Amid D.C. mayoral candidate and Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George’s (D) efforts to allay concerns about her anti-Zionist stance, the Israeli state continues to restrict worship at holy sites in Palestine while killing Palestinians via missile strikes and shootings.
That’s why, as one Palestinian organizer told The Informer, time is of the essence for the District’s next mayor, whoever that may be, to stand against what even the United Nations has designated an ongoing genocide on the Gaza Strip.
“The bare minimum that D.C.’s politicians can do is call for a ceasefire, back ‘Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions’ (BDS) resolutions, and decriminalize protests against Israel and for Palestine,” said Raneem, a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM). “These are things that we’ve been calling on them to do, in partnership with other organizations, knowing that, in D.C. especially, the right to protest is so important, and the fact that all of our protests have been so criminalized.”
An international grassroots movement with chapters across North America and Europe, PYM organizes youth in the fight for Palestinian liberation. Amid ongoing violence in Gaza, the U.S-Israel attack on Iran, and Israel’s incursion on Syrian and Lebanese land, PYM members are in the throes of a campaign to stop Virginia’s investment in weapons manufacturers via its retirement system.
This effort follows mass protests in the nation’s capital and meetings with D.C. council members over the last couple of years to encourage their support of a ceasefire. In speaking about the latter action, Raneem, who’s using a pseudonym, said they’ve seen most council members embrace a call for a ceasefire behind closed doors while taking on a neutral stance or aligning with Israel in public.
Their posture, Raneem said, highlights the power of the Zionist lobby.
“We see this as a crisis of democracy,” Raneem said. “Who do our politicians represent? Do they represent Zionist moneyed interests, or do they represent the [Palestinian] people that live there?”
Weeks after Lewis George and Jewish community members privately discussed her response to a Metro D.C. Democratic Socialists of America (MDCDSA) questionnaire about Zionism, Raneem counts among those who want Lewis George to take a consistent, full-throated stance against the Israeli state.
“When there’s this back and forth, push-and-pull that’s happening within her campaign,” Raneem told The Informer, “it is her struggling with the historic pressure that Zionist lobbies take to try to push these candidates to be under their thumb.”
Lewis George’s fight for the mayor’s seat comes just months after Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist and anti-Zionist, defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to become mayor of New York City. Upon assuming the helm of the Big Apple, Mamdani declined to renew his predecessor’s executive order that broadened the definition of anti-semitism and prohibited government employees from participating in BDS movements against Israel.
Despite scrutiny about the use of New York City first lady Rama Duwaji’s artwork in pro-Palestinian literature, a plurality of state voters approve of Mamdani, according to a March poll conducted by Siena Research Institute. Raneem said Lewis George can enjoy similar success.
“Standing with Palestine is going to bring you votes,” Raneem said. “It’s going to bring you the support of the community. It’s going to actually help you advance these [progressive] goals that you’re trying to advance.”
During Passover, Mayoral Candidates Strive for Unity
Zionism, a nationalist and political movement that emerged in Europe during the 19th century, centers on the establishment of a Jewish sovereign state in Palestine, what Zionists consider Jewish ancestral land.
This vision came to fruition in 1948 with the establishment of Israel in Palestine.
Israel’s occupation of the Gaza Strip has since gone through several iterations, the most recent of which has been described as a “de facto limited war” with Israel maintaining a military presence along several areas of the strip. This Oct. 7 will mark three years since Israel, responding to a Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people, launched a ground invasion that has reportedly killed more than 72,000 Palestinians and displaced more than 1.9 million.
In January, Lewis George, a democratic socialist and two-term D.C. council member representing Ward 4, responded to a questionnaire circulated by MDCDSA with a pledge to not attend events “focused on Zionism.” Metro D.C. Democratic Socialists of America has since endorsed Lewis George’s mayoral campaign, while members of the Jewish community, including Ron Halber of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, criticized her stance.
Most recently, The Washington Blade called on Lewis George to reject MDCDSA’s endorsement.
As reported by The Washington Post, Lewis George met with Jewish leaders at Ohev Sholom Congregation in Northwest on March 17. That’s where she and other attendees discussed local acts of anti-semitism that have rocked the District in recent months, and whether Jewish community members felt welcomed in Lewis George’s progressive movement.
Rabbi David Wolkenfeld of Ohev Sholom Congregation didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Lewis George campaign, citing the MDCDSA’s support, denied that the D.C. council member and mayoral candidate has “walked back” on her anti-Zionist stance.
In lieu of an interview with their candidate, they sent a statement affirming her fervor for protecting everyone’s “freedom, safety, and sense of belonging.”
