Summary

Jamaal Bowman was born in 1976 and is currently serving as the U.S. representative for New York’s 16th congressional district.

Bowman has been serving in this position since 2021, after defeating in the Democratic primary longtime Congressman Eliot Engel. The 16^th district covers the southern half of Westchester County, including Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, and Bowman’s hometown of Yonkers, as well as a small portion of the Bronx. Bowman is the founder and former principal of the Cornerstone Academy for Social Action, a public middle school in the Bronx.

U.S. Representative Jamaal Bowman has been associated with antisemites and anti-Israel activists, and has embraced inflammatory rhetoric, going so far as to accuse Israel of “genocide.”

Rep. Bowman offered high praise to Norman Finkelstein, a longtime anti-Israel activist who had celebrated Hamas terrorism in Israel. Bowman introduced Finkelstein at a panel discussion  on the Israel-Hamas war, stating that he was “a bit starstruck” because he “watched him all the time on YouTube.” Finkelstein is a deeply divisive figure, as his 2000 book “The Holocaust Industry” accused Jews of exploiting the memory of the Nazis to promote Israel.

In October 2023, in the aftermath of the Hamas terror attack in Israel on October 7, Bowman voted against congressional bipartisan non-binding resolution H. Res. 771 supporting Israel. The resolution stated that the House of Representatives “stands with Israel as it defends itself against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists” and “reaffirms the United States’ commitment to Israel’s security” and it was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.

Rep. Bowman accused Israel of genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza, after Israel’s response to Hamas following the October 7 terror attack.

In July 2023, Bowman joined other members of the “Squad” in voting against a congressional resolution highlighting that “the State of Israel is not a racist or apartheid state”, that Congress rejects “all forms of antisemitism and xenophobia”, and that “the United States will always be a staunch partner and supporter of Israel”.