[...] The two main candidates for the Democratic nomination in Alabama's 7th District -- situated in a region known as the Black Belt because of its dark soil -- are five-term Rep. Earl Hilliard and Harvard-educated lawyer Artur Davis. Both men are black. [...]

Recently Davis was targeted in an flier headlined "Davis and the Jews, no good for the Black Belt."

The four-paragraph leaflet full of misspellings and grammatical errors surfaced in April. It accuses Davis -- a Montgomery native who attends a Baptist church -- of being too close to "the Jews."

"Mr. Davis must simply understand that Jews the world over have never come to the aid of black or dark skin people because it was the right thing to do," the flier says.

It continues: "If the current invasions, murder and abuse within the Palestinian territory sound familiar, its only because in the not to distant past we seen the apartheid do exactly the same in the black villages of South Africa with Israel's support."

The sheet was signed: "By friends to re-elect Earl Hillard for Congress in the seven congressional district," misspelling the incumbent's name.

No one claimed responsibility for the flier. The Davis and Hilliard campaigns accused each other of producing it. Hilliard suggested Davis wrote it himself to generate more donations from offended Jewish supporters. [...]

Hilliard, the lone black member of Alabama's congressional delegation, trounced Davis by 24 percentage points in the primary two years ago despite an ethics probe and fallout from Hilliard's 1997 trip to Libya, which was criticized by colleagues.

Alabama's Jewish population is estimated at 10,000, and only a few hundred live in the district, which is 62 percent black.

Federal Election Commission records show Davis raised more than $360,000 in April and early May compared with $122,000 taken in by Hilliard during the same period. Davis' donations included a string of contributions from prominent Jewish families in Alabama.

The Birmingham News reported that Davis also received donations from about 300 people in New York, where he held fund-raisers that included pro-Israel organizations.

Hilliard, meanwhile, has received donations from the Arab American Leadership PAC and the president of the Arab American Institute, James Zogby, who gave $1,000. [...]