Mainly citing his support of a ceasefire in Gaza, Muslims for New Jersey backed Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla for Congress in the 8th District today.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
” … This district includes parts of Bayonne, Jersey City, Hoboken, Union City, and North Bergen and we need to make sure our representative in Congress, our representative in DC, is truly representative of the people of the his district and we don’t see that in Congressman Rob Menendez,” New Jersey Muslim Lawyers Association President Saad Admani said at the Mahboob-E-El Ahi restaurant in Jersey City.
” … And Ravi Bhalla, whose been the mayor of Hoboken since 2017, to be someone who listens to the community and fights for the community.”
Admani continued that Bhalla sued the NYPD on behalf of Muslim Advocates about a decade ago when they were conducting surveillance at Rutgers University and houses of worship.
Former Jersey City Board of Education President Mussab Ali, now a mayoral candidate for 2025, gave an enthusiastic endorsement of Bhalla, stating that the differences between him and the incumbent are clear.
” … When I think about the issues related to young people, when I think about the issues related to the Muslim community, the champion that is very clear in this district is Ravi Bhalla,” he began, noting Hoboken’s initiatives for climate change, sustainability, and traffic safety during his tenure.
” … We see everything that’s happening in the Middle East, right, we see students that are stepping up and protesting … We all know that the 1st Amendment right is this right to protest and Ravi has been a champion and he has claimed, adamantly, that they have a right to free speech. And the other member whose running for Congress, he signed a letter about the students of Colombia basically saying that their encampment should go away and that the students should be locked up.”
Ali also noted that Bhalla is calling for a ceasefire and is not taking special interest money for his campaign.
Menendez was one of 19 Democratic House members who signed a letter penned by U.S. Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-5) and Dan Goldman (D-NY) last month expressing concerns about the protests at Colombia.
“The First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech and assembly, but not freedom to harass and intimidate other students. It is clear to us that the University has allowed the encampment to create an environment that appears to violate its legal obligations to protect all students from discrimination and harassment,” they wrote.
“As a result, many students who are paying for an education – supported by the federal government – cannot safely attend class, enter the library, or leave their dorm rooms.”
During his remarks to the two dozen or so people on hand, Bhalla noted that the conflict in the Middle East is deeply personal to him.
” … I grew up as a Sikh American, and when I grew up, my adolescence, Sikhs are a minority in India. We have what’s called a Modi government, which is an authoritarian government which wants to make the entire country a religious state, like a Hindu nationalist state, it’s very scary in terms of minority rights,” he explained.
” … You don’t have equal rights as a minority in India. So I look at that, and I look at Palestine, I first visited the area when I was in law school and they told me ‘don’t go to the Arab areas.’ Don’t go to East Jerusalem. What did I do? I went there! Because when someone tells me ‘you don’t want to talk to the Arabs,’ based on my experiences as a minority, I’m not stupid, I need to look further.”
He further stated that he traveled into the West Bank, visiting Palestinian refugee camps in Jericho and other nearby communities, as well as meeting and speaking to many regular people – which included members of the Jewish community.
“Regular people, they want the same thing that everyone in this room wants: They just want an end to suffering, they want an end to injustice. The one thing that Palestinians have is some of the most intellectually and individually successful people, just like the Sikh people, but they don’t have collective sovereignty,” Bhalla said.
“They don’t have nation-state status … When I saw injustice as I saw when I visited Israel, you have to call that out. And I’ll be completely honest: There’s also a large Jewish community in Hoboken where I serve. So when October 7th happened, that was a shock to the Jewish community, it was not the time for geopolitics. As the mayor of Hoboken it’s not a foreign policy job … but you’ve got to be the consoler in chief.”
Bhalla said that as had previously been noted during the program, he supports a ceasefire.
“I want to have a ceasefire that’s negotiated, that calls for unfettered access to humanitarian aid. There are literally thousands of truckloads of humanitarian aid that’s waiting to be sent in that’s being blocked, that has to end. And of course the hostages need to return as well. And we have to have this two-state solution,” the mayor declared.
“So, the end to human suffering, which is a value I hold as a Sikh and applies to everyone, and in Congress I will be a strong advocate for the Muslim community.”
How is Phil Cohen going to spin himself out of this one?
Cohen will remain silent. Any comment one way or the other would not advance his own political agenda.
His ethics like Bhalla’ have always be transactional.
Ravi is lying about his Israel trip which my understanding is was paid for by AIPAC or another Jewish nationalist group. The man believes in literally nothing except his political ambition. He may have been paid with a contract for delivering the cannabis approval to Fulop’s wife’s tenant, but he would have done it for nothing since he thought Fulop could advance his career.
People have said to me “but you can’t possibly think he’s worse than Menendez.
I voted for him 4 times, but I now see him for what he is. And it’s not a close call. I think both Menendez Sr and Ravi Bhalla represent everything that’s wrong with politics today. Both locally and nationally.
That’s why I’m voting for Rob Menendez hoping that he will have learned from his father’s mistakes. Ravi certainly hasn’t. He looks at political bosses with envy desperately wanting to be them.
Leaving out your opinion of Bhalla, Rob is a nepo baby pure and simple. He’s only there because his grasping, grifting father created a place for him. I see no evidence that we should expect better from him.
https://hudsoncountyview.com/u-s-rep-menendez-i-have-unwavering-confidence-in-my-father-after-indictment/
Ravi is pretending Hamas started a war with Israel with its slaughter of over 1,200 Israelis for a “two state solution.”
Pretend away Ravi and go hang out with your family pal, Soros. It’s a lie. Anyone with any sense knows that lie won’t fly.
Hamas has repeatedly turned down ceasefire options and did so again last week offering their own ceasefire “terms” with the release of zero hostages and that means no Americans held hostage are going anywhere.
Ravi is fine with allowing Hamas to hold Americans hostage.
The pro Israel Jews of Hoboken will
“ NEVER FORGET “
true colors revealed or is it win at any cost?
Big Bro is returning to our roots. We’re with the future: Soros, Free Palestine, the communist ACLU and from the River to the Sea.
Down with Zimmer, Menendez, Israel and their white, colonialist privilege.