![\"Jen](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/therealnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Jen-perelman-hero.jpg?fit=2000%2C1218&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nJen Perelman, Democratic primary challenger in the race for Florida’s 25th congressional district. Photo courtesy of Jen Perelman for Congress<\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/episode\/61dWICGaHMQUqZinYBzoEk?si=651629eb87864fd8&utm_source=oembed<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Amplify the voices that NEED to be heard.<\/strong> Support our journalism and ensure the stories that truly matter continue to be told<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman challenged incumbent Debbie Wasserman Schultz once before for Florida\u2019s 25th congressional seat in the 2022 Democratic primary. Now, Perelman is back, and this time her staunch anti-Zionism is front and center in her campaign to unseat Wasserman Schultz, one of the most dedicated Zionists in Congress. Perelman sits down with The Marc Steiner Show<\/em> for a tell-all interview, covering everything from her personal journey out of Zionism, to her plans to be a loud and proud \u201coutlier\u201d in Congress if elected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Studio Production: Cameron Granadino The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Welcome to The Marc Steiner Show here on The Real News. I\u2019m Marc Steiner. It\u2019s great to have you all with us. Two years ago in the Democratic primary, Jen Perelman ran for Congress against sitting Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz in Florida\u2019s 25th congressional district. She got 30% of the vote running as a progressive on domestic issues like healthcare for all, ending corporate welfare, environmental justice, and took on the power of APAC. She ran on her experience as a former Zionist, as someone who loved and spent time in Israel, but then the oppressive nature of the occupation got to her as to many other people, and she\u2019s running again in a very different atmosphere. After October the seventh, after that attack by Hamas, 251 people taken hostage and then the war by Israel on Gaza where over 30,000 have been killed, over 80,000 wounded, tens of thousands missing, 80% of Gaza destroyed, and a growing percentage of the Jewish world opposing this war and others as well, obviously. So once again, we talked with Jen Perelman, an attorney, an activist running for Congress in Florida\u2019s 25th district. And welcome Jen. Good to have you here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank you so much for having me on. It\u2019s good to talk to you again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So this campaign, first of all, I do a series here on Rise of the Right, and I\u2019m doing a series here that we\u2019re in called, Not in Our Name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And this is like a conjunction of the two to me in a way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because you\u2019re running for Congress, literally in the belly of the beast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah, I mean, it feels like that. Some days definitely worse than others, but it does. I mean, and it\u2019s kind of interesting. Florida, we\u2019re now considered a red state. I want people to understand that about us. We\u2019re really not, we\u2019re really a purple state that\u2019s been hijacked by a bunch of red people in our state capitol, but in my district we\u2019re blue and is this anomaly and it\u2019s the bluest district in the state. And so we are definitely in an unusual district, and I am definitely up against one of the most corporate Congress people, established entrenched corrupt Congress people that there are. So it\u2019s definitely an unusual environment for sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So when you\u2019re running this campaign, clearly a campaign that is against what Israel is doing in a district with a large Jewish population,-<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n With a very pro Zionist congresswoman who in some sense is popular with some people in the district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Join thousands of others who rely on our journalism to navigate complex issues, uncover hidden truths, and challenge the status quo with our free newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox three times a week<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m just curious about taking that on. What is different about this campaign from the last campaign you ran and how is it different in terms of your tactics and where you see people coming from in your district?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Okay. So there\u2019s a lot of different variables there. First of all, when I ran the first time, even back in yeah, in 2020, I was still under the delusion that there could maybe be a two state solution. So I have even in the past few years gone further to the left on that. I don\u2019t know that I\u2019d call it, further correct, further to the correct on that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Got you. Got you. Got you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Right. So that\u2019s even shifted, but our district lines literally have shifted in a way that did cut out a very significant portion of our Jewish population. That\u2019s coincidence. That happened in 22. As a result of the census and redistricting, we naturally got redistricted and the portion of our district, I don\u2019t know if people are familiar with South Florida where I am, but in Broward County, we still had, even though it was just a sliver of Dade County was still in our district, but it was the affluent heart of the district that went all down the coastline into Dade County. And now that is no longer