CHICAGO: How far to support or oppose Israeli policies is a major issue in many upcoming American congressional elections, including the battle in Chicago between incumbent Congressman Sean Casten and challenger Joseph Ruzevich.
Three-term incumbent Casten is being challenged by Ruzevich in the March 17 Democratic primary election in the Sixth District, located in the Chicago suburbs with one of the largest concentrations of Arab, Muslim and Palestinian voters in the US.
In an interview with Arab News, Ruzevich accused Casten of “speaking from both sides of his mouth,” claiming to support the two-state solution and Palestinian rights while refraining from supporting legislation to hold Israel accountable for its actions in Gaza.
Accusing Casten and most Democrats of taking money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee while pandering to Palestinian suffering in rhetoric, Ruzevich also accused them of criticizing President Donald Trump as a strategy to deflect from their own failures.
“I want to change that. Many Democrats criticize President Trump’s policies but do so for political reasons and mainly to deflect the voters from their own failures in representing the needs of voters, such as ending Israel’s violence in Gaza,” Ruzevich told Arab News.
