the BDS movement,” she does “not always agree with every single statement that’s made, or all of its demands.”

“No movement is perfect, just like no person is perfect,” Niou said.

She did, however, raise a common BDS talking point when the organization spews forth their propaganda against Israel.

She spoke of a young woman named Rachel Corrie, who was crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer while protesting for Palestinian rights in 2003, as another reason for supporting BDS, according to the JTA report.  An Israeli army investigation following Corrie’s death found that the driver did not intentionally run over the activist and that she had been involved in illegal and dangerous behavior, which her supporters deny, as was reported by the JTA.

In a recently published article that appeared in the Jewish Voice, New York City politics analyst and elections expert Gary Tilzer wrote:

Niou is a hard-left legislator who voted in favor to eliminate almost all bail and strongly supports defunding the NYPD. When cops rode the subway after the funeral of murdered fellow officer Jason Rivera, Niou absurdly called it a “frightening show of intimidation.”

Last week, Niou, in exchange for a nod from the inaptly-named group “The Jewish Vote” — which exclusively endorses supporters of the anti-Semitic “boycott, divestment, and sanctions” (BDS) campaign against Israel — announced that she, too, favors the program and its goal to wipe Israel from the map BDS.

Assemblyman Brian Cunningham, who represents a Brooklyn district that includes the Orthodox neighborhood of Crown Heights, endorsed her campaign in May but withdrew it late Monday. “I will not support a candidate that fails to recognize our democratic ally’s right to exist.” Niou just received the endorsement of the Sunset Park left-Wing DSA Assemblywoman Marcela Mitaynes, who knows how to pull out the progressive vote. If the Asian media supports Niou and she pulls her Chinatown district she can win.”