there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so our demographics have changed. A very large majority of the Zionists that are in my district are registered Republicans and we have closed primaries, so they don\u2019t even vote in my primary. And my district is a fairly dominant blue district. So it\u2019s not as much of an issue as people think. And yeah, there\u2019s definitely going to be people that go with her on that issue. There is no doubt going to be some Democrats, secular Jews even that are going to, that\u2019s their issue is Israel and they\u2019re going to go with her. But I am finding so much more solidarity in so many other communities right now that are very motivated and organized as a result of October 7th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So you think, before we get into some of the issues, I really want to talk to you about it, and your sojourn in this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So you think in this race at this point, you really, you have a real shot at winning this primary more than you did before?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I do. I do for a lot of reasons, and that\u2019s not to say that it\u2019s still not an uphill battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Right. Right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n But I wouldn\u2019t do it if I didn\u2019t think it were possible. And everything that I do is with this clear intention of propelling my movement, this mission further and further regardless of me winning or losing that seat. So everything that I do is very mindful in my campaign of my bigger mission, and that goes well beyond what happens in this race. You see what I\u2019m, so nothing is wasted here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So let\u2019s talk a bit just for people listening to us now, your sojourn from a younger Jewish woman who went to Israel, spent time in Israel, came up in Zionist home as I did, and things began to shift. And you wrote about that I saw in Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So talk a bit about that sojourn for people listening to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah, so when I was in Israel was, I was 16, it was in 1987 and I was there. So this was actually the summer before the first intifada. Now I realize that. At the time I had no idea about any of that but. So when I was there in 87, there were no different highways, there were no walls, there was none of that stuff existed. So there were no visible signs of an apartheid state. So there was nothing at that point in time. So when I left and came back here and years go by and I\u2019m watching and it starts looking very differently. So now I\u2019m somewhere early in the 2000s around, I want to say the second intifada, and I\u2019m seeing this and I\u2019m like, what is going on? This is not what this looks like. So I started digging into that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same time, the anti BDS legislations were popping up around the country here. And then I started digging into, well, what is BDS? Why are we anti BDS? What is BDS? And so I went down that rabbit hole and realized, oh, so it\u2019s a nonviolent Palestinian resistance movement born out of oppression, and somehow I\u2019m supposed to be against that. And being against that means that you are violating my first amendment rights in this country to be able to boycott, divest, or sanction as I see fit. I mean, that was the transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And then since then, and that of course was, I want to say 2005 ish, maybe 2006, and then it just was downhill from there, and then it just went, like then I just started noticing the more and more influence of the lobby and the Israeli lobby in Congress, and it just started seeming more and more sinister. And then it just all, like it was almost like a house of cards. It just completely started unraveling. And now I\u2019m just beyond. Now I\u2019m so furious about it. Now I don\u2019t even consider Israel a real place anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s like Disney World. That\u2019s Disney World. It\u2019s like a fake ethnicity based on stolen ethnicity from other people of a language that had to be resurrected to pretend you\u2019re an ethnicity and it\u2019s infuriating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s really interesting. So what do you think this takes us? I mean, when you are on the campaigns trail and you\u2019re talking about this issue, and we\u2019ll try to get some of the other things that you stand for as well, but when you get to this issue and you make a statement like that, I mean, what happens? What do people talk about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, okay, first of all, that statement is not something I\u2019m going to say while having a discussion with Zionists because that gets you nowhere. That\u2019s a statement I\u2019m saying to you and people, I mean, I have no problem with people knowing that\u2019s what I believe, but that\u2019s not the proper, like but at the end of the day, there are two groups of people right now, and actually I\u2019ll say three. Let\u2019s say three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s people that have gotten it since the day one. Okay. There\u2019s people that are possible to come around and have come around, maybe they\u2019re not raised that Zionist, like there\u2019s sort of more, and then there\u2019s the people that are just never going to get it. They\u2019re just never going to get it. And those people are what I call too far gones, and there\u2019s no point in engaging. You know what I\u2019m saying? Once I establish that this person is not even dealing with my same reality, meaning they do not acknowledge the Nakba, they do not acknowledge that Israel is an occupation and they don\u2019t acknowledge that the Palestinians have a right of return. If you don\u2019t acknowledge the existence and some other basic tenets of this, right, like if you don\u2019t acknowledge that, then we\u2019re not going to have any sort of productive discussion. So for the most part, people that are too far gone are not people that I bother engaging with on this topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So how does that play out in terms of the race you\u2019re running?