In a letter to the editor, Hoboken resident Jason Freeman, a former business administrator for the city, explains why he is supporting U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez for re-election in the 8th District congressional race
As a Hoboken resident, I am proud to support Congressman Rob Menendez for re-election to the United States House of Representatives.
We need a Congressman who is focused on making our neighborhoods safer, more affordable, and more responsive to the people who live here. That person is Rob Menendez.
Rob has consistently shown up for Hoboken. He has helped invest in our parks and infrastructure. He has been there for Stevens Institute of Technology and for the Hoboken Public Library.
He pays attention to the countless local issues that do not make national headlines but matter deeply to residents. He listens. He does the work. He follows through.
Rob understands that being a Congressman is not about chasing attention or making outlandish claims, it is about delivering for your district.
His opponent, Mussab Ali, by comparison seems to only want to chase that attention.
Mr. Ali has made one thing unmistakably clear in this race: he is far more focused on Israel and AIPAC than he is on the people he is actually asking to represent.
That is not hyperbole. It is a matter of record.
A simple review of his public statements, his social media posts, or even his announcement that he is on the ballot shows repeated attacks on Israel, while Hoboken, one of the more consequential cities in the 8th Congressional District, has not been mentioned once in his tweets or Instagram posts in 2026. Not once.
It is hard to represent a community you do not even acknowledge.
Another example of Mr. Ali’s clear bias and fixation on Israel is his recent praise of Joe Kent, whom he publicly referred to as a “patriot.”
Joe Kent is a 2020 election denier, a defender of the events of January 6th, someone who has aligned himself with voices in the media that traffic in antisemitic rhetoric, and has been on the record supporting Putin in his war on Ukraine.
It raises a serious question: what, exactly, qualifies someone as a patriot in Mr. Ali’s view?
Is it their commitment to democratic values, or simply their willingness to blame Israel and echo rhetoric that is anti-Semitic?
I deeply support the people and the country of Israel. And can acknowledge that Israel is not perfect. Its current government has made decisions that deserve scrutiny and criticism. But it is also a vibrant democracy in a region where that is the exception, not the rule.
In Israel, Arab citizens vote. They serve in the Knesset. They sit on the Supreme Court. LGBTQ individuals enjoy broad legal protections and recognition, including rights related to marriage and adoption.
I would ask Mr. Ali to point to another country in the Middle East where a single Jew can vote freely, serve in government, sit on a high court, and choose to marry whoever they love. That reality matters. And ignoring it, is not serious leadership.
What is even more alarming is that this fixation comes at a time when antisemitism is rising across this country, including here in our own community.
We do not need a Congressman who is consumed with attacking Israel and using antisemitic dog whistles.
Yes, Israel should be criticized when warranted. But calls to boycott Israel, as Mr. Ali has embraced, cross a line and contribute to the very antisemitism many communities are now facing.
The choice in this election is clear. It is between someone who is obsessed with a single issue abroad, and someone who is focused on the people of Hudson County.
I am choosing Congressman Rob Menendez, and I am asking you to do the same.
Jason Freeman
Hoboken resident
It’s rather shocking to see a so-called progressive lauding a troglodyte like Joe Kent, who in his resignation letter, blamed Israel for getting the U.S. into the Iraq War! Kent scapegoats Jews and Israel for every disaster created by his neoconservative cronies… among other QANON nuttery he has espoused. Bigots on the Left and Right are bedfellows, aren’t they?
#VoteMenendez
“Israel is not perfect”
Whoo boy.
Wonder how long it took Zio Freeman to muscle up the courage to put that gentle, oh so gentle, barely a criticism of Israel in writing.
The Red Green Alliance is fully behind Ali, from the river to the sea.
Democrats cultivated radicalism with BLM Marxists and are now shocked their Tlib-Hamas wing is united with their socialist-communist BernieBro wing to take over the party.
They have only themselves and their obedience to the party underwriters/controllers, Singham and Soros to blame.
What did I just read? It’s pretty clear who is “obsessed with Israel”. A person who can look at the depraved, dozens of war crimes a day apartheid state and come back with sentences that are such drastic understatements, is not trafficking in truth or someone worth listening to. Menendez has taken over 1M from the Israel lobby. This writer has far to go before seeing or speaking clearly. I am willing to guess that they have little interest in truth and good governance.