Last weekend marked the District’s largest showing of grassroots solidarity with Palestinians, who, for nearly 80 years, have fought against Israeli occupation of their homeland.
The organizers of Harriet’s Wildest Dreams counted among those who flooded the streets of downtown D.C. on Saturday. Before leading the Blacks for Palestine Coalition toward the White House, organizers passed out 500 white T-shirts and criticized elected officials who openly supported Israel.
During the latter part of October, Harriet’s Wildest Dreams executive director Nee Nee Taylor sent each D.C. Council member a letter requesting that they meet with local Palestinians to get an intimate understanding of how the Israeli bombardment of Gaza has affected their families.
The letter also asked for the removal of blue lights that have been shining atop the John A. Wilson Building in support of Israel for nearly a month. Taylor, alluding to reports she heard about some council members meeting with Israeli embassy officials, asked that Palestinians be shown similar deference.
“The situation in Gaza has reached a critical juncture, marked by sustained Israeli bombardment that has inflicted immense suffering and casualties upon the civilian population,” Taylor said in the letter. “We consider it of utmost importance for our elected representatives to actively participate in this briefing, gaining a deeper understanding of the concerns voiced by their constituents.”
What’s Happening In Gaza and Why Are People Calling for Cease-Fire?
Since early October, Israeli forces have killed more than 10,000 Palestinian women, men and children. Amid the nonstop bombing, the infrastructure of the West Bank is in shambles and many Palestinian homes are without food, water and electricity.
This iteration of the decadeslong battle in Gaza started when Hamas, a Palestinian resistance movement classified as a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department, killed more than 1,000 Israelis in a surprise missile attack on Oct. 7.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vowed to eliminate Hamas, has organized Israeli forces around Gaza in recent weeks. With evacuations on pause for time being, people on the ground remain concerned about the growing humanitarian crisis.
As images of dead Palestinian women, men and children flooded social media timelines, so have calls for a cease-fire.
Jewish people, some breaking away from Zionists in their community, have protested in front of the White House and across the country in solidarity with Palestinian people. Various ethnic and racial groups have similarly stood for Palestinians in the U.S. and around the world.
Elected Officials, Local and National, Weigh In
Per the Office of the Secretary to the Council, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) called for the installation of blue lights atop the John A. Wilson Building for Israel.
During a legislative briefing on Monday, Mendelson said he hadn’t seen Taylor’s letter. When asked about whether he would introduce a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, Mendelson told The Informer that he’s cautious about the council weighing in on international policy.
Meanwhile, D.C. Council member Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4) called for a cease-fire as early as Oct. 12 and continued to speak in support of that movement in the days that followed. Her office said she has been in communication with schools and Jewish and Muslim faith communities to support those who are facing threats and have been affected by the violence.
Council member Robert White (D-At Large) expressed support for a cease-fire, saying that events in Gaza further stress local Palestinians dealing with public safety and housing issues in the District.
A spokesperson for Council member Vincent C. Gray’s (D) office said the Ward 7 council member hasn’t met with any Israeli officials nor reviewed Taylor’s letter. They also told The Informer that Gray is focused on local matters, but would review any cease-fire resolution that’s introduced on its merits.
Council member Brianne Nadeau’s (D) office forwarded a public statement in which the Ward 1 council member discouraged constituents from taking part in antisemitic and Islamaphobic acts. They however didn’t address questions about engagement with Israeli representatives or whether Neadeau supports a council resolution calling for a cease-fire.
Council member Trayon White’s office declined to comment.
Other council members didn’t respond to an Informer inquiry on Monday asking about their support of a cease-fire, whether they would introduce a resolution calling for one or if they met with Israeli officials. At-Large Council member Robert White’s office acknowledged the inquiry but has not further offered comment on the subject at the time of initial publishing.
This week, leadership within the United Nations, responding to the latest death tolls, issued a statement saying “enough is enough.”
Shortly before, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) became the first congressional member to call for a cease-fire. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian American from Michigan, came under scrutiny earlier this month for pro-Palestine comments that her fellow Democrats characterized as antisemitic.
Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) questioned whether a cease-fire would be feasible with “an organization like Hamas.”