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah. Well, down here, for the most, honestly, I have yet to really, and like I said, the majority of our rabid Zionists are Republicans. So those are not even people that when we knock on doors, we\u2019re only knocking on doors of registered Democrats. Right. So they\u2019re just not people that are really engaged in this race because it\u2019s just such a blue district. So that is that, and then of the people that are just Debbie people and just support her, and that\u2019s it, it\u2019s basically the same people that are the two far gones in the Zionism category. So at some point you accept that you work with people that you can, and there\u2019s a lot of people that that isn\u2019t their primary issue. And even though they disagree with me on that issue, they would still vote for me. Those are people that are in that middle category, and that\u2019s fine, but it is what it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s nothing I can do to change that situation. Right. I\u2019m not going to say anything else other than what I\u2019m saying about it. I\u2019m not going to believe anything unless somebody brings me new, further previously unknown information. Right. So there\u2019s nothing to do. It is what it is. So I try to be as diplomatic as possible with people when I know that it\u2019s a sensitive subject, but at the end of the day, there\u2019s just no tolerance for this kind of nonsense like Zionism or any other kinds of bigotry. At some point, it\u2019s like there is just zero tolerance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So I\u2019m curious what you think, two things here. The first one is this particular war happening right now in Gaza is devastating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And it has shifted a lot of people\u2019s opinion. Even when I look at some polls around, especially in the Jewish community and younger Jews in particular, things are really shifting profoundly. And I wonder you think this, where it takes both Israel and Palestine in that struggle and where it takes America, what happens to us in this process this process because this has the potential to kind of explode on many levels,-<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh, yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Politically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah. Well, geopolitically, this is potentially World War III disaster level nuclear problem. And I don\u2019t say that hyperbolically. I\u2019m saying that seriously, because all it takes is for Iran, and let me tell you something, and people need to understand this. It is by the grace of Iran that Israel still is there without being bombed. Okay. That is what I think. It is by the grace of Iran. So as soon as they stop dealing with nonsense and actually want to say, all right, to hell with it, we\u2019re retaliating. Okay, that\u2019s one problem because they can bomb Tel Aviv if they want to. So now we\u2019re talking about what? Then we\u2019ll have to have boots on the ground. The next thing you know Turkey will get involved with their land army and then forget it. This is an untenable unwinnable situation. This is not going to work, and the whole world sees it except for Israel, and that\u2019s the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So I am hopeful based on what you were just saying about the changing mindset among especially younger Jews in this country. But at the end of the day, this is one of those things where there will be a group of people, angry, bitter, disgruntled Zionists that will die at the end of their life, not having their way on this. That will happen. There will be people that will just not get their way on this. That\u2019s how progress works. There were people that fought for segregation till they\u2019re dying breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So there will be people that will basically die not getting their way or as we see the end of this other form of racist nationalism. So it\u2019s the same thing, but I feel that in terms of geopolitically, the only way this is ending is with the United Nations peacekeepers on the ground, creating an actual United Palestine state from the river to the sea where everybody has equal rights. And how that happens militarily, how that happens in terms of diplomatically, I really don\u2019t know, but I know that Israel cannot continue to exist as this. This is not a tenable situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So let\u2019s say that when we wake up on election day, primary day,-<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And you win,-<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n How do you see what happens to you and this issue in Congress?