Buoyed by AIPAC dollars, Wesley Bell pushes AIPAC lies

Michael F. Brown Lobby Watch 2 September 2025

Congressman Wesley Bell gesticulates with an American flag near him

Congressman Wesley Bell presided over a contentious town hall where anti-genocide constituents pushed back on his AIPAC-supported positions.

Sophia Scheller ZUMAPRESS

For nearly two years, Israel lobby group AIPAC has championed Israel’s genocidal onslaught in Gaza.

The group heavily funded the 2024 congressional campaign of Wesley Bell in St. Louis, Missouri against Congresswoman Cori Bush who had been outspoken in her support of Palestinian rights. Approximately $9 million went from AIPAC’s super PAC – political action committee – to mailers and ads unrelated to Israel to help Bell defeat Bush.

The National Black Empowerment Action Fund, led by Darius Jones and Richard St. Paul, both of whom have worked for AIPAC, chipped in $1 million for ads and mailers to undercut Bush’s campaign. The so-called Democratic Majority for Israel, with its Gaza genocide advocate Archie Gottesman (at that time still on its board), added close to another half a million dollars.

Bush, with her anti-genocide and anti-apartheid positions, was defeated by Bell in the August 2024 Democratic primary amid the crush of outside pro-Israel funds.

Bell took office in January 2025 and backed legislation sanctioning the International Criminal Court for having the temerity to issue arrest warrants for war crimes and crimes against humanity against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, who served as Israel’s defense minister at the outset of its genocidal assault on Gaza.

Then, this summer, Bell joined the August junket to Israel and the occupied West Bank of the American Israel Education Foundation – “the charitable organization affiliated with AIPAC.”

Upon his return from the AIEF trip, Bell inveighed against angry constituents at an August town hall and disappeared at the close of the event as police and security roughed up those attendees upset about the Gaza genocide – the reality of which he denied. The main instigator of the violence left in the same vehicle as Bell.

Congressman Bell’s office did not respond to questions from The Electronic Intifada about the violence meted out by this individual and police officers on the scene.

The incident speaks volumes about the ruptures in the Democratic Party and the chaos AIPAC – a “hate group” according to Congresswoman Betty McCollum – has set off within the party by doing so much to defeat elected officials opposed to Israel’s occupation policies, apartheid and the Gaza genocide.

Democratic insiders may well be terrified at the rupture within the party as Fox News delightedly noted the tension between attendees: “‘Shut up with your white privilege,’ [a] woman could be heard yelling. ‘You’ve never been hungry, you’ve never had a child be hungry, and yet you want to stand here and diminish the work [Bell’s] doing?’”

St. Louis Magazine elaborated on the tension.

“The majority white protesters continued yelling over the Bell supporters, who were majority Black and tended to be more reserved – though they became less so as the night progressed. A theme throughout the town hall was a tension between the pro-Palestinian protesters and those who were upset that the protests were crowding out conversation about local issues like gun violence and tornado recovery.”

AIPAC owns that. The congressional district had a representative in Cori Bush who could walk and chew gum at the same time, able to address local issues and the misuse of taxpayer dollars to arm a genocidal assault on Gaza.

By contrast, Bell stood there and repeated to his constituents talking points gleaned from the junket. Local issues would have been addressed by a Congresswoman Bush because constituents would have been confident she opposed the Gaza genocide.

As local activist Ohun Ashe noted, it was “terrifying” that the town hall “felt dismissive to genocide, careless and end[ed] with police brutality.”

She added, “Genocide, capitalism, colonialism, abuse, oppression are all connected. We deserve leaders who can care about multiple things at once.”

AIPAC made sure that is no longer the case.

Republican debate

A smaller fight is starting to emerge within the Republican Party because of Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Her previous Islamophobic expressions made her an unlikely candidate to recognize the Gaza genocide, but her problematic America First politics led her to challenge military aid to Israel. Her emerging Christian humanitarian impulse – contradictorily existing alongside the Christian nationalist sentiments she holds – has led her to speak out for “the masses of innocent people and children in Gaza.”

My previous writing on Greene makes it clear I did not anticipate this development.

Does she harbor bigoted views against Jews and Muslims? I believe so.

Regrettably, she is not alone in US politics in such sentiments, where Palestinians are particularly hated.

Yet it is also the case that she has moved more than any politician in the past few months in realizing we are witnessing a genocide and she has recognized the humanity of Palestinians in a way that is important. Genocide generally isn’t committed against beloved people, but those who are hated by the political elite and no people is so despised among political leaders in Europe and the US as Palestinians.

Strikingly, polls indicate that this view isn’t held by the American public which overwhelmingly disapproves of Israel’s “military action in Gaza.”

AIPAC, unsurprisingly, is furious at her developing stance. But the divides emerging in the Republican Party are reminiscent of the divides in the Democratic Party which AIPAC has successfully battled for years as Democratic leaders remain content to allow right-wing money favoring Israeli apartheid and colonization to sway primary outcomes.
Unlike Greene, Katherine Clark, the second-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, buckled before AIPAC last month.