“I stand firm in my commitment against antisemitism, understanding the very real fear for Jewish safety. And I stand firm in my support for Palestinian rights, recognizing what happened in Gaza is a genocide as has been determined by multiple international human rights groups,” Lewis George’s statement read. “Those two things are not in conflict. We all deserve safety, and I am running to be mayor for everyone in D.C. and that includes both our Jewish and Palestinian residents.”
Last week, as members of the global Jewish community started Passover celebrations, Lewis George took part in a seder at the home of labor leaders Marilyn Sneiderman and Stephen Lerner. On the evening of April 1, she sat next to Jewish civil rights leader Heather Booth in what an Instagram post described as a “tradition that makes our country and city a better place.”
Days prior, Lewis George joined other MDCDSA-endorsed candidates — Ward 1 D.C. Council candidate Aparna Raj, District 9 Prince George’s County Council candidate Imara Crooms, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) — for a “community hype event” in anticipation of the spring election season.
By that time, members of Lewis George’s campaign had knocked on at least 45,000 doors across the District in promotion of the candidate’s vision of a more affordable city. Metro D.C. Democratic Socialists of America — which also endorsed Lewis George during her 2020 and 2024 council runs — counted among those who canvassed on behalf of the mayoral candidate.
Metro D.C. Democratic Socialists of America, an active member of the D.C. for Palestine Coalition, has drawn connections between local and international affairs. As a member of the BDS movement, MDCDSA stands in opposition to local government contracts that fund Israeli weapons, and exchanges between local police departments and what anti-Zionists call the Israeli Occupation Force.
As MDCDSA Chair Kurtis Hagans explained, the question about Zionism stayed true to the spirit of MDCDSA’s pro-Palestine stance.
“It’s not a directive to avoid Jewish residents or synagogues or schools or cultural institutions. Instead, it’s a commitment to not legitimize organizations, events, or political projects that promote Zionism, apartheid, occupation, or opposition to Palestinian rights,” Hagans told The Informer. “Many Jewish democratic socialists, Jewish progressives and Jewish liberals have supported anti-Zionist positions. It’s a matter of making sure that all of us are safe and can lead dignified lives.”
Hagans noted that a “supermajority” of members cast a vote in support of Lewis George.
“Things like making sure that workers in the District are treated with dignity and are given the ability to negotiate with their bosses through collective bargaining,” Hagans said. “Making sure that tenants can’t be just evicted without cause or anything like that … as well as utility bills [like] we saw recently with her recent legislative action. And then of course her child care [plan], which is so important to workers in the District and folks who have one of the most expensive child care costs in the country.”
Hagans declined to “speculate” on Lewis George’s meeting with Jewish community members, only to infer nefarious intent behind The Jewish Insider articles that surfaced in recent weeks.
“It was a pretty coordinated strategy against Janeese Lewis George, specifically in support of Kenyan McDuffie,” Hagans said. “We see it as a way of trying to split Janeese from her base. A lot of these attempts are a way of trying to introduce fractures at a point when she does have the enthusiasm of the base to get out there and talk to folks on the ground.
At the height of the controversy surrounding Lewis George’s questionnaire response, McDuffie and Jewish business leader Gary Goodweather, another mayoral candidate, issued statements affirming their commitment to uniting all Washingtonians. In subsequent communication to donors, McDuffie criticized those who pledged to avoid Jewish events, though he didn’t mention Lewis George directly.
McDuffie’s campaign team didn’t respond to an inquiry about their candidate’s stance on Zionism.
Goodweather, who was a bit more direct in his criticism of Lewis George last month, declined to discuss the issue of Zionism.
“This kind of language divides us..as a city, divides us as a country, and divides us as human beings,” Goodweather said. “We are all connected as human beings, and we’re responsible for one another. In our city, I have seen how we’ve been divided. I see it going on right now.”
During Passover, Goodweather participated in seders at the Jewish Community Center and Human Rights Campaign office. He also spent time with his wife and in-laws at another seder in Baltimore before making it back to the District to worship with Jewish, Christian, and Muslim constituencies at different events throughout Easter weekend.
Goodweather, who launched his mayoral bid more than a year ago, became the first-ever mayoral candidate to qualify for matching fair election campaign funds without previously holding elected office. If elected, he aspires to create programming to further connect all District residents to local government.
In the advancement of that, and other local policy goals, Goodweather expressed plans to bring the Office of the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions directly under the purview of the Executive Office of the Mayor.
“It’s not the job of the mayor to be involved in international affairs,” Goodweather said. “It’s the job of the mayor to create a city that supports…its residents. One of the things I am going to do is create an office of inclusion…to ensure that regardless of how you got to our city or who you are, that you are included in our city and you’re included in the government.”
International Politics Continues to Creep into the Local Sphere
For years, pro-Israel and Zionist organizations, including the American Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC), have supported Democratic and Republican political candidates via super PACs. They’ve also spent money against candidates who are critical of Israel.