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I see that I am very much outcasted. I see that I am a pariah. I\u2019m probably like the Thomas Massie of Democrats. I don\u2019t know. I\u2019m not going to, look, it\u2019s like how effective, and I\u2019ve said this all along. I\u2019ve been saying this for years. When you\u2019re on the outside politically from the center where I am, like when you\u2019re, and I\u2019ll say left because fine, left of center. Okay. So when you\u2019re on the outside of what is the bell curve, you\u2019re always going to sort of be pulling people in your direction. And it\u2019s always sort of an uphill battle until the curve shifts a little bit. And so I don\u2019t anticipate it being any different for me in a congressional position than I\u2019m in here. But yeah, legislatively, no, I don\u2019t think I would get elected and be able to give everybody single payer healthcare tomorrow. I don\u2019t think that legislatively, that\u2019s necessarily where the people that are on the outliers are ever the most effective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think where the outliers are most effective is using their platform to pull people to the outlier. And I guess at the end of the day, it\u2019s just going to be chipping away at enough of that on the outside, merging with labor, trying to connect all the different coalitions that are fighting against the same oppressor. Because that\u2019s what I feel like one of my biggest purposes is and I felt like with my podcast, is really combining different movements because if all of these movements showed up for each other, that\u2019s our general strike. And I feel like we need to get the labor movement, the environmental movement, the abolition movement, all of these groups are fighting the same oppressor. And so I just feel like that\u2019s one of the things I would be most effective at, is using my platform to continue to shift that Overton window and get more and more people in because it\u2019s not going to happen by me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Follow up on that for a moment here before we come back to Israel, Palestine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I mean, because in this country right now, we\u2019re facing a huge divide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And it\u2019s a real struggle for the future of democracy in our own country and where we might go. And in all the years I\u2019ve been a political activist and doing work in journalism as well as an organizer, the last time I saw this divide this intense and this dangerous is when I was a civil rights worker on the Eastern shore in the Mississippi, is the last time I felt this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So I\u2019m curious, your analysis about what is happening in our country now, and as a potential congresswoman, where do you think we\u2019re going and how we organize around this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah. So what you\u2019re talking about, this sort of growing feeling of discomfort and just malcontent, it\u2019s very, very pervasive. I feel it all over the place. It\u2019s not just divisive, it\u2019s just general, just unhappiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n But where I really feel like as frustrating as that is, it\u2019s such a good sign. It\u2019s such a good sign because it\u2019s a sign that we feel, it\u2019s a sign that we\u2019re noticing. It\u2019s a sign that people are waking up and not wanting to take it anymore. And it\u2019s almost like you\u2019re watching the death throes of capital in that. And that\u2019s I feel like one of my jobs, is to steward people from that feeling into, okay, what do we do with this next? Where can we go with this? What can we do with this? Make sure that people are punching up and not kicking down. And really just try to allocate and combine as many people to get as much progress as we can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But yeah, no, there\u2019s so much anger right now and it\u2019s very valid. I am so angry right now. I have never been this angry in my whole life as I am right now. And it\u2019s all I can do to just constantly be remembering where to aim it and how to use that energy. And unfortunately, a lot of people sort of defer to their basis selves and are very easy to sway into kicking down and punching sideways and going after others. And that\u2019s the problem, is that desperate times allows for people like a Trump. And again, he is by no means the end of democracy to me. The fact that those are the choices already indicates we\u2019ve reached the end of democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But I think that the fact that we get people like him is because of how unhappy and how desperate people are. And they see him, he\u2019s a snake oil salesman, but they see him as some sort of the answer and he teaches them to kick down. And that is the opposite of what we need. But there\u2019s nobody on let\u2019s say, for lack of a better word, the left like a Bernie at that point offering a direction otherwise. There\u2019s nobody. The Democrats aren\u2019t exactly saying, well, you need to punch up because they are the up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So I mean, the things you\u2019re talking about, this moment are things I wrestle with all the time as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I mean, because we are, I think as a nation and as a world, when I look at what\u2019s happening in the Middle East especially, but what\u2019s happening in our own country is that we really are on a precipice and kind of building a movement and electing certain political leaders to address that is really, I mean, it\u2019s really critical. I mean it\u2019s, I think about what our kids are going to inherit and where we\u2019re going. So I\u2019m curious what kind of, before we come back and conclude with looking at Palestine, Israel, talk about this coalition you\u2019re trying to build in your district, which is really a pretty diverse district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah. Well, when I talk about building coalition, I\u2019m talking in a global sense, like what I\u2019ve been doing for the past five years and just interconnecting so many different groups and different actions and different causes and linking people and really trying for people to see the intersectionality of all of it. But locally, I\u2019m just a very on the ground in my community person. I mean, I knocked doors all the time. I was knocking doors even when I wasn\u2019t running because