She had encouraged the audience of the Friends Committee on National Legislation, a Quaker lobbying group, to “take action in time to make a difference … whether that is stopping the starvation and genocide and destruction of Gaza, or whether that means we are working together to stop the redistricting that is going on [gerrymandering congressional districts].”

The statement made her the highest ranking Democrat to call what is happening in Gaza a genocide. Yet it was short lived.

Just days later, Clark told the Jewish News Syndicate that she had “repeated the word ‘genocide’ in response to a question.” She emphasized, “I want to be clear that I am not accusing Israel of genocide.”

That was enough for AIPAC spokesperson Marshall Wittmann to support Clark in comments to Jewish Insider.

“We appreciate that the congresswoman clarified her remarks, as Israel is fighting a just and moral war against a barbaric terrorist enemy,” Wittmann said. “Our endorsement is unchanged and based upon her long-standing support for the US-Israel relationship.”

A Democratic Party unable to say it opposes the genocide in Gaza will continue to hemorrhage votes, just as it did in 2024 when it lost at the level of the White House, Senate and House. Core constituencies will simply stay home.

This is a now-expected abdication of responsibility by Democrats at the same time that President Donald Trump, in an example of imperial boomerang, is occupying Washington, DC with the National Guard and in a further authoritarian flex is threatening to send federal troops to Chicago as well.

Junket

AIPAC, via AIEF, took both a Republican delegation and a Democratic delegation, including Bell, on August propaganda trips. Members of Congress went to Israel as well as the occupied West Bank and occupied Golan Heights.

Yet AIPAC merely states on its website that the delegates “visited Israel.” If it lies on the website, it likely lies directly to members of Congress about the geography of the region and its legal status.

The Israel lobby group notes that members of Congress “received exclusive briefings about the strategic threats facing the Jewish state, toured Israel’s borders, witnessed vital US-Israel security programs up close, and met with top Israeli officials.” The organization happily describes the country in ethnonationalist terms – “the Jewish state” – and in mentioning Israel’s “borders,” it is ambiguous about where those run.

AIPAC goes so far as to describe Bethlehem, a Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank, as in Israel.

Under a subheading that reads “Members of Congress visit Israel with AIEF: Historic & holy sites,” AIPAC adds a photo with a caption asserting: “House Republicans visiting Bethlehem – the birthplace of Jesus.”

This is not altogether surprising as many Republicans are now insisting that the West Bank be referred to as “Judea and Samaria.”

Next to that photo is another with the caption: “House Democrats at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre – considered by many to be the holiest site for Christians in the world. This is the site where Jesus was crucified and the site of Jesus’ empty tomb, where he was buried and resurrected.”

This site is in occupied East Jerusalem – a part of the occupied West Bank – and not in Israel.

Democrats are being used. Or else they simply don’t care that AIPAC is using their images and presence for colonial conquest, having readily joined a junket in the midst of a genocide they’re funding.

Other geographically misleading captions claiming to be in Israel include:

“House Democrats visiting the City of David museum, learning how Jerusalem’s ancient and modern history intersect in the city.”

“House Democrats taking an exclusive late-night tour of the City of David. The sights include the historic pilgrimage road from the Siloam Tunnel – which has remained unchanged for the past 2,000 years, having been carved out using only chisels and hammers – to the Temple Mount.”

“House Democrats visiting the Western Wall, a place of prayer and pilgrimage sacred to the Jewish people.”

“House Democrats visiting the Southern Wall excavations, going back in time to the First and Second Temple periods. Their stops include the remains of Robinson’s Arch – which was the oldest interchange in the world – the shops that stood on the side of the road, and the mikvahs that were used by the pilgrims.”

“House Republicans on Mount Bental. Mount Bental is a dormant volcano in the Golan Heights that overlooks Israel’s borders with Syria and Lebanon. The site draws attention to how close in proximity the threats facing Israel are and helped members gain an understanding of how small a country Israel is, surrounded by enemies that seek its destruction.”

“House Democrats tour Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. They learn more about the horrors of the Holocaust and honor the six million Jews murdered.”

“In 1973, during the Yom Kippur War, the site was a battleground. Overlooking the border with Syria, the members meet with Maj. (Res.) Ilan Shulman, a disabled IDF [Israeli military] veteran and geopolitical expert.”

Occupied East Jerusalem and the occupied Golan Heights are not part of Israel despite AIPAC’s claims to the contrary. The status of West Jerusalem, where Yad Vashem is, remains to be determined. Of course, such concerns may seem antiquated with Israel making annexation threats against Gaza and the West Bank. Rather than two states or one state with equal rights, Israel is again clearly indicating a preference for apartheid in one state.

AIPAC, for its part, is pushing Gaza genocide denial and erroneous geography that it hopes members of Congress will share when they get home. Bell clearly is willing.

Critically, the American public is pushing back against his denial of the Gaza genocide.

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Michael F. Brown

Michael F. Brown is an independent journalist. His work and views have appeared in The International Herald Tribune, TheNation.com, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The News & Observer, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Washington Post and elsewhere.