By publishing the latest opinion piece by columnist Peter Rosenstein, D.C.’s LGBTQ+ newspaper Washington Blade has allowed itself to become a forum for an absurd smear attack claiming that Janeese Lewis George, candidate for D.C. Mayor and Ward 4 Councilmember, is an antisemite.
Rosenstein—a self-described “longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist”—frames his article around Lewis George’s association with the Democratic Socialists of America. He argues that anyone endorsed by the DSA has signed onto an antisemitic program because the organization’s platform opposes genocide and the ideology of Zionism. He claims that Lewis George’s affiliation “gives tacit permission for others to do the same with organizations that might be Islamophobic, racist, homophobic, sexist, or anti-immigrant.”
This kind of propagandistic hysteria—which frames a candidate endorsed by Jewish groups, like Jews United for Justice, as antisemitic—is an embarrassing and desperate attempt to conflate a refusal to support the Israeli state’s long history of human rights abuses, genocide, and ethnic cleansing as indicating a hatred of the Jewish people.
It should be pointed out that this smear piece was posted on the same day that Jews United for Justice shared videos from their seder with Lewis George, who was joined by Jewish civil rights leader Heather Booth. Lewis George emphasized at this gathering that “The long, cherished history of Jewish and Black leaders and communities working together—going back to Dr. King and Rabbi Heschel fighting for civil rights—continues today, and I am proud to be part of the latest generation in this commitment and tradition that makes our country and city a better place.”
Rosenstein is unable to point to any infraction from Lewis George that would indicate she holds an antisemitic viewpoint. He is only able to point to her DSA endorsement as grounds for such a serious accusation. A person’s solidarity with the Jewish community of D.C. is not, as Rosenstein implies, contingent upon their support for the State of Israel. Many of D.C.’s Jewish constituents have long been involved in efforts surrounding anti-Zionist activism at the D.C. council.
Furthermore, Rosenstein’s characterization of the DSA appears to be little more than red-baiting. Not only does he claim DSA is antisemitic, he is also offended by their “suggestions to ‘Defund the Police.’” He claims the people of D.C. don’t support such a slogan and don’t want fewer police. This is a rich claim considering how pontificating about the need for more police in D.C. has been part and parcel of building a justification for the ongoing occupation of D.C. by the National Guard, which D.C. residents continue to protest en masse.
By linking his opposition to DSA’s anti-Zionism with its support of movements to end D.C.’s overpolicing and the ongoing misconduct of the Metropolitan Police Department, Rosenstein illustrates his opposition is little more than a broad rejection of progressive candidates and movements.
This is doubly underscored by the fact that the author invokes the Jewish Community Relations Council as a means to support his accusations of antisemitism, a group which has wholeheartedly supported Netanyahu’s genocidal war on the people of Gaza and the censorship of pro-Palestine free speech.
If we are to take Rosenstein’s own argument of guilt by association to its logical conclusion, what does his invocation of the JCRC say of his claims to being a Zionist but not supporting the ongoing atrocities committed by the State of Israel?
The choice by the editors of the Washington Blade to allow the newspaper to house such baseless accusations in service of attacks on progressive Black leadership is shameful. This is not serious journalism, nor is it in touch with D.C.’s LGBTQ+ community at large. Roseinstein cannot cite an example for the antisemitism Lewis George is being accused of, which should call into question the basis of his claims.
It is clear that this is little more than a smear seeking to drum up panic around a candidate for opposing Zionism, an ideology opposed by thousands of Jews around the world for its investment in colonialism, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing.
Taking a principled stance against an ideological movement currently underpinning a campaign of genocide against the Palestinian people, illegal occupation in Lebanon, and blatant disregard for human rights and international law is not taking a stance rooted in hatred of the Jewish people. It is consistent with the support for human rights and social justice that Janeese Lewis George has consistently demonstrated.
As with all op-eds published by People’s World, the views expressed above are those of the author.
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