By Mike Goldfarb – Congressional Candidate NY-9

Hamas. Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. The Lion’s Den.

All of these are terrorist organizations, responsible for countless atrocities in the Middle East and beyond.

The thing about terrorist organizations is that, ultimately, they are nefarious businesses. Without access to financial resources, they cannot purchase weapons, pay fighters and their families, or plan and execute their attacks.

Understanding that, I’ve spent several years contributing my personal knowledge and expertise to think tanks, nonprofits, and companies, both in the US and Israel, intent on disrupting terror finance networks.

My name is Mike Goldfarb and I am now one of two Democratic candidates for Congress in NY-9, including Crown Heights (along with Rep. Yvette Clarke); it’s no coincidence that the very first donor to my campaign was Michael (Mikey) Gallant, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Center for the Research of Terror Financing (CENTEF), a global institute focused on exposing the financial networks that fuel terrorism.

While I worked nights and weekends to prevent these organizations from accessing their tools of terror, Rep. Clarke did the exact opposite. 

Less than one month after the horrific attack of October 7, Clarke voted against a bill that would state that it is U.S. policy to prevent Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, or the Lion’s Den from accessing their international support networks. The bill she voted against also stated that it is U.S. policy to oppose such groups from using goods, including medicine and dual-use items, to smuggle weapons and other materials to further acts of terrorism, including against Israel. Among other provisions, the bill required the president to impose sanctions on foreign individuals and states that engage in significant financial transactions or provide significant material support to such groups.

Did she vote against the bill because of pressure from her Democratic colleagues? To the contrary, 78% of the Democrats who voted, voted for the relevant motion; Rep. Clarke, representing the second most Jewish district in the United States, voted against. 

While we should all be disappointed, none of us should be surprised.

She voted – also post-October 7 – against an amendment that would require foreign entities that provide funding to institutions of higher education to disclose any ties to designated foreign terrorist organizations.

She refused to vote for a bill – also post-October 7 – that would state that the House of Representatives condemns and denounces all instances of antisemitism in the U.S., reaffirms and reiterates its strong support for the Jewish community at home and abroad, and calls on elected officials and world leaders to condemn and fight all forms of domestic and global antisemitism. It also stated that the House states that anti-Zionism is antisemitism and rejects all forms of terror, hate, discrimination, and harassment of members of the Jewish community.

Rep. Clarke consistently fails our communities.

Here at home, she broke with most members of Congress by voting against implementing stricter penalties or laws surrounding sex crimes against minors and other victims, including crimes dealing with child pornography and sex trafficking.

Even more locally, our postal district regularly reports among the lowest mail delivery scores anywhere in the nation. Ironically, the only standalone bill that Rep. Clarke has passed in her almost 20 years in office involved the postal service – of course it wasn’t to improve service, it was to rename the post office on St Johns Pl.

The time has come for the voters of New York’s 9^th Congressional District to bring in new representation that is more effective, more responsive, and more in touch with the values of our community. On June 23 – or, even better, through early voting beginning on June 13 – Democratic voters of our district can go the polls and can make that choice.

The Rebbe of Kotzk, of blessed memory, once said: “The most dangerous thing of all is habit.” 

Break the habit of voting for Rep. Clarke this June and together we can build a better, brighter future for Crown Heights.