Seattle mayor agrees with protester who accuses Israel of 'genocide'

During a Seattle Sister Cities Street Fair on September 19, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson agreed with a protester who accused Israel of "genocide." The protester interrupted Wilson's proclamation, shouting, "Divest from Beersheva. It is a f***ing genocide." Wilson responded, "I agree with that. I agree." Despite this, the mayor rejected calls to divest from Beersheva, Seattle's sister city since 1977, stating, "I believe we can maintain connections with people and with culture even as we abhor the actions of a government." Regina Sassoon Friedland, director of the Seattle chapter of the American Jewish Committee, criticized Wilson's statement, calling it "problematic on many fronts" and asserting that "Validating the word 'genocide' is serious and directly impacts her Jewish constituents." Friedland emphasized that Israel's military campaign targets Hamas, not the people of Gaza, and that the October 7 Hamas attacks constituted an attempt at genocide against Israel and the Jewish people.