The Squad came out for a ceasefire in October. The pro-Israel lobby is seeking retribution.
Last November, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the most powerful pro-Israel lobbying group in Washington, announced a $100 million effort to unseat members of Congress who vocally supported calls for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. AIPAC and its allies have flooded the spring and summer primaries of Cori Bush, Jamaal Bowman, and Ilhan Omar, and Summer Lee with pro-Israel opponents, limitless spending, and inflammatory rhetoric.
Last night, Lee, the first Black woman elected to Congress from Pennsylvania, won her reelection campaign handily, fending off a challenge from a local councilwoman who accused Lee of “stoking antisemitism” and sought to mobilize support from local Jewish leaders. As it stands, it looks like AIPAC’s war chest has run into a formidable opponent: Maurice Mitchell, national director for the Working Families Party.
Mitchell began his career in progressive New York state politics and became one of the founding leaders of the Movement for Black Lives. He mobilized many of the same groups that, under WFP’s banner, elected the majority of the Squad back in 2018, including Justice Democrats, Sunrise Movement, and the Democratic Socialists of America. Alongside groups like the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights and Jewish Voice for Peace, they formed Reject AIPAC, a coalition seeking to challenge AIPAC’s power by calling on Democrats to reject the group’s endorsements and contributions. WFP is steering this work as a third party by supporting candidates running in Democratic primaries and the general election. This year they’ve endorsed almost 300 candidates running in 24 states and will likely back hundreds more by the end of the 2024 cycle.
It’s quite a glow up for a left-leaning coalition of labor unions and grassroots groups that united in the aftermath of Bill Clinton’s rightward shift and attacks on welfare. Twenty-five years later, the Working Families Party is one of the most powerful third parties in the country, steering the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and defending its most powerful players. And they’re not stopping at building momentum for progressive candidates. They’re taking on one of the largest and longest-standing pillars of Washington politics: the pro-Israel lobby.