I was canvassing to get no, I was either canvassing for my friend who\u2019s now the mayor for that position, and I was also canvassing for a period of time to get our women\u2019s reproductive rights on our ballot. We were able to get that on our November ballot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So I\u2019ve stayed very politically active and just meeting people. But the thing about me, and this is definitely a distinction between me and someone like my incumbent, is that I really do appeal to a wide range of people. Even on my podcast, I have a lot of Republicans, libertarians, I even have anarchists. I have have a wide range of people and I think that that is what we need. We need somebody that can understand different people, what they need, communicate to them in an effective manner, and stop pitting those groups against each other. And that is something that I actually do really well. And it\u2019s something I think that often frustrates some of my comrades on the left, is that I am able to get along with the right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And what bothers people is that in order to truly do that, you have to do it without judgment, you have to do it without judgment. So if I\u2019m in Congress and I\u2019m working on something, and let\u2019s say somebody like Thomas Massie who I have great respect for, and he and I disagree on a ton of things, right, without a doubt, I disagree with him on a ton of things, but it\u2019s like going into any sort of engagement with somebody with a holier than thou judgmental attitude will produce nothing. It\u2019ll produce exactly the mess that we\u2019re in right now, which is complete tribalism where they\u2019re fighting each other, but yet they both stand for the same corporations. It\u2019s like you\u2019re literally watching a bird fight each wing with itself, and we\u2019re not getting anywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so I think that what we need to do is stop worrying about labels and tribalism and just try to work to, I mean, it sounds cliche, but it really isn\u2019t hard to work with people if you put the labels aside. If we didn\u2019t have parties, if I could wave a magic wand and overnight there were no parties and no one knew what anyone\u2019s team or anybody, any of that, do you know how much stuff we could get done? It would be amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah, I understand. If you look at any of our neighborhoods we live in and you\u2019re a part of a community organization, that\u2019s what exists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah, exactly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So as we close out here, coming back to where we began,-<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Where do you think what\u2019s happening now, where does it take us and how do we get out of it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, unfortunately, the problem we have, and this is something that I find to be this sort of level of Western entitlement that we have in this country, and it\u2019s at an all time high. And I say this because people have very much conflated feeling uncomfortable with feeling unsafe. And I have a huge problem with this. And not only that, it\u2019s impacting our constitutional rights is what we\u2019re seeing right now left. And so where we need to be in this country is we need to be at a place where we all can feel comfortable with the discomfort. It\u2019s very hard to deal with it. I had to go through it. You had to go through it. I\u2019m not saying it\u2019s easy to kind of come to terms with some of our not so pleasant past actions and deal with that, but people\u2019s comfort level, particularly white privileged Jewish people\u2019s level of comfort is just not something that we need to be prioritizing right now. Okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And I think that that\u2019s the problem. People being unhappy with antisemitism words, people being not happy with the idea of antisemitism and the discomfort of that does not take precedence over human beings being genocided in real time. Okay. And until we sort of grasp that and the people realize that they\u2019re going to just have to sit with their discomfort, that is how long this will keep going on. It\u2019s really up to them. I always say the level of violence or the level of uprising in this case is determined by the oppressor, not the oppressed. So it\u2019s really up to them at what point they want to see supporting a genocidal apartheid state or not, how far they want to go down that rabbit hole before we end up being at the basic on the other side of the whole world with Israel and just us. I\u2019d like to not see that. I\u2019m proposing a better situation. I think we can have a better situation, but it\u2019s not going to be with the military industrial complex and APAC running Congress. That I know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that is absolutely true. That is absolutely true. Those kind of voices of reason, like you\u2019re talking about, are really critical in all these discussions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Exactly. And that\u2019s not what we\u2019re having. How can we have reasonable discussion when all of the people that need to have the discussion are on the payroll of the companies that are profiting from the situation that needs to be discussed? It is the most ridiculous, it\u2019s like a candid camera situation. I don\u2019t understand how anybody could take any of these people seriously that are getting paid by companies like Raytheon, or Boeing, or Northrop Grumman or any of that. I don\u2019t understand. How are we even taking these people seriously?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So you take no corporate money?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n No. First of all, and that\u2019s so funny. And recently someone said, \u201cWell, do you agree not to take APAC money?