Such was the case in Missouri, where AIPAC successfully thwarted then-Rep. Cori Bush’s re-election bid in 2024.
For Netfa Freeman, Zionists’ power rests in what he calls the conflation of anti-Zionism and anti-semitism, defined as “prejudice, hostility, or hatred directed toward Jews as individuals or as a group.”
“They make sure that all candidates understand you’re not supposed to be opposing Zionism,” Freeman said. “They do that by obscuring the understanding of what Zionism is and the distinction between Zionism and Jewish people and Jewish community. It goes even deeper [about] who Semitic people are. If you don’t understand that, then being anti-Semetic also becomes obscuring.”
More than 40 years ago, Freeman first organized against Zionism as a member of the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party. He’s since been boots on the ground, organizing around local, national and international issues affecting working-class people of African descent.
During the latter part of March, he took to social media in criticism of Lewis George’s meeting with Jewish community leaders. Even after engaging some of her supporters, Freeman stands by his assertion that Lewis George conceded too easily.
“It’s clear that the communities she was trying to address, appease and placate were Zionist Jewish people,” Freeman told The Informer. “They didn’t…even acknowledge that there are anti-Zionist Jews. More importantly, they didn’t consult or even make reference to the Palestinian community. It was handled as public relations damage control.”
As mayoral candidates strive to focus on local issues, Netfa Freeman continues to make the case that Israel’s actions in Gaza and Iran directly correlate with quality-of-life issues afflicting Black Washingtonians.
“That unprovoked war on Iran by the United States and the Zionist state of Israel on Iran is impacting energy supply, the oil shipments, and all that,” Freeman said. “Here in Washington, D.C., people’s utility bills are going up. It’s not the only cause, but it’s compounding the energy stuff, and the cost of food and everything for people on a local level.”
As the war between the U.S., Israel, and Iran enters its sixth week, residents in one of the District’s wealthiest communities are preparing to weigh in on a resolution concerning the state of affairs halfway across the world.
The resolution in question calls on the D.C. Democrats and the national Democratic Party to: push for the end of the war in Iran, and seek diplomatic solutions for a full ceasefire. It also asks that both entities join the Friends Coalition of National Legislation in their support for the Block the Bombs Act, introduced by Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) to restrict the U.S. military’s transfer of bombs, bunker-busters, JDAM kits and artillery shells to Israel.
Peter Lynch, a member of the Ward 3 Democrats who came of age during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, said he introduced the resolution as a call to action for Democrats, locally and nationally, to avoid repeating the mistakes of yesteryear.
“Schools and health care aren’t properly funded, people can’t get housing, jobs, and youth programs are hard to come by,” Lynch told The Informer. “But suddenly there’s billions of dollars to go to war for one man’s ego. I really couldn’t sit in a group like the Ward 3 Democrats and…not do something…to raise my voice and our voice collectively to say that this is wrong.”
Lynch, a teacher in Montgomery County, Maryland, who’s seen the military and U.S. Naval Academy recruit students, added that marginalized youth who are seeking economic advancement will most likely become casualties of the invasion in Iran.
“They’re not recruiting the rich kids,” Lynch told The Informer about recruiters. “They’re recruiting the kids that need scholarships. We’ve now got the paratroopers in there. The Marines might go. There’s Navy over there. It’s going to be those kids that bear the brunt of all this, and it’s not right.”
On March 23, Lynch introduced his resolution before the start of a Ward 3 mayoral forum at St. Columba’s Episcopal Church in Northwest. In a 15-8 vote, the Ward 3 Democrats tabled the discussion until its April 27 meeting.
That evening, some members expressed concern that the resolution would divide members, while others called it a foreign affairs issue outside the scope of what the Ward 3 Democrats should discuss.
According to sources familiar with ongoing discussions, the resolution, co-introduced by Ward 3 Democrats member Judy Rabinowitz, will most likely undergo edits. Lynch said he’s navigated that process with grace.
“I have been deeply appreciative of some of the people that have disagreed with me on this resolution, but have reached out….to tell me why. I’ve really listened to them over their reservation, and there’s also been a lot of listening between people that are sort of in between, where they generally want the resolution to succeed, but they may need to see some changes…and need to reach out to other people in their community and within the Ward 3 Democrats.”
Despite the apprehension about discussing Israel and foreign affairs during Passover, Lynch remains adamant that the Ward 3 Democrats, and the Democratic Party for that matter, needs to take action on an issue that has far-reaching and unavoidable consequences.
“By no means do I want to step on the toes of anyone who’s trying to practice any sort of faith event like Passover,” Lynch told The Informer. “At the same time, at least 13 service members have died, and many more have been injured. Innocent Iranians are being killed. They didn’t get a pause. Even though it’s uncomfortable for some people, and it’s maybe not the best time, it is urgent that we speak to this and deal with this.”