Last week, the GOP-controlled House approved a $14.3 billion spending bill to support Israeli military forces. Around that time, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken rebuffed calls for a cease-fire, saying that doing so would allow Hamas to regroup.
President Joe Biden (D) recently changed his tone on the Israeli-Hamas conflict, but only slightly, when he espoused the need for a “humanitarian pause.” He did so in response to protesters who stormed his campaign event in Minneapolis.
A “humanitarian pause” would allow for the passage of the Palestinian people to a relatively safe place.
Protesters Speak Out in 15th Annual Black is Black Coalition March
For many of those who took to the streets on Nov. 4, however, neither a humanitarian pause nor a cease-fire gets to the heart of what they described as the long-term U.S.-sponsored oppression of the Palestinian people.
They likened the situation in Gaza to what indigenous people, Black people and working-class people have experienced in the U.S. and other parts of the world under neo-colonial governance.
“Congress is voting with our tax dollars to support an apartheid regime,” said Paul Pumphrey, a member of the Black Is Back Coalition.
On Nov. 4, the Black is Back Coalition conducted its 15th annual march on the White House, also in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
This march involved the African People’s Socialist Party (Uhuru Movement), Friends of the Congo, Black Alliance for Peace, Universal African People’s Organization, Black People’s Advancement and Defense Organization, and other organizations that recently launched a campaign focused on protecting anti-colonial free speech.
On Friday, coalition members gathered on the steps of Sankofa Video, Books & Cafe in Northwest to demand the return of land in the West Bank to Palestinians.
For Jacqueline Luqman, Palestinians’ troubles came long before last month. Last weekend, she spent much of her time criticizing Zionism, a movement for the establishment and protection of a Jewish nation.
Luqman, a member of Black Alliance for Peace, pointed out that the U.S. and other entities have allowed, and even been complicit in, Israel’s exploitation of the West Bank. The ongoing relationship, she said, helps the U.S. exert control on that region, similar to what it does in Africa via AFRICOM, and in Atlanta with “Cop City.”
“Israel exists with the support of the U.S. It once again brings us to a moment where we have to confront the reality of what Israel is, what it’s not and who the land belongs to,” Luqman said.
“What’s invalid is one group coming in that has never been there to say they’ve been there because a deity told them,” she added. “White supremacy is an ideology that props up the U.S. government and the Israeli government. The land of African people was stolen from us after surviving enslavement. Our struggle is against colonial forces and the white settler colonial project.”
The Black is Back Coalition hosted a series of events last weekend, the latest of which being a teach-in that took place on Sunday in Arlington, Virginia.
For hours, members of the Uhuru Movement heard from a litany of speakers — including reparations organizer Kamm Howard, Louisiana-based organizer Belinda Parker Brown, and former New York City council member Charles Barron — who weighed in on the Israel-Hamas conflict and its connection to the collective well-being of African people.
Omali Yeshitela, chairman of the Uhuru Movement who identifies as an African internationalist, set out to dispel any notion that Black people shouldn’t speak on what’s unfolding in Gaza.
“There has been some attempt to confuse this issue to say there’s a contradiction between supporting African liberation and the Palestinians’ movement,” Yeshitela said.
“You wouldn’t have America without white settler colonialism. It has to be liberation for Palestine and for Africa. Palestinian people are on the front lines, and it’s not just Israel, but the White House. We say y’all can’t [attack Palestinians] in our name. Israel cannot last without resources coming from the U.S.”
Other focuses of the Black is Back Coalition center around reparations, the release of U.S. political prisoners, and dropping federal charges levied against Yeshitela, Jesse Nevel and Penny Hess, indicted for their alleged collusion with Russia.
In his remarks, Pumphrey said the U.S. funds war at the expense of nonwhite and impoverished people.
“We need to be clear why we have cities that don’t have money to address affordable housing and healthcare,” said Pumphrey, co-founder and board member of Friends of the Congo, an organization dedicated to facilitating peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“Why do we keep on supporting Democratic and Republican candidates in Congress, wasting our tax dollars,” he questioned. “This government is carrying out genocide against African people and we need to say enough is enough.”