\u201d And I just started cracking up and I\u2019m like, \u201cFirst of all, I have been harping about APAC and calling them out as foreign agents for at least like four years now. I don\u2019t think they\u2019re offering me any.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n No, I don\u2019t think so. No.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Right. And nor would any corporations. Although what\u2019s interesting though is that I kind of feel like if there were some corporation that like the anti-corporate sentiment and was happy with what I was saying and they properly treated their employees well, I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t know. I might consider taking a few bucks, but it would have to be like a Ben & Jerry situation. You know what I mean? We\u2019d have to have a meeting of the minds. But no, they\u2019re not offering me anything. Are you kidding? I\u2019m like, I\u2019m calling for dollars people every day and scraping for $50 donations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, good luck in the primary, and we\u2019ll look forward to talking to you once this is done and,-<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And you clearly, I can hear from our conversation, you have a lot of depth of ideas and you\u2019ve got a lot of fight in your heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I do. I\u2019m so angry right now. I got to tell you, I almost feel like, yeah, it would\u2019ve been better off for people had I won in 20. Yeah, I feel so angry right now. Like hell hath no fury. You know what I mean? Than a woman used in ethnic cleansing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Right. Right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And angry about it. But can I just tell people to go to the campaign website?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Absolutely. Go ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Okay. So guys, check out the campaign website. It\u2019s Jen2024.org. And please, and anybody can volunteer. We need text people, phone banking people. We need all sorts of people, and we need money because I\u2019m fighting a corporate monolith. So please help us out if you can and follow us on social media. And I appreciate it. Thanks so much for having me on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And Jen Perelman, thank you for joining us, and we\u2019ll be looking towards election day and see what happens and be putting all your contact information on our site for this story. So thank you so much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Perelman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Absolutely. Thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marc Steiner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once again. Thank you Jen Perelman for joining us today. And thanks to Cameron Granadino for running this program and our audio editor, Alina Nelah and the tireless Kayla Rivara for making it all work behind the scenes. And everyone here at The Real News for making the show possible. Please let me know what you thought about what you heard today, what you\u2019d like us to cover. Just write to me at mss@therealnews.com and I\u2019ll write you right back. And once again, thank you Jen Perelman for being our guest. And so for the crew here, The Real News. I\u2019m Marc Steiner. Stay involved, keep listening, and take care.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Host, The Marc Steiner Show<\/strong> Source: https:\/\/therealnews.com\/i-dont-consider-israel-a-real-place-upstart-candidate-challenges-arch-zionist-debbie-wasserman-schultz?utm_medium=email&utm_source=The+Real+News+Network&utm_campaign=f824a8370d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_06_26_02_21_UTS_Chomsky&utm_term=0_-f824a8370d-[LIST_EMAIL_ID]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jen Perelman\u2019s unapologetically anti-Zionist, pro-Palestinian views have made her a potent challenger to incumbent Wasserman Schulz in the race for Florida\u2019s 25th congressional district. BY\u00a0MARC STEINER JUNE 25, 2024 (therealnews.com Jen Perelman, Democratic primary challenger in the race for Florida’s 25th congressional district. Photo courtesy of Jen Perelman for Congress… Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/therealnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/June-21-Banner-inline-3.jpg?resize=780%2C130&ssl=1\")
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Post-Production: Alina Nehlich<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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MARC STEINERHOST, THE MARC STEINER SHOW<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Marc Steiner is the host of “The Marc Steiner Show” on TRNN. He is a Peabody Award-winning journalist who has spent his life working on social justice issues. He walked his first picket line at age 13, and at age 16 became the youngest person in Maryland arrested at a civil rights protest during the Freedom Rides through Cambridge. As part of the Poor People\u2019s Campaign in 1968, Marc helped organize poor white communities with the Young Patriots, the white Appalachian counterpart to the Black Panthers. Early in his career he counseled at-risk youth in therapeutic settings and founded a theater program in the Maryland State prison system. He also taught theater for 10 years at the Baltimore School for the Arts. From 1993-2018 Marc’s signature \u201cMarc Steiner Show\u201d aired on Baltimore\u2019s public radio airwaves, both WYPR\u2014which Marc co-founded\u2014and Morgan State University\u2019s WEAA.
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marc@therealnews.com
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@marcsteinerMore by Marc Steiner<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n