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Jewish-black tensions in Tenn. primary

By · August 7, 2008

Democratic voters in a Tennessee primary go to the polls Thursday following a campaign that has featured charges of anti-Semitism.

Jewish incumbent Steve Cohen is seeking his second term in the 9th Congressional District against challenger Nikki Tinker, an African American.

The Tinker campaign pulled an ad from YouTube this week charging that while Cohen visits “our churches, clapping his hands and tapping his feet ... he’s the only senator who thought our kids shouldn’t be allowed to pray in school,” referring to a 1997 vote Cohen made as a state senator.

Emily’s List, which had been supporting Tinker, condemned the ad Wednesday.

Earlier this year, a Tinker supporter and a minister distributed literature in the district saying that “Cohen and the Jews HATE Jesus” and urging the defeat of an “opponent of Christ and Christianity.” Similar fliers from the same minister have circulated in the past few weeks.

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