At a town hall meeting with 400 people in downtown St. Louis, Missouri on Aug. 20, Congressman Wesley Bell (D-MO) was continually interrupted and under attack throughout the meeting for supporting of Israeli genocide in Gaza. The audience included several dozen activists from Jewish Voice For Peace and other pro-Gaza protesters. One of the popular chants was, “Liar, Liar, Genocide Denier.” Bell criticized use of the word “genocide,” and spoke favorably of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Bell was also roasted over other issues, such as federal cuts to Medicare/Medicaid, and the fact that so little has been done to deal with the May 16 tornado damage in some of the poorest areas of St. Louis.
Bell was handpicked by AIPAC in 2024 and given $10.7 million to defeat Congresswoman Cori Bush, who had introduced a Gaza “Ceasefire” resolution and called the war in Gaza “genocide” while she was in office. AIPAC spent $268 for each vote, but still only received 51.2% of the vote in the 2024 Democratic Primary. Congressman Bell, who is Black, has little respect from local African-American leaders, who blame Bell for allowing AIPAC’s obsession with destroying former Congresswoman Cori Bush to split the Black community. Former St. Louis Alderwoman Annie Rice spoke about that election, saying, “I have a lot of anger…. There are a lot of fractures that have opened in our community because of this…. It’s a lot.”
