U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (second from left) and Nancy Pelosi visit a girls’ school in Afghanistan during a congressional trip, March 20, 2011. (S.K. Vemmer\/Department of State)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The balancing act that made Pascrell a popular liberal member of Congress could be seen in a statement he issued on Oct. 25, 2023, weeks after Hamas\u2019 deadly attack on southern Israel. <\/p>\n
In that statement he called for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, called the attacks \u201cheinous, unprovoked acts of murder against civilians\u201d and endorsed Israel\u2019s right to defend itself. <\/p>\n
At the same time, he urged President Biden \u201cto prevent greater escalation,\u201d urged \u201crestraint to protect innocent civilian lives of Palestinian and Israelis\u201d and called for \u201clife-saving humanitarian aid to address the cascading regional and global impacts to civilians and refugees.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is essential to building a lasting foundation where Israelis and Palestinians can achieve equal measures of freedom, security, opportunity, and dignity,\u201d said Pascrell in the statement. Days before, he refused to sign on to a resolution calling for a cease-fire.<\/p>\n
What some might call complexity and others a betrayal of one side or the other was a hallmark of Pascrell\u2019s stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For his generation of liberal pro-Israel Democrats, including President Joe Biden, a nuanced view on the conflict became nearly unsustainable after Oct. 7, when activists on both sides demanded complete fealty to their cause. <\/p>\n
Pascrell, who died Wednesday at age 87 even as he geared for a 15th term, faced a version of this pushback in 2012. That year, both his primary challenger and Republican opponent, both Jewish, questioned his pro-Israel bonafides.<\/p>\n
That June, after a round of redistricting, he faced a primary battle against Rep. Steve Rothman, a Jewish member of the House who had also held office since 1997. Israel featured heavily in the race between the old colleagues, when Pascrell refused to denounce some Arab-American activists who made an issue of Rothman\u2019s considerable pro-Israel record. Some Rothman surrogates accused Pascrell of not showing sufficient support for the state, as when he signed a 2010 letter criticizing Egypt and Israel\u2019s blockade of the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n
In the subsequent general election, he thwarted a lively, long-shot bid to unseat him by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, running as a Republican. Boteach, who bills himself as \u201cAmerica\u2019s rabbi\u201d and writes books with such titles as \u201cKosher Sex\u201d and \u201cKosher Jesus,\u201d had tried to paint Pascrell not only as insufficiently pro-Israel but also as insufficiently supportive of Arab aspirations for freedom.<\/p>\n
A product of Catholic schools who grew up in a tight-knit Italian-American family, Pascrell taught school while volunteering for the Democratic Party in his native Paterson \u2014 a former industrial powerhouse that by the 1960s had fallen on hard times. Before his election to Congress, Pascrell served in the state Assembly and then as the mayor of Paterson. An Army veteran, he championed first responders and boasted of his support for firefighters and law enforcement. Pascrell was no fan of \u201cThe Sopranos,\u201d the HBO series about an Italian-American crime family, which often shot scenes in Paterson.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee said it \u201cmourns the passing of Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., who was an outspoken pro-Israel leader throughout his career in Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before falling ill this summer, Pascrell was gearing up for a reelection campaign come November, when he was to face Republican Billy Prempeh of Paterson, whom he had beaten twice before.<\/p>\n
Given the deep tensions over the war in Gaza, he could no longer count on Arab-American support this time. Politico reported that many of his Muslim and Arab-American constituents wanted him to take a stronger stance against the war, with some activists saying he \u201cis no longer welcome in their mosques, businesses and homes given his unwavering support for Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n
In June, Pascrell defeated a challenger, Prospect Park Mayor Mohamed Khairullah, who said the incumbent betrayed his Muslim constituents with his support of Israel.<\/p>\n
In response to the criticism, Pascrell told Politico, \u201cI hear and feel powerfully the anguish of our community and like millions of Americans I desperately want a permanent end to the fighting as soon as possible and a major flow of humanitarian aid provided by America to protect Palestinians and begin the rebuilding of Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the pressure, Pascrell defended his support for Israel and his sympathy for the Palestinian cause. In an interview with a New Jersey blog in January, he noted that he had spoken out about Jewish settlements in the West Bank, but also supported funding for the Iron Dome missile defense system protecting Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve tried to get the communities together,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve tried to get the communities to not be angry at one another.\u201d <\/p>\n
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