NJ 9th District Candidate Asks for Inclusion in NJ Globe Debate
From:“Ben Taylor” <bentaylornj@bentaylor>
To: <DAVID@njglobe.com>, <ZACH@njglobe.com>, <JOEY@njglobe.com>, <kevin@njglobe.com>, <senpou@njleg.org>, “Bruno” <brunofor9th@gmail.com>, <Billy@billyprempeh.com>, <news@mediafirstgroup.com>, “mrasmussen@rider.edu” <mrasmussen@rider.edu>
Subject: NJ Globe 9th District Debate
Date: Sep 29, 2024 11:03 PM
To Billy Prempeh, Nellie Pou, and New Jersey Globe moderators:
My name is Benjamin Taylor. I’m the Green Party of New Jersey’s 2024 candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 9th District.
It has come to my attention that a Congressional debate for the 9th District is being scheduled for October 16th between only the Republican and the Democrat, with the conscious exclusion of 3rd party candidates. I am sending this letter to both the Republican and Democratic candidates, as well as the New Jersey Globe moderators, asking that you publicly affirm an invitation for my participation.
I, like many others, believe that the 9th District is in a historically unique position. Following the passing of former Rep. Bill Pascrell, the Democratic party leadership selected Nellie Pou as the party’s replacement nominee. It is worth pointing out that, according to a Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) Action preliminary survey of Democrats in the district, Pou was the least popular potential candidate. With 383 responses on August 26th of this year, Mayor Andrew Sayegh was most popular among respondents at 38%, whereas Pou was favored by just 11%. Sayegh has been a critic of the Israeli occupation, unlike both Pou and Prempeh, who are proponents of Israel.
The 2024 election is taking place during a highly publicized genocide in Gaza and the West Bank. Palestine is clearly at the forefront of many American minds. The genocide is something that voters want discussed and debated. It is never in the interest of democracy for voters’ choices to be limited. Poll after poll indicates that voters are hungry for more choices, particularly now with a genocide underway.
Thus, it is not in the best interest of New Jersey to publicize a debate only between two candidates, both of whom support Israel. It is imperative, as a service to the residents of the 9th District, to allow an alternative perspective to be shared.
On February 19th of this year, Dr. James J. Zogby of the Arab American Institute named three cities with large Arab American populations that had demonstrated a growth of political engagement: Chicago IL, Dearborn MI, and Paterson NJ. He writes, “Paterson has the largest per capita Palestinian population in the US—almost 7% of Paterson is Palestinian American. Forty years ago Paterson’s Arab community was not fully politically engaged. That has changed… [Paterson’s] Arab American communities are large, politically engaged, and in addition to being committed to making their cities safer and more prosperous, they are also demanding that their concerns be respected by Congress and the President (emphasis added).”
These demands were put into action on June 5th during the New Jersey Primaries. According to NPR Primary coverage, 8.9% of Democratic Primary voters in New Jersey cast their ballots for “Uncommitted” Democratic delegates due to the genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza. However, in Passaic County, that number was doubled at 18%, the highest Uncommitted vote share in the state. In the 9th District Democratic Primary, Mayor Mohamed Khairullah earned 23.4% of the vote. Khairullah has been critical of politicians who have not listened to Arab American & Muslim communities.
Salaheddin Mustafa, outreach director at the Islamic Center of Passaic County, mentioned to POLITICO in December of 2023 that these communities were instrumental to former Rep. Pascrell’s primary victory against Rothman in 2012. They had organized an effort to reach every city and town in the 9th District, rallying support for Pascrell.
In the same interview, Mustafa also commented on the abandonment felt by his community, and the future of their political engagement. “It’s a much more unified community. It’s a much more demanding community. It’s a community that’s not going to allow people like Pascrell to use us for his own personal gain and abandon us like he’s doing now.” However, when giving an interview to New Jersey Spotlight News on August 30th, 2024, Nellie Pou said, “I know that Bill Pascrell would be someone who would want me to step up and be able to ensure that his beloved district is carried on and continue some of the great work that he’s done. I’m prepared to do that. I’m prepared to build upon the work that he did in the 9th Congressional District.” This puts our 9th District’s Arab American and Muslim communities directly at odds with Pou’s vision. This contradiction demands that we make every effort to include alternative voices that resonate with these communities.
In 2024, the Green Party U.S. has made great strides to build strong relationships with Muslim and Arab American communities. This is in part due to the Green Party’s unwavering support for Palestine, Lebanon, and human rights. A poll by CAIR National between August 25th and August 27th found that Green Party Presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein was favored, over both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, among Muslim voters in three swing states: Michigan, Arizona, and Wisconsin. This poll demonstrates that it is no longer appropriate (and, perhaps risky) to simply ignore the Green Party and its candidates and dismiss us as ‘unserious.’
Another poll conducted between April 26th through April 29th, by Data for Progress, found that 70% of likely voters supported an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Thus, the exclusion of Green Party perspectives, especially in regard to the genocide against Palestine, represents the wholesale disenfranchisement of at least 70% of likely voters–although this number is almost certainly higher in the 9th District. These likely voters disagree with both invited candidates’ positions regarding Israel.
I call upon both candidates and the New Jersey Globe moderators to invite my participation in the October 16th debate. It should be up to the public to decide which positions are favorable or not. Now more than ever, we must uphold democratic processes that allow all viewpoints and positions to be shared and debated. Voters deserve to be able to make a fully informed decision when they head to the polls on November 5th.
Please send your response to bentaylornj@gmail.com
This letter will be available publicly at: https://fightbackbetter.com/nj-globe-9th/
Sincerely,
Benjamin Taylor
NJ CD-9 Candidate
Green Party of NJ
Editor to editor from FightBackBetter, to David Wildstein and NJ Globe GM Kevin Sanders, to Mordechai Rasmussen at Rider University, to the candidates Nelly Pou and Billy Prempeh, I beseech you to listen to Ben Taylor. It is a clear case where you collectively are wholesale disenfranchising Paterson, LIttle Palestine, from participation in the electoral process which you control as you control the debates.
What are you afraid of? If pro-Israel is so important to you that you have to have the debates set up so Pro-Israel is the only perspective offered, even in a district as unique as the 9th … if you believe the Gaza policy and now the total war policy being pursued by US with the total genocide expansion into Lebanon and the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Hezbollah Party of Lebanon is correct … then you should be able to defend it from criticism that Ben Taylor might offer.
I urge you to listen to Ben. But if you do not – you help FightBackBetter educate NJ voters about how the structures the two parties committed to “Anything for Israel” and for repression of those who support an end to genocide and freedom for the Palestinian people operate and the role of media and universities in the protection of the destructive path of both major parties with their unbridled support for Israel.
