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US Congress Candidate Says He Lost Because He Supports Palestine
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| Alabama
Rep. Earl Hilliard to lose his congressional seat to
Artur Davis due to donations from pro-Israelis to Davis'
campaign.
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WASHINGTON,
June 29 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Cited for siding with
Palestinians in the Mideast conflict, Alabama Representative Earl
Hilliard said out-of-state money from New York supporting his opponent
in Democratic primaries cost him his House of Representatives seat in
Congress.
Despite
the loss, Hilliard, a five-term incumbent who stated that the
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee helped him too little and
too late, said he would back his opponent, Artur Davis, a fellow
African American, but staunch supporter of Israel. The DCCC
declined comment.
Davis,
a Harvard-educated attorney, spent over $300,000 in individual
donations, with much of it coming from Jewish donators upset with
Hilliard’s support for Palestinians, from New York in a mostly poor
Alabama congressional district, news agencies reported.
Davis
use the money to pay for TV commercials questioning Hilliard's ethics
and suggested that because of a visit to Libya five years ago, he was
a tacit supporter of terrorism.
Davis’s
campaign acknowledged holding fund-raisers in New York that reached
out to pro-Israel groups and Jewish donors. Davis was also among
candidates appearing at a Washington conference sponsored by the
American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
Arab-Americans,
meanwhile, supported Hilliard, for his call for a balanced U.S. policy
toward the Mideast, due mostly to a column he wrote about
out-of-state, mostly Jewish-backing, financial support for his
opponent, Davis.
A
pro-Palestinian group posted a Web site backing Hilliard, and
Arab-Americans were among Hilliard's campaign workers, reports news
agencies.
"I
lost the election," said Hilliard. "It ain't the end of
life. I lost it or they took it - or they stole it - one or another.
When the bar was down, I just didn't get enough votes."
Hilliard
said he might stay in politics, ruling out no options, including that
of a possible run for mayor in Birmingham.
Georgia
Rep. Cynthia McKinney, a staunch supporter of Muslims in America and
their causes, faces an August 20 challenge from fellow black Democrat
Denise Majette. Hilliard predicted that McKinney will "have a
tough race," saying efforts by Jewish groups pitting African
Americans against each other on whom they support in the Middle East
conflict would cause more animosity between blacks and Jews.
Hilliard’s
loss was his first in his 28-year political career. Davis will
most likely win the House seat in the fall because there is no
Republican opponent.
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